Always My Home (The Aster Lake Series Book 2)

by Alora Kate

  The fucking floor!

  I didn’t know the floor was part of the challenge. I cursed and cried in front of everyone for the last two hours.

  I was heartbroken and feeling defeated already.

  I glanced up at the walls that we managed to paint in the last two hours and had several fans tuned on so they would be dry by tomorrow. If they were still wet, we’d be in a lot of trouble.

  “Let’s grab drinks tonight and strategize,” Felix suggested and I thought it was a great idea. We left the kitchen, which was completely bare, with only wires and pipes sticking out of the walls.

  “We can’t be hung over tomorrow.” Jefferson was the voice of reason as he put all of our plans and paperwork together on our worktable that he’d been reviewing. They set up a heated tent outside for us to work in and help prevent the house from getting dirtier than normal. They said a cleanup crew would come in and tidy it up for us on our day off, the day before the final filming. We heard they were going to stock the kitchen with food and new dishes.

  “We won’t be.” I walked out of the tent and towards the van. Climbing in and trying not to cry, I reminded them, “We have too much on our plate.”

  They both agreed.

  I put my seat belt on and pulled out my phone.

  One message from Rocco and it instantly had me relaxing in my seat.

  Two from Adalyn. She had butterflies in her stomach and couldn’t stop crying.

  Nothing from Isaac. They really were enforcing the non-confidentiality agreement.

  My stomach dropped. Isaac should be here. I should be competing against him.

  I sent Steph and Sam a text and asked if we could meet up. Steph replied. Sam didn’t.

  Steph said she’d meet me for drinks at the bar across the street from me. We’d been there once before. I told her that two other contestants would be with me, and I asked her to pretend that she knew nothing about the show. I told her not to ask questions about them either because I wasn’t sure how much they would or wouldn’t tell. I didn’t need any more complications or stress right now.

  I changed my dress after we got back, because it was dirty and stunk from today’s activities. They guys did also. The show put them up in their old apartments for the few days we had left. I wasn’t sure if I’d get to go home after filming or not. I guess it depends on who wins.

  After I changed and ran a brush through my hair, I went downstairs and across the street. Steph was already there with a table. I took my jacket off and slid in the booth across from her.

  “Tell me before they get here,” she whispered, leaning close to me.

  “Kitchen remodel with two of the past contestants,” I said softly, while glancing around the bar, making sure no one was paying attention. “Like the whole thing, even the floor. I didn’t plan for the floor! I’m freaking out.”

  “You’ll figure it out. You have up until now.”

  The waitress interrupted us so I put in an order in for a margarita and Chicken Alfredo pizza. The guys showed up shortly after that. We ate and the conversation flowed, but nothing to do with the show. Steph explained her business to the guys. Turns out they both had girlfriends back home so Steph gave them each a business card. She even offered them a ten percent discount on their first order.

  She. Was. Awesome.

  I’d miss her.

  “I might be gone in a few days,” I announced to the table after my second margarita. “I better stop.” I pushed it away and grabbed my glass of water.

  “I’m going to miss you, Madi. Please make sure you stop by before you leave.”

  “If I don’t,” I smirked, “then you’ll just have to come and visit me.”

  “We’re already working on a vacation.”

  “Because you girls rock!”

  I pulled out my wallet but Jefferson insisted he would pay for everything. I wasn’t going to say no, it’s not often men do nice things like that for me. I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d been on a date.

  Had I ever been on a date?

  I sent a text to Rocco before I could even think about it. I don’t think I’ve ever been on a date.

  His text came back a few seconds later. We’ll fix that as soon as you get home.

  I’d like that.

  “Is that Rocco?” Steph questioned and I popped my head up. “I know the Rocco smile.”

  “I think he’s my boyfriend,” I blurted.

  “I’m glad he’s your boyfriend,” she replied and drank the rest of her water.

  “I should call it night,” I announced to the table and taking my mind off the boyfriend thing.

  “We should all call it a night,” Jefferson said and Felix agreed.

  “I’ll walk you home, Steph,” I said and she shook her head.

  “No. It’s not that far.”

  “I’ll walk her home,” Felix said getting up from the table. “If Mary knew I hadn’t, she’d have my balls.”

  “That’s sweet,” Steph commented sliding out of the booth.

  “I’ll walk Madi home,” Jefferson told them.

  I laughed. “We’re across the street.”

  “This is New York. You could get hurt trying to cross that street.”

  I rolled my eyes and slid on my jacket. “That’s why I use a crosswalk.”

  We said goodbye outside the restaurant and I called Rocco as soon I got home. I told him all about the show and about the stupid damn floor.

  “Don’t let it get to you,” he said for the tenth time. “Do what you can with what you have. The floor can wait, or you just don’t do it.”

  “It will ruin the whole thing!”

  “I’m sure with the shiny brand new appliances staring at them, they won’t notice the floor.”

  “The judges will notice the floor.”

  “Can you repair it?”

  “It’s not damaged. It’s just ugly green and yellow linoleum.”

  “Can you clean it up at all?”

  “I sat on the floor for two hours staring at it,” I admitted and put him on speaker so I could change into my pajamas. “I have it memorized.”

  “Am I on speaker?”

  “Yep.”

  “You naked,” he growled and I got goose bumps.

  “Yep.”

  “Jesus you’ve got great tits.”

  I looked down at them and had to agree. I loved my tits.

  “You know I do.” I pulled my tank top on and pulled my shorts up. I picked the phone up, and crawled into bed. “I can’t wait wake up next to you.”

  “That’s all I’ve ever wanted,” he murmured honestly.

  “I thought you wanted more than that.”

  “I still do.”

  I got quiet. This was serious talk; something I wasn’t good at because it’s something I’ve never done. I wanted to keep talking to him so I did what I do best; I changed the subject.

  “Sooooo, Isaac is gone.”

  “I thought he was your partner?”

  “He was.” I let out a sigh, feeling upset again but continued, “He got kicked off the show after the team challenge for cheating.”

  “From what you told me, it doesn’t sound like he would cheat.”

  “I know he didn’t. It has something to do with Nicole, but he’s gone. He won’t return anyone’s messages. Not even Sam’s.”

  He was quiet for a few seconds.

  “Friends,” I reminded him. “Just friends. I put him in his place before and after that kiss.”

  “I know.” I barely heard him.

  “Don’t be jealous, even though it’s kind of cute.”

  “I’m sorry your friend is gone.”

  “It’s not right. I’m going to figure out what happened.”

  “I know you will.” The phone line went silent again. I hated the silence, always wondering what he was thinking and I’m sure he was wondering the same thing. The long distance thing was hard now that we were dating. I think?

  “I miss you,” he sa
id with a yawn. “I’ll let you get some rest.”

  “I do miss you, Rocco. I mean it.”

  “I know you do, beautiful.”

  So sweet. Totally my type.

  “Kick ass tomorrow,” he told me.

  “Always.”

  #

  “We have six hours left,” Felix reminded us. He was always looking at his damn watch. It was a good thing but it was driving me nuts today. I got no sleep last night and I drank my weight in coffee to keep myself awake and focused. I was bloated, miserable, and still stressing about the damn floor.

  The good news; we were allowed to use family photos. The family left a stack of them for me to use for the kitchen counter, even though they didn’t know what I was planning. Maybe this would score me some extra points and offset the ugly ass floor. We were able to cut the black tiles up into four, leaving us with eight total, enough to make a little pattern with it to go above the sink. It wasn’t much, but it was better than leaving it empty.

  The extra sink spout didn’t help any and I tossed it aside. The new sink was perfect just the way it was. We had the cabinets installed on the right side of the sink and above the dishwasher, but not the left side. The glass pieces were still drying from whatever it was that Felix was doing to them. I didn’t care, as long as it looked good. I didn’t like the pieces looking broken, but we didn’t have a choice. Their placement had to be perfect so they wouldn’t look funny beneath the glass.

  “Stop reminding her.” I heard Jefferson tell Felix.

  “Its fine,” I said loud enough for them both to hear. “Any thoughts on the floor?”

  “I Googled some ideas,” Felix said and handing me his phone. “We can paint it.”

  I scrolled through the DIY post and asked him to explain it me instead.

  “We clean it first, sand it down, and then prime it. There was primer on the shelf in our tent. Things we were able to use that came with the show.”

  “That’s good.”

  “Yes, or we’d be screwed. Anyways, after we prime we can paint it. We just need to figure out a design or just do one of the colors. Or both. It’s the only paint we have.”

  “Are you sure it’s the right paint?”

  “The DIY post said to use porch & floor paint but we don’t have that.”

  “Shit!” I started pacing in the kitchen. This was a huge risk. There was a possibility we could ruin the whole floor if the paint didn’t work. “I can check the shelf and see what else we have. Maybe I missed something,” Felix said walking out of the house.

  “It’s a huge risk,” Jefferson told me again and I continued to pace. “I understand why, but the counter top will make up for the floor.”

  “I just feel like it will ruin the whole thing.”

  “It might.”

  “I don’t know why I’m letting this bother me so much.” I was thinking aloud. I was obsessing over something that was probably so little but so big at the same time.

  Felix came back empty handed.

  “I think we should leave the floor,” he suggested. “We don’t have the right paint. Even if we used this stuff and put primer over it, it could be too slick; it could easily fall apart while we are finishing the rest of the kitchen.”

  “Shit!” I swung my head towards Cody and winced. I mouthed sorry to him for cussing. I wasn’t sure why, they’d just edit it out.

  “We could make the floor worse, Madi,” Felix finally said.

  In an instant, I made my mind up. “Skip it.”

  I walked off, went to the bathroom, and cried.

  #

  By the time we left for the day, the appliances were hooked up and working. We only had ten hours tomorrow to get the rest done, but Felix and Jefferson helped tremendously, mostly because they lifted and held things I couldn’t. I hadn’t thought of the floor since I made my final decision. I took a picture of the glass Felix pieced together but they made me delete it before we left the house because I wasn’t to work on it off camera. I memorized it and the pictures and figured out where each photo would go. I would have to cut some but I didn’t think the family would mind at all when they saw the final counter.

  I sent Adalyn a message letting her know that I would call in the morning before I left because it was so late there. She was probably sleeping anyway.

  I checked in with Steph and Sam and neither had heard from Isaac. At this point, I knew they wouldn’t until after filming wrapped up. Maybe even after the final show aired. I knew Isaac would contact us as soon as he was able to.

  I crawled into bed and called Rocco.

  “Hey, beautiful,” he answered.

  “Hello,” I said softly, pulling up the covers and getting comfortable.

  “How was your day?”

  “Exhausting.”

  “You sound tired,” he commented. “We can keep it short.”

  “Tell me about your day, Rocco. I’d love to fall asleep listening to your voice.”

  He chuckled and started to tell me about his day. I doubt I heard much because I passed out quickly. I had a message from him when I woke up telling me just that. I snapped a funny face picture of myself and sent it to him, then got ready for my day.

  We talked to Matt when we got to the house and the three of us did our confessional before we got to work. He asked me some questions about our final plans and then talked to Jane before he left. He left Cody and Lucas with us along with Jane, who said she’d be in and out all day since she was visiting all three houses.

  We still needed a countertop above the dishwasher so we took the extra piece off the original cupboards and cut it down to fit the space above it. Felix glued it in place and after it was dry, he sanded the top, getting rid of the extra glue. Then he painted the finisher over it. It was nice and shiny afterwards and I liked it. We worked well together and everything was coming along nicely. I didn’t have to order them around; they just knew what needed to be done.

  I was standing in the kitchen admiring the cabinets and making sure they looked even, and they did. I glanced to the eight pieces of tile and thought that anymore would be too much. We cut one of the shelves we had in half so we could put one under the backsplash for the soap and a cleaning rag. Felix painted the walls so that the blue was in the middle and the darkest, and as it got closer to the other walls, it was gray. He blended it well and it was almost seamless where the two walls met up. I didn’t like the handles that came with the cabinets, but there was nothing I could about it. Considering it was a small and minor detail, I passed over them and admired the countertop with the pictures.

  I put their wedding picture in it, along with two different family photos. Felix made sure the broken pieces weren’t over their faces, and it was more beautiful than I dreamed it would be. The hardest part in making the counter was picking the perfect pictures. I only used the three because they were rather large sizes, and I felt like I picked ones that really captured the essence of the family. Plus, I was afraid too many would be overwhelming and I didn’t want the seam of where the two pieces of glass were fused together over the pictures, ruining the collage.

  We did it.

  It was done.

  We even had a few minutes to spare and that was why I was alone in the kitchen. I was soaking it all in. I wanted a moment alone with the kitchen, to admire it and make sure I hadn’t forgotten anything. The last few weeks of my life came down to this very room, this very moment. I left it all on the table and I was proud of what I accomplished.

  I uncrossed my arms, turned around, and went towards the tent where I asked Felix and Jefferson to wait for me. I could hear them talking, but couldn’t make out the words when I pulled the tent drapes back and stepped inside.

  I slipped and fell forward, landing halfway on my right side. Both of them reached out for me but it was too late. The pain registered right away in my right ankle. I cursed and the guys helped me roll over so I was sitting on my butt, which was now wet.

  “What the hell,” I m
oaned out in pain.

  “I spilled the finisher,” Felix said dropping to his knees with a bunch of rags in his hands. “I’m sorry.”

  My ankle was throbbing and I could feel it swelling up. “Take my shoe off,” I ordered through gritted teeth. I don’t think I’ve ever been in this much pain.

  Jefferson slipped my shoe off and Cody popped in the tent. “Shit.”

  Thank God, it wasn’t on camera.

  “I’ll get a hold of Jane, but we need to get you to the hospital.”

  I cried while they helped me to the van.

  I cried the entire time we were in the van.

  I cried in the waiting room.

  My delicate anklebone couldn’t even be seen anymore due to the massive swelling. The emergency room doctor examined me and it turned out to be just a sprain. I was thankful for the bandage wrap and not a cast. Felix and Jefferson helped me home and didn’t want to leave my side.

  “It’s a sprain,” I reminded them as I sat down on the couch.

  “I’m sorry, Madi.”

  “It was an accident, Felix.”

  The poor guy felt awful, and I knew it truly was an accident.

  “The challenge was complete,” I said with a grin. Fuck, I was so high. “We have tomorrow off, so I’ll just elevate and sleep all day.”

  “We’ll check on you tomorrow.”

  “You can stop by but I’m sure Steph and Sam will be here.”

  And I was right. Within ten minutes of the guys leaving, Steph showed up. Sam was still upset about Isaac and had already gone to bed. Steph said that Sam wears her heart on her sleeve, and part of her ADHD was that she worried. A lot. Steph warned her to keep her feelings in check, but she fell hard for Isaac. I felt bad for her but hoped for the best, that Isaac would call and put us all at ease.

  Steph helped me into some pajamas and even fluffed my pillows for me.

  “Do you need more pain meds?” she asked lying in bed next to me.

  “No. I’m still pretty high from the shot they gave me.”

  She crossed her eyes at me. “Looks like they gave you the good shit.”

  I laughed and rolled my head, it was the only thing I could manage. “Can you call Rocco for me? I don’t want him to worry.” I yawned and rolled my head over, closing my eyes, which was the last thing I remembered.