Jake chuckled and jotted himself a quick note in his phone. “I think that’s all I really need until we see the full design questionnaire.”
Mason clapped softly, rubbing his hands together. “Luckily it’s done cooking.”
Everyone shifted their chairs around to fill in and see the laptop screen, and the camera crew had to get their attention to make sure there was space for them to slip in and get reaction shots. Once everyone had settled, Mason flipped it around. Not only was thisalwaysexciting, but it was the first time they’d seen a live run of the new, updated site.
Have to hand it to Homescapes. The old site they’d cobbled together with Mason’s abandoned computer design degree and a dozen VideoHead tutorials spat out a pretty enough product at the end of the process. This, on the other hand, was an entire-ass mood board. Swatches of mint green and robin’s egg blue, with little accents of silver and aged bronze. The most exciting thing for Jake was seeing a couple snapshots of mid-century modern tables and chairs. A real place to showcase woodworking and skill, and MCM stuff was pretty timeless, always looked good. At least in Jake’s opinion. He’d snagged more than his share of pieces from thrift shops to furnish his place, although it was hardly a cohesive design choice. More…eclectic.
All in all, the pieces of this mood board were the same as always. Some updated pictures, since Homescapes TV had access to a ton more materials they could load in, but that didn’t make the primary difference. It came down to the way it went together. Everyone involved had been pretty tight-lipped, only vaguely mentioning updating the layouts of the final templates.Though they couldn’t say for sure, this had a very fifties sort of feel, lots of circles and simple, smooth shapes. It was matching up to a mid-century modern look, which gave the impression of a much more cohesive plan.Probably looks a lot better on TV that way.
Quinn smiled. “That…it works. I like it.”
Mason nodded. “Anything stand out as wrong or off now that you can see it all together?”
He bobbed his head side-to-side, then shrugged. “I think I was a little hasty on cutting out gold and copper as options. I think silver and steel and all that with the cool colors makes it feel, I don’t know, sterile?”
“Glad you brought it up,” said Evander. “I don’t like to question, but you were heading straight for hospital chic with that color palette.”
Quinn chuckled, seemed so light.I guess if I just leave him be, he can sort through his own feelings. Jake got up and stretched. “Well, I have some time to make up for. I’m going to start making some more complete plans, now that we know what materials we’re leaning toward.”
“Actually, I was hoping to talk to you.” Eliza walked up, flicking her gaze between her phone and Jake. “We want to get footage of some of the stuff from around town, and since Quinn said he took the whole day off, seems like a good time to do it. So I thought you and Bunny could head to the lumber yard with him? That way Quinn can directly weigh in on some of the materials. Then when you’re done, just call and he can head out, start looking at other stuff while you buy what you need.”
Jake stood a couple seconds in silence, giving Quinn the chance to say no.
“I’m game.” Quinn nodded as he rose from his chair. “Never been to a lumber yard.”
Chapter eleven
Quinn
“I’ve never seen thismuchwoodbefore.” It was true—unless he counted forests—but Quinn was also hoping he could bait Jake into an innuendo. That seemed like such an obvious opening, there was no way he could turn it down.
Yet he did. Jake kept on walking and left the comment to hang as they moved through towering stacks of lumber.
When they got to the large warehouse doors, Jake turned around, nodded to the camera crew, then finally looked at Quinn. “So, obviously we can work with anything that strikes your fancy. But it looked like you were into the mid-century modern look?”
Jake nodded. “Yeah. A lot of those pieces that grandpa kept out on the front porch? That got ruined? They were mid-century. And I always really liked the look. Really clean, but not utilitarian. Still attractive.”
Jake smiled at him. “I agree with everything you said. I’ve got a soft spot for that style, too.” He looked around at the different wood in the space. “We see a lot of beech and teak, and obviously oak in mid-century modern furniture. Also rosewood and walnut, but I’m not convinced we should go that route. If you’re asking my opinion on it.”
“You’re the expert and I’m here to listen.”
Jake shook his head. “You’re the expert on what you want in your house, not me. I’m just talking the history part. And the design part a little.”
“Well, just give me your opinion.” Why the hell was he so hard to talk to all the sudden?Did I do that much damage?“I want to hear and learn.”
Jake blew out a long breath, looking straight up. “Well, even with the change in the layout there on the ground floor, it’s not the biggest, most open floor plan. Opening up and giving you bigger windows would get you a little more light and the illusion of space, but that would be a nightmare and a half and it’s not really in our plan. The lighter colored woods will make things feel a bit less closed in.” He nodded, seemingly more to himself than Jake. “And we can avoid including too many red tones. We’d have to be careful if you wanted to go teak, make sure it’s on the lighter end of things. The right stain would keep the warmth knocked down out of oak or beech. But again, that’s just my opinion. It’s your space, and I can work with whatever.” He locked eyes with Quinn for what seemed like the first time all day. “You came along so you can weigh in, so if you see something you think you like, mark it out and let us know.”
“I will happily talk about my wood with you.”
Jake’s face contorted and he sucked in his lips, obviously holding back a laugh. It took him a few seconds before he got control of himself again. “We are here to talk about wood. Yes.”
They carried on inside, where things were much smaller. Little displays with various woods in different finishes, all with big caveats to let them all know that they were examples, not guarantees. Quinn scanned his eyes up and down the aisles, but his gaze kept flicking back to Jake. He was currently talking to someone who worked there, gesturing to the cameras, laughing. Suddenly so natural and open, now that he was talking to a complete stranger instead of a virtual stranger like Quinn.
I don’t like this. Deeper than just regretting his snapping the other day, Quinn’s skin itched at the fact that he wasn’t bantering with Jake anymore. He missed it. He wanted someone to talk games with and make stupid innuendos with. He even missed Jake checking in on his feelings, uncomfortable and annoying as it might have been in the moment.
And I can’t apologize if he won’t talk to me. That’s what it really boiled down to. Hashing things out on camera felt off for a whole variety of reasons. But if Jake wasn’t going to give him a real chance in private…
Quinn walked up and tapped Jake on the shoulder. “Hey. I’m sorry. I’m not running away. I forgot my phone in the car, I need to grab it. I will run as fast as I can.”
