Page 47 of Knot Here for You

“Did you have a chance to look around?”

He follows my line of sight and tilts his head. “Just the outside. The siding looks like it’s in good shape. Just a few pieces here and there that need to be replaced. We can paint, update the landscaping. The porches look like they might need a little TLC, too. I’ll need to get on the roof to check it. It looks okay to me from here, but I want to be sure.”

I squint up at the gray shingles. “If memory serves, it was replaced less than ten years ago.” I vaguely remember my grandmother complaining about how much it was costing her. “Though I don’t know if she did the whole thing, or just part of it.”

He nods and grabs a notebook out of his back pocket, jotting down some kind of note. “You ready to have me look at the rest of the house?”

I nod and lead the way up the rickety steps and through the front door.

Almost two hours later, Cody has a list as tall as me of all the things that need to be done to get the house livable. The plumbing is cast iron and rusted. The electrical is old tube and knob—whatever the hell that means—and will need to be replaced, same with the breaker box and the HVAC system. All the invisible updates that make the house livable, but not pretty.

He was delighted with a lot of the original fixtures, though. The hardwood floors and the elegant crown molding. He suggested a few changes to the layout, knocking down a wall to expand the kitchen into what was the formal dining room, since most people don’t actually use those anymore.

He wants to update all the bathrooms, make my grandmother’s old room into a true main suite, absorbing one of the spare bedrooms to make a giant walk-in closet and en suite bathroom.

“All of that sounds amazing,” I say, stalling his flow of words. “But expensive. I’m on a budget, Cody. I don’t think I can afford-”

He waves a hand, cutting me off. “Don’t worry about it. You’ll get the friends and family discount.”

I arch a brow, unable to hide my suspicion. “Are we friends?”

Cody grins. “Sure we are! We went to highschool together, you know.”

My teeth sink into my lower lip at the reminder. “I think,” I drawl. “I should let you know I don’t… I’m not affiliated with the Werth pack in any way. Helping me out, giving me a discount, isn’t going to help ingratiate yourself with them.”

Cody’s amiable smile falls, and he tilts his head like he can’t quite figure me out. “Do people not just do nice things for you, Sylvie? Without an ulterior motive?”

I blink at the question. It’s a good one. People do do nice things for me. Hell, the Kinsella pack adopted me out of the goodness of their hearts, because they couldn’t stand the thought of me being alone. They didn’t get anything from that.

I sigh and my hands thump against my thighs as my arms unfold from my chest. “You’re right, I’m sorry. I’ll take whatever discount you want to give me.”

Cody nods. “Good. I’ll make up a couple of different options for you, in varying levels of cost, and you can let me know what one you want to go with. Sound good?”

I smile and lead the way out of the foyer. “Yep, that sounds great. How long do you think it will be? I want this to be over as quickly as possible.” I wait for him to step out of the house and then securely lock the door.

“Not too long. I should have them for you by Monday.”

“Great.” It’s faster than I thought, especially if he’s giving me options. I’ve heard horror stories about contractors taking months to get a bid put together, and then even longer for them to actually be available to do the job. “And do you know when you’ll be able to start work once we’ve completed the plan?”

Another of those head tilts, like he’s trying to see me better. “Well, that might be harder to pin down. We have a few jobs going on at the moment. But I don’t see that it should take longer than a few weeks to get those wrapped up. There’s still the matter of ordering all the supplies we’ll need, though, so how quickly we’re finished depends on how fast things can get delivered.”

I blow out a breath, beating back disappointment. Weeks before work can even start? I’ve watched enough HGTV shows to know something of this scale can take months, especially since I won’t be able to afford to pay for a rush job.

Cody gives me a pitying smile, like everything I just thought flashed across my face. I spin on my heel to avoid looking at him, waving over my shoulder as I head to my car. “That sounds great! Thanks, Cody.”

Sadie texted me mid afternoon to send me the address of where she wants to meet for dinner and our chat. I stared at the message for a long time, considering blowing her off and staying at home, crunching numbers to figure just how much I can afford to spend on updating my grandmother’s house.

But I’d been doing that for an hour already and the results were… abysmal. Depressing. Even with my apparent windfall from my grandmother’s bank account, I’d be lucky if I didn’t have to dip into my own savings. Especially since all plumbing and electric needs to be updated.

Sitting here staring at the numbers on my screen will not make them change to something more favorable, so instead I drag myself down the hall to get ready.

When I pull up outside the “restaurant” Sadie wanted to meet at, I let out a groan and press my head to my steering wheel.

I really should have looked it up. Because this is not a restaurant. Or at least, it’s not only a restaurant. It’s a freaking night club called The Market. And the last thing I feel like doing is being surrounded by horny, sweaty people, with too loud music thumping in my ears.

I should have known. Sadie only comes to town when she’s horny. The sea with all the proverbial fish in it that people always talk about is shallow at Lake Kilrose, more of a wading pool than a sea, almost incestuous with the lack of variety.

Everyone knows everyone, and it is not the place of a one-night stand. Which is exactly what Sadie likes most. Especially, since she had to break it off with the two guys from her work… or ex work, or whatever you want to call it.

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