Chapter Eighteen
“Like this, Aunt Allie?” Maisie asks as she carefully turns the screwdriver in the light-switch cover, working at one of the screws.
It slips from her grip and clatters lightly against the wall.
She giggles and picks it back up. She was desperate to use something from her new kid-size tool belt I bought her, so we took a break from painting to let her try a small task.
How could I resist? She’s the cutest kid alive with it on.
“That’s it,” I encourage her. We haven’t been able to work this week as much as I would have liked, but we have a whole long weekend now. The girls are out of school today for an in-service day. We have three days to make progress before school again.
Steven’s been here helping us out and seeming to enjoy it as much as I am.
He usually doesn’t care for manual labor these days, being more into management, so I’m pleasantly surprised to have him around.
Thankfully, he hasn’t mentioned Sam to me.
She finally stopped texting me after I didn’t respond to any of her messages or calls.
Refer to me as childish if you wish, but don’t fuck me then go out on a date with another woman in the same week without even a polite “it’s not you, it’s me” screw-you text.
“So…” Steven says slowly as if unsure of himself. “Can we talk outside for a moment?” He looks toward the front door and then back to me.
“Sure,” I say, squinting my eyes in question. He’s acting strangely.
“It’s nothing bad,” he assures me as we walk out onto the front deck.
“About the people I hired to redo the cabinets throughout the house…” His words taper off as if cushioning the fall that he’s about to take.
And right on cue, two vehicles come to a stop in the driveway.
One of them belongs to Sam and the other to Luke.
“You didn’t,” I say calmly as I turn back to face him. “Why would you do that? Much less, not ask for my input. What the hell, Steven?”
“I did mention it early on,” he rushes to say. “And Luke is so talented at what he does. I wanted him to be a part of this with us. Sam’s just the package that comes with Luke’s work. We can all get along, can’t we? Please do this for me, Allie. I love him.”
And there it is. Finally. The first time that he’s said those words to me about a man.
How can I be upset now? I push down my anger so he can have his happiness.
Though, he has totally blindsided me. We make decisions that affect us emotionally together.
Feels a little like a betrayal. Or maybe I’m just super sensitive when it comes to Sam.
Car doors open and close behind me—Sam and Luke have arrived.
I sigh. I don’t turn, not wanting to catch a glimpse of her yet.
“Okay,” I submit. “How hard can it be, right?” I shrug as I walk away, leaving Steven to greet them.
I haven’t seen or talked to Sam since the restaurant with Ginger, and I had no plans to.
The upstairs bedroom is midpaint, nothing final yet.
Maisie’s been helping me with the primer, mostly rolling the lower walls in uneven strokes that I’m smoothing out as we go.
Kara’s working on the doors that I took off the hinges and laid across drop cloths, just base coats for now.
A professional will come in later to handle the finishing work, but she’s doing better than I expected.
This is about teaching them responsibility while earning some money of their own.
“Ready to finish our wall?” I ask Maisie.
She’s finishing up on a light cover. The same one I left her on.
“I’ve almost got it.” Maisie sticks out her tongue right before pulling out the screw, then dropping it onto the floor. She picks it up and puts it in the bag I gave her to keep all the screws and cover plates. “Ready.” She puts her screwdriver back in her tool belt, and I can’t help but smile.
“Ah!” Kara screams as she runs down the stairs, startling me. I take off to follow her when I realize Olivia’s here. They collide into each other’s arms like they haven’t seen each other in years.
Before I reach the stairs so that I can disappear, she walks in, stealing my attention as she once did. Sam is beautiful. My heart skips a beat as her eyes meet mine. I resent the betrayal of my body when I need to feel nothing for this woman.
“The walls aren’t going to paint themselves,” I say to Maisie as I guide her toward the stairs.
“Hi,” Sam says to me as she walks past Olivia and Kara. I give a short nod, wanting to move along, but Maisie jumps in eagerly.
“Sam!” Maisie wraps her arms around Sam’s waist. “Look at my tool belt that Aunt Allie got me.” She steps back to show her. “I’m earning my keep.”
Sam chuckles. “Oh my. I love it! I bet you’ll be a professional in no time.” Sam lifts her eyes to see if I’m watching. Unfortunately, I am.
“Off we go,” I tell Maisie.
Maisie runs ahead of me. “I have to get this wall painted, but we can chat later.”
Sam laughs. “I look forward to it. I’ll be here in the kitchen. Come visit me in a bit.”
“Okay!” Maisie runs upstairs.
I turn away to avoid looking at Sam any longer.
The ache in my chest is heavy from missing her.
“Kara, please finish the doors if you haven’t.
” I continue upstairs to a safer place. I can do this.
I just need to keep my distance. Seeing her makes it so much harder.
With her absence, I can handle the pain in peace.
After a couple of hours, we’re finished in this room for now.
Maisie asked to go play in the backyard.
There’s a swing set she’s been itching to play on.
I shooed her off to go have some fun. She’s done so well helping me today.
I told her to let Kara know she could have a break too.
I’m sure she hasn’t been doing much work since Olivia arrived.
I’ll check on her more after lunch. I ordered pizza about ten minutes ago. Hopefully, it won’t be much longer.
I gather up our paintbrushes to clean them out.
Maisie, surprisingly, does pretty well for her age.
She takes her time, her strokes uneven but careful, more patience than I would’ve guessed.
When I was a teenager, I had various jobs.
One of the toughest times I had was working on a farm painting barns, fence posts, and the outside of the house in the heat.
It made me appreciate hard work. I want the girls to value these things as well.
The banging in the kitchen has stopped. I descend the stairs to find the cabinets are gone. Luke is measuring while talking to Steven about the design. “This looks different,” I say, moving around the open area. “I’m excited to see what it’ll look like. Steven’s plans are spectacular.”
“This place has a lot of character. I promise you’ll love the finished product.” Luke seems hesitant as he looks behind me. I follow his eyes to see Sam walking up.
“Those hands are magic, so I have no doubt.” Steven winks at Luke, who blushes. A big guy like him, getting bashful—it’s endearing.
“I don’t need to hear that about my brother.” Sam stops next to me, her arm brushing mine. I pull away from the touch before it can linger. As much as I crave her touch, she doesn’t have that privilege anymore.
“I’ve got to get these rinsed out.” I hold up the brushes. “I ordered pizza for lunch for everyone. It should be here soon.”
“Thanks, bestie,” Steven says.
“Anything for you, boo.” I leave them to their chatter as I go out the back door to use the hose on the side of the house.
“Look at me, Aunt Allie!” Maisie swings high, making me nervous with the tug and pull of the poles buried in the ground. Her legs push hard to get more air.
“Be careful, please.”
“I will,” she agrees as she continues swinging. I don’t see Kara and Olivia anywhere around. Who knows what they are up to.
The water from the hose is warm at first, then it gets cold soon after. The direct sunlight beats down on this side of the house right now with no shade. It’s a beautiful day with the temperature in the seventies. Fall is upon us, and I love it.
“Need any help?” Sam appears beside me, radiant in the sunlight as if she wasn’t tempting enough.
“Almost done.” I turn my attention back to cleaning the brushes, rubbing them underneath the water. The rhythm of my heart picks up, irritating the shit out of me.
“I hoped we could talk. I’ve been trying, but I can understand your apprehension.”
“I see. I guess you’re a little more enlightened than I am.” I keep rinsing the brushes. Why won’t this damn paint wash out already?
“Please don’t.” Sam’s voice is softer. “I never planned on—”
“Fucking my ex?” I look at her sharply.
“I didn’t fuck her.” Sam lowers her voice. “And I didn’t know she was your ex.”
“Mm-hm.” I keep my focus on the brush in my hand. The cold water feels good.
“Allie, I honestly had no idea who she was until we saw you at the restaurant. That’s when she told me you two had dated.”
I shake my head in disbelief. “It doesn’t matter.”
“What does that mean?” Sam places her hands on her hips.
“How’d you two meet?” I toss one completely clean brush to the side.
“A mutual friend set us up. They had been trying for months, and I just finally agreed.”
“I’m glad it worked out.” I rub the remaining brush vigorously, trying to clean it as fast as possible since that seems to be my only way out of this garbage moment.
“Why are you being like this?” Sam squats down next to me. She reaches out and brushes my cheek with her fingers. “Paint,” she says, holding up her hand to show me.
I pull back and rub the spot she touched.
Then I hear a scream. I look past Sam to see Maisie on the ground.
She looks at me then begins crying hard.
I take off running toward her. She reaches for me as I lift her off the ground.
Her arms grip around my neck as sobs burst from her tiny body.
I rush her to the deck and sit down on the steps.
“What hurts, honey?” I lean her back on my lap so I can see her face. Sam squats in front of us, resting her hands on my knees. Maisie doesn’t stop crying. I wipe the tears from her cheek, as she gasps to take breaths.
“Baby, talk to us.” Sam gently rubs her arm, encouraging her.
Maisie points toward her back. Sam raises her shirt as I pull Maisie forward to my chest. “It’s just a few scratches from the ground, sweetheart.
You’re okay.” Sam seems to want to reassure me also, but I turn Maisie to see for myself.
Sam pulls Maisie into her arms as I lift her shirt to see the scrapes down her back.
They aren’t bad at all. I think the fall scared her more than anything. Maybe knocked the breath from her.
I kiss the back of her head. “You’re okay, honey. Tough as the nails in your tool belt.”
She turns her head to the side of Sam’s shoulder to look at me as she wipes the tears from her eyes. “I’m feeling better,” her little voice says as she sniffs.
“That’s good news. I didn’t want to eat your slice of pizza.” When I see her smile, I kiss the side of her face. I didn’t realize it before, but Sam’s hand is holding mine against Maisie’s back. I slide it away. “Are you hungry?”
“Yes.” Maisie smiles, not moving her head from Sam’s shoulder.
“Come here, honey.” I take her from Sam to walk in the house. “The food should be here by now.”
We walk into the kitchen and see four pizza boxes on the makeshift table. Everyone else must already have their food because slices are missing. I bet they didn’t tell us it was here to give Sam time to talk to me.
Sam grabs a few paper plates. “What do you want, baby?” She’s asking Maisie but looks me in the eyes. She knows what she’s doing. I’m positive about that. She fixes my plate as well as Maisie’s and carries them to the deck while I carry Maisie. It’s going to be a long weekend.