Something Old - Dianne L. Christner [49]
“Whew!” Katy said. She removed her coat, taking in the metallic, new-heater smell. Filled with pride and amazement, she thought, Our heat from our new heating system. Suddenly she had something to show for her hours of housecleaning. Stoking her feeling of satisfaction, she headed for the new closet. “Wow. Have you seen this, Lil?”
Her friend followed at her heels, then did a slow circle inside the large walk-in. “Um-hm. Shoe racks, shelves, clothes bars. It’s perfect.”
“Which half do you want?” Katy asked, imagining her dark skirts spaced apart in perfect half-inch increments, her long-sleeved blouses classified by colors, sweaters by color, too, in perfectly folded piles on the shelves. With her meager wardrobe, there would be room to spare. She could keep other personal items here, too: some cleaning supplies that she purchased by the gallon, her sweeper bags, her childhood dolls, scrapbooks filled with school papers, and her collection of the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. No, she’d leave those for her little brothers. But she had a stack of unread Christian novels she’d purchased at the Shekinah Festival in September.
Lil pointed at the far wall, the one more visible from the bedroom. “You’d better take that side since you’re neater. And we can put a dresser on this wall. I’ll take the bottom two drawers.”
“That’s kind. Thanks.” But Lil’s reminder that she wouldn’t be the neatest roommate sent a tremor of foreboding into her future fantasy vision. When they stepped back into the room, Jake had already started masking off the baseboard.
He looked up. His shaggy black curls flipped out under his hat. The brim had been knocked off-kilter, and he didn’t seem aware of how attractive he looked at that moment. Both masculine and boyish. “This wall’s ready to go,” he offered.
“Now it’s your turn to pick. Cut or roll?” Lil asked.
Katy tore her gaze from Jake and stared at Lil, until she could concentrate on the question. It certainly wasn’t a difficult one. In the closet, Lil had chosen first. She had given Katy the best, the higher drawers. So Katy chose the chore she thought Lil would least want. “Cut in.”
Katy pried off the paint lid and stirred the white swirls with a wooden paddle until she had a solid color that resembled a pale tropical sea. Grabbing a tray and brush, she went to the can, and Jake jumped to her assistance.
“Let me lift that for you.” He poured, then placed the can back on the plastic flooring. “Nice color.”
She imagined there would be nights when sleep would fail her for remembering his tight jeans-clad form in the center of their bedroom. He was a nuisance in them. Without thanking him, she took the tray to the wall and knelt, straightening her skirt beneath her and then teasing the color along the top of the stained baseboard. She glanced over, “Yes, I love it.” His eyes darkened, and then he turned away, filling Lil’s tray.
“Me, too,” Lil said. “Reminds me of summer.” After a few minutes, she called, “Whoala. Look at this.”
She’d painted two stripes on the wall with the old green color showing between.
Looking up from her painstakingly straight handiwork, Katy pointed out, “If you don’t do it right, it’s going to look streaked.”
“You think? Okay, if you’re sure stripes wouldn’t be cool?”
“Crooked stripes are not cool. Neither is that green color. We both agreed on that.”
“Your call. Here goes, plain turquoise wall. Love it.” She glanced over at Jake. “We’ll do the kitchen next, if you want to prep it.”
“I can do that, but the closet needs a primer. If I do that first, it might be dry enough for you to paint before you close up the can.”
Lil glanced over at Katy. “How does that sound?”
She might as well give in to the fact that with Megan having to finish a school project, Jake’s help was allowing them to get more work done, even if it kept him in alarmingly close proximity. “Fine.”
Jake tossed her a rakish grin, then disappeared to get the primer.
“He’s behaving, don’t you think?” Lil asked, her gaze hopefully skittering to Katy.