She smiled. “You know what? I think that’ll look really nice.”
“Good,” he said. “Because, after we eat, we’ll start mixing and pouring more blocks to make a small walkway and edge along the gardens, one on the right, one on the left.”
“How long does it take to dry?”
The guy tinting the concrete looked to Tony to answer.
“It’s hard to say,” Tony said. “Depends on the weather. Concrete can take seventy-two hours to cure. If it rains, it would be perfect. Still we’ll soak it down several times anyway.”
She looked at him in astonishment.
Tony smiled. “Water helps concrete cure,” he explained. “And it helps it to set, so it’s a good thing if it does rain. That’s why we’re pushing it right now because it’s calling for rain. Now I don’t want it to rain until the concrete is down.” Tony stared up at the growing cloudy sky and nodded. “Have you guys got one more hour together? That’s probably what we’ll need.”
“What about the forms though?” she asked, motioning at them.
He nodded. “I have more in the truck. But that is a bit of a concern. It depends. We didn’t pour them very thick, so what we really need to do is leave the forms on as long as we can. I do have quite a few, so we’ll see how it goes.” They did over twenty forms before they sat back and took a look.
Just then Tony’s phone rang. He laughed as he talked to someone, and, even as he spoke, he walked to the front, returning with another man, carrying more forms.
She smiled at that. They mixed up more concrete and filled more forms. By now everyone was working fast, as they were up against the weather. She overheard them discussing when to remove the templates. “Is it safe to do that so soon? Will the concrete blocks lose their shape?”
“Well,” Tony said, “they could slip a little bit along the edges if you walk on it too early, but, other than that, I don’t think it’ll be a problem.” He looked over at his buddy. “What do you think?”
“No, I don’t think so. We added some stuff to help it firm up nicely,” he said. “I didn’t leave mine for very long. Who’s got time? I suggest we do another five and get some more food and see how it’s doing.” Each one of the forms was about four feet long, so she already had a good sixty feet of stonework done now on the one side and forty already on the other. If they could give her another twenty feet before it rained …
“The thing is,” Tony said as they finished up, “no weight is allowed on this at all for at least two days. I’d prefer to leave the forms longer, but … at least it’s got the additives for quick forming.”
She nodded. She’d kept all her animals inside because so many more people were out here, and, without the usual steps off the kitchen’s back door, it was a problem. She had the screen door open, so that the animals could see her, but her pets had not seemed too bothered. She also realized how stuck they were, with no backyard access. She couldn’t go around the left or the right. “I guess there’s no way to get out here for the next couple days, is there?”
Tony shook his head. “No, gotta let all the concrete cure. I’ll come back tomorrow and grab my mixer,” he said. “That’s okay by me, if it’s not a problem for you.”
“No,” she said. “I’m totally okay with that.”
And it wasn’t long before the next five forms were done. Now she had about twenty feet more on this side, making a total of sixty feet down both sides. Tony looked back toward the creek and started measuring off. “We’ll need a bit more,” he said. “Let’s take a break, eat, and see. In the worst-case scenario, I have to return tomorrow to mix the rest.”
As she looked around, the men were already pouring some finishing product all over the wood on the deck. She looked at Mack. He had a paintbrush in his hand and a slice of pizza in the other. He was busy putting a stain on the railing and the handle and the top post. “Wow,” she said, walking up to him. “That looks phenomenal.”
He nodded. “It sure does.”
She stood nearby, staring in awe, especially with the fresh and shiny look all over it. “Will that be dry in time before the rain?”
“It’s pretty quick-drying stuff,” he said. “And it’s soaking into the wood. It’s fast dry for about 75 percent of each coat, and the rest will take another day or so to cure.”
“Perfect,” she said.
He looked at her, smiled, and said, “Then you do another coat.”
Her face fell. “Oh,” she said. “That’ll be a little harder.”
“Not only that,” he said, “but you also have to sand it all.”
“Oh my,” she said. “Really?”
“Yes, if you want to do it properly. A lot of people skip that step, but it’s important if you want the wood smooth.”
“Interesting,” she said. “That’ll take quite a while.”
“Yeah, and you’ll need a little sander,” he said. “And I might be able to lend you one.”
She smiled. “You know what? I might just have one.”
“You just might,” Mack said. “I’ll look. You don’t want to be doing this by hand.”
“No,” she said with a groan. “I definitely don’t.”
As it was, she was full up on pizza. She’d had some of the pop herself too and felt like the whole world was a different place right now. Not only did she have a gorgeous deck but she had a
