“I am, but it’s more along the lines of upgrading the kitchen, refreshing the walls with a new coat of paint, and sanding and then refinishing the hardwood floors,” I reply. “We can live there while I’m completing those tasks. I can get them done quickly so there’s not any interruptions to anybody’s daily lives.”
“Let’s go look at it and see if we can get this done as quickly as possible then. I’m sure they won’t want us to take the majority of our things, right?”
I nod in agreement. “He mentioned that it would be better to leave it all behind since mold spores are tiny and pervasive. But, he also said that glassware items and non-porous materials should be safe. So, no clothes, papers, that kind of thing, andfurniture items would need to wait until after the remediation was complete to see if they’re salvageable or not. Albert also said that sometimes, it’s just easier to start from scratch.”
“Good thing I’ve got money saved up and my folks had life insurance policies,” he quips. “As soon as the kids’ new things are dried and folded, we need to put them in a sealed container and carry them out to the car, so they aren’t exposed.”
Chapter Eleven
Dex
As I drive us to Jolie’s farmhouse using the GPS directions she input into my navigation system, I realize her address falls into the same school district that the kids are already enrolled in, so that would be one less worry and trauma for the kids to deal with. Maybe, a fresh start for all of us would be best in the long run, who knows? I guess once the remediation company comes in and does their inspection and provides us with recommendations, we’ll know which way is best.
Pulling into the long, extensive driveway, I’m immediately captivated with how meticulous the landscaping is, with mature trees lining each side, interspersed and burgeoning with flowers along the bases. “Someone loves their flowers, I see,” I say.
“Grammy loved daffodils and calla lilies, so when Grampy got cool stones, we put them around each tree then planted the bulbs. Closer to the house are tulips, as well as a few hyacinth bushes. Come to think of it, in the fall, I need to thin some ofthem out and replant them elsewhere because they’re getting overgrown a bit,” she says, jotting something in her notebook.
I grin and think that I’ll buy her a small binder with tabs so she can separate her various lists since she’s normally having to flip through to find what page she’s looking for to add something new to her ever-growing to-do list.
There’s a nice parking area lining the front of the house and I pull in and shut down my truck. There are two porch swings on the wraparound porch, with colorful cushions that look inviting. Spider plants are in hanging baskets, making me grin. “Nonna loves those things,” I say, pointing at them.
“Those ones are fake,” she replies, grinning at me. “Grammy was the one with a green thumb. I can do a lot of things except keep plants from dying.”
“Good to know you’re not proficient at everything,” I tease as I follow her up the steps to the front door. A heavy wooden door, with frosted beveled glass inserts, opens into a wide foyer that has a coat rack tucked in the corner, as well as a hallway closet for coats. There’s a bench with slots underneath for shoes, as well as a carpet runner that leads into the rest of the house. “Damn, this is really nice,” I tell her.
“Grampy built Grammy her dream home,” she admits, nostalgia laced in her tone. “I love this house, that’s for sure. Except for the electrical and plumbing, of course, I was a hands-on helper when he built the mother-in-law suite. He even let me do the painting in the rooms! I still get giddy when I remember working alongside my grandpa. He was so patient with me when I first started learning his trade, and I’m grateful that he didn’t just stick me in daycare after Grammy died.”
My heart soars at her remembrance, happy she had this since the rest of her teenage years weren’t so splendid… memory-wise. “I wish I had met him,” I reply, looking around. “So, show me the house, Jolie.”
She giggles then proceeds to give me the grand tour of this sprawling home and to say I’m impressed is an understatement. I can tell the rooms she’s already repainted, but they’re clean and ready to be lived in again. I remember when the contractors were working on our house, and they left their shit laying around wherever they were working. My mom would complain because walking through the house was like being in a corn maze. You had to dodge to the left then the right, so you didn’t land flat on your ass. “You’re neat even when you’re repainting,” I observe.
“Grampy taught me to clean up each day, even if I wasn’t finished. He said it was far easier to come in the next day and look at it with fresh eyes to see if anything had been missed before I started again,” she admits. “Even now, all these years later, I can’t help but to do it that way, you know?”
“I understand. It’s a great concept and way to honor his memory, Jolie,” I tell her as she goes out a side door that has a covered pathway. I immediately know we’re heading to the mini cottage her grandfather built for his wife’s nurse when she became ill. “Why did he put two bedrooms in here?” I ask.
“Because he knew as her illness progressed, she’d probably have to have more than one nurse. She was so frail toward the end, Dex. But she had Sandy and Sharon during the day, and Bess and Annie at night. There’s also a bedroom downstairs behind the butler pantry that the housekeeper he hired stayed in because I was too young to do the housework, and the nurses were there to care for Grammy. She did the cooking and cleaning. Like I said, it’s a huge house.”
She takes a set of keys and unlocks the door, which is similar in fashion to the front door including the storm one that has a sliding screen at the bottom. As we step inside, I can smell the fresh paint and grin. The colors are soothing instead of flashy, perfect for Abuela and Nonna and I imagine them in the living room watching television as they argue over the game shows. I’m honestly amazed that the two women get along as well as they do, to be honest since their cultures clash more often than not. But then again, they’ve had forty years ‘together’ so to speak, because they moved in with us when I was around five after both of my grandfathers passed away. They’ve been a staple in my life forever, and while it can get chaotic and crazy sometimes when one of them is on a tear of some sort, I’m grateful that my parents fell in love and didn’t give that first fuck about cultures or ethnicities.
“Let’s go grab lunch at the diner,” I suggest after she locks up the house. “That way, we can start a list of everything we need to do in order to move to the farmhouse.”
“I have one started,” she teases, waving her notebook at me as I unlock the truck then open her door for her. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome,” I reply, before heading around to the driver’s side. Once I’m in and we’re both buckled up, I start the truck and back out so I can turn to pull down the driveway.
“Shouldn’t take us too long to get this done. We’ll order furniture for the rooms since we shouldn’t take anything from my house,” I tell her. I chuckle when she flips a page and starts jotting things down.
One of the bedrooms that I presume was Jolie’s while she was staying there before moving in with us is already decorated in a feminine style, so I think with a few modifications, we can put Anniston in there, but the others, including the primary suite, are empty. All the closets already have the shelving units that Jolie put in our house, and she took measurements of the spaces to order dressers.
“I think I’m going to get a Dutch door for the downstairs bedroom,” she muses, tapping her lip with her pen as she looks at her notes. “That way, I can set it up for the cats with their litter boxes and stuff. I also think there’s room in the butler’s pantry for the freezers we just bought, don’t you?”
“Yeah. We can wipe the exteriors down and it shouldn’t be an issue. If there are things from the house we have to get, what’s the best way to do it?” I ask.
“You need one of those respirator masks,” she cautions.
Since I’m used to heavy gear when I’m working, I already have my own, but I nod. “What else?”
“If it’s porous, we have to leave it there. But stuff like dishes and whatnot, we can bring those, and we’ll run them through the dishwasher twice. Also, any of the paper products we have are a no-go.”
