The rewiring was going to cost me ten grand and seven nights at Finn's. I watched the electrician exit through the front door leaving me with my estimate and start date in my hand. As of Monday, I was going to be homeless for a week.

I drop my head into my hands and wonder if all of this was worth it. Was flipping this house going to bring in less than I put into it like Bellamy said? I then remember that Sadie's house was paid off. Anything I sell it for is profit, so I just have to sell it for more than ten grand and even though the market may suck right now, I am positive houses in Arkansas sell for more than that.

I sigh and drop the paper onto the foyer table. At least I will only have to go without full electrical power for another five days. I've made it this far, I can make it another few days.

The house feels empty again, too quiet and even more in shambles now than when I got here. Everything is now off the walls, bookcases, shelving, and cabinets leaving only some furniture pushed to the center of the rooms.

Since I am going to have to leave for a week, I feel like I have to be productive today and get something else in this house done.

I glance around the living room with my hands on my hips and debate what project to start, the list seems to just keep growing every day. I then remember Finn's gorgeous white wrap-around and think of the saggy, vine-covered, paint-chipped porch that's making Sadie's outside an eye-sore. I know where to start as I strut out the front door and start inspecting all the broken panels.

I aggressively walk over each wooden board around the porch and seventeen sound like they may snap at any moment. All of them need a coat of paint and the rotting banister needs thirty-two spindles replaced. I sigh before striding off toward the garage to find a hammer to start removing the nails from a board. I'm just going to take one into Weston's and ask how I can get the wood to replace the boards. I have no tools to cut wood, so I am either going to have to ask Finn to do it for me or hope Weston's can get me what I need.

I find a hammer hung on the wall in the garage and march back around the patio, looking for a board that has a nail head sticking up. If I can't find one, I am clueless as to how to dig nails out of old boards and will have to resort to YouTube.

It takes me a while, but I finally find one near the banister by the steps. The nail is just sticking up enough to slide the edge of the hammer under it. I squat over the board, grip the hammer with both hands and tug with all of my strength. The nail doesn't budge, so I readjust my grip, squat lower, and heave.

I'm not expecting the nail to come sliding out, so I am still tugging with all of my strength when it pulls free from the board. I'm forced backward and go tumbling into the side of the rotting banister. I let out a scream as the spindles snap and I go flying off the porch with an entire side of the banister underneath me. I land on the panel with a thud, the nail and hammer laying in the grass above me and the wind is completely knocked out of me. I cannot believe I just took out a side of the banister tugging a nail out of a board. Thank goodness the patio only sits about a foot off the ground so my fall wasn't too far.

I lay in the dead grass, gasping for breath, still trying to process what just happened. I'm lucky I wasn't impaled by anything but now the wrap-around is missing about four feet of the banister.

I finally catch my breath and slowly roll onto my side.  I sit up and scan the street for witnesses. When I am greeted with silence, I stand up and am grateful no one saw me go crashing off the deck. I look around at the wooden mess and leave it behind me as I carefully trot up the stairs. I think I may have tweaked my back. Or have whiplash from my abrupt landing.

I flop face-first onto the couch and moan as my entire body aches. This fucking house.

I roll over and check over every part of my body, hoping I am just sore and not broken. My first task of the day literally went off the rails. Maybe I am not cut out to be both Chip and Joanna Gaines. Maybe I just need to stick to painting and decorating.

I feel my phone buzz in my pocket and I wonder if it was crunched in the fall. My screen is probably smashed. I slide it out of my back pocket and am relieved that it's still intact. I see it's Finn and my heart flutters. He did text me goodnight last night and I fell asleep reliving every second of our kiss.

Finn: How were the oats?

My confusion only lasts a few moments when I realize he is asking about the overnight oats we made.

Me: So good. And I was so glad to have been able to switch up my breakfast. How is work?

I remember Finn saying he was back at that old Victorian house they are gutting and he promised to send me photos of any treasure he finds. I hear my phone buzz several times and I bet he's sending photos.

I scroll through the furniture he sent and then he says,

Finn: My client wants to keep these pieces but have them redone. Think you'd be up for the task?

I sit up as I inspect the photos more closely. There are two small wooden dressers with four large drawers and a cherry wood bookcase. I could have a project. A real project from a real client. I think of the blue paint I still have upstairs and text Finn.

Me: Did you show her the blue I used on the dresser here? Would she like something like that? Or does she have a color palette in mind?

Finn: Yes, she liked what you did with your dresser and wanted that done to hers. One blue and the other white. She says you'd have free reign of the bookcase.

I'm suddenly excited to find ideas for the bookcase. The dressers would be easy but I could really make the bookcase unique.

Me: I'll do it!

Finn: Ok, I'll bring the pieces back to my house and you can work on them there while you stay there. What did the electrician say?

Me: That you're going to have a roomie for a week. Also, that works for the furniture, you probably have a better space to work in any way.

I wonder if it's going to be impossible to continue to play cool and casual living thirty feet away from Finn for a week. I'm hopefully going to see him every day. It might be a good opportunity to see if he'd be willing to be exclusive if we were to sleep together. I can't be worrying about him bringing another woman back to his place if we were to cross that line. I don't need him to be my boyfriend, but I would want him to commit to only sleeping with me. It would be for a month and a half so I don't think that's too insane of an ask.

Although, I am getting a bit ahead of myself.

Finn: I'll make sure the guest house is clean then. When does work start?

Me: Monday. That okay?

Finn: Of course. What are you working on today?

I groan as I think of how ambitious I was twenty minutes ago to work on the deck. Now I feel like I plowed into a wall of wood.

I pull myself off of the couch and walk back outside. I snap a picture of the broken banister laying in the grass and type,

Me: I was going to go to Weston's to get new floorboards and then this happened.

I look at the mess and am mortified that I am responsible for that.

Finn: How TF did that happen?

Me: My body fell through it.

I send a dozen face palm emojis and then spin away from the mess to go back inside. I am crossing the threshold when my phone rings. I smile when I see it's Finn.

"Hey," I answer.

"Sadie-I-don't-know-your-middle-name-Melvin, how the hell did you put your body through that?" Finn jokes, but his tone implies he's actually worried.

"I was removing a board from the floor and the nail came up way faster than I anticipated. I flew backward into the banister and broke the entire panel off," I confess and then drop my face into my palm in shame.

"You fell through that? Are you okay?" He asks more seriously now.

"We'll find out tomorrow," I joke back.

"Do you need to go to the doctor? Did you hurt anything? You could have been seriously hurt, no more tools. Or doing construction work of any kind without supervision. Even if it's Cooper."

"I didn't think taking a wood panel to Weston's would cause any injuries. I was just going to buy the boards."

"I have wood I can cut down to fit what you need. Don't go buying any."

"Well, I don't want to give you any tasks, Finn. You already do this for a living, I don't think you want to do it in your spare time too."

"I'd rather help you in my spare time than worry that you've impaled yourself while I am at work. Seriously, leave it. Find something that doesn't include tools to do until I get there."

"That's not really the independence I was looking for Finn. The whole point of this is to prove that I can wield a hammer."

"Okay Thor, you can hammer all you want, just have someone be there with you."

"Har, har," I joke and then put my hand on my back. I seriously think I may have cracked something. "Well, now that I have a project to work on, I think I'll just brainstorm upcycling ideas. Maybe go buy some paint."

"That sounds like a great idea," he agrees and I shake my head while smirking. "I'll text ya when I am off."

"Sounds good. I am also still brainstorming a date idea for Friday. Are you sure you don't have a don't list?"

"Yes, and I do now actually. Nothing with tools. Nothing with sharp objects. Nothing that can cause you to fall down."

"Okay, but what about things that make me climb you like a squirrel running up a tree?"

He laughs, "That I am fine with. Anything that involves touching you, I am fine with."

"Well we don't have to leave the house then," I joke, using my best deep sexy voice. I hear him laugh and I add, "I'm all talk. I'll think of something Finn Weston hasn't done yet. Maybe you should still bring your rubbers though."

"Like you said, you're all talk," he jokes back and I am sure he is eye-rolling me so hard right now.

"Talk to you later baby," I joke again in that same sexy tone.

"Yeah you will," he jokes back and then the line clicks off. I don't know who I am right now, joking about sex and rubbers and thinking about exclusivity with Finn because I know if he were to try and get under my dress right now, I'd freak out and clam up. I hardly know how to do this flirty, casual thing. I don't know how to do causal sex. I had a few partners in high school, but now that I have been married and sleeping with the same man for nine years, I wouldn't know where to begin. I know Mark. I know Mark's spots and how to get him finished in under a minute. He also knows me. What I allow and what are hard no's. I don't know what all Finn expects from me and I would hate to be bad in bed. Especially with a guy like Finn. The last time I had sex with Mark, I pretty much laid there and watched the Real Housewives over his shoulder. I feel like I'd have to go back to the matching lingerie sets and prolonged foreplay. Stripping down slowly and teasing while leading up to the main event.

Effort. I would have to put in effort. I want Finn to want me. I want Finn to want me so much that he doesn't want anyone else and I feel like that means I'd have to give him mind-blowing sex so that he'd crave only me. No laying there, waiting until he rolls off of me so I can finish my show in peace.

I also think I need to do the whole prep and prime. Shaved legs, smooth skin, and waxed bikini area. I got lasered a few months ago but there is still some maintenance to be done. I think of booking a waxing when an idea comes to me. I think I know exactly where I am going to take Finn for our date on Friday. I just hope there's one near Magnolia.