I appreciate that he makes no move toward us to baby talk her or make me feel any more uncomfortable. It doesn’t stop me from hesitating to give out her name. He’s a man. He’s an unknown male who’ll be living closer than anyone else in town. Not all men are terrible, I’m sure, and he seems nice enough, but…
“Hey, are you all right? You don’t have to tell me her name. I was just trying to be friendly. If you’d like, I can go back home and wait for Janet to get here so you feel more comfortable.” His thoughtfulness actually means more than he’ll ever know. He sensed my discomfort and offered to make it better. I still don’t trust him, but I appreciate the sentiment.
“Uhh, no. No, that's all right, sorry. This is my daughter Hadley. We’d really like to move into this place sooner rather than later. I guess our eagerness caused us to show up a little early, but you’re welcome to stay out here with us while we wait.” I say, blushing fiercely.
I’m so embarrassed that I can’t get a good handle on my recent trauma and it’s stifling me to the point that it’s noticeable. I got Hadley dressed and out the door in under ten minutes then we hit the road to get here. I hadn’t bothered to think about the fact that it’s an hour until noon. What a stupid thing to do.
“I had actually gone in and taken a preemptive look at the place. For the most part things look good, but I’m not sure the last inspector took a good look at the basement. Either that or a pipe had burst after the water had been turned back on for people to start viewing. Did you see it?”
“Actually, no. I hadn’t even realized there was a basement. Is it bad? Will it keep me from moving in?”
“It’s not good, but not terrible. There’s definitely mold now and some water leaking from a crack in one of the walls. The current water situation is probably from them turning the water on during the showing for you a couple of days ago. The other damage leads me to believe it was a problem from last year when the last showing was. I wouldn’t recommend moving your daughter in until the mold has been removed and the basement redone just to be safe. Mold grows and spreads quickly so I’ll need to take extra care with the rest of the house and follow the pipelines to make sure there are no other leaks or breaks.”
“Seriously?” I ask, my shoulders slumping in defeat. I really loved this place.
“You can still move in, though I’d adjust your offer to reflect the cost of damage. I can get you an estimate by the end of today.”
“Okay, thank you. I was hoping to get out of the hotel sooner rather than later but I appreciate you taking my daughter's health into consideration.”
“It’s just my job ma’am.” He shrugs off the appreciation, clearly not good at accepting a thank you. Then turns on his heel to walk back toward the house.
“Jace?” I call out, feeling weird about using his name for some reason. “Call me Aria.” I say, giving him a tentative smile. He nods in return and gets back to work.
Twenty
He’s one of the good ones
Aria
October 2020
It’s taken two weeks, but we closed on the house and Jace made sure the mold and water damage had been taken care of. Adjustments had to be made on my original offer since the basement had been overlooked thanks to the owners lack of give a fuck and the realty company’s ignorance to the house itself after no one wanted it for so long. Thankfully it’s still mine.
I saw the pictures Jace took of the before and I’m currently looking around at the after. The whole basement’s been redone. I’m shocked as I look around because I looked over the list of things needed to be done and there’s easily double if not quadruple the work done here. Jace had a crew over here immediately to get working and they turned it into the nicest area of the house.
The walls have all been replaced, the cracks in the cement floors filled and the whole thing coated to look shiny and beautiful. There’s a cellar door that I hadn’t noticed before, but it looks like it’s been replaced with a thick mahogany door with stunning metal accents and a large locking mechanism from the inside.
There are built in dark wooden shelves that line one of the walls, stained to match the cellar door. A huge metal wine rack has been braced to one of the other walls, and there are indoor plants lining the walls randomly on some of the shelves, along with a couple of plant specific lights to keep them all happy and healthy.
The estimate he gave me for materials was pricey enough and I was worried the owners would be pissed about it, but true to Janet’s word, they were just happy to be rid of it. Now I’m curious if he charged me enough. At the time I didn’t think to check for cost of labor, but I have to wonder how he paid his crew. I could’ve sworn he’d said that some of the guys on his construction crew were looking for overtime work so it was no big deal to rush this job. Now I feel like an asshole that owes people a very big thank you.
Aria: This basement is much more than I was expecting. How much do I owe you for all the extra work your guys put into this place? I was thinking back to the receipt you’d given me, and I don’t remember you including the cost of labor in the estimate. Can you please let me know how much to pay you?
Jace: A thank you will suffice.
Aria: You’re kidding. How did you pay your crew? That should’ve been my responsibility. I hired your construction company for the job after all.
Jace: Aria, I don’t know where you come from, but in this town, we take care of our neighbors. Don’t worry about it.
Aria: Can I at least throw your crew a bbq once my yard is cleaned up? I’ll feel so guilty if you don’t let me say thank you properly. Don’t all men like meat and beer?
Jace: You don’t need to do that.
Aria: Yes, I do.
Jace: I can’t let you.
Aria: Please?
