Chapter 26
Chapter Twenty-Six
STELLA
The following days pass in a happy haze. Drew comes over every day for breakfast and after a quick good morning, kisses me. And keeps kissing me. He wakes me up better than a morning run.
After eating together, he heads to work, and I go down to the bookstore. I can’t quash my smile and spend most of the day skipping instead of walking. When Julia arrives after school she takes one look at my face and rolls her eyes.
Each day, she’s more confident and talkative. It means she’s comfortable enough to tease me about being in love, but I hardly care. It’s a sign that she feels safe with me and in this store.
Wednesday, we clean out the last of the books. I sold the extra bookshelves online and the store is empty but for the last few stacks of remaining books on the desk to give away. The space is open and echoey. My joyful laughter bounces off the walls, filling every corner. It’s surreal.
Thursday after breakfast, Drew comes with me to work.
We set up the tripod to film him as he begins to build the bathroom.
I’m supposed to be cleaning and sanding shelves to prepare them for a fresh layer of paint, but Drew is too distracting as he cuts out the doorway.
His expertise is very attractive, especially when he wears that tool belt.
When he catches me staring at him for the third time, he smirks. “What are you looking at? Don’t you have work to do?”
“It’s not my fault you're so handsome. You should come with a warning label.”
He slips his hammer into his belt and saunters toward me.
I giggle. When he wraps his arms around my waist and dips me backward, my giggle turns into a squeal.
He kisses my jaw before pulling me upright and planting his lips on mine.
My arms wrap around the back of his neck.
His kiss makes me glad the windows are covered.
After he’s taught me my lesson about not staring, he walks backward toward the wall. “Will you go out with me tomorrow night?”
“Yes,” is out of my mouth before he finishes speaking. “To Oak Tavern?”
“No, I thought we’d go to the dude ranch.”
Not exactly my idea of a fun time. “And do what? Feed the cattle?”
A quick shake of his head. He has yet to look away from me.“On the weekends they have dinner and line dancing in their big party barn. It’s a lot of fun. A real country experience.”
Much better than what I had in mind. “Sounds perfect.”
By dinner, Drew has the door cut and the bathroom framed in.
Julia’s eating dinner with us is now a given. After, Drew and I drive her to the end of her lane in his truck and watch her until she disappears in the dark. I don’t move from the middle of the bench seat even when there’s only the two of us.
Once back at my apartment, we work on projects.
I edit the video I took of Drew building the bathroom.
There’s a bit where he disappears because he’s kissing me off camera.
I trim that out, then speed it up to triple time.
Tomorrow morning I’ll do the voice over and introduce my handyman to my followers.
Drew and I start the evening on opposite ends of the couch, but it doesn’t take long before we’re sitting next to each other, cuddled in a blanket, talking and kissing more than working.
The next day, by the time Julia comes after school, Drew and his plumber friend have finished hooking up water for the single sink and toilet. The electrician’s on a tall ladder switching out the fluorescent light sockets with LEDs.
While they work, Julia and I clean. When it’s time to take her home, Drew needs to stay with the electrician, so I take her myself. When we reach the dirt road, I slow, but I don’t stop. My car rolls forward at fifteen miles an hour. If Julia tells me to, I will. She remains silent.
There’s no light but those cast by my headlights. It’s just as creepy as I imagined it would be. I can’t completely cast away thirty-five years of living in the city, and check to make sure the car doors are locked.
When I reach the house, I audibly gasp.
One of the two front windows has a crack down the middle. Both are covered by a blanket. No light shines from inside. Many of the siding slates are missing. There are cinder blocks used for steps to the front door. It’s rundown and falling apart. It looks lonely, dark, and scary.
I hate that Julia has been living here. Alone?
“Julia, is your mom home?”
A slow shake of her head. Then in a barely audible voice, “She left a few months ago. I don’t know where she went.”
I can’t leave Julia here. “I have an extra room in my loft. Will you come stay with me?”
She doesn’t take her eyes off the house. “Why?”
“Because I care about you and want you to feel safe.” I look at the house again. “To be safe.”
Her answer is slow in coming, but she eventually says, “Okay.”
“Do you want to grab anything from inside?”
“Yeah, but you have to wait here.”
Once she’s inside, no overhead light or lamp turns on. Only a single beam from a flashlight. It’s spooky out here; the hooting of an owl feels sinister.
When Julia exits the house, she carries one single black garbage bag. I unlock the doors and she throws it on the back seat before climbing into the front.
“Ready?” I ask.
She nods.
“Then let's go home.”
We’re back on the main road when Julia speaks.
“My mom wasn’t always a druggie. She did love me once.”
Maybe her mom is a good person, but all I see is a teenager who’s been taking care of herself. I reach out and lay a hand on her shoulder. She looks out the window so I can’t see her face, but she sniffles which makes me think she’s crying.
The bookstore’s backroom is empty when we get inside. Drew and the electrician are talking in the main part of the store, but neither of them see us going upstairs.
I lead Julia directly to the second bedroom. It’s stuffed full of boxes, but they can be unpacked and the books placed on the bookshelves now that the paint has had a few weeks to cure. I want her to know that she can stay for as long as she wants. A good way to do that is give her ownership.
“Here’s the plan,” I say. “It's only six-thirty. We’ll clear out this room tonight. Tomorrow and Sunday we’ll paint the walls, any color you want.”
“Pink,” she says immediately.
Not my favorite wall color, but this is no longer my room. So I nod.
“Until we get you a bed, you’re taking my room. I’ll sleep on the couch.”
She shakes her head. “I’ll sleep on the couch. I’m used to it.”
I’m not letting her do that here. “I’m older. I get the first pick. You get the left over. Which means I’m in the living room.”
She nods as if that makes sense. “Can I take a shower,” she asks with some hesitation. “And do some laundry?”
“Of course, but not at the same time. The water pressure isn’t that strong.”
I show her where the towels are, then slip out onto the stairs where she won’t hear my phone conversation with Drew. He picks up on the second ring.
“Hey, Stella. We’re almost finished for tonight. Another half hour.”
Just hearing his voice calms the unease I feel at what I’ve undertaken. I don’t know how to take care of a teenager.
“I can’t go out tonight.” I describe the last half hour.
He takes it all in stride. “I’ll ask around to see who has an extra bed.”
“I don’t want to make a fuss. I’ll buy one.”
“This is what neighbors do. We help each other. You’re not the only one who loves Julia. Let us show her we care.”
It’s difficult for me to accept help, but he’s right. This isn’t about me; it’s about Julia.
“Can you ask about a dresser and desk, too?” I ask.
“Yes, and thank you, Stella.”
“I was hoping the hottie hardware store manager would open his doors tonight so we can pick out paint. We’re going to paint her room tomorrow, and I’d like to get started as early as possible.”
“He can definitely help you with that. I’ll come up when we’re done here.”
Saturday, Drew works downstairs with the electrician. It’s hard not to be there with them, but Julia needs me more. People before projects.
While Julia and I take a break between paint coats, we unpack the boxes previously stored in the room. It’s like an archeology dig of stuff I’ve packed away since I left for college seventeen years ago. Most of the boxes hold books. Even with five bookshelves, they won’t all fit.
Julia pulls out worn copies of The Babysitter’s Club. “It’s a good thing you have a dumpster out back.”
I grab them from her hand. “Don’t you dare! Those are a part of my childhood.” I add them to my shelf.
The next morning, Drew picks up the bed, desk, and dresser from people who offered them to Julia. The three of us manage to get them upstairs and into her room. When Julia has all her furniture set up the way she likes, she puts away her now clean clothes.
She can’t hide her smile. I’ve never seen her this unabashedly happy. She goes around to the different pieces of furniture and runs her hand along the tops and over the bedspread someone gifted her, which just so happens to be pink.
Drew comes up behind me where I stand at Julia’s door.
“Mom wants to know if you two are coming with me to dinner today,” he says. “Tacos. What do you think?”
I’m an instant yes, but Julia balks.
“Come with us,” Drew says. “Think of it as visiting your older sister’s boyfriend’s family.”
Julia looks around her new room before reluctantly nodding. “I guess I can hang out with my sister’s boyfriend’s family. But only because there are tacos involved.”