Page 31 of Second Chances
She felt a whoosh as blood rushed through her body and she could hear her heart start to beat a touch faster. “I didn’t mean to drop by like this.”
“It’s okay. I guess I couldn’t keep you away forever.”
Josh opened the door and allowed Megan to cross the threshold first. She stepped into the warmth of the house and saw that it was courtesy of a crackling fire in a round river rock fireplace. “It’s cold out.”
“Yep. The snow line has finally reached the valley bottom. Winter is here.”
“I thought that winter didn’t start until December 21st.”
“I can take your coat,” Josh held out his hand and helped Megan shrug out of the wet down. “For the locals, winter starts as soon as we have to start plowing the driveways in town.”
“Well, you should tell your town council that. They’ve already started with the Christmas Carols.”
Josh laughed, “Yep. That sounds about right. You should be here in July when it’s stampede time. It’s country music twenty-four seven.”
Megan groaned.
“I didn’t think that you were the country music type.”
“Not at all!” Megan laughed.
“Well, maybe you just haven’t heard the right bands.”
That’s when Megan noticed that there was country music coming out of the speaker propped on the kitchen counter. She glanced around the room, from the outside of the house you never would’ve been able to tell that the inside was a mere skeleton. She looked down at the floor and it was plywood, the countertop was plywood, the kitchen cupboards open and unfinished. A hot plate and coffee pot sat next to the kitchen sink.
Josh followed her gaze. “It’s probably not what you’re used to.”
“It’s just...” Megan’s voice trailed off.
“Not finished.” Josh finished her sentence. “Have a seat,” he gestured to a picnic table that sat adjacent to the kitchen. Megan walked over and slid onto the bench seat. “Would you like some tea?” Josh asked, pulling a box from one of the open cupboards and rummaging around.
“You know what Josh. I think that I would just like to see what you’ve done with the benches and tables for the café.”
Megan could see that Josh was embarrassed by his home. She felt terrible for dropping by unannounced and figured the best thing that she could do was get out of his hair as soon as possible.
“Sure. Yeah. Okay, follow me,” Josh said.
Megan followed Josh past his makeshift kitchen and down a hallway. She glanced into a bedroom and saw a gorgeous log bed, neatly made with a red and blue checkered quilt, a wicker dog basket on the floor beside it.
He led her to the basement, and to her surprise, Megan walked into a gorgeous workshop. Live edge shelving gleamed and ran the entire length of the basement. Edison light bulbs hung from modern fixtures and there were several tables set up with various tools and saws.
“The benches are over there.” Josh pointed to a row of what looked liked logs cut in half lengthwise, all resting on thin slats of wood. “And the tables are over there.” He pointed to the other corner where the huge slabs of wood rested across sawhorses, they were the thickest and most beautiful pieces of wood she had ever seen.
“How did you get them so shiny?” she asked.
“It’s a little trick of the trade.” He smiled.
Megan eyed up the craftsmanship, estimating that a table like it would cost at least five grand in the city. “Wait, did you build that bed upstairs in your bedroom?”
“I sure did.”
“If you’re so handy, how come...” Megan’s voice trailed off as she realized how rude her question was going to sound.
“How come my house looks like a broke teenager lives here?” Josh smiled and placed his hand on one of the slabs.
“I mean, Josh, you don’t even have a kitchen stove.”
“You know that saying about the cobbler’s kids not having shoes? It’s kind of like that with a carpenter. I spend all day building homes for other people, the last thing I want to do when I get home is work on my own. I gutted this house five years ago and I guess I just stopped seeing how rough it looks.
