Page 87 of I Heart Mason Cartwright
“Oh.”
“But, with custom, you get exactly every size you want, as well as the special finish.”
“Okay.”
He helps me order the tile for the backsplash, and pick out the marble for the counters, reminding me the installers need to measure everything after the cabinets are in before ordering the marble. I’d already gone a little crazy at the Sub-Zero, Wolf, and Cove showroom in Seattle for all of my appliances and a wine fridge. And I have a guy coming out next week to talk to me about outdoor grills. I don’t grill. But I figure I can learn. Because, heck, look what I’ve figured out so far.
The kitchen is the last room to be done. I finished the master bathroom in about a month. That was true trial and error. Painting took over three weeks. I didn’t do a whole lot to the other bedrooms outside of painting and adding or replacing windows. I put French doors on the guest room with no patio, as well as a patio. And French doors instead of a slider leading from the master bedroom to the deck, all of which took over a month. A heck of a long time to refinish the wood floors, and then another month for each of the guest baths. But, now it’s almost time to pick furniture. Which, oddly, I’m looking forward to even though shopping isn’t really my thing.
It took me some time to regroup after the whole AshLynn and Mason debacle. Mostly because I hadn’t really thought through what I wanted when we tore down the bathroom wall. I mean, I had. But it was also partly getting to work with Mason and I wanted to get going. Even so, I love how it turned out. I’ve got a claw-foot tub in a corner, with a huge glass shower adjacent. Separate water closet, and his-n-her vanities, and plenty of storage. Plus, two skylights for natural light and a great big window that faces the water. It’s perfect.
I finish with the kitchen guy and check my phone. I have a little time before I’m meeting Zach for lunch, so I head over to the garden department to check out flowers. I still want to plant annuals and perennials in the front, and maybe get some smaller potted plants for the back deck.
Oh! An herb garden would be cool.
I start to fill my cart, then realize they won’t all fit in my car. I grab a couple now, and decide to come back for more later, then head out to meet Zach.
We’d arranged to meet at a place on Sixth Avenue. It’s a gorgeous day and only about a fifteen-minute walk from where I am now. I take my time enjoying the sites and checking out all the stores in the area that I may want to come back to. Like this little bookstore.
Ohmigod.
Bookstore.
I wonder if this is Mason’s mom’s shop. I peek through the window, but don’t see much outside my own reflection.
“They’re open,” I hear a voice say and I turn. The guy at the coffee cart gestures to the store. “They’re open if you want to go in.”
“Oh . . . no . . . I just . . .” I clear my throat. “I’m late for a meeting. Thank you, though.”
He tips an imaginary hat at me and I scurry on my way. And now I’m late meeting Zach. We are eating at a sushi place we’ve been to before and love. The entire front opens up, like al fresco dining, weather permitting of course. And today the weather permits.
“Hey, sorry I’m late.” I find him at a table already, near the front where we can people watch while we eat.
“No worries, I’ve been soaking up the atmosphere.” He angles his head toward a table to his right where three incredibly attractive men are lunching.
“Oh my,” I say. “That is some atmosphere.”
“Right? So”—he leans forward, elbows on the table—“tell me, what sort of happy homemaker projects have you accomplished today?”
“Kitchen cabinets and countertops!” I say it like I’m excited, because I am excited. I saved the best for last. The best being the kitchen. I’m not much of a chef, but I plan to learn.
“Fascinating,” he says drily.
“It’s going to be amazing. And you’re going to be jealous that you don’t have a kitchen like mine.”
“I don’t cook.”
“I know, me neither, but this is going to be the kitchen of all kitchens. Like the kitchen to inspire those who don’t cook, to cook.”
The server comes to take our drink orders, we both go with a Japanese beer each and a sake to share, plus edamame and a seaweed salad to start.
I decide to play this next part casual.
“Oh, hey, I passed a bookstore on the way here that you might like.”
“A bookstore, huh?”
“Yeah, it was a cute little used bookstore. There’s a coffee cart in front and I think I saw a lounge in the back where you can read.”
