Romance Through the Ages

by Amy Harmon

  Chad grinned at me and we started the third overtime.

  Thankfully, the game ended when the buzzer sounded. Sadly, it was Washington who won by four.

  “Well, that wasn’t worth it,” Chad said as we made our way back to the living room.

  “But it was fun,” I said.

  “Yeah, it was.”

  We had to throw away our crusty paint rollers and replace them with new ones, but I didn’t mind. I didn’t even mind the loss. I’d just had more fun than I’d had in a long time.

  We finished the job at about two in the morning. We were both tired but our spirits were good. “You’re a knight in shining armor, you know that?” I asked Chad.

  “I know. I’ve been thinking of trading in my Camry for a white horse.”

  “And your jeans for some chainmail. Seriously, Chad. Thank you.”

  “No problem. Have a fun day tomorrow with your family.”

  “I will,” I said.

  As I drove home, I replayed the day in my mind. It wasn’t until later I realized that as the day played through my head like a movie, Matt’s phone call had ended up on the cutting room floor.

  Chapter Twenty-one

  The next few days were among the most exhilarating of my life. I was doing what I’d dreamed of for years. When I met the first contractor, I felt like an imposter as I discussed the floor with him. By the third day, my butterflies were gone as I gave instructions and answered questions easily. I felt like a real professional.

  While contractors worked, I unwrapped my order of specialty fabrics, set up my sewing machine on the table in the breakfast nook, and began sewing. The fabrics were breathtaking. The teal dupioni silk was rich and substantial and when I turned it in the light and it caught the subtle orange shot, I stifled a giggle. It was fabulous.

  For three days I sewed while contractors contracted. While a crew put in the wood floors and built a surround for the fireplace, I made drapes for the windows. While the electrician installed two beautiful chrome and glass light fixtures and two wall sconces, I sewed pillows. One of the design finds that made me happiest was those wall sconces. They were frosted glass half orbs that had tiny orange veining running through them. Such a perfect little hint of orange. It made me want to squeal.

  I loved the drapes and laid the long panels carefully across the guest room bed. In the subdued lighting, the teal was darker and the hint of orange was indiscernible. I liked how the colors would change as the lighting shifted throughout the day.

  I made two pillows of three different fabrics. The two biggest pillows were a nobby, solid orange. Two more were a large print, orange and cream houndstooth. My favorite two were cream linen with leaves embroidered in orange. Once I’d stuffed them with the down pillow forms and plumped them up, they looked like they belonged in a magazine. I was so proud of them, I wanted to show them off, but I was pretty sure the tattooed electrician and his long-haired, overly pierced, toothpick-chewing assistant probably didn’t care much about pillows. I put them in the guest room to await their placement on the chairs and couch.

  I’d installed a glass tile backsplash while I was in school, but as I stood in front of the fireplace, my stomach knotted up. I didn’t miss the white painted brick that had been there before. The carpenter had built a beautiful surround. The mantle was made of a solid slab of wood twelve inches deep and three inches thick that was mounted into the wall. When I was finished with the tile work, I’d give it a coating of glossy, ecru paint. I knew how I wanted it to look. I could picture it in my mind. But I’d never tackled such a big tile project before—floor to ceiling glass tile strips in random shades of teal and cream.

  I held up one of the mesh squares. Strips of glass stuck out of the sides and it felt heavy in my hand. Some of the glass was frosted and some had a shiny finish. I loved it. I couldn’t wait to get started.

  I laid out plastic to protect the dark wood floor from the adhesive and carried in the heavy boxes of tiles. The last box I brought in held the shorter strips I’d use to fill in the ends. The bucket of adhesive felt like it weighed as much as a small horse, but after stopping a few times to rest my trembling muscles, I finally got it to the work area. Three hours later, I had the sides of the fireplace up to the mantle covered in the gorgeous tile.

  I carried the ladder in from the garage and began on the wall above the mantle. This part was both harder and easier—harder because of climbing up and down on the ladder, but easier because there was no fireplace opening and there were only two edges to cut for instead of four. By late afternoon, the tile was up.

  I moved the ladder to the other side of the room and stepped back to look at the wall. It was beautiful, even breathtaking. I was so proud of myself. Tomorrow was Saturday. I was halfway to the deadline and all the contract work was finished. I’d add the grout to the tile and paint the mantle and the fireplace would be complete. I’d clean the rooms out and have them ready to begin furnishing next week.

  I felt good—tired and dirty but wow, look what I’d just done. I locked up the house and drove home to take a long, hot bath.

  * * *

  I let the warm tub water soothe my aching muscles. When the water cooled down, I’d nudge the hot water faucet with my foot until a hot trickle poured in by my feet. When my shins couldn’t stand it anymore, I’d nudge the tap and turn it off. I’d nearly fallen asleep when my phone rang. The water sloshed as I reached over the side of the tub and pulled my phone out of my pocket. I hoped it was Matt since he hadn’t called last night.

  It was Janessa.

  “Hey, Lizzie, are you still working?”

  “Nope. I’m napping in the tub.”

  “I’m glad I called you. Ben and I are at Paco’s. We’re just picking up some fish tacos and heading home.”

  “I guess I’d better get out of the tub then. I’d rather not be stuck in the bathroom all evening.”

  “Ben wants to watch the newest Mission Impossible. I know it’s not quite like BBC but you’re welcome to join us.”

  “Maybe I will. I could use something that doesn’t make me use my brain. Thanks.”

  “Sure. Do you want us to pick you up something to eat?”

  “Fish tacos sound great. Could you get me a couple?”

  “Sure thing. We’ll be home in ten or fifteen minutes.”

  Reluctantly, I left the warmth of the tub and pulled on some flannel pajama bottoms and a sweatshirt.

  Janessa and Ben came home with a whirlwind of activity and enough noise for ten. A cheerful energy surrounded them as they talked and laughed and banged noisily through the kitchen gathering plates, glasses for lemonade and napkins. They teased each other, interrupted each other and finished each other’s sentences. I loved watching them. If only Las Vegas were posting odds on whether Ben and Janessa would get married. If they did, I’d have a pretty good chance at making some money.

  We ate crunchy fish tacos while we watched Tom Cruise pretend to be smart and athletic and twenty years younger than his actual age. The movie was just so-so but Janessa and Ben’s observations kept me laughing.

  “I’m heading to bed,” I said when the credits began to roll. I left them debating over whether there was any discernible difference between this movie and the first three.

  I thought about calling Matt since he hadn’t called me, but then decided I wasn’t in the mood to hear Meg laughing in the background, so I plugged my phone into its charger on my nightstand and went to bed.

  Sometime after I fell asleep I had a bad dream. In the dream I was unrolling the rug for the Keller’s living room. Somehow I unrolled it with all the furniture in place. I was horrified to see that the rug was purple. It looked terrible with the rest of the room. Mr. Castinello, the instructor who’d taught about colors said, “These colors are not complimentary, Elizabeth. I’m afraid I have to fail you on this project.” I tried to pick up the rug but I couldn’t get it out from under the furniture.

  The sound of my phone chirping brough
t me happily back to reality. Even better, it was Matt.

  “Hi, stranger,” I said, rubbing my eyes to remove the haze of sleep.

  “I know. I’m so sorry. By the time I finished working last night it was after midnight and I didn’t want to wake you up.”

  “That’s okay.”

  “Oh no. I just woke you up, didn’t I?”

  “I don’t mind. I want to talk to you.”

  “You do? Is everything okay?”

  I laughed. “Yes. Everything’s fine. I just want to talk to you.” I sat up a little and adjusted the pillow behind me. “Tell me about your day.”

  Matt laughed. “I’m not sure you want to hear about today.”

  “Of course I do.”

  “Well, today we nearly came to blows. Meg didn’t like what the designer was doing in the Women’s Fiction room, and she wanted Alan to fix it. He told Meg if she didn’t like it to fix it and talk to the woman herself. When the designer left for lunch, Alan and Meg started arguing and even started calling each other names. I tried to get them to work it out and the next thing I knew, they were both turning on me.”

  “Oh no. You all must need a break from each other,” I said.

  “That’s for sure. I told them I was heading home and left.”

  “Did you come home?” I asked.

  “No. I ended up going back and luckily things were calmed down but I was tempted.”

  “Too bad,” I said.

  “I know. I wish I was home. I’m coming home the first part of next week.”

  “Oh good. It seems like you’ve been gone so long.”

  “How are things at your job?”

  “Much better than yours since I don’t have anyone to argue with.”

  “What did you do today?” Matt asked.

  “Today I tiled the fireplace. Tomorrow I’ll grout it. You should see it. It’s so pretty. It’s glass tile and it goes from the floor to the ceiling. I love it.”

  “You did it yourself?”

  “Yep.”

  “That’s pretty impressive, Elizabeth.”

  “I’d love for you to see it. Do you think you can stop by sometime after you get back so I can show you what I’ve done?”

  “I’d like that. Just text me the address and when I have a few minutes I’ll stop by.” I felt a surge of pleasure. I wanted him to appreciate what I was doing and once the fireplace was grouted, there was no way he’d be able to look at it and not be proud of me. “I miss you, Elizabeth. I’m not just saying this to make you upset, but I wish I’d have hired you to be our designer just so you could have come up here with me. I’ve been thinking about you all week.”

  “I’m glad,” I said.

  “I hope you’ve missed me.”

  “Of course I have. I’ll be glad when the bookstore is finished and you’re home for good.”

  “Me too. I guess I should let you go back to sleep. Sweet dreams.” Then Matt did something totally out of character. He made a kissing sound into the phone. I laughed. “I know. Silly, huh?” he said.

  “Yes. Very silly. But sweet.” I made a kissing sound back and we said goodbye.

  * * *

  I forced myself to remove the plastic sheeting before I let myself gaze at the fireplace. Painting was finished, carpentry was complete and all that was left after grouting the fireplace was hanging rods and drapes, bringing in rugs and furniture and then the finishing touches. The dirty work was nearly over.

  When the sheeting was down, I stood in the archway between the entry and the living room. Morning light bounced off the tile. I could hardly breathe it was so beautiful. I took the powdered grout and my pail into the kitchen and mixed up the grout at the sink. When I walked back into the living room with the grout and the rubber float, I stopped short. There on the floor was a sheet of lined notebook paper. Written on the paper was a message:

  “Wow! Just wow! I think I can safely call you a brilliant designer. This is going to blow Mom and Dad’s mind. I can’t stop looking at it. It’s amazing. You’re amazing.”

  I read the note three times before I folded it up and put it in my pocket. I took it out a couple of times during the day and reread it. When I got home later that evening, I put it in the drawer of my nightstand.

  Chapter Twenty-two

  I decided to take a breather from the renovations on Sunday. Mom was excited when I showed up just as she and Dad were leaving for church. I attended services with them and then enjoyed grilled salmon and asparagus for dinner. When I told them about the fireplace, Dad suggested we go take a look, so we drove to the Kellers’ house and I gave my parents a tour of the job. Mom’s enthusiasm and Dad’s obvious pride made me giddy.

  I was sitting in bed, thumbing through one of Janessa’s fashion magazines when the door slammed and Janessa ran squealing down the hall like a greased pig being chased at the fair. My bedroom door flew open and Janessa stood in the doorway, a grin on her face and her left hand extended toward me.

  “No. Are you serious?” I asked.

  “Yes,” she said, jumping up and down.

  I knelt up on the bed and patted the mattress. Janessa jumped on the bed and we held hands, bouncing like children on a trampoline. We screeched and jumped for at least a minute and probably would have continued much longer if the grouchy man in the apartment beneath us hadn’t pounded on his ceiling. At the sound of his displeasure, we collapsed onto the bed, out of breath and holding hands.

  “Tell me everything,” I said between gasps.

  “Oh Lizzie, it was perfect. Ben said he wanted to go for a drive to the coast, so we drove out to Haystack Rock.”

  “Ooh, he knows you so well.”

  “I know. I’d told him my family went there all the time when I was growing up and I told him I loved it there and he remembered.”

  I squeezed Janessa’s hand. “Keep going.”

  “Okay, it was cold but we decided to go for a walk anyway. We walked quite a ways and I kept wondering how far we were going to go and then I saw Ben watching the rocks along the cliff like he was looking for something and all of a sudden, he turned and walked straight over to the rocks. There was this little place where big rocks almost completely surrounded this quiet area of the beach and there was a little fire pit with everything ready for a fire. Oh, and there was a picnic basket with sparkling cider and everything for s’mores.”

  “What did you say? Were you surprised?”

  “I was shocked. I asked him when he came and set everything up but he didn’t tell me until we were on our way home. He had his brother, Ethan, do it. Anyway, once the fire was going, Ben made me a perfect s’more. I had chocolate and marshmallow all over my mouth and he was laughing at me. I asked him if he had a napkin and he said, ‘I’ve got something better than a napkin.’ I thought maybe he had a baby wipe or something, but no. That’s when he put his hand in his jacket pocket and pulled out this!”

  She flopped onto her back and held her hand above her face, looking at the ring. I lay down beside her and together we admired the sparkling diamond.

  “I’m so happy for you,” I said. “You know, just Friday night, I had the feeling he was going to propose soon. I’m always right.”

  “Oh brother.”

  “Seriously, I thought that.”

  “I’m not doubting you did. I’m groaning about you always being right.”

  “Fine. I’m not always right. But I was right about this.”

  Janessa sighed happily. “Ben is so great. He’s perfect for me.”

  “Did you talk about a date?”

  “Yeah. Don’t think we’re crazy.”

  “Why would I?”

  “’Cause we’re going to get married at the end of April.”

  “April? That’s only three months.”

  “I know, it’s crazy, isn’t it? But Ben is starting his residency in May and we want to have time to get settled in. My mom said, ‘If you have a year to prepare, you’ll take the whole year. If you have a month to pre
pare, you’ll be ready in a month.”

  “You know I’ll help you.”

  “You’d better. You’re going to be my maid of honor, right?”

  “Of course.”

  We stayed there and planned Janessa’s wedding until the early morning hours. When I woke up the next morning, my bedroom light was still on and Janessa was laying there on the bed beside me, smiling in her sleep.

  * * *

  Three delivery trucks came during the day. One brought a beautiful dining room table and chairs. Another brought the rugs for the two rooms and tables for the living room. The last truck brought the couch and three chairs—two to be positioned with the couch and an extra wide chair to sit beside the fireplace. The big pieces ended up haphazardly in the two rooms and smaller pieces were unloaded into the garage so I’d have room to work.

  It was evening by the time I’d mounted the chrome rods on the wall and hung the drapes. I was back at my apartment eating a grilled cheese sandwich when my phone buzzed with a text from Chad.

  Chad: I stopped by to water the flowers but you were gone. When are you going to start arranging furniture?

  I felt a little disappointed I hadn’t stayed longer.

  Lizzie: Tomorrow.

  Chad: Do you have help?

  Lizzie: I think I can get it.

  Chad: no way. Find something else to keep you busy until three. I’ll come right after school.

  Lizzie: you don’t have to do that.

  Chad: I know. I’m a grownup. I don’t have to do anything I don’t want to.

  Lizzie: HaHa

  Chad: Some of that looks heavy. Promise you’ll wait for me.

  Lizzie: if there’s some left when you get there, you can help me.

  Chad: not good enough. I’ll take the day off and meet you first thing if you don’t promise you’ll wait for me.

  I smiled and shook my head. It would be good to get some laundry caught up. I hadn’t washed a single load since before I started on the remodel.