How to Love Your Neighbour(19)
“I did. But I don’t want your money.”
“I get that. You wanted to see my place. A tour for a paint tutorial?”
She fought the grin. “You already agreed to the tour.”
He nodded, wiped his hand over his mouth, and Grace had to hold back the laughter when she saw that the paint had smeared farther across his cheek.
“You show me how to paint, help me out and I’ll help you paint something.”
Hmm. Grace looked at the damage he’d done to the fence. Uneven strokes, gaps where he’d missed spots entirely. “Is that a fair trade?”
He laughed. “You’re a hard-ass. And I’ve negotiated with more than my fair share of them. What do you want?”
She didn’t want anything, but, somehow, the act of negotiating rather than accepting a simple kindness made him a nicer person. Weird.
“Okay. I’ll help. You have to clean all the supplies and help me stain my back deck.”
He hesitated. She arched her brows.
“That works the same as painting, I’m guessing?”
She laughed, grabbed the packet of brushes he’d tossed to the grass. “Yes. You know you could watch YouTube videos to learn this stuff, right?”
He picked up his now-clean brush before she could tell him to wash his hands first. “That doesn’t seem nearly as fun. Or educational.”
Grace wasn’t sure who was getting the better end of the deal, and she never got that glass of wine, but maybe she got something better: on her neighbor’s good side.
9
Noah was looking up the cost of jerseys when Rob texted him to tell him the kids were practicing at the rec center not too far from his house today. They switched up locations to better accommodate the kids. Apparently, most of the guys skipped last time because they figured the tournament wouldn’t happen.
Noah might not know how to paint a fence—well, he did now—but he knew how to help organize charities and bring in money. He sent Rob a text confirming the time, then sent his mom a text to ask for some ideas.
She texted back quickly.
Mom
I’ll think on it. I like knowing you’re thinking about ways to make the area better. Means you’re settling in. I hope California does for you what it did for Chris.
Noah rolled his eyes but had a smile on his face when he texted back.
Noah
Unlike your youngest son, I didn’t need any help loosening up.
Things are good. I just want to help a friend.
Mom
How’s your house? Send me some pictures of the work you have people doing.
He knew she didn’t mean anything by it. It was his standard operating procedure—he’d swing by projects, take some photos, send them to the art directors or publicity for his father’s company, and move on to the next thing.
Noah
I painted my own fence last night. Should have taken a before and after picture of that.
Mom
Sorry. I need to sit down.
Noah smirked. He came by being a smart-ass naturally.
Noah
Funny. Have some faith in me. I’m really diving in this time.
Mom
Glad to hear it, sweetie. I’ll get back to you on ideas.
Once Grace taught him to stain, he might even do his own. The thought of Grace filled him with mixed feelings. While she dug her heels in on the house, would it be such a bad idea to cozy up to her? Learn a little? Design was her forte after all. She might suck at it. He had a feeling, though, that Grace Travis did well at anything she put her mind to.
He had to admit, only to himself, that he’d been more than a little shocked at the ease with which she’d wielded a hammer, paintbrush, sander. It wasn’t a sexist thing—it was just that he hired people to do these things. He enjoyed seeing the before and after but watching her during made him want to experience it for himself. She had a dozen jobs he could see just from the outside that needing doing on her house. It hadn’t occurred to him that in addition to everything he already knew about her, which wasn’t that much, she was a regular handywoman as well.
The knock on the door pulled him out of his thoughts entirely.
Pulling the door open, he grinned at his assistant, Josh, who held up grocery bags. “Hey, man. How’s it going?”
“Better now. I haven’t eaten since this morning,” Noah said, shutting the door behind them.
“You’ve heard of home delivery, right?”
Noah grabbed the bags, held them up. “Yup. Just got it.”
Josh whistled behind him. “Damn. It looks awesome without the wall.”
He set the bags on the kitchen counter and turned, leaned against it. Yeah, it did. The counters, stove, and sink formed a U shape in the kitchen. From where he stood, he could see clear to the bay window in the living area. It was all one open space. He had some thoughts on what to do with the kitchen to open it up even more. It needed serious updating.
“I’m happy with it. I’m thinking about doing something similar upstairs with two of the bedrooms,” Noah said.
“Not my area of expertise but I definitely like the open space better.” Josh started to put the groceries away, pulling all of Noah’s favorites out of the bag. “I printed out the New York contracts for you to go over. Once they have your signature, all of your real estate holdings are officially on the West Coast.”