Home Improvement — a Love Story

by Tara Lain

  “She’s wacked, Daddy. I know I shouldn’t say that about my mother, but I swear that man’s done something to her. She came in here telling me how I can’t grow up in the home of an unnatural sinner and expect to go to heaven. My mother! Who used to see God in a shot of Juvederm. Jeez. And that creepo just stands there and smiles.”

  He wrapped his arms tightly around her. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here. If she keeps this up, I’ll try to get a ruling through the court.”

  She shook her head. “I hope you don’t have to do that. If we can just hold out for a year, I’ll be an adult, and she won’t have any say in my life.”

  “Don’t worry. We’ll make it.” He spoke more confidently than he felt. Still, Oregon was liberal on gay custody generally, and the judge wasn’t likely to change the custody plan unless he had a damned good reason. Gabe needed to keep his nose cleaner than clean. And he needed to get Ellie thinking about other things. “So how was school?”

  “Fine. Good.” She wiped at her eyes. “How was your visit to the house?”

  He walked her over to the couch and plopped on it with his arm around her. “Strange, but really amazing. This house is so cool, Ellie. It’s in very bad shape, but there’s so much that could be done to it.”

  “Can your strange client afford to do it?”

  He gave a sigh. “That’s the big question. I mean, seriously, I talk to him about the changes I imagine, and he seems willing and even excited. He never mentions money. But honestly, the guy lives on pizza. He’s been taking his clothes to the Laundromat and seemed really thrilled when I suggested buying a washer and dryer. I mean, who wouldn’t think of that themselves—if he has the money?”

  “Maybe you should just ask him?”

  “Yeah, I guess.”

  “Why not?”

  Gabe shrugged. “I don’t know. He’s such a, like, innocent guy. I don’t want to embarrass him.”

  She got her stern accountant’s face on. After all, she balanced their checking account and kept the savings. “That’s sweet, but he’s taking your time. If he can’t afford to pay you, you probably ought to know.”

  “You’re right, of course.” He tightened his arm and hugged her tighter. “I’ll ask him.”

  They sat quietly for a minute in comfortable silence. That was one thing he thanked heaven for. He and Ellie had a great relationship. She actually seemed to like being around him. What sixteen-year-old girl takes her dad to her birthday concert instead of a girlfriend? She always acted straightforward with him and didn’t seem shy about telling him anything. Of course, his life was probably a cautionary tale for her, but she was a damned good kid.

  Ellie spoke softly. “I told Mom if she’s going to keep up with her bull crap about you, she shouldn’t expect to see me anymore.”

  Wow. “I’m sure she took that very seriously, sweetie. And I’ll reinforce it, okay?”

  “But I don’t want to give her any reason to go back to the court and claim she’s being denied her parental rights or something.” She sounded nervous, and that made him mad.

  “Don’t worry. The judge knows you want to live with me.”

  She sighed. “I hope that’s enough. I sure liked it better when she didn’t pay any attention.”

  “Me too, honey. Me too.”

  “By the way, I work until seven tomorrow night, and I’ll eat at work, so you’re on your own for dinner.”

  “No problem.” He leaned his head against hers and tried not to wish that Tiffany’s third relationship would go the way of the other two.

  GABE STARED at the two shiny appliances.

  Isabella peered over the top of the washer at him. “What do you think?”

  “They look like if I clicked them together, they’d take me back to Kansas.”

  “Ha!” She slapped a hand on the lid of the top-loader. “You’re too funny. But yeah, they sure are red.”

  “That’s what my client says he wants.”

  “Well, we’ve got a special on them because your client’s in the minority.”

  “Great. I’ll take them. We need them delivered as soon as possible.”

  She walked to her desk, and he followed. After a couple of taps on the computer keys, she said, “How’s tomorrow?”

  “Perfect.” He gave her all the details. “Uh, I’ll get my client to give you a credit card, okay?” She nodded, and Gabe called the number he had for Jerry.

  “Hello?” The voice was soft and tentative.

  “Hi, Jerry, it’s Gabe. I picked out your washer and dryer and they can deliver tomorrow, but I need a way to pay them, and—”

  “Okay, write this down, and when I see you next, I’ll give you the card.”

  “Uh, are you sure you don’t want to give the card to the store?”

  “No.”

  “Okay.” He grabbed his notebook from his pocket. “Shoot.” Jerry recited all the information from an Amex card, complete with the date and code. Gabe wrote it carefully. “Thanks.”

  “Are you coming over today?” He sounded like he was trying to cover being anxious. The image of that slim, solitary figure wandering around that big house flashed in Gabe’s mind.

  “Uh, yes. I’ll be over when I get off at three.”

  “Great. See you then.” Man, he sounded happy.

  As Gabe walked back toward hardware from the appliances department, Harry trotted up. He wore a funny grin. “Hey, my man, we’ve got a couple new guys on the floor, and we’re taking them out for a beer at about five. Want to come join us?” He cleared his throat. “We’d really like you to come. These guys need a good role model.”

  “Yeah, right.”

  “No, seriously. It’d be great if you could come. The guys would like it.”

  Harry seemed to really want him to show up. It had been a while since he’d joined in. He should go. “Yeah, Ellie’s doing her fast-food job this evening, so I think I can stop by for a beer.”

  “Perfect.” He rubbed his hands together. “Just perfect.”

  Gabe gave him a quizzical smile, but Harry grinned and walked out of the department.

  Gabe worked the rest of the day and tried not to notice the rising sense of excitement and anticipation as his trip to Ashland got closer. At three, he focused on gathering his stuff and walking to his truck without thinking too much. Still, when he drove up Mountain Avenue, he got flips in his stomach. Not good, but he’d said he’d do this job, and he wasn’t a flake.

  He slid out of the truck in front of the house—mansion—whatever. The fact was, the house was incredible, but you still couldn’t find the damned door. The place needs work. Full stop.

  As he strode across the grass and drew closer to the porch, the front door opened and Jerry bounced out. Bounced was the only word that entered Gabe’s mind. Jerry waved. “Hey.”

  “Hey.”

  “Hope you’re hungry. I got Chinese.”

  Gabe smiled as he climbed the porch stairs. “Actually, I’m starved, and I’d love some Chinese.”

  Gabe walked in, greeted by the smell of soy sauce. Everything else seemed pretty much the same. No added furniture, no additional hominess, nothing.

  At the kitchen island that seemed to serve as the center of the house, since everywhere else was empty, Jerry had set out two paper plates, plastic utensils, and paper napkins. In the middle of the big island were some Chinese food containers. He pointed. “This is cashew chicken, these are moo shu vegetables, and this is egg fried rice.” He looked up shyly. “I can ask them to bring something else.”

  “No. This is great.” Jerry seemed to be waiting for him, so Gabe dished up some of each, spreading plum sauce on the moo shu wrapper with his plastic knife.

  Jerry mimicked him, taking a big helping of each dish. Did he wait to eat lunch for me to come over, or is this an early dinner, or both? Jerry said, “Want to go in the living room and sit down?”

  “Sure.”

  Gabe stared at the plastic beach chair suspiciously. Not that he was
huge, but the chair was small and a long way down. He set the paper plate on the tile floor, folded himself into the chair, then managed to get the plate on his lap plus fork and napkin without getting plum sauce on his pants.

  As on the mattress, Jerry gracefully settled like a cat onto a sunny windowsill. He looked around and smiled. “I just love this room, don’t you?”

  “Yes, actually, I do. It’s the amazing light coming from all directions. And the wood ceilings are beautiful. What do you plan to do about the fireplace? It doesn’t look like it works.”

  “I don’t think it does.” He scooped up some cashew chicken. “So what do you want to do with it?”

  Man, when this guy surrenders control, he doesn’t mess around. That thought stopped Gabe’s fork in midair, and he had to swallow before he could chew. “How about I get a fireplace specialist out from Medford to see what’s wrong with it?”

  “Okay.” He nodded and chewed.

  “What color do you like on the walls?”

  He shrugged. “Something that goes good with the light.”

  “How does white sound?”

  “They are white.”

  “Clean white.”

  Jerry grinned. “That would be good.” Funny, Jerry had amazing teeth. Really white and absolutely straight, like movie-star chompers, except for the little crossed tooth at the front.

  “You must have had braces, right?”

  “What?” Jerry looked really startled.

  “Your teeth are so straight. I mean, except for….” He pointed at the little crossover, dropped his hand and wished he hadn’t brought it up.

  “Oh, yes, braces.” He looked down at his plate and shoved a moo shu pancake in his mouth, chewed, then said, “They decided not to mess with my crooked tooth since people seemed to like it.”

  Gabe stared at Jerry as he took another bite of moo shu. Who were “they,” and who were the “people” who seemed to like the tooth? He cleared his throat. Better to drop the subject.

  He dug in his pants pocket and handed the papers to Jerry. “Here’s the receipt for your washer and dryer. They’ll be here tomorrow.”

  His eyes got wide. “You’ll be here, right?”

  “Uh, yes. I told them to come in the afternoon. I’m meeting the design builder to get his quotes at the same time. We may need to install the washer and dryer in the existing laundry room until I can get hookups put out by the garage.”

  Jerry smiled and nodded. “Here.” He handed Gabe an American Express card. A black American Express card.

  Gabe stared at it. “It’s black.”

  “Yes.”

  “I’ve never seen a black card.”

  “It works, don’t worry.” He reached in his jeans pocket again and pulled out some money, which he extended to Gabe.

  Gabe took it before he looked. “Wait. This is three thousand bucks. What’s it for? You already paid for the washer and dryer on the card.”

  “That’s for you.”

  “Me? Why?”

  “You’re doing all this work. I need to pay you.” He took another bite.

  “I’ve only been working for a couple days.”

  “Right. Tell me when that’s used up, and I’ll give you more.”

  “I’ll give you an invoice, Jerry.”

  “Good. That’s your retainer.” He chuckled. “Like in Good Will Hunting. Remember?”

  “Yeah, but—”

  “Re-tain-er.” He laughed again. “I love that movie. You like apples?”

  Gabe had to smile back. “Well, I got her number. How do you like those apples?”

  They both laughed.

  Gabe set his empty plate on the floor and leaned forward. “Jerry, if you’re going to live here, we need to make this house more comfortable fast. It’s a big place, so we can find ways to create a private, comfortable space for you to hang out while other parts of the house are being worked on.”

  “Okay.” He nodded.

  “You need a microwave and an electric skillet or something to cook on until we redo the kitchen. You need dishes, lamps, a TV, and something to sit on.”

  “Okay.”

  Gabe just stared at him. He wants me to get all that stuff for him. “Don’t you have anything, uh, for a house? Like kitchen utensils or anything?”

  “Probably. But I’d rather have you choose all of it, okay?”

  He might laugh—or maybe cry. “What about furniture? Don’t you want to pick that out yourself? We could go together.”

  “No. Let’s shop online. Anyway, next week I have to go away for a while. Maybe you could do some things while I’m gone?”

  “How long will you be gone?”

  “Four days. Maybe five.”

  “Okay, get your laptop, and let’s get you some stuff. Do you have Amazon Prime?”

  “I think so.”

  “Well, if not, we need to sign you up. Go on, get your computer.”

  Jerry bounced to standing and ran up the stairs.

  Gabe stared after him, feeling half like he was sending his son to college and half like a newlywed.

  He shoved his hand in his pocket and felt—paper. Holy crap, I’ve got three thousand dollars in my pocket. He sighed softly. I sure hope Jerry didn’t rob a bank to get it.

  Chapter Six

  AFTER TWO hours of selecting dishes, flatware, and stuff like dishtowels, Gabe drove back toward Medford, where he’d meet the guys. His brain felt stuffed with all the details of what needed to happen in the house, compounded by all the possibilities for improvements if Jerry wanted to go the extra mile—in other words, if he could afford the extra. Of course, Gabe’s pocket felt stuffed with $3K cash, which was a pretty good argument for Jerry having some secret stash of money. Or he’d amassed all his cash and given it to Gabe, and from here on he’d be destitute. Gabe didn’t have any idea which was true.

  He pulled into the parking lot at the bar the guys from ImproveMart liked best. While he didn’t feel much like going in, he’d more or less promised, and he didn’t want to disappoint Harry. With Ellie working, Gabe didn’t have to be home. No excuses.

  He walked across the parking lot into the bar and then looked around the tables. At the back, he saw Harry sitting with Wilson, JZ, and three guys he didn’t recognize. Must be the new men. As he got closer, his gaze settled mostly on one of the newcomers. He wore glasses and wasn’t really dressed like the usual ImproveMart employee. A lot more—what? Nerdy? Collegiate?

  As Gabe walked up to the table, Harry looked up and flashed a huge smile. “There you are, my man. We were starting to think you weren’t coming.”

  “Sorry. It’s my part-time gig—that you got me into, by the way. It takes a ton of time. So I’m ready for a beer.” He shook hands with Wilson and JZ, and then noticed that the seat they’d left open was next to the nerd. No point making a point, so he sat.

  Harry said, “Gabe, this is Murray, new in outdoor, and Jose. Jose’s in lighting. Oh, beside you is Wilson’s cousin Clark.”

  Gabe shook hands all around, getting a nice warm grip from Clark, and then ordered a beer from the waitress.

  When he had his glass, Gabe turned to Clark. “Do you work at ImproveMart too?”

  He smiled. “No, I’m a professor at SOU.” He pushed up his glasses on a slim nose.

  “No kidding? What do you teach?”

  “English literature.”

  “That must be fun.”

  Clark smiled, and his blue eyes crinkled behind his glasses. A vision of mismatched blue and green eyes flashed in Gabe’s mind, and he blinked it away. Clark said, “Yes. It is fun. I understand you build furniture.”

  “As kind of an avocation. Not many people around here buy custom.” He sipped his beer. “So you live in Ashland?”

  “Yes. In the Railroad district.”

  “Nice.”

  “How about you?”

  “I have a home in Talent. For me and my daughter.”

  “Right. Wilson told me you had a child.
”

  Obviously, the guys had been doing their share of talking. “Actually, I can hardly believe how grown-up she is. She’s turning seventeen next week.”

  “It’s hard to imagine you could have a teenage child.” He smiled, which popped dimples in his cheeks. Once you got past the serious, studious looks, Clark was very cute.

  Gabe talked to Murray and Jose for a while and gave them advice on how to thrive at ImproveMart. When he’d nearly finished his beer, Clark said, “Like another? My treat.”

  “Oh, uh, no thanks. My kid worked tonight, but she’ll be home soon, so I need to get going.”

  “Is she okay on her own if her dad was to, say, go out for dinner?”

  Gabe cocked a half smile. “I guess I’d have to get asked to dinner first.”

  “That can be arranged.” Clark smiled back, and it really was charming.

  Do I want to go to dinner with this guy? It’s kind of crazy to devote a social life to having Chinese food on paper plates with a weird guy who couldn’t sit here and carry on a conversation with this group of men—and probably doesn’t prefer men in bed either.

  “Yes, Ellie’s fine by herself. I just don’t like to leave her unless I’ve told her in advance.”

  “So maybe you’d like to tell her you’ll be gone on Friday evening when you’re having dinner with me?”

  Gabe glanced at Harry, who was very conspicuously looking everywhere except at Gabe and Clark. Total setup, which gave Gabe a warm feeling since obviously Harry and the guys had taken Gabe’s being gay seriously enough to try to fix him up. “Sure, I’d love to.” He gazed at Clark with his nerdy but still costly clothes and refined manners. If Gabe ever needed to impress a judge with his upstanding associates, he could sure as hell produce Clark. Of course, he wasn’t 100 percent sure what Clark saw in him—a guy who was good with wood and picking out washing machines—but he wasn’t going to look a gift setup in the mouth. “Where shall I meet you?”

  “How about I make reservations and come and get you?”

  “Whoa, my parents will be impressed.” He grinned.

  For a second, Clark looked confused, then grinned back. “I think I need to impress your daughter. So give me your number.” He held out his phone.