Page 106 of Perfect Chemistry

I nodded and looked back to the foreman, “Then I will make sure you have my list of materials for the spindles, baluster upstairs, and trim and new doors.”

“We’ll make sure it’s ordered, Katie,” another guy responded. I was assuming he was the project manager, Dan.

Dan and Jack gave me the green light to set up a workshop in the basement, as it would be one of the last areas to be rehabbed. The priority was set on the primary living spaces, which meant I had a lot of turning to do to repair the rickety balustrades. I estimated that it would take at least three weeks to turn all of the spindles. I planned to keep the ends longer and blocky so that I would have room to adjust measurements off each end when they were cut, rather than turning each spindle to an exact length for placement. Old houses were nothing if not asymmetrical after years of wear.

I loved the thought of using a hand planer for the mahogany baluster on the third floor loft area. The bevling was simple and didn’t require a lot of work. Not to mention mahogany smelled so much better than the oak when it was worked.

I didn’t mess with the other guys too much, and the older ones pretty much left me alone while I worked. The younger ones were a pain in my ass from the first day. I got into the habit of locking my stuff in my car if it wasn’t in use, after someone decided to hide my tools around the site. It took three hours to find everything, and, although highly annoyed, I was just relieved that none of my shit was broken.

When the floors were finished on the main level, I got to work on the built-in cabinetry. The homeowner hadn’t decided on a stain yet for any of the woodwork, so I could take my time with each task. I repaired the drawers and cabinet doors structurally before adding mahogany veneer to the faces of the drawers. The original wood wasn’t unusable, but no amount of sanding and filler would make it look new again. Using thin sheets of real wood gave the appearance that the drawer face was a solid slab rather than an amalgamation of woods slatted together. It was clean and restored dignity to the piece.

One of the older guys walked behind me as I cleaned up the mess I had made of the dining room. “That’s some nice work you did there,” he commented, running his hand over the cabinet benchtop. “Where’d you learn to do all this?” he asked, squatting down to get a better look at the drawers and trim.

“Mike Gyllenhall’s school up north,” I commented offhand. He stilled for a moment before looking at me a bit more appreciatively.

“Which course you take with them?” He asked, standing back up.

“I did the full year. Made no sense just taking one class. Mike’s an amazing teacher,” I said.

“My name’s Paul,” he introduced himself. “You need any additional materials or have any issues, you just let me know. Gyllenhall only graduates 20 folks a year. You want to shut them idiots up, let them know who certified you as a tradesman.”

I smiled softly at the man. “Thank you, Paul. I appreciate the support.”

“So what’s next on the schedule for you?” he asked, helping to carry my tools out to my truck. “Wait, why are you lugging this stuff back and forth from your vehicle? Didn’t they set you up with a workroom downstairs?” He huffed at me.

I bit the inside of my cheek as I tried to decide how to answer that question. “Let’s just say, I like my things where I leave them. If they are in my vehicle, I don’t have to wonder where they ran off to.”

Paul looked confused for a moment, before his eyes wandered over to five guys around my age cracking jokes with each other. “I see.”

“I can handle myself,” I explained. “As long as they don’t mess with my work, I won’t have to kick their asses.”

Paul immediately started laughing. It was a deep belly laugh that made me want to laugh with him. “Come on. Come have lunch with the old timers. We can discuss how to put those arrogant shits in their places,” he chuckled.

“That sounds amazing,” I agreed with a giant smile.

Chapter 38

After months of lazing around, four weeks of woodwork was kicking my ass. It wasn’t just that the work was grueling, but I had the added effort of carrying my tools everywhere. Thankfully, I was done with the first floor, and all of the balustrades between the cellar and the third floor loft area. The owners loved the work I did in the dining room and grand foyer, and that was what mattered most to me.

I trundled into the door of our house, thrilled that I would have the next two days off. It was hard to have so many different trades working one house at the same time. I especially had to work around the heavy lifters who were doing the plumbing, electrical rewiring, and ceilings. The ten foot ceilings were gorgeous sheet metal inlays. However, all ceiling work required scaffolding, which meant that ceiling work stopped all other work at floor level.

“How was your day,” Kai called from the kitchen.

“Good. But I feel like I have been worked over,” I whined, slipping off my boots. “Whatever you are making smells really good.”

Kai came out of the kitchen and stopped in his tracks at the sight of me. “What the hell happened to you?” he asked, eyebrows raised.

I was covered in a combination of wood dust and chimney soot. I was certain that I looked like I had crawled through the chimney before leaving the site. “Couple of assholes ran a sweeper down a chimney while I was working on the mantel. Thankfully, I still had my mask on, or I would have inhaled all that shit. Can you remind me to replace my filters?” I asked.

Kai looked pissed. “Wait. Was this another accident?” He asked, his face flushed with anger over the treatment I received on the site. Because I told him everything…

I didn’t say anything at first, and just started stripping my clothes off where I stood. “I would like to think the actual guys sweeping didn’t know I was there. I can say the guys who should have warned me, did not.”

“What the fuck, Kat? This is harassment!” He yelled. Yep, definitely pissed.

“I don’t want to get into it right now. Let me get cleaned up, and then I will tell you everything. Right now, I need to wash this shit off me,” I told him, as I walked toward the stairs.

Kai didn’t look convinced, but agreed nonetheless. “I just put a lasagna in the oven, so you have about an hour.”