"This should have been rewired years ago," Finn tells me as he goes through the breaker box that was in fact, located in the back of the cellar. "It's almost dangerous how old this is."

"Dangerous?" I ask as Cooper and I peer over his shoulder, pretending to know what we are looking at.

"Oh yeah, this shit could start fires," Finn sternly says and then finally looks at me. "How much in your reno budget did you leave for surprises like this?" He's looking at me like I should have mapped this all out in a spreadsheet or something.

"Um, I dunno."

"Did you budget? Or have any idea in mind of what you wanted to spend to flip?" He asks and again, I give him a vacant stare. Money hasn't been a thing I have had to budget. I just put everything on cards that our financial planners deal with. When I decorate our houses, I just buy. I never think about how much I spend doing it. What is a normal reno budget for a house flip like this?

"I was uh, just kinda gonna pay as I go. I didn't think about what I wanted to spend overall," I confess and I hear myself sound like an idiot. This is what he does for a living. He probably always works within a budget.

"Okay..." he says before blowing a long breath out. "Cuz this may cost you anywhere from eight to twenty thousand." My eyes widen as I know Mark will probably notice twenty grand come out of our accounts.

"I didn't account for a twenty thousand dollar surprise," I tell Finn and he closes the old box.

"It probably won't be that high, but I imagine this entire house is going to need to be brought up to this decade. I don't even want you plugging those fans back in," he says and I panic. I will die in this house if there is no cooling system somewhere.

"Finn, be realistic here. How do I live in a house with no air conditioning or fans? And what can I plug in then? I can't live without my phone or curling iron." We start to walk back up the steps that lead us back outside. The cellar didn't have anything terrifying in it, and it actually ended up being refreshingly cool. Apparently, Sadie only used it to store her jams and pickled vegetables. I had actually forgotten about us making jam in her kitchen every summer. I might try and make some, see if I can remember how to do it.

"I think I saw a generator on the left side of the house," Cooper admits and I have no idea what he's talking about.

"Maybe that's how Sadie powered what she needed," Finn says back to him as I remain clueless. Cooper leads Finn over to the left of the wide purple house. Nestled next to the dead shrubbery is a silver box that looks like the top of a grill without the legs. Finn goes and opens the panel as Cooper stands behind him.

"Yep, gas it looks like," Finn says and then squats down to inspect it.

"Okay, so is this a good or bad thing?" I ask and without turning to look at me, both Finn and Cooper in unison say, "Good."

"What's behind this wall here?" Finn asks me and I think of the layout of the house.

"Washer and dryer closet," I reply and Finn nods. He and Cooper murmur together and I drop my head back in annoyance. They point to things and lift the other panel as I finally say, "Care to fill me in?" Finn stands back up and he towers over Cooper too. His broadness is both intimidating and a turn-on.

"We can run fans and things like that now until you get this place rewired. I see she already has some extension cords. Show me the fans and I can help you get them set up," he says.

"Anything else you want plugged in?" Cooper asks me and something irks me. I wanted to do this myself. I wanted to prove to myself that I can be independent and I can't even plug in a fan without having two men try and help me. I know I called Cooper because I am a big sissy, but I wonder if me flipping this house alone is realistic. This is so much more of a project than I bargained for.

"Just show me how to do the fans," I tell Finn, keeping my tone in check and we all turn to head back to the patio. He's trying to be helpful. Me being disappointed in myself is no reason to be rude.

Cooper takes a small leap onto the first step and it splits in half, just like the one in the front of the house that Finn stepped onto it. He slowly looks at me wide-eyed as I refrain from cussing.

"I am so sorry Miss Sadie," Cooper starts but I quickly cut him off.

"It's fine," I mutter. "I think I am going to be replacing a lot of this patio anyway."

"Still planning on doing it yourself?" Finn asks me and his tone isn't mocking. He seems genuinely curious.

"The deck yes. The rewiring...no. You got an electrician on your speed dial?" I ask and Finn shoots me an of-course-I-do grin. I let out a laugh and shake my head as I follow behind him as we move around the rickety, paint peeling, death trap that is the wrap-around porch. Finn whips the flimsy screen door open and I wonder how many times he's gonna do that before it comes off the hinges and he'll be standing there holding a door in his hand. As he steps into the foyer, he says, "Looks a hell of a lot less creepy now that the sheets are off."

"Yeah, I don't know why the furniture was even covered. The sheets were just protecting sun-faded fabric and cracked leather anyway."

"You gonna gut this place or what?" Finn asks and Cooper looks around the living room with his hands on his hips.

"I can help you remove the furniture," Cooper says eagerly, "My dad has a trailer and we're always looking for furniture to donate to shelters or Habitat."

"Any of it worth reupholstering or upcycling?" Finn asks as he inspects the emerald, damask chesterfield. I shake my head at all the questions and then reply, "I sent some pics to my antique's dealer to see if anything is worth anything, but I haven't thought too much about flipping anything."

"Is any of this worth anything?" Cooper asks with a grimace. He's staring at the box TV and I don't blame him for the question.

"No idea. She hasn't gotten back to me yet. And I don't know how many projects I wanna take on," I confess. I had thought it was going to be painting the walls, finding new light fixtures, buffing the flooring, and updating the appliances. Painting old furniture and rewiring the house hadn't crossed my mind.

Finn runs his hand over the dining table and then looks over at me, "This is nice wood. Just needs to be restained. Same with the china cabinet and buffet."

"Could probably update the hardware too," Cooper says as he points at the hutch. They make good points and it would give me something else to stay busy with.

"This all sounds great, but I am not going to be able to do anything in a sauna," I tell them and then lift the box fan off the floor. "This is priority numero uno."

"Well if we are done with the cellar, am I good to head out? Finn has it from here I think," Cooper asks and I imagine he doesn't want to be hanging out in this swampy room any more than I do. I then realize I'll be left alone in the house with Finn if Cooper goes. I'm startled by the thought and I can't decide if I want that or not.

"Oh, uh..." I start to say and then Cooper adds, "Unless you need me to go into any other dark places with you? I can make sure nothing else is haunted." I know he's joking, but I think of the attic. Would it be totally embarrassing to have him open the attic door with me? If I have fans running and the mystery of the attic solved, I may actually be able to sleep tonight.

"Actually Coop, now that you mention it..." I start and his jaw drops slightly.

"I was partially kidding Miss Sadie. I don't think anything is actually haunted in here."

"Well you see there is actually an attic," I say and hesitancy covers his young face. "It would be great if you could check it out with me."

"You're going to pay him to check out your attic?" Finn quizzically asks. I don't have a budget for flipping a house and I clearly don't have a budget for asking teens to do insane things for me.

"Something up there is keeping me up at night," I tell them, trying to convince them it's a legitimate problem. "But I don't want to check out the attic for the same reason I didn't want to check out the cellar."

"You want to use me as the bait again?" Cooper asks and Finn shakes his head.

"It's probably the airflow you are hearing. Old houses are known for making noise at night."

"Maybe it's a squirrel?" Cooper suggests and I look over to Finn with my eyebrows raised.

"Could be a squirrel, definitely not a ghost," Finn tells us.

"You can't rule ghosts out," I retort but Finn quickly gives me a short nod before saying, "Yes I can. I don't believe in ghosts."

"Okay, then go check it out then," I dare, wondering if I can get him to do it so I don't have to. "You should have no problem going up there."

He starts to move toward the staircase at the front of the house and boasts, "I am in attics all the time, I have yet to encounter anything that couldn't be explained."

"What is keeping you up?" Cooper asks and he goes to follow Finn upstairs, assuming that I'll be right behind them. I stay planted in the living room as I say, "Scratching, scurrying. Movement of some kind." When the two eager men realize I am not following, they stop on the first landing.

"You're not going to see what's up there?" Finn asks me. "You're going to have us discover the scary squirrel?" He's taunting me. I did want to do this myself. I can't have a man always do the hard stuff for me. But I can have one do it with me.

His bait works, and I quickly cross the foyer.

"I'll join just in case there is a ghost up there. I really want to tell Finn I-told-you-so," I say as I pass them on the stairs to lead the way.

"I don't," Cooper mutters and our steps cause the stairs to creak loudly. Their weight is probably going to split one of these boards too.

I lead them up the split staircase and into my room. We stop in the center of the wide room, but Finn's gaze is on the ceiling and not the wooden door. I look up and he says, "The molding on this house is in good shape too. You gonna paint it or leave it that natural tobacco color?"

"I was thinking of leaving the wood as is. Just polish it up. I worry if I whitewash it like what's trendy, people will think I destroyed the character."

"I think this entire house needs polishing," Cooper mutters as he peeks at the antique bathroom.

"I am aware that this house is dated. Now, let's focus on the task at hand," I gesture toward the attic door and then look at Finn. "After you." He squints at me, grins, and then takes a step toward the door. He grips the handle and then looks down at me.

"Wanna make a bet that it's just a squirrel or a mouse up there?" He asks and I stare at him as I wonder if this is something I want to bet on. How confident am I that it's not a small rodent running around up there at all hours of the evening?

"If it's anything but one of those two things, I win?" I ask and he nods.

"But it's going to be one of those two things," he says confidently and I drop my hands onto my waist.

"Alright, if it is what do you get?" I ask and he gives me a smirk that hits me in the gut.

"A favor. To call in at any time," he says and I wonder what kind of favor he's thinking of. He seems to have something in mind with the mischievous gleam he has in his eye.

"Within reason," I clarify.

"Of course. I am a gentleman. I won't ask for anything inappropriate," he confirms while darting a glance at Cooper, trying to remain appropriate in front of the teen. My eyes dart between his as I debate betting on something so ambiguous, but I know I can't back down. I really want Finn to find something up there that has him squealing.

"Fine," I accept. "And if it's anything but those two things, you have to find me another fan. Weston's was out and I don't want to haul that damn box fan up the stairs every night." I stick my hand out and he quickly shakes it.