Page 23 of Another Last Call
The first time I’d had a friend in the cabin too, actually. None of my friends had ever come over. Most of their parents had told them not to, Maggie’s mom included. Part of it, I think, was to keep us playing outside in the sun, but some of it might have had to do with me being an outsider and the summer people being different from the locals.
Not to mention, the summer properties weren’t right in town. It was a good half-hour walk to get to the cabin from Main Street, so it wasn’t overly convenient to hang out at my place. Regardless, it had never mattered; between the gorgeous weather in Marble Beach, The Sea Glass, and the ice cream parlour that was long gone now, we had everything we needed in town.
But now Maggie was here.
“Come on in,” I said, jiggling my keys as I led her to the garage. “Sorry, we have to go this way. The front door is blocked right now.”
“It’s no problem,” she said.
I grimaced as I opened the door. “And sorry for the mess in here. I’ve taken some supplies out of here to bring in, but there’s, uh… a lot.”
“Right,” she said.
Most of the lumber was still in the garage, but I’d brought in the cabinets and all the different flooring, which is what was blocking the front door. I motioned to it as Maggie followed me into the cabin.
“It’ll look good eventually,” I said. “Right now it’s garbage, I know.”
“Mmm,” she said.
Internally, I grimaced in embarrassment. I didn’t think Maggie was the kind of person who wouldactuallyjudge someone’s house, but looking at it through the eyes of someone who couldn’t see what I did in my mind, the place was in shambles. Pride kicked in and I ran a hand through my hair.
“The renovations will be awesome. I’m going to redo the kitchen. Tear out all the cabinets and put in new countertops.” I pointed at the stack of hardwood in the living room. “Hardwood pretty much everywhere. Non-negotiable. There’s no point in putting in lino or laminate or whatever, you know? It’ll cheapen the look of the whole place. But I’ll do tile in the kitchen and bathrooms, obviously.”
Maggie followed my gestures, her face unreadable.
“I figured the heated floors would be nice, too,” I said, then cleared my throat. “Good for later in the summer, when it’s chilly at night, you know? It was always cold in here by the time we left and Dad hated running the furnace.”
“Wow,” she said.
I motioned towards the patio doors. “Come outside. This is gonna be the best part.”
She followed me, looking from side to side as I led her onto the deck.
“So like, this is going to be the big seller.” I drew the plans in the air, imagining them as I spoke. “The entire deck will be redone. I’ll put a balcony up there. That’s off the master bedroom. Then over here, a set of stairs down to this level. This’ll be the main area with the barbecue and stuff, patio furniture and whatever for entertaining. Retractable awning and that kind of thing, obviously.”
“Obviously,” she repeated.
I licked my lips, hating the fact that I felt like I needed to impress her. “And then there’ll be stairs down to a patio over there. I want to put in a hot tub, a wet bar… just like, total luxury, you know? Paired with this view…” I shrugged. “It should sell for a good price. Once I’m done, at least.”
Still, Maggie didn’t say anything, just stared at the cabin as I spoke.
“Sorry to disappoint,” I said, laughing awkwardly.
“You think I’m disappointed?”
“Well… yeah. I mean, I tried to tell you it wasn’t that good and—”
“What, you think I’d be impressed if you had a huge lake house?”
“No, I just mean that I know it isn’t that great of a house and that it seems like you were expecting more.”
She finally looked at me. My heart sank as I realized her eyes were cold and her jaw clenched. “More? What, like you think I’m some kind of gold digger?”
“What?” I said dumbly. “Why would I think you were a gold digger? I told you this place was crappy.”
“You did,” she said. “Too bad you’re a liar.”
I frowned. “What?”
