Page 16 of Heir to a Curse
Chapter 6
The kitchen, little more than an empty shell at this point, was full of my guys in different stages. Mike fixing the plumbing, a couple of guys starting work on repairing the inner shell, damaged studs and wires, and even the subflooring. The bed of my truck was full of the supplies I could carry, but not enough for the drywall and subfloor, which would be here tomorrow.
“Wow,” I said, impressed with the morning’s demo job.
“Nothing much to save,” Mike said. “Easy enough to pull everything out. Hoping to get the plumbing all fitted today.”
“I have your wish list of supplies in the truck,” I said.
“Knew you wouldn’t let me down.”
“Course not. Who are you keeping on for the week? Think we can get the room ready for cabinets by Friday?”
“Joe, Henry, and Adam. We have all three for the week. If you have the cabinets coming Friday, we’ll have the room ready and painted for install Thursday night.” Each of the men waved from their work space.
“Sub-flooring and drywall will be here tomorrow. Got studs and putty in the truck with all the plumbing and electrical supplies. Did Jerry find any electrical issues to explain the fire?”
“Nope,” Jerry answered, appearing in the doorway with an armful of bags and piping. “Some old wires, but nothing that I can find as a starting point. I am splicing in new wires, checking the breaker box. Wasn’t even labeled. For a big place like this, how insane is that?”
“Least it isn’t the old tube and knob.”
“Thank God for that, boss,” Jerry said. “I assume the new toilet in your truck is for the cabin and not for the kitchen?” He waved at the room. “Not sure it fits the décor.”
“Didn’t you know toilets in the kitchen are the latest thing? Yeah, it’s for the cabin. And I plan to install it myself, so you’re off the hook on that one.”
“You sure, boss? Might need Mike. It’s one of those fancy button ones.”
“You get one with a bidet?” Mike wanted to know.
Technically yes, though more for the number one and number two flush options buttons. “It’s eco-friendly,” I defended. “And some of us were affected by the great toilet paper shortage.” That brought a range of teasing from all around. “Back to work you, yahoos. I’ve got a toilet to install and new furniture arriving later today.”
“He’s got to get ready for a tea party,” Jerry snickered.
“Yeah, for your girls. Bet they’d love that.” I stalked from the kitchen back to my truck with their laughter trailing behind me, but feeling a little lighter than I had in the past few weeks. Losing Sofia had been harder than I expected, dropping me into a funk of uncertainty. At least now I had vision, and something to focus on, even if I still had no idea what I’d do with a giant mansion rumored to be cursed.
I loaded a few bags full of tools and juggled the toilet on the long trek back to the cabin. It would be harder with furniture, but I suspected that Madison’s family had a few dollies to ease the way. The cabin looked a hundred times better even from the outside. Windows sparkling, and small patio entry swept. I opened the door and flicked on the light. Musty odor gone, cobwebs cleared, and the floor dust free; those girls deserved every penny I’d be paying them for their time.
I left everything on the patio instead of dragging dust inside and headed across to the shrine to check on them. The door was wide open, and I could hear them talking. Rosa and Leigh, whom I’d teased Jerry about splitting one name, had buckets of soapy water, and dust cloths, their long brown hair pulled up away from their faces. I think they were in their early teens. Thirteen or fourteen? I wasn’t sure. Both were beginning to enter that age in which boys, phones, and make-up, mattered.
“Ladies, how goes the battle? Are the dust bunnies winning? Should I call in reinforcements?”
The girls squealed and dropped their cleaning things to rush to me, wrapping their arms around me in fierce hugs. “Uncle Zach!”
Not biologically related, but they had been claiming me as their uncle for a decade at least. It helped a little with the loneliness. I hugged them back and let them go so they could step away and show me their work. Technically we weren’t supposed to be touching, social distance and all that, but they’d been quarantined at home with their mother since the beginning of the year. I hoped my own caution of constantly using masks, hand sanitizer, and keeping my distance from pretty much everyone kept me from having anything to give to them.
“Lots of little pieces to shine in here,” Rosa said. She pointed to the family tree with engraved bits of many languages scrawling across an entire wall. “And all the little urns. We asked dad to bring us somewhere to get flowers. There should be flowers here.”
“Oh, I agree. How about I promise to bring some tomorrow? You two make sure everything is ready. These folks in here haven’t been seen to in a while.”
“It’s so sad,” Leigh agreed.
“Mrs. Sofia needs flowers,” Rosa said. “There are some wild flowers outside. We thought once we were done cleaning, we’d pick some.”
“That sounds like a wonderful idea. Be sure you log all your hours. Flower picking counts too. Don’t let your dad short your hours.” Neither of the girls could be officially on my payroll, but it wasn’t the first time they’d done small things for me. Most often it was washing my truck. But I’d had them clean a place or two before. I tried to keep their chores simple, and as few hours as possible. “You ladies are making bank today. What sort of things are you planning on buying?”
“I’m saving for a new laptop,” Leigh said. “So I can do my drawings on the computer.” Leigh had big dreams of being a comic book illustrator and she was good. Even creating a short series about a female superhero. I hoped she held on to those dreams. The world sort of had a way of ripping those away from most of us.
“That sounds wonderful. Your work is beautiful. What about you, Rosa?”