Chapter Eighteen

Wyoming, Rhode Island, 2028

“The house is over three hundred years old. I’m sure you can understand my worries about your experience with houses this old.” I forced a smile at the man who wouldn't stop staring at me. He was the contractor I liked the least and most. His look was stern and his words abrupt, but there was something in his eyes. A gentleness I suspected he hid from the world.

“I get it. You wanna make sure the integrity is taken care of.” He broke his stare from my face and started glancing around the house. “It’s gonna take us three weeks to do the main floor including front porch and the stairs, two weeks upstairs, a week on the roof and attic, and then probably two weeks on the basement. And that’s only if we don't find anything unexpected. Being so old, I’m assuming unexpected is going to happen. Did you go over the quote?” He turned back to me, again flinching when he met my gaze. “This work is going to take my entire team, forty guys.”

“I did. It sounds fair. I will have fifty percent transferred into your account tomorrow, and as you make progress we will continue to add funds.” I didn't want to spend the money on the old place when I first got it but it had grown on me. Not to mention the fact we had a very real fear that Marguerite would show up with a psych assessment team any minute.

It helped that Lana and I were attached now and the plans we had for it meant it would need some refurbishment. And if we were doing a little, we might as well do it all. Get it over with. There was no way we would be able to defend ourselves against any attacks on our lifestyle if we kept living the way we were.

“I have often wondered about this old place. I’m excited you’re going to fix it up. It’s a real eyesore with that garden and the front porch.” He nodded and offered his hand. “My team will be here tomorrow. We’ll start on the roof and attic first, ensuring it’s dry up there. It’s usually a good place to find the beginnings of trouble. We’ll work our way down, doing the second floor next week. Sound all right?”

“It sounds great, Mr. Daley. Thank you.” I got the door for him, noticing the way he stared at me.

When I closed the door, Lana popped out from behind a corner. “He’s cute.”

“Do I have something on my face?” I asked.

“No.” She shrugged.

“He was staring.”

“Maybe he thought you were pretty.” She slung her arm over my shoulders and led me to the kitchen. “I can’t believe we’re finally doing the renovation. It’s going to be a mess in here.”

“I know. But it needs to get done. We’re spending all our time here; we need certain things to keep our bodies alive. We need a gym and the vibrational machine will be helpful with the atrophy. And the spa tubs will help with circulation. We need to start budgeting our time better. Think of it as an office job. When Gilda, the new homeworker, starts after the renovation, we’ll be in the machine ten hours at night, simultaneously. Then we have to learn to live in the normal world and get a workout in and try to eat something healthy, not just vitamins and protein. We need to be able to say we’re not crazy if Marguerite comes back, and with how we and this house look, I don't think we’ll convince anyone right now.”

“I know. I just hate the idea of someone being here while we’re in. I like that it’s just you and me.”

“We have to learn to trust someone else. We won’t be so tired if we’re in at the same time and out at the same time. As it is, we’re spending twenty hours a day with the machine, either in it or observing it. My back hurts all the time. I’m exhausted. We have to fix that.”

“Fine.” She gave in and opened the fridge. “How much is the reno going to cost?”

“He’s doing it for two million seven hundred thousand.”

“Holy shit, that’s a ton of money, Em.”

“I know but I had the house assessed and the value of it is almost two million with no renovation. Once we fix it up it’ll be worth over ten million.”

“Did you take it out of the company?”

“Not yet, I will. I’ll transfer him the funds tomorrow. Fifty percent up front and the rest spread over the job, withholding five hundred thousand until the very end of the project. And paying upfront for anything extra he finds. I checked, this is a standard contract.”

“Sounds insane.” Lana rolled her eyes at me and grabbed a Lean Cuisine for us both, heating them up in the microwave. “But if it makes the house better for our health, then it’s worth it.”

“I am telling you, there’s mold and mice. The air quality is awful. It’s spring. We need to get this done. The basement floods all the time. There must be cracks in the foundation. It stinks down there.”

“I never noticed.” She shrugged, making a face. “Did you say it’s spring?”

“Yeah.”

“I never noticed that either.” She laughed.

“That's not a bad thing.”

“No, it’s not.” She smiled. “Six months since my divorce finally went through and it’s spring and I feel amazing, apart from the aching back.”

“He’s remarried, did I tell you? Marshall remarried.” I couldn't recall if I had or not.

“No. Is he? Who’s the unlucky lady?”

“Some young thing, I think only twenty-three.”

“Jesus.” Lana wrinkled her nose. “He’s fifty this year, or was it last? He could at least try for half his age. What’s he doing now?”

“He’s back on Wall Street, same job he had before the mayoral career.”

“I can’t believe they took him back after your charges against him and his criminal convictions.” She scowled.

“I know. Money buys everything.”

“When did you hear he remarried?”

“I was combing the papers online the other day, catching up on some things. I was searching for the company that bought Lucid Fantasies, checking to see if they survived.”

“And?” Her eyes widened.

“They have. They’ve made resorts. Imagination Playlands is what they’re called. You go and stay at the resort and hook in. It’s restricted and carefully done, but similar to what we have.”

“When?” For the first time in ages, she looked as if she might actually be excited about something beyond going into the machine.

“Three weeks ago.” I didn't realize the time had slipped by so quickly.

“Good for them. We might have to try it out.”

“Yes, once the reno is finished we should go on a vacation.”

“We should.” Lana brought the dinners to the table while I doled out pills, probiotics, and green supplements.

We ate, laughing and joking and daydreaming about the possibility of leaving the house. Something that likely wouldn't happen. Unless forced.