I couldn’t quite afford the three-thousand dollar one. Maybe for our ten-year anniversary. You game to try?
Aras shook his head and had to stare up at the ceiling a few moments to collect himself, keep himself from outright crying.
I’m game.
Chapter forty-two
Aras
Forthedozenthtimethat day, Aras had to snap himself back to the present moment. It was time for Caroline to see the finished product, the house she’d be living in. Everyone decided that, with the prevalence of carnival glass in every corner of the place, Aras should take lead alongside Mason to show her around. He’d be able to talk more masterfully about it, obviously, and it was no secret that Caroline had bonded with him more than the rest of the crew. Shared interests would do that.
But his mind kept pushing to the future. He had a plan, if he could pull it off. It just required them to get through this house. Then he could take advantage of the short break between jobs.Thank god the new construction made this faster.
A black SUV pulled up into the driveway and Aras snapped his focus ahead. Caroline, blindfolded, climbed out of the back seat, guided by Eliza to the right position as the cameras and lights all adjusted. It was a bit of a gray day, so they needed to compensate a bit to avoid any unpleasant shadows outside.
Aras was only half-listening as Mason talked her through the reveal and finally got her out of the blindfold. He hadn’t expected much of a reaction yet, honestly. It was just the tiny front yard. But when she saw it, her face split into a wide grin and she clasped her hands, looking around like she hadn’t seen anything so wonderful before. Either she was a good actor, or the finishing touches Ozzy had done on the front yard made a bigger impact than Aras expected. It did look nice, for a low-maintenance lawn, Aras had no trouble admitting. The grass was neat and short, and he’d made sure it was perfectly flat so that they could go with a robot lawnmower that would handle things without Caroline getting herself involved. The sidewalk had been torn up and replaced with pavers that mimicked a brick pattern, and Ozzy had planted a row of evergreen shrubs. Just enough to define out the walkway, and mostly hide the stake lights that would keep the path visible at night. They’d also painted her front door a bright purple and added a couple rocking chairs on the porch. And Aras had changed out the boring black lantern sconce for an oversized, faceted globe that would shed rainbow light across the entry.
When Caroline got close and the cameras swooped and swirled to keep them in the shot, Aras only felt a twinge of annoyance. It would be a lot nicer if he could just walk her through the house without the constant observation, but he’d come to terms with doing this on camera a long time ago. If no one was filming, they would never have gotten this job in the first place.
Aras showed her through the front door. “We’ve done a little decorating.” Mason patted him on the shoulder and passed him off to Evander as they stepped inside.
Caroline gasped. “Oh my god. Oh my god.” She fanned herself out of nowhere, then tossed her arms around Aras. “It’s amazing.”
“We did the best we could.” He gestured to Evander. “Most of it was this fucker.”
“I can’t deny the truth. I am a fucker.” Evander took her by the elbow and walked her around. The entryway had a small carnival glass display, lit from below, and prominently featuring her stippled punch bowl. The couch was plush, upholstered in bright teal, with a chaise lounge on the end. The TV was mounted on a swiveling bracket, so no matter where she wanted to sit, she’d be able to see it without glare. Aras had wired her up with a decent sound system. Nothing insane, and he’d needed Mason’s help with some of it, but it should be good enough to play music, watch movies, whatever she wanted.
The living room gave way to a small dining room, which they’d laid out with a complete table set. Aras showed her the cabinet where they’d stored all her alternate sets. Different colors and patterns if she wanted to change up the look.
Aras walked her through the kitchen setup as well, although there wasn’t anything particularly tricky. A nice oven and range. A higher-end microwave. Robinson had raved about this dishwasher, but as far as Aras was concerned, if it got the job done it got the job done. That was what mattered, though he was sure there was a reason for the excitement.
As they headed to the bedroom, Aras caught some movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned to see Ozzy, wide-eyed and trying to get his attention. They were heading into the bedroom, so he led Caroline to the door. “Ev and Jake’ll show you around in here. I need to use the little boys’ room.” He smiled, but as soon as she was in the bedroom, he marched back to Ozzy. “What’s the problem?”
“All the outdoor lights are borked.” Ozzy wiped his hands on his overalls, even though, as far as Aras could tell, he had no dirt or soil anywhere. “I don’t know what the fuck happened, but I know we don’t have any god damn time to fix it and I’m freaking the hell out.” Another wipe of his hands.
“All right, let’s see how borked it is. We can shift some things around in the schedule if we need to.”Although not much.He marched past Ozzy and went out to the patio. First thing he tried, of course, was the light switch. Nothing. “Okay. When was the last time you checked on everything?”
“Yesterday. Final test run.” He spun in place as though looking for some answer that might just appear. “I didn’t change anything so I have no idea what could have gone wrong.”
“Outdoor wiring is full of messes.” Aras’s mind buzzed and he checked the most obvious culprit first. The rope lights around the raised beds were probably the biggest failure point of the whole project. He ran his hands along one and, just like that, the lights all turned back on. Aras was nearly blinded, so close to the lights, and he noted to himself to be less stupid next time. They had limited time, but if there had been exposed wiring of some kind, that could have been bad.
He jostled the rope light until he found out exactly how to make it turn off and on. “Not a big deal. We ordered extra. This one looks like it got pinched here. Go turn the switch off.” As Ozzy did, Aras waved to a member of the production crew. “Need someone to run out fast and grab one of the spare rope lights. This is shorting everything out.”
“Got it.”
He ran, and Aras sighed. “Sorry, Ozzy. Should have wired this up parallel, not in series.” The idea had made sense at the time. All the outdoor lighting would either be on or off at the same time, and wiring it in series would theoretically make it easier to figure out something when it failed. He’d wired the wall sconce separately, but all the decorative lights together. “And I don’t have time to go in and change it now.”
“No harm no foul.” Ozzy pointed to the crew member running back with a new box of rope lights. “I’m just glad you were here to save my ass.”
Aras said nothing, just pulled out a couple tools and got to work. The rope lights, luckily, were easy to install. They were designed not to need an electrician to set them all up, so once he checked that nothing had been crimped or squeezed the wrong way, he traded out the lights and hooked up the terminals.
Caroline stepped out just as he was approaching the light switch. He put on his best smile. “Let’s see Ozzy’s work in the light, yeah?”
He flipped the switch, then let her pass so he could go back inside. He would be needed for the collection room, and he needed a second to panic.
Bunny stopped him just in front of the door to the collection room. “Stop, breathe, and talk. You got about a minute before she’s back in here. Two if Ozzy’s extra talkative.”
“Outdoor electrical failure. Should have wired things differently.”
