Page 25 of Heir to a Curse

Chapter 10

The drywall and subflooring went in like a dream, two decades of experience lending to easy cuts and installation. The team a well-oiled machine as we measured, cut, nailed, then puttied. I’d need to do a bit of leveling to the floor before it was ready for real flooring, but that was fine. The work kept my mind off of other things, mainly the mystery man and the monster in the backyard.

Not real, I reminded myself. Monsters weren’t real.

Montana appeared around one to let us know lunch was ready, but none of us were willing to stop. Not while the end was in sight. And less than an hour later we’d finished the drywall and subfloor initial install. The room now looked like an empty shell. Better than the war zone it had been.

“He’s in here,” I heard Mr. Yamamoto say from the open door to the foyer.

Addy stepped into the kitchen looking like the polished interior designer she was, in heeled boots, skinny jeans, and a flirty top. Her dark hair was pulled up into an elaborate ponytail, with little bits of curls left to soften her face, as though it needed it. No one looked at Addy and could tell she was the mother of four, and ten years happily married to an accountant. Her style and grace misled some to believe she was all beauty, but my girl knew almost as much about construction as I did, even more about decorating, and managed real estate on the side.

I headed her way, but kept a proper six feet away, when normally I’d wrap my arms around her. “Hey, what are you doing all the way out here?”

She pulled down her mask and rewarded me with a huge smile. “Taking a break from my horde. And bringing you stuff. Did you get the updated layout for the kitchen?” She looked around at the space. “I put in all your ideas and the materials to set the layout.”

“I saw the link pop up on my phone, but haven’t looked at it yet. We aren’t ready for all that yet anyway. Just finally got the wall back up.” I pointed to the drywall, which still needed putty. “Had to insulate the outer wall too. And replace a big chunk of the original floor.”

“It looks great,” Addy said. “The pictures I saw of the damage were pretty bad. I brought the stuff on your list.”

I blinked at her, trying to catch up.

“Your phone is linked to mine, remember? Anything you put on your wish list shows up on mine? I figured since I was headed this way, and I knew you’d be working, I’d grab it.”

“If I could hug you, I would,” I said, finally catching up. “Guess it pays to have a work wife?”

She snorted, and it wasn’t delicate or pretty, but it made me laugh. “A friend of Carl’s was doing some Zoom meeting with him the other day and overheard me talking about you. Asked Carl why he’s not jealous. Carl thought that was funny. But if you’d been straight, I’d have left him in a hot minute for you.”

I raised a brow at her. We’d been friends since high school. Not that we’d attended the same school, we met during a summer job at the local retail shop. We’d started in real estate together. Saving to buy our first home, living in it while we fixed it up, and then renting it out down the road. We still owned that house. In fact, I’d just renovated it last year with a full remodel. Addy and I had always been more than friends, only not in the romantic sort of way.

“Polished and refined Carl? For me?” I lifted an arm and pretended to smell my pits like some Neanderthal. Thankfully my deodorant was still working. “’Cause stinky big men turn you on?”

“You don’t stink, at least not right now.”

“It’s been known to happen,” I reminded her. Construction sometimes meant in the heat, and always lots of movement, which really put deodorant to the test.

“You’re a brat,” she remarked.

“But not wrong,” Jerry laughed. “Let me go unload your truck. If the boss’s wish list is anything like usual, there’s going to be lots of weird random shit.”

“There is. Plywood and paint among other things.” She looked around the room. “You guys can take a break, right?”

“We were just about to when you came,” I said, and led her toward the outer door. We all made our way to the truck. “How’s Carl and the kids? I’ve been trying to stay away. I know you guys are isolating to keep safe, and I’m out too much, exposed to everything.”

“It’s fine. Though I miss having you around. You really going to live up here instead of in the garage apartment?” She asked.

“You could rent it out, make some extra money. More than the pennies you get from me.”

“We’re fine. Design is slow, but we have the rental properties, even with reduced rent on some, and holds on others, and Carl is still busy even if he’s working from home. I, however, was not meant to be a teacher. Getting the kids to do their homework has been a full-time job.”

“I can imagine.”

“You’d be better at it than me. You’re a better taskmaster.” She put her mask back up even though we stepped outside. Too close to ensure safety without it.

“Your kids like me too much to listen to me,” I said. Mike and Jerry passed us with several large sheets of plywood, adding them to the stack beside the house. “Thanks for grabbing stuff on my list. I wasn’t looking forward to another trip into the city. I’ll need to get some sort of door put back on the shrine.”

“What happened to the shrine?”

“Let me show you.” I led her back through the yard and to the cabin area.