Chapter 52
Summer
A knock on my door wakes me the next morning. “Morning darling. Time to get up,” Zander greets.
“Okay. That’s good.” Once the kettle boils, I steep the tea and decide to call Jake. Going back to my room, I call the Virginia phone. It takes several rings, but Ray answers the video call. “Morning,” I greet.
“Morning Summer. Just a minute,” Ray responds. The phone jiggles around, then I see Jake’s face.
“Hi Jake. Doing okay?” I smile before taking a sip of tea.
“Hi Sum. I’m ok. Where are you?”
“In my room.” I turn the camera and show Jake my room. It’s fairly clean, not that Jake would care. “What’cha think?” I ask.
“It suits you.”
“Thanks. How are you with all the stuff we told you?”
“Dealing Sum. Dad’s going to answer some questions for me today.”
“Sounds good. I’ll be heading to your house soon with my dad and some friends so the movers can get in. My phone will be with me, so have Ray call me if you need anything or want to talk.”
“Thanks. See you later.”
“Bye, Jake,” I blow a kiss and wave before hanging up. Zander is eating at the island when I return with a second plate beside him. “Eat while it’s hot, darling.”
“Thanks.” I finish my tea, then sit. We discuss all the things we need to do at the condo this weekend, and he grabs a pen and notepad from the drawer so I can make a list. Once we’re done eating, I wake Seb before doing the dishes.
Seb gets dressed and eats quickly, then we grab painting supplies, basic tools, laundry soap, and a ladder from the garage before leaving.
We arrive at the condo a little after 8am.
After riding the elevator up, Zander unlocks the door for us.
The condo is spacious and gleams with cleanliness.
A tour is the first thing we do. The kitchen is on the right of the door, with an island and a sink positioned in front, surrounded by white, glossy cabinets and pale stone countertops.
A dining area is next to that, followed by a living room that features large patio doors opening onto a balcony.
Two floor-length windows flank the patio doors, reflecting the light and creating a bright atmosphere.
The stone fireplace has a TV hookup above, adding to the room’s amenities.
A short hall connects the dining room to the bedrooms. The smallest bedroom is behind the first door on the left.
A stacked washer and dryer are in the closet, and then the bathroom is just down the hall.
To the right, there’s a medium-sized bedroom, and beyond that is the primary suite.
On this side, the bedrooms each have patio doors that open onto the balcony, allowing a wonderful warm breeze and sunlight inside.
Every wall in the condo is white with wood-looking vinyl plank flooring, so there are no transitions for Jake. This condo will work really well. The three of us step out onto the balcony and see that it runs the length of the condo and is a good width. Plenty of room for lounging and dining.
Zander figures we’ll need only one gallon of paint for Jake’s room and a tinted primer, so he drives us to the hardware store.
Jake wants navy blue walls in his bedroom, the same thing he had in Virginia.
I’m worried about the darkness in his room, but he gets whatever he wants right now.
I pick up a broom and mop while we’re there and several cleaners.
Ray said to keep receipts for whatever I bought, and he’d reimburse me on Monday.
The rest of the guys are waiting for us when we return. After hugs, we head upstairs. E offers to clean the kitchen, so the rest of us go into Jake’s room. Alex and I tape off the room while Bay, Seb, and Zander cover the floor and then start with the primer.
Zander gets a text that the movers have arrived, so we leave the guys painting and go downstairs to meet them.
There are three guys waiting with a truck.
The lead's name is Shane. We show them the service elevator before going upstairs to see the condo.
I point out we're painting the room the items from Virginia are going into, so I ask them to pile that stuff along one wall in the third bedroom.
Shane puts post-it notes on each door so they know where everything's going, then they head downstairs to haul things up.
Zander and I supervise the movers, but they seem to be careful.
Shane says they’re going to haul everything up first and then unpack, so I go back to Jake’s room to help paint.
I grab a brush to work along the floor trim since Bay's on the ladder working near the ceiling.
Seb and Alex have the left wall already primed.
By noon the primer is dry, and E left with Alex to grab lunch. We offered to buy lunch for the movers, but they brought lunch with them.
After opening the patio doors in Jake’s room, I wash my hands and join the guys in the main area. Seb and Bay are unwrapping the dining chairs, and Zander's unwrapping the couch, so I help him get the plastic off, then sit down to wait for food. “How are you, darling?” Zander asks.
“Okay. I guess I expected to see their old stuff, but all this furniture is new. Is that better or worse for Jake?” I ask with concern.
“I don’t know. We can’t change it, though. Are you setting up his room the same way he had it before?”
“No. His old room had a pitched roof, so I can’t. The color will be similar, and I’ll have to see how much of Jake’s stuff he kept,” I shrug.
Zander pulls me into a side hug. “Whatever he has, or doesn’t have, Jake will get through this with all the support he has. Try not to worry, darling. He’s awake; the worst is over.”
I nod, but I can feel myself getting overwhelmed. Hold it together, Summer. I can break down later.
Alex and E come back with bags of food. I ordered soup and salad, so I grab those and eat at the island on a chair Seb gives me.
He squeezes my shoulder before getting his own food.
The movers come back while we’re still eating, now hauling boxes.
All the furniture must be here. It doesn’t look like much, but maybe when it’s all unpacked it'll feel homier. E offers to clean up, so I go back to Jake’s room to put on the coat of blue paint.
It only takes a little over an hour to do with the four of us.
The guys jump in to put furniture together once we’re done.
Zander and E are in the primary getting the bed built, so I find some boxes marked kitchen and unpack in there.
I feel like bawling my eyes out today, and I don’t understand why.
I was doing fine until lunch. Tired but so happy about Jake.
Now, my emotions are all over the place.
There have been no reminders of Jake’s old house yet, so that can’t be the problem.
Maybe I want that? Shaking my head, I try to focus on what I’m doing. One moment at a time, I remind myself.
Seb comes over and bumps my shoulder. “Are you okay, Sunshine? You zoned out for a minute.”
“Yeah. Just emotional for some reason,” I shrug. “Wanna help me unpack?”
Seb gives me a hug from behind and kisses my neck before helping me put the kitchen together.
When the movers finish unloading, they take over for Alex in the dining area.
My phone buzzes with a notification that the bed and wheelchair have arrived.
Seb and Alex follow me downstairs once I get the service elevator key back from Shane.
After talking with the driver and assistant, the guys help carry everything up and into the condo.
We walk straight to Jake’s room, and I hear Alex telling them the walls are still damp from painting.
Seb leaves to help elsewhere as Alex and I watch the bed being set up.
It’s actually really nice. There’s a thick light-oak wooden frame and headboard like a regular bed.
The difference is that the sides of the frame are a little higher.
The box spring doesn’t exist, and instead, it has a base like a hospital bed, with wheels and a deep shelf to store things.
After the bed is inside the frame and the wheels are locked, one of the delivery men pulls out two cords, plugging one in on each side of the bed.
Last, the mattress is placed on the frame.
The driver hauls all the packaging material out as the other man grabs some booklets and remotes and explains all the features of the bed to us.
It’s pretty amazing. A built-in shelf pulls up from either side of the frame to act as a reachable table for Jake.
The bed, head and foot areas all move. There’s a massage feature and a built-in heater in the mattress.
Hooks built into the headboard can handle an IV or whatever else is needed.
There are also rails made of wood that pull up from the frame.
Specialized plugs for oxygen and monitors are in the bed’s base, and you can access them by removing a panel in the frame.
The wheelchair is fancy, too. The back lifts to create a higher headrest, and you can tip it back about 25 degrees for comfort. There’s a removable memory foam seat cushion; it’s powered and can be folded without the cushion for travelling.
He leaves me with two remotes and the manual before asking about the patio doors and bathroom.
Apparently, they're a full-service company.
They can build small ramps on either side of the patio doors, allowing easy wheeling for Jake.
He also suggests a one-piece shower with a tiny ramp.
They stock standard sizes, and they can install them in one day.
I pull Zander aside to discuss. “What do you think, darling? The project can be completed before they move, even though it costs about $1000 more than the contractors Ray hired.”