Ch.9, Pt. 3: “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do”
“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” said Frieda cheerily before hanging up.
Noodle was at the door, waiting, his tail wagging, his head cocked at the sounds of Rick approaching. At Katherine’s invitation, Rick didn’t knock any more, but let himself in. “Hey there, buddy,” he said, ruffling Noodle’s fur.
“Hey yourself,” said Katherine, going in for a hug.
They held each other a moment, and then Rick said “I’m yours for the rest of the day. What would you like to do?”
Katherine leaned back to look him suggestively in the eye. “I think you know the answer to that.”
“We can always do that,” he said cradling her with his legs. “We can’t seem to get enough of that, can we?”
“It seems the more we do it, the more I want to. You’re as bad as a teenager!”
“As bad as that?” Rick looked delighted.
“Very bad. We both are.” Katherine looked with longing at his lips, and he was about to kiss her, but he pulled back to say “We can do that now, or we can hold off and maybe do some work on the house. Would you like that?”
“Really? You wouldn’t mind doing that?”
“You said you wanted to redo some rooms, and do some painting, so why don’t we start on something? What would you like to do first?”
Katherine ran her fingers through her hair. “There’s so much that needs doing. What can you do?”
“Whatever needs doing. Pick a room that you want finished, and let’s get on with it.”
Katherine felt a lurch of excitement. “Well, I guess I’d really like the bathroom finished. It has horrible old wallpaper, and I’d like it brightened up.”
“Let’s take a look at what we’ve got.” Rick took her hand and led her to the stairs.
That had been the beginning of work on the stone house. To Katherine’s astonishment and delight, Rick was as good with renovations as he was at refinishing furniture, and he was eager to give her most of his free time.
One Saturday he rented a machine that steamed off the old rose wallpaper in the bathroom until it peeled off in long easy strips. Noodle stole a strip and trotted off into the bedroom with it streaming behind, and Katherine followed, laughing, to add it to the garbage bag.
She had decided to keep the old white fixtures and the black and white tiles, even though Rick said he could switch anything she wanted, and she chose a clean white paint for the walls and ceiling.
“It’s too small for both of us to paint in here,” said Rick. “It would be easier if you let me do it.” So Katherine stayed out of the bathroom, keeping an eye on Noodle and frequently offering Rick coffee or beer. She felt guilty letting him do all the work.
One day on her lunch hour, she went into a linens shop and bought colour for the new bathroom. She chose a shower curtain in a dazzling tropical print, and washcloths, bath, hand, and guest towels in a rainbow of solid colours. These she hung on bars and stacked in an old iron shelf unit she found in an antiques shop.
“How fabulous,” she murmured one night as Rick took a break in front of the TV, “to be able to make the choices, and do the shopping, and have you be able to make it turn out perfectly.” She kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you.”
The next project was her bedroom, “since we spend so much time there,” she said wickedly. Rick convinced her to let him sand and refinish the wide plank floor, which meant having to pack everything up and store it in the spare room across the hall. Those nights they camped on a mattress in the front sitting room, and Katherine was glad to have company the first strange night. Noodle was happy with the new sleeping arrangement. He curled up on the floor beside her.
She chose a warm sunny yellow for the bedroom walls, to make the brass bed glow, and as they were each working with a roller one evening, she suddenly came up to Rick and dabbed his nose yellow. “Hey!” he cried, then caught her and put his fingerprints on her cheeks until she was freckled with great yellow spots. As they stood grinning at each other, Noodle decided to test the paint with his paw.
From then on they had to close the door on him, and he yapped unhappily for a while, but eventually gave up and curled up directly in front of the door, where he would know the minute they left the room.
“What about this kitchen?” asked Rick one night over supper when the bedroom was finished.
“Red!” cried Katherine, smacking the walls beneath the white cupboards, like Helen Keller learning the names of things.
And so they cleared the kitchen counters and moved the appliances to get at the walls. The red of the walls and the bright white of the cupboards and fridge and electric stove matched Katherine’s red and white kitchen accessories, bought for her apartment.
“This house is really turning out beautifully,” she said when the kitchen was done.
“What room is next?” he asked with a mock sigh.
“Really? You want to go on?”
“You better take advantage of me when you’ve got me,” he said.
“I’ll say.” She hesitated. “The living room?”
“What do you want done there?”
She grimaced and ran her finger playfully over his chest. “You’re not going to like this. I want the broadloom out of there.”
He nodded grimly. “I figured as much. And nice hardwood flooring?” She nodded and smiled. “You would,” he said, giving her a kiss. “Just hope it’s under the broadloom.” It was. Rick gave a low whistle when he saw it, and Katherine did a happy dance, stamping her feet and pumping her forefingers in the air. “Too perfect,” said Rick. “We’ve got to run into trouble somewhere.”
“Don’t say that! This house loves me!”
“At least I’m not the only one,” muttered Rick.
“What?” Katherine said in delight, stopping with her arms in the air. “What did you just say?”
“Nothing,” he said with a laugh, bending to his work again.