Page 6 of The Last Thing (Baker Girls #4)

CHAPTER SIX

WILSON

“Hey, Deck.”

I spin around with my hands out in front of me. I never know when one of my idiot crewmembers might decide to chuck a tool my direction without so much as a “heads!”

But it’s just my carpenter strolling toward me, thumb over his shoulder.

“Bossman and little bossman are here.”

I suppress a chuckle and shake my head, adjusting my hard hat.

“Don’t let Ardito hear you call him little bossman. He’ll give you the shittiest job he can find.”

I smack his arm and jog up the small hill to where the driveway of the house we’re working on is situated.

Leo Barone and Nick Ardito are looking things over while slowly walking in my direction.

I’m a project manager for AB Construction, which Leo started with his best friend Noah—Nick’s dad—in their early twenties. They’ve grown to be one of the biggest in the area, and they’re certainly the most well-respected.

I’ve worked a lot of construction jobs, and a lot of them are toxic as fuck.

It’s unfortunate, but the trades can be that way.

They’re either great or filled with assholes, and the people you work with and for make it that way.

Leo and Noah expect the best from their employees, and over the last few years, I rose from associate carpenter to project manager.

This is a whole house reno, and the biggest project I’ve been in charge of so far.

“Leo. Nick.”

I give them an up nod, and Leo walks over to shake my hand.

Nick is still in school, learning the business side of things, but he’ll be working as the general manager eventually, so he spends a good chunk of his time shadowing Leo.

Even though he grew up on sites and already knows his shit.

His brother, Vince, just finished his bachelor’s degree in architectural design, and he’s been working on a lot of our building plans over the last couple of years.

“Deck, how’s it going?” Leo asks. “It’s looking good on the outside.”

“It’s coming along. I’ll take you inside in a minute. We’ve caught up pretty well after we found that natural spring in the yard and had to adjust the drainage. The new windows are all in and, as you can see, we’re working on siding now.”

He nods, looking at what a couple of the workers are doing with siding.

“Any concerns from the homeowners?” Nick asks.

“They ask about the timeline for completion regularly, but that’s typical. We’re on track to be within a few days of our original projection. If that spring hadn’t set us back, we might’ve finished early.”

“Good, let’s see inside.”

I lead them up the back deck, which was finished a week-and-a-half ago, and inside the house.

“Electric was run on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. The electrical inspector will be here bright and early Monday to sign off on it.”

“Any major issues?” Leo asks, coming to a stop in the middle of the gutted and reframed living room.

“Might need you to step in with the door company. They sent us two warped ones and one of the replacements was also warped.”

He blows out a breath. “Yeah. We might need to switch suppliers. That’s not isolated to you.”

“I’ll look over all the info we’ve got,” Nick says.

“Anything else?” Leo asks.

I look around to make sure no one is close by.

“That new kid we hired isn’t a good fit.

He’s missed two days in his first two weeks, and from what I’m hearing around the site, they weren’t legitimate call-offs.

He went to a casino out of town with his buddies one of the days.

It’s on his social media.” Nick snorts at that.

“He also didn’t have a reliable work ethic when he was here. ”

Leo grinds his teeth. I know how much he hates when they mishire someone.

“Thanks for letting me know. I’ll deal with it on Monday.”

It sucks that anyone would come in and take advantage of working here.

Leo and Noah are flexible about people calling off.

They were both single dads and understand life happens.

They get hard shit and value empathy and compassion when dealing with their employees.

That said, Leo Barone is just about the last person you want to play fuck around and find out with.

“All right, well, keep us updated if anything changes. Otherwise, it’s looking good,” Leo says, patting my shoulder as he walks by me toward the door. “Oh, hey. Any luck finding a sitter?”

I sigh and rub my chin. “Working on it, but not yet.”

He nods in understanding. “Well, Lara is happy to keep helping out until you find one.”

“Thanks, Leo. Take care, guys.”

He and Nick wave as they leave, and I sigh and check the clock.

Just under an hour until we wrap up for the day.

Moving was a great plan minus the fact that I don’t have anyone to look after Sophia now that school is in session.

In the summer, she spent the days with my mom.

I’d drop her off in the morning before work since my mom is always an early riser and pick her up after.

It was out of my way, but it worked well enough for the last month while we got settled in our apartment.

Now that Sophia is in school, though, it’s been harder to manage. Having my mom drive out and back twice a day to watch for a couple of hours—less in the morning—is ridiculous.

Leo’s wife runs a daycare, and though it’s meant for younger kids, she’s had Sophia act as her helper in the mornings and afternoons for the last few days since school started.

I’ve got to find something soon, though, because that’s not an ideal situation for Sophia.

Plus, I need some help with food prep. I hate eating out, but I’m exhausted by the time I get home.

Marion’s Café just down the road from our apartment is a staple, but it’s not a substitute for me cooking my daughter the meals she deserves.

Single parenting is hard as fuck.

But other than my mom, I’ve been in this alone since the beginning, so I’ll do what I always do—put my big boy pants on and get on with it.

When I climb out of my truck at Lara’s daycare, Sophia is in the backyard, showing Leo’s five-year-old granddaughter Harper how to do a perfect spin while Lara—who used to be a dance teacher—laughs in the background.

“Hey,” I call.

“Hi, Decker, how are you?”

“I’m good. Busy as usual, but that’s life.”

“Isn’t it, though? Sophia, your dad’s here!”

Sophia gives Harper a hug and a kiss on the cheek, then runs over and jumps into my arms, knocking me back a step with the force of her hug.

“Hi, Daddy.”

“Hey, sweetheart.” I look into her sparkling green eyes and see nothing but happiness. She is joy personified and I couldn’t be luckier that I got her for a kid. “How was your day?”

I set her down and rub my sore back.

“It was good. I think a girl I met could maybe be a friend.”

“Nice.” I give her a high-five. “How come it’s just a maybe?”

“Well, we’re still getting to know each other. You always say I shouldn’t trust people until I know them.”

Damn. She’s always paying attention. And sometimes takes my words a little too literally.

“That’s true, but if you don’t give them a little trust to start, they might never feel safe enough to get to know you.”

Her little brow furrows. “Oh. Okay. I’ll spend more time with her tomorrow.”

I catch Lara’s gaze, and we both laugh. That easy .

To be a kid again.

“Oh, Daddy! Guess what?”

“What?”

“Miss Lara is going to teach dance classes again! Can I sign up?”

I glance at Lara, who nods.

“No pressure. Nick’s wife has gotten back into dance recently, so we’re going to do some small classes together. It won’t cost much and it’ll only be a couple of afternoons per week.”

“We’ll talk about it. Thanks.”

Sophia gives me her grumpy look, but waves goodbye to Lara and lets me help her into her booster seat in the car.

Once I’m in the driver’s seat, she hits me with the question I was expecting. “Why do we have to talk about it? I really want to learn to dance!”

“I get it, kid. I want that for you too. But when do I ever make a decision without thinking through everything?”

She huffs. “Never.”

And even though my brain shouldn’t go there, it takes me right back to the carnival. The night with my little hellion. Making her come on that Ferris wheel. It was the first time in a long time I didn’t think every little detail through. I felt more alive than I had in years.

But it was a moment in time. A fleeting memory. Pulling into the small parking area across the street from our building, I push all those thoughts away. That was a night outside of my reality, and I have to get back to living in the real world.

I grab my backpack and Sophia’s from the trunk, then help Sophia out of my CRV. Not the most glamorous car, but it’s better than a minivan.

After looking both ways, we cross the street and head inside the building to our apartment.

We’ve just gotten to the landing when the door at the top floor swings open.

“Hi, Wilson. Hi, Sophia,” Frannie Baker calls.

She’s our landlady, though that word is far too frumpy for her.

She’s in her mid-twenties with a warm smile and upbeat energy.

Her boyfriend, Mark Abbott—the starting QB for the NY Bandits—bought the building back in late April and AB Construction did a bunch of renovations for them.

When I found out the apartment was up for grabs, I jumped on it.

Mark’s away right now since the season’s on, but Frannie works as a social worker here in Ida.

“Hi,” Sophia chirps, waving happily.

“I just got home and was hoping I’d catch you quickly. Are you still looking for someone to nanny for you?”

I wouldn’t use that word exactly, but… “Yes. Know of anyone?”

She comes down the stairs to me, smiling the whole way like she’s solved all my problems. “Yes. I finally convinced my sister to move up here, and she’s worked as a nanny for years.

She’s looking for a fresh start because the last people she nannied for had a messy divorce that she was dragged through.

She’s amazing, though. I’ve never met a kid she nannied for who didn’t adore her.

” She pauses thoughtfully. “And she has a big heart. She’ll be here Sunday, if you’d like to meet her. ”

I glance up at the ceiling. I’m not much of a believer in God, but fate… are you really dropping the solution to all my problems at my door?

“Sunday might be busy, but we’ll try to stop by. If not… she could come down early Monday morning?”

Frannie nods. “I’ll let her know. She’ll be in the apartment right across from you, so it’ll make things easy.”

I let out a sigh. That would make things so much simpler.

“Thank you, Frannie. Really.”

She waves a hand. “It’s nothing. I’m just helping two people who need problems solved to find each other.”

I chuckle at that. “Well, again, I appreciate it. Have a good night.”

“Thanks, you too.”

“Go Bandits!” Sophia yells.

“Go Bandits,” Frannie calls back as she makes her way up the stairs.

Once we’re inside, Sophia scampers off to her room to unpack her backpack, but I lean against the closed door, hoping that for once fate is here to help me out.