"Thanks, you two. I really appreciate you stopping by," Marie said as Andy and Sam made their way toward his truck.
"Not a problem, Marie. We'll be back soon, once we have some more time and the materials," Sam replied, including McNally in his promise. They both waved as Marie closed the door.
A job that should have taken 60 minutes, tops, took 90 minutes because of a little disagreement between Andy and Sam about anchor bolts and the state of Marie's bathroom floor. Ripping up tile and replacing the spongy sub-floor wasn't a project to take on in an evening. In the meantime, what they had gotten done would hold until their next home reno rescue session.
"How about letting me buy you dinner, McNally. It's the least you can do for volunteering my highly coveted home renovation skills." Sam joked while he opened the driver's-side door, looking at McNally over the roof of his truck. He could see the uncertainty in her eyes as she hesitated. "You gotta eat, right?" Sam added, hoping that making light of his invitation would be the clincher.
"Yeah, I could eat." Andy replied, getting in the truck and fastening her seatbelt.
In the 10 minutes it took to get to their destination, they chatted about the materials they'd need to pick up for their next project at Marie's.
Sam pulled the truck up along side a nice looking brownstone on a beautifully tree-lined street and killed the engine.
"Uh, where are we?" Andy asked, confused. "I thought we were going to dinner?"
"We are. Through that door, there's a beautiful inch and a half thick, rib eye steak with your name on it, McNally," Sam gently taunted, seeing Andy's hesitation again. "Don't tell me you're going to let it go to waste, just because you're afraid to be alone with me." He knew that throwing out a challenge like that was a sure-fire way of getting McNally through his front door.
Andy threw him a look that said "screw you," and hopped out of the truck, slamming the door behind her. In her haste, she arrived at Sam's front door before he did; arms folded in front of her with a rebellious look in her eye.
"Come on in," Sam chuckled as he unlocked the front door.