Page 4 of Room to Spare (The Fixer Upper #2)

He swallowed, forcing a smirk. If his mom spotted a crack in his armor, she’d be even more unbearable. “Well, it’s a good thing I have all of you to keep me company.”

Paige dramatically gagged. “Please. We are not enough.”

Keaton sighed. “Noted. And what about you? When are you going to find a boyfriend? After all, you’re the one with the ticking biological clock.”

Paige glared at him. Yeah, she didn’t like being the one in the crosshairs either.

And it had the intended effect when their mom turned her attention to Paige’s love life.

He’d have to talk to his dad about helping her find a hobby.

They were obviously struggling with too much free time in their retirement.

The rest of dinner went off without any more guilt trips or drama.

He and his dad talked about the plans for the apartment building while Paige and their mom discussed the mural project.

Paige had liked Keaton’s suggestion to mount custom-built wooden canvases rather than paint directly on the buildings.

This would allow them to be relocated if something happened down the line, and it would be easier to maintain them and extend the lifespan of the paintings.

After everyone finished eating, Keaton started clearing the table while everyone else wandered outside.

His dad had built a patio with a built-in fire pit last year, and it was a great place to hang out.

He wished they’d had something like it when he was in high school because it would have been the place to be on chilly weekend nights. Much better than a dank basement.

“So, Keaton, tell me about your plans for the murals,” his dad said as soon as he joined them. “Paige mentioned you weren’t sure about having the artists paint the brick?”

Keaton leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “Yeah, the brick is starting to get brittle in spots, and we’d have to figure out how to prep the walls and then seal the paintings after so they won’t chip. It would be much easier to build canvases out of MDO.”

He thought about Jules working on touch-ups this afternoon, wondering if that was because no one had considered the pitfalls of placing art directly on the facade of the buildings.

“And you think that’s a better option than Baltic birch or a hardwood ply?” Once upon a time, being questioned on his choice would have sent Keaton into a spiral, worried his father disagreed with him. Now he realized it was a subtle way of making sure he’d considered all options.

“I thought about those, but the MDO gives a smoother surface for painting.” He didn’t tell his dad that he’d not only thought about the best materials but had gone down a rabbit hole, trying to confirm his decisions.

To do so would be admitting he was invested in the outcome of this project beyond just celebrating his sister’s success.

His dad seemed to consider that and nodded slowly. “That’s definitely a consideration that I’m sure the artists will appreciate. And how do you plan to build them?”

Keaton went on to explain how they’d be modular, with each sheet having its own mounting system.

His dad seemed impressed as Keaton explained how this would allow for easier maintenance in the future because they could pull down the panels that needed to be worked on, rather than worrying about something larger and unwieldy.

At some point, his mom and Paige both made their way inside, and he assumed Paige had taken off. But for once, he didn’t feel like he needed to rush out of there to get more work done before flopping into bed. Maybe handing off a little more responsibility to Luke and Finn had been a good idea.

When Keaton finally left, he found himself driving slowly down Main Street.

It was a shame no one had thought about the canvases for the first group of murals.

As he looked up at the second story of one building, he shuddered as he remembered the artist using a scissor lift on the roof of the building next to it to paint everything.

That would have been so much easier, not to mention safer, with a portable framework.

He rolled up to the stop sign in front of Brew & Barrel and debated going in for a drink.

He’d never tell Luke and Finn, but he’d been in a few times when they weren’t with him, so he could get a little pick-me-up from Jules, the adorable server who made no secret of the crush they had on him.

But Jules deserved someone who could show them the attention they deserved, and Keaton wasn’t in a place yet where he could do that.

Maybe someday…

As he sat there, a figure emerged from the alley beside the building.

In the glow of the streetlight, Keaton could make out paint-splattered jeans and a worn canvas jacket, a portfolio tucked under one arm.

Jules paused, looking up at the blank wall above the coffee shop, then pulled out a phone and snapped a quick photo.

Keaton felt something shift inside him, like that crack in his wall suddenly widening, letting in a draft of something unexpected.

Maybe it was time to let a little imperfection into his life after all.