Page 30 of Something Like Shelter

“Can she be out in the heat?”

“Not in the afternoon sun, no. Babies can’t regulate their body temperature. But in the mornings or evenings, sure.”

“If you ever want to walk when I’m here, you can borrow Tuna. He’s great on a walk. No pulling. And he has basically no prey drive, so he doesn’t try to take off after squirrels or anything like that.”

“I’m absolutely going to take you up on that. I’d love a walking buddy. Plus, I’m sure being here is cutting into the time you usually spend one-on-one with him. So I’d be happy to replace some of it.”

“Whatever you do, don’t let him in your backyard,” I warned. “Unless you want a wet dog in your house. He will not miss a chance to hop in a pool. Or lake. Stream. Large puddle…”

“Good to know. I mean, I don’t mind if he wants to get some energy out with a swim. You’re the one who would have to load him all wet into your car.”

“I know. You heard the magic word,” I said when Tuna came walking over, tail swishing. At Willa’s pinched brows, I said, “S-w-i-m.”

“Oh, right. Okay. I won’t tease you with that one. But between you and me,” she said, holding out a small piece of chicken to him, “maybe we can have a s-w-i-m tomorrow. If your dad is okay with that.”

I wasn’t prepared for the way my heart skipped at that word. At how right it felt.

One day, I reminded myself.

“Totally fine by me.”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“What made you get into your line of work?”

“When my old man split on us, we moved in with my grandparents. And my grandfather was of that older generation, y’know? Never throw anything out, always fix it. Don’t hire someone if you can figure it out yourself. He taught me to do everything from fixing a lawnmower to rebuilding a car engine before middle school. Then we got into the more complicated stuff in high school: plumbing, electrical, HVAC. I broke my arm right before graduation when I fell off the roof when we were redoing it.”

“Was that what he did for work?”

“Yeah, he was in contracting. I worked my summers with him. Then I eventually took over when he retired.”

“Because it was what you knew, or because you genuinely liked it?”

“Both, I guess. I wasn’t meant for college. I did my fair share of partying in high school. And I wasn’t someone who was going to be happy in a suit and tie and office building all day. I like working with my hands. I lucked out that I’m good at it as well.”

“But you left being a contractor behind?”

“I wanted a little more freedom. That kind of work means you’re usually on-site day in and day out for months. It just wasn’t what I liked. I’d rather do a bunch of smaller jobs. Be able to move around more, schedule my days based on the season or my mood.”

“Do you miss working with a team?”

“Maybe sometimes. I like working on my own. I can go at whatever speed I want. No one slowing me down or trying to rush me. And I do bring some guys on here and there for bigger jobs.”

“Do you ever plan to expand or step away and let someone else do the hard work?”

“Worried you won’t have access to me for the next catastrophe?” I teased, making her smile. “Yeah, it’s something I think about. I’m going to want a family—one I can be home with for dinner and on weekends. I’d have to have someone else picking up the slack.”

“That makes… oh, I guess grown-up time is over,” she said when Adelaide let out a shrill cry. “Thanks for the save earlier. Really,” she said, then rushed off to scoop up the baby.

Alone, as she took the baby upstairs to feed and change, I put the food in the fridge, cleaned up, then went upstairs to get back to work.

All the while, I was glad that we’d wasted time eating dinner. Because it gave me another day coming back to Willa’s house to work on the bathroom.

I never imagined I’d be someone who would dream of a project stretching out longer than it needed to. Especially a job that cut into my free time.

I couldn’t remember the last time I’d deliberately wanted a job to take longer.