“Have you ever known me to be charming and suave?”
“Only with Evander.” He stepped to the front before Ozzy could remark on that.
The doors of the SUV opened. Eliza and one of the other crew members went to the back and guided out two unfamiliar figures. The man used a simple cane that, even from a distance, Ozzy could see was worn and faded around the crook. No aid for the woman, but it did take her a bit to get up out of the car and standing, even with help from Eliza. They both had dark hair that had turned at least fifty percent gray and white, though the woman’s much more than the man’s. Both were blindfolded, which Ozzy couldn’t help but feel a spark of anger at. He was using acanefor Christ’s sake. They couldn’t have found another solution?
But they both got positioned up on the walkway to the back yard. The only thing Ozzy and the crew had actually done out front was make a cleaner, clearer path to the back, so the paving stones were basically brand new and everything was smooth and even.
Melanie walked out of the front door and made a beeline for her parents. “Mom. Dad. We have a little surprise for you.”
“I guessed.” Her mom tapped her temple, against the strap of the blindfold. “I hope it’s a good one.”
“Yeah, we want to know why you’re being filmed,” said the dad.
She raised an eyebrow even though they couldn’t see. “You knew?”
“It’s not a big town, honey.” He smiled beneath the blindfold. “Hard to hide a camera crew, and we still have friends here. They told us. Everyone wants to know what the big surprise is.”
“Including me.” Her mom set her shoulders firm. “So let’s see it. Come on.”
Melanie chuckled, then looked at Eliza. When she got the nod, she grabbed both blindfolds and clumsily lifted them up. “We got the back yard all fixed up and ready. Including the apartment back there.”
The mom smiled broad and the dad put his hand on her shoulder, and a big wad of tension unspooled from Ozzy’s shoulders, falling away. They seemed excited, and they seemed to understand what that meant. If there was any doubt, the hug they drew Melanie into banished it.
Mason waited a few seconds, then stepped up to them. “Morning. I’m Mason, with Pine Point Fixer-Uppers.”
“Anh.” She nodded and pointed to the man. “My husband, Jack.”
Mason shook both of their hands, then pointed toward the back yard. “We’d love to show you what it is we’ve been doing back here.”
He shot a quick glance to Ozzy.My time to shine or whatever. Ozzy walked over and nodded to both of them in turn. “My name’s Ozzy. I took the lead on the landscaping.”
Jack’s eyebrows rose. “Really? Color me intrigued.”
Ozzy smiled. “I heard that you had quite the green thumb.” Better not to let them know that a bunch of strangers had been traipsing around their house. Melanie could break that news to them at some point when they were all far away. Plus, then he could avoid the question of the roses for as long as possible. “Hopefully I managed to meet your standards.”
Mason took the lead again, guiding them back with the cameras following behind. How much had they been told ahead of time? They must have knownsomething. They’d been picked up by production and outfitted with lav mics.
Melanie fell back next to Ozzy as they all walked in. She kept her voice low, but loud enough for Ozzy to pick up. “I’m glad they’re not freaking out. I called and told them to cooperate and it would all make sense, but it’s a big ask. Get in the big scary black car with these strangers and let them drag you somewhere.”
“Are you freaking out?”
She shrugged. “A little. I know they want to move in. They’ve dropped enough hints.”
Ozzy nodded. “And that reaction.”
“Right. But what if they hate everything about it? I mean, I think it all looks really good, but taste is so subjective. Are they going to just live somewhere they hate through their golden years?”
There was no time left to dive into the conversation. Ozzy was getting waved to the front, since he wassupposedto be tourguiding through the outdoor areas. He gave Melanie a quick brush across the shoulder as he passed and couldn’t help but smile. It felt nice to actually like her after so long being annoyed at the whole thing.Go figure. Not being pissed off at everything all the time feels better.
Once Ozzy got up to the gate and they got the go-ahead nod from Eliza, Mason pushed the gate in. “Welcome to the new back yard.”
Ozzy could almostseethe fade they’d put in there for the show. The shot of the yard all dead and full of tumbleweeds, then replaced by the new, sleeker version as it currently existed. Clearly, it looked a lot more open and vibrant. Grass stretched from the fence all the way to the back of the garage, with a stepping stone path winding through the middle and branching off to get to different places. The back door of the house, the new shed at the back end, and of course, the front door of their new in-law suite.
Ozzy focused on the landscaping and started talking and pointing. “You can see it’s a bit different.”
“I’ll say.” Jack surveyed everything, leaning on his cane. “Much more than I was expecting. And you brought it this far?”
Ozzy bobbed his head side-to-side. “Not just me. We had a great local crew come in and help us out. They did the brunt of the work, I just pointed and supervised.” Which wasn’t entirely true, but that hardly mattered. The crewdiddo most of the heavy lifting. Literally and figuratively.
