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“Yeah? Did we switch topics there?” Melinda laughed.

“I think my statement encompasses all topics that involve you,” she replied.

“Good one,” Melinda said, still laughing. “I have a tour to give in about an hour, but I’m free after that. Will I see you tonight? It’s okay if you’re too busy with the house.”

“I don’t know how long this will take, but I’d love to see you tonight. Second date?”

“I’ll plan this one.”

“Was my planning disappointing?” Kyle asked, knowing the answer already.

“Your planning was perfect. It’s my turn now, though,” she replied.

“I’ll leave it to you, then. Want to stop by when you’re done? I’ll probably still be here.”

“I’ll be there,” Melinda replied.

They hung up when Jill walked into the office with a question, interrupting their midday chat. Kyle hung up just in time for the contractor to enter the kitchen and take a look around.

“Ready for the rundown?” Myra asked as she looked up from her clipboard and smiled up at Kyle.

“Sure. I hope it’s good news.”

“It mostly is. The things you mentioned needing work aren’t that big of a deal, and we can get started on those right away. We’d just need the place cleared out.”

“Okay,” Kyle said. “Oh, have a seat.”

Myra pulled out a chair and sat down next to her.

“You’ve got some windows upstairs that could use replacing, but I’d recommend just doing all the windows at once whenever you can. It’s not urgent, but it would save money on air and heat and prevent some leaks that might happen sooner than later.”

“Okay.”

“I haven’t checked out the roof, but my guess is that it needs a little work if no one’s touched it in fifteen or twenty years. I can have a crew out looking at it tomorrow for you, if you want.”

“Yes. That sounds great.”

“I know this place is used as a rental, but if you’re renting it out, the work will–”

“Oh, I’ve made sure it’s not up online anymore. I don’t plan to rent it out until the work is done.”

“Great. There’s some plumbing work to do in the guest bathroom and probably the master, too. I’d want to do a more thorough inspection before giving you a quote, but a plumberis going to be able to get you a more accurate estimate. I have a few I work with that I trust. Electrical seems fine, but I’d still recommend having an electrician review it just to be safe. Again, I’ve got someone you can use, or you can get your own, if you’d prefer.”

“I can do that. Get a quote, I mean.”

“And the floors down here need work. I think the other floors can wait another year or two, at least, but the wood down here is warped and getting more damaged by the day. It looks original. Is it?”

“I don’t know. It could be.”

“Well, if it is, it’s survived a long time, and likely, it’s been fixed and redone several times. It’s time to replace it entirely, but we’re good with keeping with original work, and I think I have wood that will match pretty closely.”

“Okay.”

“If you need help moving things out for the work, my crew can do that and put things in storage, or you can always move stuff from one room to the other as we go, but it’ll go much faster if we just take everything out.”

“Can you do the upstairs floors now, too?”

“We can, if you want.”