“Call me Sharlene. ‘Miz Waverly’ makes me look behind me to see if my momma is in the place. Let’s see, it’s mid-August. I’d like to have it finished and ready by Christmas…” She hesitated because it was on the tip of her tongue to tell him that she’d give him her apartment if he could have it done by Thanksgiving.
“You don’t know much about building, do you?” he asked.
She shrugged. “Not really. Is that not doable?”
“I can get this done by Halloween if we have good weather. Probably within eight weeks, which would finish it by mid-to-late October,” he said.
“Really?”
“I’m figuring we can have it done in eight weeks, maximum,” he said.
“How big is your crew?”
“I’ve got three men who work for me. If it’s a long distance from home, we live in our travel trailers. If it’s close by, we commute. I see you’ve got some trailer spaces over there. Interested in renting two of them?”
“Two? Why only two if you’ve got three men who work for you?”
“Two are from up close to Wichita Falls. That’d be a pretty long commute, and they are both single so they don’t mind staying on the site. The other is from Palo Pinto. I reckon he’d rather commute since he’s married and has kids.”
She nodded. “I’ve got plenty of spaces back there. Plumbing, water, and electricity go with the rent.”
He glanced at the bar. “Pretty nice location for Kent and Chad. They’re brothers, by the way, and they’ll love the idea of being close to a beer joint so they can get a brew after working all day.”
She set a beer in front of him. “Estimate?”
He handed her the paper and tipped up the bottle.
It was twenty percent higher than she’d figured but less than Merle had thought it could be. She could afford it. “I can live with these numbers. When can you start?”
“Monday morning. I’ll call Chad, Kent, and Bennie and tell them. They’ll be here sometime over the weekend to get the trailers hooked up. We’ll get our equipment set up, the materials ordered, and hopefully get it stringed up and leveled on Monday. Then Bennie will begin the concrete work Monday morning. I figured you’d wrangle with me on the price. I allowed ten percent for some haggling room.”
“Then take ten percent off. But I don’t want concrete floors.”
He held up his palm. “I know what you want. The concrete is for the foundation. I know what I’m doing Miz… Sharlene.”
“Then yes, we have a deal and you can start the job.”
He set the bottle down. “Not so fast. I’ll need a place to live. I was renting a trailer up in Palo Pinto and I could commute, but the hot-water tank blew a gasket and flooded the whole thing. Owner doesn’t want to fix it so we’ve got to find a place to live. Find me a rental house by tomorrow and then we’ll have a deal.”
Sharlene cocked her head to one side. “How about a side bet? You get the trailer spaces and a house free of rent if you promise you can get the job done by Thanksgiving. If you fail, then I get to take your rent out of the final payment. I’ll pay you half now and half when it’s finished. That all right with you?”
He extended his hand. “Sounds pretty good to me.”
She shook with him. “Good. I’ll get the keys from my purse.”
“You own a rental house?”
“I do.”
“And where is this house?”
“Which way did you come into town?” she asked.
“From Palo Pinto.”
“Did you see that house by the post office? The turquoise one with hot-pink trim and yellow porch posts? It’s got two orange rockers on the porch.”
He shuddered. He’d seen the house all right and wondered what drunk had painted it. “So you own that white frame house just west of it?” he asked.
Sharlene handed him the keys. “No, I own the turquoise one. It’s yours until the job is done.”
Holt groaned. “How big is it, and does it have kitchen appliances?”
She nodded. “Kitchen, living room, two bedrooms. Larissa left living room furniture in there. You can move it out into the garage out back of the Tonk or use it. Stove, refrigerator, and the washer and dryer are in the kitchen. You still interested?”
“You think I’ll turn it down, don’t you,” he said.
“Lord, I hope not.”
“Are there any other houses in town?” he asked. He’d gladly pay rent to live in something that didn’t look like a human-sized Barbie dollhouse.
She shook her head and grinned.
“Okay, then, it’ll do until after Thanksgiving. Now there’s one more little matter we have to discuss before I actually take a check from you. I’ve got two kids. They’ll start first grade in a couple of weeks, but I bring them to work with me every day until then. They won’t get in your way, I promise. If that’s a problem, then the deal is off.”
She frowned. “Ever think of a babysitter?”
He shrugged. “Tried it. Didn’t work. Won’t try again.”
“If that’s the only problem, then welcome to Mingus, Holt Jackson,” Sharlene said.
* * *
Holt picked up his sweet iced tea, sipped it, and then set it back down. He reached across the table and touched Nikki’s hand. Perfectly white-tipped fingernails, a nice diamond dinner ring, and skin as smooth as silk. She wore one of those little black dresses with thin straps and a ruffle at the knees showing off her legs, browned to the right shade from daily visits to the tanning bed during her lunch break.
“So where are we, Holt Jackson?” She laid the menu to the side and looked him in the eye.
Tonight her eyes were crystal blue and matched the color on her eyelids.
