Her Dirty Builders (Men at Work #10) - Mika Lane Page 0,14

the broom, Case looked down at the floor, shaking his head. “Maybe my mother was right. Maybe we shouldn’t have taken this job.”

Alden filled me in. “The owner, Esme, recently had some drama in her life—”

“She was left at the altar,” Case interrupted.

Ah-ha. That would push anyone over the edge.

“We wanted to help her out because she’s kind of broke with the fiancé bailing and all,” Alden added.

“But if she’s going to be a pain in the ass about things, we don’t need the headache,” Case said, pulling out his cell phone.

“I’m calling her right now,” he added.

Alden and I looked at each other. This could get ugly. I’d seen Case pissed before. He didn’t have the patience of his father.

“Hello, Esme? Case McKinney here.”

Once they got past their pleasantries, Case got to the point.

“Esme, did you take the sledgehammer to the wall here after we left last night?”

Why was he asking her? It wasn’t like there was anybody else who could have done it.

“Well, you shouldn’t have done that. You just made our job a lot harder.”

I looked over at Alden, who was trying not to laugh. Of course, that brought me to the brink of laughter, too, listening to Case scold a woman who was probably already mad at the world.

“I know... I know, Esme. Look—”

Alden and I were shaking with laughter, listening to Case try to get a word in edgewise. If he thought he was going to set that woman straight, looks like he had another think coming.

But then he raised his voice. “Esme. I am trying to help you here. We all are.”

There was a long pause.

I hoped he hadn’t gone too far. But if he had, it didn’t seem like it would be a huge loss, if this wasn’t going to be a money-making endeavor, anyway.

On the other hand, being able to say we’d renovated the old Buckner place would surely be a nice feather in the cap of McKinney Construction. And from the looks of the place, while it definitely needed shoring up, it had good bones. I’d love to get to work on restoring some of its original wood.

Case lowered his voice and wandered off to another part of the house, either for privacy or possibly to get away from our smart-assed laughing.

“Are you okay, Ty? You look a little tired,” Alden said.

Shit. Did I look that bad?

“Oh, yeah, I was arguing with the old man again last night. That takes it out of me. He’s hammering me on my career choices. The thing that’s ridiculous though, is that no matter what I did, it wouldn’t make him happy.”

So I might as well do what the hell I wanted.

Alden slapped me on the back. “Sorry to hear it, man. It’s a shame he doesn’t see the value in your woodworking talents.”

Truth be told, he didn’t see value in anything about me. I think the thing he liked best was calling on a regular basis and dumping his shit all over my head.

While we were waiting for Case to finish with the homeowner, Alden and I wandered to the kitchen. It, like the rest of the house, was a mess, but nothing that some hard work—and unfortunately, a big chunk of money—couldn’t repair.

“You know, these cabinets could be fixed up with some refinishing and new doors. They’d look great,” I said.

And even better with brand new ones.

I knew Case and Alden thought the house was beyond hope, but I didn’t see it that way. From my perspective, wood had many lives and could be repaired, reshaped, and refinished until there was nothing left but sawdust. That’s what was great about these old places. They were made out of strong building materials. Most anything could be brought back to life.

“Okay, guys,” Case said, putting his phone back in his pocket and joining us, “I don’t think Esme will be breaking down any more walls.”

Alden snickered. “What did you do? Remind her you’re the most eligible bachelor in town?”

Case glared at him. “Very fucking funny, man.”

I looked between the two of them. “Wait. What? You got Most Eligible Bachelor this year?” I dropped my head back and let out a whoop that echoed through the house.

Without waiting for him to answer, Alden continued his ribbing. “I know right? Who’da thought this ugly mug would get voted anything?”

“Is our new client Esme bewitched by your special status?” I had to add to the ribbing. It was just too tempting.

“Hardly. I’m sure she thinks I’m an asshole,