“Probably won’t,” Wallace huffed, heaving himself out of his chair. His gaze roamed the room. “But I might.”

Maggie stood, too.

“I’m takin’ this with me,” he said, grabbing his lemonade and motoring toward the front door.

“Thanks for dropping by,” she called after him.

Windows95Luvr: Okay. Apparently Idris Elba is married. Who is single and worthy of our Maggie?

ShakespeareWuzHere: Just found out that my 55-year-old dad has seen every episode of Building Dreams! We’re planning a binge rewatch when I come home from college for the summer! #FamilyForMaggie

10

10

“Who’s a good boy?” Maggie crooned to the chubby dog wagging his entire back end at her. “This is Kevin,” she said for the benefit of the camera she was shooting with. “He’s with the landscaping crew, and we didn’t want him to feel left out, so we got him a little present.”

She held up the green, squeaky hammer toy she’d picked up at Tanner’s General Store.

“Sit. Good boy. Here you go.” She handed over the toy, and he took it with a gentle mouth, his whole body quivering. “Now, go fix something,” she said.

With a series of gleeful hammer squeaks, Kevin romped out of her office and barreled down the hall.

Maggie turned off the camera and eyed the giant whiteboard she’d set up in her makeshift office, mentally juggling timelines. Outside, the roofers were making progress. She didn’t envy them clambering over steep pitches three stories up. Silas’s crew had built a mountain of brush in the front yard and were in the process of laying out new and improved planting beds around the house.

Inside there was more chaos. Usually it was tricky having the electrical work and plumbing done at the same time, with people climbing all over each other in kitchens and bathrooms, but given the scope of the work and the good-natured relationship between both crews, the trades were juggling things nicely.

While Jim and company opened and closed walls and ceilings, the electricians started their rewiring, and Albert, the plumber, and his apprentice, Judy—his daughter and another of the plant closing’s victims—roughed in the plumbing for the new powder room in the former fishing magazine room and the full bath behind the kitchen.

She needed to make tile decisions for the kitchen and downstairs bathrooms by end of day to get the materials ordered. The fixtures upstairs could wait a bit, which was good, since she was still trying to figure out the best place for a freestanding tub in the master bathroom.