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“SO, I GUESS I’M JUST not understanding why the bill is so much more than the estimate.”
The roofer pulls off his Detroit Tigers hat and wipes the sweat from his brow with the back of his weathered, tanned hand.
“Ma’am, I explained the further damage I found while I was up there. I even took a few photos on my cell phone here if you’d like to see them.”
Heather looks at the phone clipped to his waist. It’s splattered with who-knows-what from construction sites and its screen is cracked in four different places.
“That’s fine. I’m sure you’re not just taking advantage of me because I’m a woman, right? My father-in-law is a lawyer, just so you know.”
She hates herself before the words are even out of her mouth. She remembers the boys in college who used the old “my father is a lawyer” act to make themselves feel like somebody and they were always the worst of the worst. Heather and her friends coined a term for boys like this and it was “chatch.” That frat boy is acting like a real chatch right now. Aside from the fact that she’s threatening this poor roofer who just wants to get paid, she also referred to Frank as her father-in-law, and she must stop doing that.
She holds her hands up in apology. “Look, that came out wrong. I’m sure that the damage was bad, and you had to fix it. Money is just a little tight and I would have appreciated a heads up, that’s all.”
The roofer scans his eyes around the palatial living room and foyer, where they are standing. Heather reads his mind.
“I know how it looks, but no I don’t come from money. It’s a long story.”
How is it even possible this guy doesn’t know who she is?
She asks him to wait while she grabs her checkbook and meets Meryl coming in from the back deck where she was enjoying an afternoon cocktail, and although she’ll later deny it, a cigarette. Heather tells her about the bill being higher than the quote.
“Ah, I don’t think so. Where is the little crook?”
Heather’s face reddens and she tries to stop Mer before she shakes her arm free of Heather’s grip and stomps into the foyer.
Ten minutes later, after a convenient phone malfunction in which the roofer cannot actually produce photographic evidence of the damage (was there ever any? What if Heather would have accepted his offer to see it the first time?), the bill has been reduced back down to the original estimate and he is pulling out of the driveway, check and hat in hand.
“Mer, I can’t thank you enough. I really didn’t have an extra sixteen-hundred dollars just laying around. And what kind of contractor doesn’t climb down the ladder and tell you about extra work needed before he does it?”
Meryl shakes her head and smiles.
“Oh, Heath. I’ve just been living as a woman a lot longer than you and have a lot shorter fuse when it comes to being taken advantage of. You’ll learn.”
After a few light taps on the front door to announce their arrival, it swings open, and Frank and Ryan come strolling into the house. Evie is still in her little enclosed play area on the living room floor, and she squeals when she sees them. Frank and Ryan’s faces light up as they both hold their hands out to reach for her and laugh when they bump into each other.
“Guys, I’m so sorry. Time got away from me and I don’t even have her ready yet. Mer and I just dealt with this jerk who tried to overcharge me for patching a leak and it’s thrown my whole day off. I’ll be right back,” Heather says before heading upstairs to pack a few things for Evie’s stay at her father’s house.
By the time she trots back down the stairs, everyone is staring at her.
“What?”
Frank shakes his head in annoyance.
“Kent Savard? You hired Kent Savard to fix your roof? That idiot has so many judgments against him, I doubt he even still has a valid contractor’s license!”
Heather’s heart drops. “How would I have known that? I don’t regularly keep up with roofers around here! I’ve never needed one!”
“Heath, remember he took that little old lady for half her savings account and didn’t even do the work? We watched the story on channel 6 and you cried and asked if we could send her money,” Ryan adds, holding Evie and bouncing slightly to keep her content.
“That’s him?” Heather gasps. “Also, did we ever send her money?”
Ryan smiles. “No, you looked up the online fundraiser and saw that the goal had already been met. You cried again at how supportive our community is.” Heather smiles at the memory before remembering that she’s silently furious with Ryan for lying to her about Julie once again. Unfortunately, she promised Frank she’d get it out of him on her own, without throwing him under the bus and she’s a woman of her word.
“Why isn’t this scumbag in jail?” Meryl asks. Her foot is tapping, and Heather knows this is a sure sign she’s about to explode.
“The judgments are all civil cases. I believe he’s done a little time for unrelated offenses, but he keeps getting released and women like you keep hiring him,” Frank smiles.
Heather hands Frank Evie’s bag and walks over to Meryl. “The important thing here is that you talked him down on price and he’ll never be in our home again.”
“Well, there’s rain in the forecast tonight. I’ll be waiting to hear if the leak was actually fixed,” Frank says. “I have a sneaking suspicion it wasn’t.”
The thought infuriates Heather. That was a very sizeable check she just wrote him. She had to transfer money from her savings account, something she tries hard not to do. It will take months for her to replace that money. Hell, maybe longer if she doesn’t accept the bookstore position.
“Anyway, changing the subject. We’re going to go pick out some pumpkins and I’ll be sure to take plenty of pictures because I already know you’re going to ask,” Ryan says before kissing Evie on the forehead. She giggles and holds both of her hands to Ryan’s face before mumbling.
“You’re going to the pumpkin patch? Her first time and I’m not going to be there?”
Heather feels like she could pass out cold, right there on the floor. Fall is her favorite season. With everything going on, she barely registered that the fridge calendar says October. It’s going by so fast. She normally has all her Halloween decorations up by the first of her favorite month.
“Would you like to come with us?” Ryan asks, with an arrogant smile. Of course, she doesn’t want to. Julie and their illegitimate child will no doubt be in attendance. Julie has stolen so much from her already. She can’t believe Evie’s first time at the pumpkin patch won’t be with her own mother.
“Heath, you and I will take her later in the week. She’s a baby, she’ll never remember that she’s already been. You can take all the pictures you want; I promise I won’t complain,” Meryl offers.
Frank clears his throat.
“Nobody says co-parenting is easy, but I’ve seen a lot of messy divorces and custody battles and you two are handling it better than anyone I know. There are going to be plenty of bittersweet occasions like this, but you kids can handle it. I’m sure of it. And Mer is right, Evie will never remember, and it will seem brand new to her next week.”
“Thanks, Frank,” Heather says, forcing a smile.
She kisses her daughter goodbye, just as she does every single week, and mixes herself a strong cocktail before retrieving her Halloween decorations out of the storage area in the garage. Meryl agrees to help after Heather mixes her a drink as well.
For the next three hours, the women hang orange string lights, stretch fake cobwebs over the bushes in front of the house, and strategically place spooky décor throughout their beautiful home. She turns off her Spotify Halloween playlist after Monster Mash begins to play for the third time. They both collapse on the couch, exhausted but proud of their work. The house is tastefully decorated and very closely resembles the “October Décor” board Heather compiled on Pinterest when she and Ryan purchased the home. She once again mentally acknowledges how much her followers would love to see the giant home on Ogden Avenue all decked out for the holiday.
No sooner than they kick their feet up on the couch, a crack of thunder startles them both and it’s only seconds before raindrops begin hitting the roof. Neither wants to say it out loud, but they are both remembering Frank’s words from earlier about how the shady roofer probably didn’t even fix the leak. They sit in silence for an eternity before standing and slowly walking up the stairs.
Heather enters Evie’s room first, with Meryl directly behind her, and she flips the light switch on. Both of their eyes travel to the pool of water on the carpet, being fed by a steady drip from the ceiling.
“That worthless little shit,” Meryl mumbles.