“Well,” she swallowed, then answered thoughtfully. “I don’t have too many concerns with the house and such. I know you’ll treat it like it’s your own, and the fact that you’re helping pay for a bathroom renovation?—”
“I had my friend Statler out here this morning.”
Clearly, Vince couldn’t help his interruption. He seemed really excited as he continued.
“He can start early next week, and its going to be awesome.”
Lace wished she could bottle the look of satisfaction on his face.
She chuckled. “It’s a bathroom, Vince. How ‘awesome’ could it possibly be?”
He looked smug. “An all-tile, walk-in shower, not one of those plastic insert things. A big soaker tub…”
Lace was instantly jealous.
“…double sinks, a heated floor, and warming towel racks.”
Lace blinked. “You’ve got to be kidding me?” Her enthusiasm waned a little. “That’s, uh, going to cost a fortune.”
She wondered a little nervously how much her share would be, and Vincent didn’t leave her hanging.
“My father is donating all the wood for the project, and since Stat’s a buddy, he’s giving us the friends and family discount. The whole thing will be…”
He named a figure that completely blew Lace away. It was not only reasonable; it was a veritable bargain.
“Wow. I’ll certainly pick up half of that,” she responded immediately.
“Uh, uh,” he rebutted. “That was not the deal. Remember? I pay for the lion’s share, and you get to be in charge of buying groceries and preparing food for supper that you either leave for me, or we enjoy together.”
“Fifty-five, forty-five,” she sent out.
“Seventy, thirty,” he argued with a grin.
“Sixty, forty,” she countered.
“Sixty-five, thirty-five,” he returned. “Final offer.”
Lace knew he’d drawn a mental line, and that she wasn’t going to win. She was very much getting the better end of the deal, so how could she argue?
“Fine,” she huffed without anything behind it, “but if you want more of a contribution from me, just say so.”
He fluffed her off. “Weareleaving the color scheme to you.”
That was unexpected.
“Okay,” she said pondering for only a moment before spitting out what she imagined.
After all, she’d been staring at that pink monstrosity for years, contemplating what it could be like.
“I think a basic black and white will be good,” she began. “With maybe one accent wall in a bold color. Perhaps an interesting shade of green or blue.”
“That sounds doable,” Vincent responded with a grin. “I’ll pick up some color samples so you can have a look, and we should be able to take it from there.”
“Nice,” Lace replied, thoroughly pleased. She’d havesomesay in the project, but wouldn’t have to expend any of her limited energies.
“But I’m sorry,” Vince segued. “I interrupted you. You were saying?” He handed the conversation back over to her.
“Oh, I was just going to request things like, don’t leave dirty dishes around because like all old houses, we have ants,andsome resident mice.”