How to Love Your Neighbour(9)
4
Grace all but vibrated her way into the kitchen. Of course beach guy with the shredded abs and wicked smile was an ass. Why wouldn’t he be?
Morty was helping himself to a glass of water when she came into the kitchen, leaning heavily against the counter. He turned when he heard her, set his glass down with a smack.
“Moved for the view, did you? Hell of a view,” he said around a raspy snort-laugh.
Grace’s lips quivered but she fought the grin. No need to encourage him. “Aren’t you in love with Tilly? He seems a little young for you.”
His bark of laughter eased the tension from her shoulders. “You’re better at deflecting than I am.”
She grabbed her own glass from the box of twelve she’d purchased after work and rinsed it out. “I learned from the best. Why don’t you sit down? I put lawn chairs on the back porch.”
Morty shook his head. “Hugo should be here already.”
She rolled her eyes. “They probably stopped for a bite to eat. Just think, if they hadn’t helped me load it up and weren’t bringing it over, it would have taken me a lot longer to move.”
He was quiet for a moment then said, “You ought to think about Mr. Fancy Pants’ offer. Above asking price? You could buy a new place, not have to worry about the work this house is going to need.”
Grace sipped her water, then set it aside. Without looking at him, even though she could feel his old judging gaze, she unloaded the glasses, taking the time to rinse each of them and set them to dry in the farm-style sink.
“I want to live here. I want to make it my own. It’ll take some time but I’m looking forward to restoring it and making it my own.” She couldn’t bring back the grandparents she’d never known, but maybe bringing the house back to its glory days would make her feel, somehow, connected. She planned to restore the original moldings, paint the walls, find some retro lighting that could replace the sixties style with more efficiency.
“You’re starting a new career soon. You should focus on that,” he said.
Grace dried her hands on a paper towel. She needed to wash all the windows and started making a mental list of items to purchase. “You’re going to be fine without me. If that’s what this is about.”
He was no better at diving into his feelings than she was, so it wasn’t a surprise when he made a rude noise and waved his hand dismissively in her direction. “Hell. I know that. Just don’t want you burying yourself in a money pit when you could have so much more. Especially if you took that guy’s offer.”
She stiffened her shoulders, stepped toward him. “I won’t. Let it go. Go sit down before you fall down.” She didn’t mean to snap but she didn’t know how to explain the sense of family she was hoping to unearth through fixing up this home. Maybe it was silly. It’s yours. Your choice. It can be silly if you want.
“Calling me old?” He lifted his chin, a slight smile tipping up one side of his mouth.
“Nah. Just weak,” she said, poking him in a bony shoulder.
He laughed, patted her cheek. “You’re a good girl when you aren’t being sassy.”
Grace winked at him. “So, never?”
Hugo arrived with his on-again-off-again boyfriend. When Grace saw him hauling the mattress out of Morty’s old truck bed by himself, his tank top showing off his biceps, she was grateful they were currently on. She hated calling in favors but her other choice was hauling a few things at a time and that wouldn’t work for her bed or bigger items. Besides, she considered always being willing to switch shifts for him a good trade.
Her things got deposited fairly quickly, and though the guys offered to stick around, help her set up the bed, she told them she was fine. The truth was, she wanted to be alone. When she said goodbye, thanking them all profusely, promising a pizza-and-beer get-together very soon, she shut the door and leaned against it. It rounded at the top, which she absolutely adored. Turning, she ran her fingers along the scarred wood planks. She’d need to redo it. Excitement swelled through her whole body. Turning in a circle, she walked through each of the rooms, taking them all in.
The entryway had a little coat closet and a recessed nook she’d like to put a bench in for putting on her shoes.
She stared at the space a minute. The whole place needed a thorough painting. Inside and out. “I need a beach picture right here.” That would be the first thing people saw when they came in.
To the left was an archway that led to a living area. A wall with a window-size hole revealing part of the kitchen separated those spaces. All of the appliances needed to be replaced but would do for now.
She ran her hand along the wainscoted cupboard doors. They were beautiful.
“Coat of paint and they’ll be like new.” She wanted to play around with Chalk Paint and figured these would be a good canvas.
There was a small laundry off the kitchen, a mudroom of sorts with a door leading out to the porch. The house was small but she liked the coziness of the one-story layout with two bedrooms and a den the size of a closet. It might actually be a storage closet but she’d done a design project on tiny spaces and wanted to see what she could do with it. Her bed was set up and made; she had only clothes, some linens, and toiletries to unpack, so she took her phone to the deck and sat in one of the two lawn chairs she’d brought.