The Neighbors

2.6 Remodeling 102

As soon as Harry was on his way, I returned to the new neighborhood. I drove by Courtney and Charlie's "new" house and saw that they were just leaving. I was surprised that they had been there so long, but sometimes paperwork can take quite a bit of time.

Courtney waved me down and I pulled into the driveway. I rolled down the window to hear her screeching, "I got the job!"

I slammed the car into park and got out to hug her. "New house and new job in one day! Now you just have to get pregnant!"

I don't know why, but as Charlie approached, he heard what I said and blushed furiously. I never pictured him as the type to be shy about such a conversation.

"Congratulations!" I said to Courtney and then to Charlie. "It's all coming together, isn't it? I'm so glad you're staying in the area, let alone living just across the yard from us."

"We are, too," Courtney agreed.

"So, you sent my brother off to LA again?" Charlie asked.

"Yup," I said sadly. "I'm not used to this yet, but I'm sure we'll find our groove."

"I'm sure you will. And Courtney and I will always be here to help out."

"Thanks," I said, hugging each of them one more time. When I turned back to get into the driver's seat, I noticed a white sports car cruising past the house. I thought I recognized the blonde at the steering wheel, but I couldn't be sure. I hoped to God that I was mistaken.

I drove around the block to our house to find Zayn and his crew diligently at work. The girls went off to play in the yard where we had already installed a swing set, but I took Danny with me. I wasn't sure if I was ready to let him follow his big sisters, even if the yard was fenced in.

I put Danny down in the house and grabbed a few toys from a cardboard box I had brought over. He sat down and happily started banging things around. Then I plopped myself right next to him and absent-mindedly picked up a stuffed giraffe. I shook the toy in one hand, pretending to play along with Danny while I stared at the dining room wall. I just didn't like the wall that separated the dining room and kitchen. It was so plain.

"Having fun?" I heard Zayn's voice asking.

I turned and laughed. "Just daydreaming, I guess. I want to do something with this wall, but I don't know what. It's so basic. I'm just wondering if I want to find a really nice baker's rack or a buffet. But then again, I was hoping for a little more connection from the kitchen to the dining room. I mean, I know I can't change the layout of the house...."

Zayn seemed to be following exactly what I was saying. He walked over to the wall and said, "Since this is a load bearing wall, I can't take the whole thing out, but I have an idea. Can I use your note pad?" He picked up my yellow lined legal pad that I'd been keeping at the house to jot down ideas.

I nodded and then he sat down next to Danny and me on the floor. He smelled good, clean, as if he had just showered. I don't know why I noticed, but I think I expected that, since he'd been working in the heat all day, he might smell a little ripe. But I was pleasantly surprised.

He pulled a pencil out of his tool belt and started sketching. He drew a pass-through in the wall that would open the kitchen to the dining room. The center would be counter top that could serve as a buffet, and he would build overhead cabinets to maximize the space. The area would be flanked by two square, load-bearing columns. It was as if he read my mind and knew exactly how I wanted the area to function.

"That's perfect!" I said in disbelief. "Can you do that?"

"Of course," he grinned.

In that moment, I noticed that Zayn was exceptionally handsome. Not that I was looking or anything because obviously, I had the most attractive husband in the world, but I couldn't help but notice that he was dazzling when he smiled. I just found it odd that he had such a mundane job. I would think he'd be a model or something more...chic. I was about to say so when I realized that would be very inappropriate, but he seemed to notice that I was staring and he laughed nervously.

"I'll get started on it right away," he said, standing up and walking out quickly.

I blinked a few times and then re-focused my attention on Danny who had begun to wander. The dining room was safe, but there were other areas in the house that were under construction and I didn't want him getting into mischief. I made a mental note to invest in either a few baby gates or a play yard before we actually moved to this house in two weeks.

"Oh, no you don't," I said, chasing Danny playfully.

He giggled and started running away on his chubby toddler legs, but I scooped him up and went outside to find out what the girls were doing.

That night, I sat and looked through samples of countertops, paint and flooring until I had a headache. I called my sister Maggie and asked if she could watch the kids during our move. The girls really wanted to help, but I would rather have them completely out of the way so that I could really focus on getting a few things situated in the new house. Besides, the older girls would be a great help to Aunt Maggie who had her own three-year-old Ava and was now pregnant with Baby #2.

I started talking about the renovations and then I mentioned casually, "Our contractor is really cute."

"Hey!" Maggie said. "You're married now, remember?"

"Yes, but that doesn't mean I can't notice a good-looking guy, right?" I asked.

"Well, just don't flirt too much," she teased.

She was joking, of course, but it made me really think about my interactions with Zayn. I really hoped I wasn't flirting.

Maggie and I ended our conversation after agreeing that the kids would spend the night at her house so Harry and I would have two full days to move and arrange things in the new house.

I Skyped with Harry that night, allowing the kids to talk to him first. Even though the connection was sometimes choppy, I appreciated the technology that allowed our kids to see Daddy instead of just hearing his voice. It made him feel so much closer than 2,000 miles away.

Harry told me that he and Liam, the other executive we had met at the interview, had been working closely with Harry on a lot of his songs. He and Harry were becoming good friends. I was glad to know that my husband was forming friendships and felt like he could connect with someone out there.

The next day, I was back at the new house, of course. I had brought all my samples and I wanted to make some firm decisions about what needed to get done before the actual move and what could wait until we were living in the house.

The girls had chosen their paint colors for their bedrooms, and I gave them permission to watch the painters – from the hallway – while they got started on Aurora's room.

I stood in the kitchen for a while, trying to decide on counterops, when Zayn walked in.

"Unfortunately, I won't be able to start on converting this wall right away. Will that be a problem?" He asked.

"No, I guess not," I said, chewing on my lip. "The kids will probably find it fascinating to watch you tear part of it down. I knew we wouldn't get everything done before we moved in."

We discussed, at length, the priorities for the renovations. I'm sure we must have stood and talked for at least an hour when I finally said, "Thank you so much, Zayn. I'm sure we hired the best man for the job."

"Well, you and your family have been my favorite clients so far. I'm practically ignoring my other jobs to work on this one," he laughed.

I checked myself. There's no flirting going on here, right? Just good-natured compliments, right? I don't know why I was so self-conscious about my interactions with Zayn all of a sudden, but I figured it couldn't hurt to be cautious.

When we were finally finished with a very long day at the new house, I herded all the kids back out to the car so we could head home. I had just finished buckling Danny into his seat when I looked up and noticed the same white sports car I had seen the other day.

And sadly, I had not been mistaken about the identity of the driver at all.

Victoria.