Page 19 of Ocotillo Kisses
“I think that would be okay,” Sofia said. “Would give us time to pressure wash the buildings, and get those covers shored up. Caleb and Beck said their shop should be together by then, so we’ll have three sides of the square with businesses.”
“I thought yours was just going to be an office,” Con said to Beck. Beck and Caleb were starting a construction business in town, thanks to Con’s dad’s investment. He’d wanted both men to be able to stay in town, and there was certainly business to be had, even if it was just handyman work for now.
“It is, but since we’re putting up the old depot there, Sofia wants us to use it as a tourist spot, at least until the celebration.”
“I’m guessing you have a timeline for us,” Caleb said, looking at his girlfriend fondly.
She flipped the page in her notebook, where it appeared she’d sketched out a calendar with the number of weeks until the celebration.
“First up, the overhangs. Those have to be fixed before we can do anything like pressure wash or set out plants. How long do you think something like that would take?” she asked.
Caleb shrugged. “I need to get a closer look. If it’s part of the roof, it will take longer. I’m willing to do the columns and cover at no charge, but I’m not going to do the roof, and you know neither Mr. Nazareth or Mrs. Lopez will want to pay for it.”
Sofia grimaced, looking at her calendar. “Do you think you could fudge it, if it was just part of the roof?”
“I don’t know. I need to get up there and look.”
“So one weekend probably won’t be enough.”
He gave her a look. “No. A week, maybe, depending on how many of us can help out.”
“You can count me in on that one,” Con said, figuring that would be the task least likely to draw Britt. He knew Sofia said Britt wasn’t taking part of any of this, but he didn’t want to take any chances. Clearly she was taking a larger part than she had planned, because she was meeting with his mom at the ranch again this week. “Let me know what you need from me.”
“You have a lot of equipment out there at the ranch. Do you have a scaffold we could use?” Beck asked.
“I used Mr. Nazareth’s when I was painting the mural,” Sofia reminded him.
“Sure, but that was just you up there, most of the time. I thought Con might have something a little sturdier.”
“Yeah, I have a hydraulic one. I can bring it in to you, if you can promise me it won’t get stolen.”
“We’ll secure it, we promise.” Beck turned back to Sofia. “Which do you want us to prioritize? The depot or the walkway?”
“The walkway because we can’t do anything else until that’s done. Then you can concentrate on the depot while we do the power washing and the rest of it.”
“You mean,” Javi interjected, “that if we help with the walkway we don’t have to do anything else?”
“Sure, you can leave all the rest to the girls,” Ginny said, making her voice as sad as possible. “Look, all I want to know is what kind of free upgrades is my diner going to get?”
“Your diner is in pretty good shape, but if you want, maybe we can wax those floors, too, and maybe a coat of paint?”
“I think you should change up the pictures in there,” Caleb said. “I told Sofia she should make some paintings for your diner, maybe put prices on them and sell them.”
“In my free time,” Sofia scoffed.
“I think it would be a great idea,” Ginny said. “But I would also like the diner painted, if we can get that on the list.”
“I will put it here, but it’s not going to be a priority,” Sofia said, writing in her notebook.
“We can do that while the guys are fixing the walkway. We won’t be in their way. And then I’ll help you with the grocery store’s floors.” She shuddered dramatically.
Sofia passed a nervous hand over her short hair. “I’ll see what we can do, but we do have a budget.”
“I’ll buy the paint for the free labor.”
With a sigh of resignation, Sofia placed a star by the task, then reached for her glass of beer. “I think maybe we should skip the celebration this year and just aim for next year. We might be done by then.”
“Not with all of us pitching in,” Poppy said. “Just make sure you put the grocery store at the beginning of June. I should have mostly recovered from this school year by then.”
