4. Lyric
LYRIC
“ H ere goes nothing,” I say to my empty room at the bed and breakfast the next day.
After I spoke with Mrs. Steele, who told me to call her by her first name, Eleanor, I also learned Mr. Steele’s given name is Troy.
We spoke about the house, how it all happened, and given the background, I was shocked but also felt sorry about the tenant.
The single mom who had lived there for the past five years with three children all under the age of ten tried to make ends meet.
Apparently, she did a really good job, too, until her abusive ex made a sudden appearance.
Things went from bad to worse, and he took his anger out on her, the kids, and my house.
The tenant, Vivian, called the police numerous times, but the husband would take off and couldn’t be found.
She put a restraining order on him, and child protective services were involved, too.
They thought they’d be in the clear, since he didn’t come back for months this time.
Then one day, he re-appeared, hurt Vivian and the girls, wreaked havoc on the house, until finally, Troy called the cops one night after hearing screaming.
The abusive piece of shit was taken away in handcuffs, and all Eleanor knew is that Vivian and the girls up and disappeared in the middle of the night.
Eleanor tends to believe she received help from the women’s shelter and is in the wind, especially since the man who beat on her and the children didn’t stay behind bars long.
I felt terrible after hearing the story.
No longer was I upset about the house but at the way Vivian and her children were treated.
I make a mental note to include a sizable donation to the local women’s shelter when life settles down.
What reason is there to have all this money that’s been left behind with nothing to do with it?
I’d rather see it be spent on the greater good.
We then proceeded to write a list of what would need to be done to make the house livable.
I’m okay with living there once the basics are done, you know, like a livable bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom.
When I first planned to come down to Florida, I initially thought I’d throw a blow-up air mattress in the car and figure things out when I got here.
Naomi clucked her tongue, telling me in not so many words that my idea wouldn’t be the greatest, especially because there was no running water and power.
Furthermore, turning it on while no one is at the house could make for another sticky situation in case there was a leak or an electrical fire.
Here I am, thirty-five-years old, and didn’t even think about that.
Clearly, I’ve never owned a home on my own before.
Even while being Dad’s caretaker, nothing really happened at the house apart from needing a new hot water heater.
Needless to say, I saw the error in my ways and quickly found a place to stay.
There were hotels to choose from, except they were further away from my house, not to mention they were a bit pricier than I wanted to pay.
My goal was to come down here, get the house ready, working night and day to do so, and only need a place to lay my head at night.
I guess that’s out of the question, but the good news is the bed and breakfast I booked isn’t near as steep as a hotel, plus it comes with breakfast. The older couple who owns and operates the establishment is an added bonus; they’re warm and welcoming.
They also let me book my room until I no longer needed it and gave me a sweet deal for it, too.
“Hello, this is Joss with Jagged Edge Construction, how may I help you?” I finally grew a pair of lady balls and dialed the number on the sheet of paper Eleanor wrote on along with my list of to-dos.
There’s a construction company, a yard maintenance company, and also the water and electric companies she had on hand.
I’m forgoing the yard one for the time being.
I can use my own elbow grease and dive right in.
The math started mathing when I calculated the price of yard tools versus hiring the work out.
Yes, it would be a whack at first, but I’d have it until they bit the dust or I got tired of dealing with the yard.
I can’t honestly say that will happen. In North Carolina, when the nurses would sit with Dad, I’d take a full two hours to mow, weed eat, hedge the bushes, and pick the weeds out of the flower beds.
“Hi, I’m calling to see if I can schedule an estimate.
You were referred to me by Eleanor Steele,” I name-drop exactly like she suggested.
I’m desperate here, and it’s not like there are a whole lot of options in this small town.
Eleanor even warned me that should I need to go outside of this area, to let her know the company name first, and she’d run it by Troy to be on the safe side.
“Let me see what we have available. In the meantime, can you tell me your address?”
“Umm, hold on just a minute. I know the street name but can’t remember the exact house number.” I get flustered for a second, feeling caught off guard when I for sure thought my ducks were in row.
“Take your time. There’s no rush,” Joss says on the other end of the line, calming me down a little bit. “The scheduling system likes to lag, so it all works out.”
I quickly turn the page in my notebook. “There it is. Fifty-nine thirty-five Fawn Ridge Road in Whispering Oaks.” Good grief, I could have looked that up in maps app had I put my speakerphone on.
“Perfect timing. My scheduling program decided to wake up and realize it is not in fact a Monday and shouldn’t be acting crazy at all,” Joss jokes.
“Well, it is Friday. Maybe it’s thinking about quitting time.”
“Ha, it’s too early in the day for that, plus this is an ongoing issue.” Maybe their system needs an overhaul. These types of things always happened at the dentist’s office I once worked at, and because the facility was on the smaller side, upgrades didn’t happen as fast as they should have.
“Well, that stinks.” I sympathize with her .
“Alright, here we go. I have Monday at eight o’clock in the morning. The general contractor will be Randy. Is the number you’re calling from a good point of contact?” Wow. I breathe a sigh of relief. This is happening a lot faster than I expected it to.
“That’s perfect, and yes, this number is a good point of contact,” I reply.
“I guess I should jot down your name to attach the house to the person Randy is meeting.” We both let out a laugh of our own. I don’t think it’s only her computer program needing a break; we all do.
“Lyric Skye,” I tell her.
“Perfect. I appreciate your patience. Randy will see you Monday morning. Thank you for calling Jagged Edge.”
“Thank you as well. Have a great rest of your day.” I hit the end button, drop my phone to the table, then raise my arms and feet while remaining sitting on the chair to do a dance of sorts.
Now that I have the ball rolling, I need to send Naomi a text to let her know what’s going on.
When I left North Carolina, she stayed back and is in the process of rifling through stacks of paperwork that I didn’t have the time or energy to deal with.
She rented an Airbnb for the time being, and we brought the boxes to her place, where she’ll go through them and decide what’s important and what’s not.
I’m hoping it won’t be too much, then Naomi can just ship one package and be done with it.
Me: Good morning, I have a contractor coming out Monday. I’m going to get the ball rolling on the landscaping even though I’m sure it’ll be a mess once a construction crew gets started.
When I called her last night after getting settled, she had plans with Mr. Bennett, so we kept our conversation short. I gave her the details of the house, told her to have a great night, and we’d chat today. I don’t see a response right away or a notification under the thread saying read.
Interesting. Very interesting.
Naomi always has her phone near her. Even when she’s in Paris and our time differences clash, it’s always within reaching distance. I have my fingers crossed that maybe she had a late night and is sleeping in, or maybe she’s with a certain handsome lawyer and never made it back to her place.
I abandon my phone on the table, stand up, and stretch. I raise my arms over my head, move my body side to side, place my legs shoulder-length apart, and bend forward until my hands touch the carpeted floor. I do this a few times, trying to loosen the stiff muscles in my aching body.
Between the drive down here, the stress that’s been my life for too many years to count, and then sleeping in a bed that isn’t mine, it has made me entirely too tense.
I should probably add a yoga mat to my list while I’m out shopping today.
I’m sure there are going to be more days ahead when my muscles are absolutely going to protest.
My phone goes off on the table, an alert for a text message, and after walking my hands out to further stretch my lower back, I do the reverse and stand up.
The blood rushes to my brain, causing a slight dizziness to take hold.
I take a deep breath and wait until it disappears.
I really need to get a move on. The light dinner I had last night has long since worn off, and I’m going to need nourishment to fuel the calories I’m likely to burn.
I grab my phone and look at the notification while walking to the ensuite bathroom, an added bonus when a lot of bed and breakfasts don’t have this advantage.
Naomi: Ma chérie, that is wonderful news!
Me: I’m excited and nervous. How’d your date go?
Naomi: I’ll have to get back to you. I’m still on it.
Me: FINALLY! Love you! Chat later!
I toss my phone on the counter and get to work. I have my teeth to brush, clothes to change, breakfast to eat, a store to shop at, and a yard to tackle. I look at myself in the mirror. Even though the losses I’ve been dealt, I’m still standing, I’m still breathing, and I’m still smiling.