Page 32 of Love It or List It
“You’re my favorite,” Austin said when Joe dangled the coffee cup in front of his face.
“And all it cost was a cup of a coffee?Guess I shouldn’t have splashed out for the donuts, then.Maybe I’ll keep them for myself.”
Austin made grabby hands.“Don’t you dare.”
Joe handed over the box and settled next to him in one of the camping chairs.“Whatcha up to this morning?”
Naturally, Austin was mid-bite.He pulled a face while he chewed.His affronted look over Joe’s bad timing was nothing short of adorable.“Figured I might as well do some sorting, assessing, and cataloging for selling.What with all the vet bills coming.”
“Probably a good idea.Want a hand?”
Neither of them mentioned that they were just filling time while they waited for Linda or one of her people to call and tell them it was time to get their new dog.They also didn’t talk about the logistics of a shared pet.
A few boxes and two cups of coffee and three donuts in, Austin broke the silence on the topic.
“We’ll have to stop at the pet store on our way to get Josephine.”
True.They definitely didn’t have anything they needed.Still, that hardly seemed the most pressing point to Joe.
“You’re serious about that name?”
“Deadly,” Austin said, smirking.
Joe shook his head.“Fine.If you insist, then we can call her Josefina.”He pronounced it the correct Spanish way.Austin lifted a brow but didn’t argue.“But I’m not calling her that—I’m not yelling for Josefina in a park.”
“We can’t call her Joe,” Austin said.“That would be confusing.”
“Of course not.We’ll call her Pepa.”
“Pepa,” Austin said slowly.“Why would we call her Pepa?”
“It’s the Spanish nickname for Josefina.”
“What?”He paused mid-sort of a box and stared at Joe like he thought Joe was putting him on.“How the heck do you get Pepa out of Josefina?”His accent was terrible, but Joe was mature and didn’t mock him for it.
“How do you get Dick out of Richard?A mystery.”
“I don’t know, maybe Richard likes having dick in him,” Austin shot back.
Joe laughed.“Touché.”He shook his head.“So….Pepa?”
Austin nodded.“Pepa.”
“So should we go upstairs and find some vet bills?”
They wandered over to the base of the stairs, where Joe turned on the flashlight on his phone and knelt to look at the offending step.The whole tread had come off the stringers and been pushed through the plaster underneath and into the basement—likely from the force of Austin pulling.Joe whistled under his breath.“This could’ve been worse.”
“Tell that to the bruise I have this morning, man,” Austin said ruefully.“Although at least it’s not tetanus.”
“Dodged a bullet on that one,” Joe agreed.Some of the nails poking out looked nasty.He stuck his finger into the wood where the tread had been attached, and it crumbled.“Huh.”
“What?”
“Can you find the piece that broke off?”
Austin trudged off to the basement and returned a moment later.He handed over the board.
One touch confirmed it.“Okay,” Joe said.“Fun.Dry rot.”He debated for a moment.“Is my crowbar still in the kitchen?”
