Chapter 456 Chapter 456
She worked through most of the day, taking a short break for lunch and spending time with Aspyn. Her daughter was running around singing ABCs, or three or four random letters from the alphabet. It did her good to know her child was going to learn and be filled with knowledge.
Kelsey had brought Julian back over for the older kids’ lessons, but Noah hadn’t returned. The more she thought about him, and the things Cooper had said, the further she pushed herself to get this done. As she saw the grimy stained walls gradually become white, and smooth, the better she felt. Her mind would never shut off to the point she didn’t think about it but keeping physically busy was helping.
Now, at the end of the day, she had two walls left to do in the main area of the little house. It was so bright in here. She was excited to see what it was going to look like when the colors she’d chosen were on them. It was odd that Cooper had just nodded to her selections. It was as if he had no real opinion of the way he wanted it to look in here. She bit her lip and turned to look at the cans, hoping his trust in her judgment wasn’t going to lead to disappointment. Emersyn had never gotten to choose anything in her life, so it was going to be interesting to see the result.
He’d worked on the intercom and only disturbed her progress once to look at flooring and carpets. Again, he’d accepted the ones she had pointed to and said those would work. She hoped they did.
Setting the brush down, she went over and got the newly opened can of primer. Her arms were aching, her back was stiff, and she’d never felt this good in her life. She’d done this, on her own, and was even more surprised at her own pace. No one had told her to do it or watched over her.
“Emersyn.”
She spun around and looked at the box beside the door.
“Aspyn is all tucked in and asleep.” It was Penny.
She went over to the box and pushed the button like Cooper had shown her, “thank you, I shouldn’t be much longer.” She released the button and started at it.
“No rush, I’m going to bed now too, so the girls won’t be in the room alone.”
She felt a small twinge of guilt. “Thank you, Penny.” She backed away from it and watched it in case she spoke again. Was it bad she wasn’t in there with her? After all the time she’d needed to hold her again, here she was working and not spending time with her. Aspyn’s excited face flashed in her mind, she seemed happy enough and had only been clingy when she was tired this afternoon.
Turning around she looked at the unfinished walls. It would be silly to stop here. Another hour and she will have finished the base coat, as Cooper called it. Pouring the paint into the tray, she balanced it carefully and placed it on top of the step ladder. She wasn’t nervous going up it now, she’d done it at least a hundred times today. She smirked as her legs confirmed that count when she went up it one more time.
She was pleased with herself as she ran the brush along the top of the wall. Her control of where the paint went was much better. The first few rooms hadn’t been so. Cooper had shrugged it off and said he’d get the guys to do the ceiling with ceiling paint and no one would be any wiser to her brush slips. Ceiling paint, primer, bathroom paint. She’d never imagined so many kinds before. Cooper complimented her work and told her she had a knack for this sort of thing. It may have been a small thing on the large scale of everything, but to her it meant a lot, to be good at something.
As she moved to the length of her reach, she hummed softly. She didn’t know any songs, so she just made it up as she went. She was free, she could, sing, hum, or even dance if she wanted to. If she knew how she may have done that too.
“Emersyn?”
She jumped and then grabbed the top of the ladder when it wobbled. With her heartbeat in her throat, she glanced behind her to see Noah standing in the doorway, filling close to every inch of it and his expression wasn’t a good one. Blowing out a breath, she looked down to see she’d put her hand in the paint tray. Setting the brush down on the edge of it, she lifted her hand and watched the paint drip from it.
“Shit. Sorry.” His tone was softer now. She heard his boots echo on the floor and turned to go down the ladder. He held up a rag to her. “I was just surprised to see you in here.”
She took the rag and he backed away from her in a not-so-subtle way. Wiping at the paint on her hand, she leaned back against the ladder and looked at him. “I’m helping Cooper fix this up.” She stepped down carefully, not wanting to touch anything with her white hand. “It’s a lot of standing and up and down,” she glanced to see his expression was completely closed off now, “I don’t think he could do it with his leg.”
He made no motion to let her know that he agreed or understood anything. Finally, after several seconds of silence, he looked around, “you’ve done the whole place today?”
Happy enough that she’d managed to get most of the paint off, she nodded, “yes. I didn’t think I would be able to, but once I got going on it,” she looked around and smiled, “I surprised myself.”
“It’s going to be a surprise when you look in the mirror.” He said in a light tone, but without a smile or even a smirk.
She cringed, “how bad?” Checking her other hand to make sure it wasn’t covered, she reached up and touch her hair. She’d gotten paint in her hair. “Oh. I guess a shower is in order.” She motioned to the wall she’d been working on. “I just have to finish these and then I’m done for the night.” Going over to the counter, she picked up her bottle of water, briefly wondering if the taste of paint would wash away eventually too.
“I can finish it for you.”
She looked over to see he was scowling and couldn’t figure out why he would be. Didn’t he want Cooper to have a quiet place of his own? “I started it,” she shrugged a shoulder and tried not to wince at the sore muscle, “I can finish it.” Even from here, she could see the muscle in his jaw pulsing as he continued to look at her. “How was your day?”
He blinked and then looked at her like he hadn’t even seen her even though his eyes had been locked on her. “Good.” He cleared his throat, “got a lot done.”
She made a point to let him see she was looking at the state of his clothes. “I can see that.” She smirked, “were you painting too?”
Noah looked down and then wiped at the yellow streaks on his jeans. “Yeah,” he moved his hand back and forth, “with a sprayer.” He smirked so quickly and then sobered again just as fast, “it’s challenging.”
Capping the water, she placed it back on the counter. “I’m barely able to use a brush and roller, I don’t think using a sprayer would end well for me.”
A hard expression was in his eyes now, “you should be resting, not,” he motioned to the wall, “doing all this.”
That surprised her. “Resting from what?” She stepped around the small island counter and went to the paint can. If they were going to be chatting, she should at least put the lid on it.
“Just resting,” he frowned, “building up your strength,” he said it slowly like he wasn’t sure of the words until he said them.
Squatting down, she put the lid on the can and then dropped the cloth over it to tap it back on, having learned without it paint splattered everywhere—like on her face. “I feel fine.” She smirked, “well my arms might feel different tomorrow, but I feel good.” She tapped the top of the lid like Cooper had shown her and then set the rubber hammer on top of it and stood up. “I’ve spent years doing nothing, Noah,” she looked at the finished wall, “I want to help.”