Chapter Fourteen #2
She’d managed three, through persistence and swearing, when Zorro barked and nearly jolted her off the ladder.
Then she heard an answering deep bay of a bark. She’d heard it a couple times now. Elvis.
Her grill!
She got off the ladder, down from the deck, and ran around the house.
Zorro was already showing Elvis the front yard. She saw Joe, Gideon, and someone else climb out of the truck.
“Got your grill,” Joe called out. “She’s a beauty. Took a while to put her together.”
“A while’s minimalizing it. This is Reg,” Gideon added, and he set a ramp on the tailgate of the truck he’d backed in.
“Slave labor. Hi. It is a beautiful grill, and terrifies me.”
The man wore a fielder’s cap that said RIVERBEND HIGH over a mass of light brown hair. He was about her height with cheerful blue eyes and a scatter of freckles over a boyish face.
“Thanks for helping. Oh, it’s really big, and really shiny. And—is that my bookcase?”
She’d have scrambled up the ramp if Gideon hadn’t blocked the way.
“One. I want to get it in place, make sure it works, doesn’t need any adjustments. One,” he repeated.
Since she hadn’t expected any, one equaled a huge bonus to her day.
“You’ve got that padded thing over it so I can’t really see. I want to—”
“Grill first. And it ain’t no lightweight.”
“I can help.” Before he could object, she flexed both arms. “I can help.”
“Yeah, she can.” Reg grinned at her. “Those biceps are better than mine.”
It wasn’t a lightweight, but the four of them got it down the ramp, carried it around the house. Paused to adjust and maneuver it up the deck steps.
“Here, right here. Whew!” Arden rolled her shoulders. “My uncle might cry when he sees this.”
“Got every bell and whistle there is.” Joe gave it a nod and a pat.
“Do you know how to work that thing?” Reg wondered.
“I read the manual online. I’ll read it again tonight. Thank you so much. Let me get you all a cold drink. I made iced tea, it’s pretty good.”
“Wouldn’t mind that.” Joe looked at the ladder, the light strings on the picnic table. “Hanging lights? Nice touch.”
“I hope so.”
“Why don’t I take care of that for you? Giddyup and Reg can bring in that bookcase. Then we’d take that cold drink.”
“Oh, I don’t want you to have to—”
“He likes it,” Gideon said simply. “Come on, Reg. This one goes in the front door.”
“I’ll open it for you.”
She hurried in, jogged to the front door. Ordered herself to only squeal and bounce in her head.
Don’t bang it, don’t nick it, she thought as they angled it through where Gideon led the way to the library.
When they stood it up, she purred, then reached out to touch.
Gideon brushed her hand aside. “Go away.”
“What? I want to—”
“You’re thinking too loud. Go get the iced tea or whatever. We need a couple minutes.”
She didn’t like it, but calculated she’d see it in place quicker if she let him have his way.
She took a glass out to Joe.
“He kicked me out.”
“He’ll do that.” Joe looked down from the ladder. “You’re going to be happy with it, and the rest when they’re done.”
“I already am.”
She went back in and straight to the library.
She put a hand to her mouth, then to her heart. Happy didn’t come close. The dark, grainy wood against the deep green walls, so rich and warm. The clean lines kept it all simple and right.
She understood why he’d wanted to see it in place himself, as it was a corner unit.
“It’s gorgeous, Gideon. Can it stay? Can I put books in it?”
“Yeah, it stays, and that’s what you want in it, so go ahead.”
“The small cabinets at the bottom really work, add a little something.”
“And since you want those lights, they’ll hide the plug. Anyway, that’s one.”
“Come back, have some tea.”
“You’ve got a really nice house,” Reg commented as they walked back to the kitchen.
“Thanks. The longer I’m here, the more I love it.”
“From back east, right?”
“Brooklyn originally, then Ohio. Now here, and the Pacific Northwest really suits me. Part of that’s being lucky enough to walk into Riley’s Hardware one day and finding Joe.”
“He’s the best.”
“I’m going to go out and give the best a hand.”
Reg nodded at Gideon. “I’ll play the usual unnecessary backup.”
“I’ll add cookies to the iced tea.”
Gideon paused at the door. “Oreos?”
“Not this time. A gift assortment from my neighbor, Nick the baker.”
“The SS and C guy?” Reg asked. “His cookies make all other cookies weep with envy.”
“I’ll bring them out.”
By the time she did, along with the rest of the pitcher of tea, they’d nearly finished. Gideon stood on the ladder now, screwing in the light bulbs.
“Fast work, and hung just like I wanted.”
“You had it all measured out,” Joe said, and helped himself to a cookie. “They’ll add a touch when you sit out here in the evenings.”
“I really appreciate it. I know it would’ve taken me three, maybe four times as long. I’ll think of you when I sit out here tonight.”
“What’s the first thing you’re going to grill on that monster?” Reg asked her.
“I’ll probably test it out tonight, maybe grill some chicken. Because the main event is when my family comes. Porterhouse steaks and wild salmon fillets, add the grill basket I got for roasted vegetables, spiced shrimp cooking on the side burner, and it’s going to get a workout.”
Studying her, Reg munched on a cookie. “What’s the criteria to be part of your family, and are there any openings?”
“I think you earned honorary status today.”
“Careful.” Gideon screwed in another bulb. “There’s not much to him, but he eats like a horse.”
“I have that power. The Rileys always set an extra plate for me when I was around, then I got lucky and married a smart, beautiful, tolerant woman who likes to cook.”
“She married down,” Gideon said as Joe rolled his eyes.
“So true. But she loves the way I…” He looked at Arden, wiggled his eyebrows. “Entertain her.”
Joe let out a laugh. “All right, boys. There’s a lady present.”
“It’s okay, Joe. Ladies like being entertained.”
Gideon shot her an amused look as he finished the last bulb. With the cord neatly secured to the corner of the house, he pushed the plug in the outdoor socket.
The lights snapped on, and Arden applauded.
“That should do it. Where do you want the ladder?”
“It goes in the shed. I’ll take care of it.”
Ignoring that, he folded it and took it down himself.
“You’ve all made my day. Grill, lights, bookcase. I wish I had burgers and beer to offer instead of iced tea and cookies.”
“These do fine. You’ve got a nice place here, Arden. Pretty garden, birds at the feeders, nice trees.”
“I really love it.”
“Mind if I walk through on the way out? I’d like to see the house, and that bookcase in place.”
“Of course, come in.”
She led the way with the dogs trailing behind, and Gideon after them.
“Pretty kitchen. It’s got the feel of being used and well tended to.”
“A girl’s gotta eat. I’ve got a lower level, but that’s unfinished.”
“Got plans?”
“Not yet. I haven’t decided exactly what I want. Just can’t see it yet. Once I do, I can move right along, but until? There’s a lot of debate and consideration.”
“My Colleen would’ve loved that dining room, those pieces. Of course, she’d’ve had that china cabinet filled right up.”
“That’s still in the debate and consideration stage.”
When they reached the library, Joe put his fists on his hips and nodded.
“I can see the fireplace you picked right there. Good choice, very good choice. When those bookcases are in, you’re going to have a hell of a room here. I bet you’ll fill them up fast enough.”
“No debate or consideration required, or not much. Just have to decide which genre to start with, then it’s alpha by author.”
“Genre, alphabetized?”
She glanced over her shoulder at Gideon. “It’s a library. And when I want a book, I’ll know where to find it.”
“I had a feeling you were a woman who likes to keep things in their place.” Joe winked at her. “We’ll let you get to that. Gideon, you’re likely to get more help from me now that I see where those bookcases are going.”
“No raising your rates.”
“Negotiations are always open.”
He surprised and pleased Arden by bending down to kiss her cheek. “The house looks good on you.”
Reg climbed in the back seat of the truck. He glanced back as Arden stood waving them off with Zorro at her side.
“I like her.”
“Who don’t you like?” Gideon tossed back.
“Hitler. Caligula. The Zodiac Killer. I’m not fond of Billy Adams, who bullied the crap out of me in middle school. His family moved to Seattle, I think, so I didn’t have to deal with him in high school. Maybe he reformed. But I don’t forget. Anyway, I like her. She’s just your type, Gid.”
“No, she’s not.”
“Sure she is. Maybe not in looks, as you usually go for the curvy little brunettes, but all the rest? Smart, self-sufficient, funny, good taste, likes dogs.
“You should ask her out.”
“I don’t know why he hasn’t,” Joe put in.
“Because I’m not interested.”
“If I were forty years younger, I’d ask her out. Make that thirty. Maybe she likes an older, wiser man.”
“You should do that, Pop.”
Joe gave his grandson a wide smile, arched his eyebrows. “Just maybe I will.”
The woman under discussion spent the next two hours filling her single bookcase. It took time, as now and again she had to open a book, read a passage. Or two.
Then she had to just sit on the floor and admire how they looked.
She hooked an arm around Zorro when he sat beside her.
“It really feels like home now. It’s not all the way home until there are books—lots of books—on the shelves.”
With a sigh, she tipped her head to the dog’s. “We’re all the way home, Zorro. Home. Safe. Happy.”
And happier yet when she prepared for her family cookout.
She’d seen everyone at dinner at Zoey’s. It had been so good to see them again.
But tonight, she’d have them in her house. Her home.
She had appetizers—purchased, she wasn’t Gordon Ramsay—wine, beer, soft drinks, lemonade, and juice boxes. She had the outdoor table set—fancy, because Jamie insisted on coming down to help.
And would come with Nick for dessert, as he refused her invite to the cookout part.
Desserts—thanks to Nick. Mini cream puffs, cupcakes, and the magnificence of an angel food cake and berry trifle.
The salmon fillets marinated in the fridge, the steaks waited, and she’d prepped the vegetables for the basket.
“We’re ready,” she told Zorro.
And a good thing, as he raced to the front door.
They piled out of two vehicles, her aunt, uncle, Travis, April, Zoey, Boone, and four excited kids.
“I love it!” Jen called out. “We’ve seen pictures, but I love it more now. What a handsome house, Arden.”
“I’m so glad you’re here!”
There were hugs, good, hard hugs, though they’d seen each other the night before.
“Come inside, take the tour. Or drinks first.”
“Tour first,” Jen insisted. “I’m dying to see it all.”
“Seems solid.” Doug took a long, careful look as they walked to the door. “No issues with it?”
“Not a one. At least not yet.”
She grabbed a kid at random, Travis’s youngest, Trent. Two and raring to go.
She took them through, starting with the second floor. Listened to the voices filling her house, and realized she’d missed that.
No question she needed the quiet, but she needed them, too.
As often as she could get them.
“You’ve done so much, and it’s all so you,” Jen marveled as they started down again. “And in barely two months.”
“It’s been an adventure. I’m having fun with it.”
“You’ve got good bones here, Arden.” Doug studied as he went. “A lifetime home if you want it.”
“I do, and I feel firmly planted. Plus, I’ve been doing some research for a location for the two stragglers.”
“Pacific views,” Travis reminded them.
“City or town living,” Doug said. “Or close. Convenience, some walkability.”
“Riverbend’s got all that.” Zoey flashed her brother a big smile.
“As long as we’re within driving distance of all four of our grandbabies.” Jen snuggled Maddy, who rewarded her grandmother with a sloppy kiss.
“Well…” Now April smiled. Smugly. “What if Travis and I added one more to our side of that scale?”
“Really?” Jen lit up like a candle. “You’re having another?”
“Lucky number three.”
“Wait a minute, wait a minute.” Zoey held up her hands. “First, yay. Congratulations. But us, too.” She pointed at her belly, then held up three fingers.
More hugs, some high fives.
“How far along are you?” Zoey asked.
“Six weeks.”
“Me, too! Just confirmed today.”
“That’s where you were!”
“That’s where I was, Mom. Now?” One hand on her belly, Zoey sent her sister-in-law a glinting look. “It’s a race!”
On a laugh, April nodded. “Challenge accepted.”
“We should pause the tour for a celebratory drink,” Arden decided. “You two are stuck with lemonade.”
When they finally walked out onto the deck, Arden waited for Doug’s reaction.
He stared at the grill, held his hands out like a supplicant before an altar. “Oh, you magnificent bastard. Daddy’s here!”
“You’re steaks, I’m salmon and shrimp.”
But he busied himself going over every inch of the grill. “You have a smoker box,” he said reverently.
“We’ll try it out next time. I believe this adds weight to the scale.”
“Doesn’t seem quite fair,” Travis muttered.
“I’ve earmarked a couple of locations pretty close to equidistant. Because I love April and the kids, and you come with that package.”
“You’ve got one of those tunnel crawls in the yard.” April laid a hand on Arden’s arm. “And a seesaw. That’s so sweet.”
“Inspired by my neighbors—you’ll meet them over dessert. Zorro loves it, but I thought the kids would, too.”
“Set them free,” Travis said.
Boone topped off his glass of wine. “I’ll take first watch.” He glanced back as he started down to the yard, carrying Maddy as the rest of the kids raced out. “And that grill? It’s downright scary.”
“I am not afraid.” Rubbing her hands together, Arden grinned at her uncle. “Shall we begin?”