Chapter 4

DON

I told her, "Well, I think getting them together would be a great idea. I guess 'how' is the issue. If he and Natalie were dating, it would be natural for him to come over, but it's kind of a Catch 22."

Rose looked thoughtful for a bit then asked, "You own the house you moved into?"

I grinned at her. "Yes, bought it free and clear."

"Great!" she told me. "There's another thing about Bob..." She smiled.

I offered, "He's secretly SpongeBob SquarePants?"

"Close but not quite. His parents own Reynolds Construction company, and Bob's been working in construction since before he could walk.

"Since you're a teacher here now, you're automatically part of his Faculty Circuit. He does part-time work with his family's crews and also offers his services to the faculty at a big discount.

"Leaky faucet, hole in the roof, plumbing, wiring, painting, you name it. He's not an Arnold in looks, but I've seen him horse an old water heater full of scale into the back of his truck without turning a hair -- and those things gotta weigh upwards of three hundred pounds. Surely you've got some fix-up you'd like to do around your place."

"Hmm ... well, the dining room looks like it used to be a kid's playroom -- crayon marks, a few dents, picture-hanger holes, stuff like that. Ana said it looks pretty..."

Rose asked with a smile, "Scruffy?"

"Yep, scruffy describes it perfectly. Maybe getting it fixed up could kill two birds with one stone -- get the dining room in good shape and get Ana to know a real nice guy."

Rose smirked a little and said, "Besides, you could check out how he and Natalie act together -- maybe it'll soften up Ana a bit too."

I laughed. "Hell, when Natalie started puberty, I worried about keeping her away from bad guys -- then she never found anyone in Ohio even remotely interesting. Now here in California she's found a guy she's told me several times she's really interested in, and you and I are plotting how to get them together! That's a switch."

Rose told me seriously, "Well I've talked with Bob a few times this school year, and whenever I 'happen' to mention Natalie, he gets this silly grin I've never seen on him before and starts staring off into space -- I don't think you have to worry about him holding up his side of the bargain he doesn't know he's getting into.

"Okay, why don't you take some measurements of the dining room and casually mention to Ana you've got a line on someone who'll fix it up pretty cheaply. As I recall, Ana didn't seem to have any difficulty with the movers being there so long as you were there too, right?"

"No, she didn't. In fact, she got so into getting the stuff put in the right places she pushed a couple of them in the right direction."

"Great!" Rose said, "Activity is probably very good for her then. Now, what I would suggest is we keep this between you and me. Don't mention Bob's name or where he's from or anything to Natalie, and don't mention Natalie's name to Bob. With you and Natalie having different last names, he may not know you two are related. Maybe we can surprise them all a little."

I laughed at her. "You really are a sly devil, aren't you, Rose?"

"Yep! I've had to handle lots of lovesick teenagers in my years here, now I have to handle the opposite in an adult -- and at long range, too.

"Okay, see if you can get your measurements and your womenfolk handled tonight. Bring your measurements with you to school and I'll drop a note to Bob to come see you. Sound like a plan?"

I agreed, "It's a plan."

In the evening, I casually mentioned to Ana about having found someone to help us out with the dining room so it wouldn't be so "scruffy." She didn't have any problem with it at all, since I'd be there. In fact, she said she wanted her hand in on it so it would be up to her standards.