Page 16 of Through the Dark Night
She pulled out her phone and looked up some videos in order to get herself familiar with what she would be doing.
She thought she had the basics and decided that she would start at the top and work down. Probably the easier part would be the bottom, and she believed in doing the hardest first.
Pulling a small stepladder over, she stepped up on the first step. She had to blame it on the tool belt, whose weight she was not used to. It pulled her to the side a little, and she ended up losing her balance andfalling into the wall. Somehow, her elbow and shoulder managed to make a big hole in the drywall.
Seriously?she thought to herself as she pulled herself out of the wall.
She wasn’t hurt at all, and she was again glad that there had been no witnesses.
“Are you okay?” a deep voice said, and she retracted the idea of no witnesses immediately.
She recognized that voice too. It sent a shiver down her spine. The very best kind. Except it wasn’t a good time—it was never a good time to be caught doing something embarrassing, like losing one’s balance on a stepladder and creating more work for themselves.
“I’m fine. Just my pride is injured.”
“Well, that’s easily fixed. There wasn’t anyone around to see you anyway, except for me, and I’ve done the very same thing multiple times. And I would guess I’ve had more experience in drywalling than you when I did it as well.”
“If you’ve done any drywall at all, you have more experience than me.”
“All right. Then yes. I have more experience than you. I’ve fallen into drywall and punched holes in it with not just my body but with a hammer, accidentally—I wasn’t angry or anything.” Lance grinned at her, and she couldn’t help but grin back. “I’ve done it with a bucket. Don’t ask me how I did that one, because I’m still not sure. And also with my ladder, where I did lose my balance and fall off the ladder, and I kept myself from falling into the drywall, but my ladder tilted and fell into the wall and created a hole. So there, I’ve got you beat.”
“Well, good to know. You definitely have made me feel better about my clumsiness.”
“I wouldn’t say it’s clumsiness. Just a lack of proficiency in doing something that you are just learning to do.”
He made her feel better. Truly. Like it wasn’t really dumb to put a hole in the wall. Even though she knew it was, and she half wondered if maybe he was exaggerating how many times he had put holes in himself. But he explained every time to her, and it sounded legit. Plus, Lance was not a liar.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, for lack of anything better tosay. She needed to get her phone up and figure out how to fix the hole. Because she was pretty sure she couldn’t just put spackling over it. But she didn’t want to do that in front of Lance, and for some reason, she didn’t want to ask for his help either. Maybe it was pride.
“I subcontract to Dominic at times, and when he told me that he was going to be working on the inn, I jumped at the chance. I have Tyler helping me at the store, running the register and taking care of customers. We’re usually not super busy on Mondays.”
“Oh. I didn’t realize you had help.”
“It’s more profitable for me to work for Dominic. Although, I understand that this is a worthy cause, and we’re donating our time.”
“I offered to pay,” she said, feeling like she wanted to make sure that he knew that she wasn’t trying to take advantage of anyone. She really wasn’t.
“I know,” he said, putting his hand up as though to ward off any other protestations she might make. “And I agree that it was a worthy cause. Plus, I happen to like the owner. A lot.”
She could feel her cheeks heating, and she turned back toward the wall. “I have no idea how to fix this.” There. It wasn’t so hard to admit when she was trying to deflect, or maybe run away from, the feelings that Lance seemed to be sharing.
She didn’t want that. She didn’t want anything. She just wanted to…be left alone, but not be left alone. If that made sense.
“Well, it’s a good thing I know. And I can show you how.” He paused, as though a little afraid of his next words. “That is, if you don’t mind.”
“No. Of course not. I want to learn. I need to help with this. I can’t just have everyone else doing everything while I sit around.”
“Well, it wouldn’t hurt for someone to make some food. If we’re going to be here as much as I think we’re going to be, it probably would be nice for there to be a regular meal. Just one.”
“That’s a really good idea. I’ll have to think about that. I think I can do both, because I definitely don’t want to not work just so I can cook. And even if I do cook, I’m still going to need to work.”
“I’m sure you can do both. Even if you cook in the morning and work in the afternoon.”
She nodded, somehow not wanting to remove herself from the work but also loving the idea of providing everyone who was helping with the inn with a hot meal. It was too late for today, because she would have to make a grocery list and go pick things up—she definitely didn’t have enough stuff in her pantry to cook for this many people.
“I wonder if Dominic knows exactly how many people are here,” she said as Lance moved around, picking a few things up and moving closer to her.
“I’m sure he does. You could probably have him text you every morning with how many people are going to be arriving, if that would be something that would be helpful. And not too late.” He paused, and then he held up what looked to be tape, only it had holes in it. “This is what we use to fix this hole. Let me show you how.”
