Western Flame

Chapter 10

The sour tang of drywall mud was not exactly inviting, but Liana stuck her head through the door of Brady and Caitlin's new house and hollered "Helloooo the house?" anyway. The echo bounced back at her. She knew they were here, Brady's truck was out front, and Caitlin's laughter emanated from somewhere in the house.

"Put your clothes on and get out here!" Liana added for good measure.

Caitlin poked her head out around a corner. "Stop, you lunatic! We're decent. Come on back! I'm picking floor tile!"

Liana made her way to where the kitchen was, in one corner of the open concept room that was floor to ceiling windows. The view was of the ridge, along the valley, and it was stunning. The architect had positioned it perfectly. The sunlight was inviting, and Liana stood in the centre to admire the window patterns shadowing the back of the wall where the massive fireplace was being installed.

Caitlin was on the floor with several sample tiles, moving them around in a sunbeam, tilting her head. "I can't decide. Cream or white?"

"Cream. The warmth with the sun will be nice when it's cold, plus white is hard to keep clean," Liana said, and pointed to the tile that was the colour of coffee with milk in it. "I like that one, reminds me of the flat whites you get when we go to the Starbucks in Calgary."

"Brady likes that one too. Thanks," Caitlin said, and stood.

Brady emerged from another room, and he wiggled mud-covered fingers at her before picking up a rag to wipe them clean. "What do you think?" he asked.

"I think you'll be really happy here," Liana said honestly. "The light coming in is gorgeous! Won't all these windows sap heat from the house?"

"Thermal panes, with some sort of gas in between them will mean they're just as insulating as the walls, if you can believe it," Caitlin replied. "Now to clean them, that may be the expensive part."

They all laughed and Brady gave her a quick tour of the progress. He had learned to mud and tape, of all things. It was impressive. When they rejoined Caitlin, she was taking a picture of the sticker on the back of the sample tile.

"I came to see if you two wanted to have drinks tonight in town!" Liana said. It had been a few days since the "Dermott incident" as they had decided to call it, and Liana was hoping for some company. It was Friday night, she had no appointments so she'd closed her salon for the afternoon, and she was restless. Plus, she didn't want to go out alone. Her other friends weren't available.

Diana and Winnie were away, and Forrest had a date with a guy he'd met over in Airdrie. She'd asked Jenny, but she was taking another shift at the diner so her parents could go out of town to visit a sick friend.

"We're actually headed into Calgary this afternoon to order the tile we decide on here, and Brady wants to stay for dinner. I'm sorry Li," Caitlin said. "Otherwise yes."

Brady was studying her, as usual seeing right through her. "Everything okay?" he asked, and leaned on a ladder near him. "Any more trouble with Nelson?"

"None. I'm perfect, you big lug," she lied, and made herself smile. "Just looking for some fun on a Friday night!"

Caitlin was giving her the same look, and walked over to her, linking arms. "Well, we have time now, let's go have lunch back at the big house?"

Prickles of anticipation went down Liana's back. Tanner would be there. They hadn't spoken since he kissed her. She hoped it wouldn't be awkward. Or, well, more awkward than normal.

"What is it, Li? You look worried. Is it about Tan? I'll tell him to be nice," Caitlin added.

"No, Mr. Grumpy isn't it. I'm... Oh never mind, I'm being stupid. I'm fine!" she said, and stuffed it away. There was no point in getting into it at all with either of them. Both of them would want to try and fix it, and there was nothing to fix.