Chapter 43: The List

Jamie, Eddie, Henry and Sean all stand about the thermostat in the living room of the house "And do NOT move it above that mark got it?" Jamie warns "If your cold – put a sweater on." He mumbles.

Sean heavily sighs "Got it."

"Well it doesn't surprise me the heat bill was that much." Henry points out as he removes the pencil from behind his ear and makes a note on the paper attached to the clipboard in front of him "With no furniture or belongings in here you're basically heating a big empty warehouse but don't worry, first thing on the list we do will be the fireplace so can use that to stay warm and we'll just make the living room home base while we work."

Jamie and Eddie nod in agreement and relief.

Sean leans over to look at the ever growing list in his great grandfather's hands and lets out a breath of air in defeat.

"Problem?" Jamie challenges his nephew.

"Nope." Sean promises "Not a one."

"Hmmm. Good answer." Henry approves "Anything upstairs?" he inquires to Jamie and Eddie.

The couple thinks a moment "No." Eddie then replies.

Henry looks at them a little in surprise "Nothing?"

"Well unless you want to paint the walls in the master bedroom so it doesn't remind Eddie that it was her parent's room." Jamie laughs "No."

Eddie turns to glare at her husband that he revealed that and what it insinuates.

"Sorry." Jamie immediately replies in regret.

Henry chuckles "So its more then just the heating bill making you not want to live here huh?"

"It's just weird." Eddie admits.

"Noted." Henry chuckles again as he slyly looks between Jamie and Eddie – the wheels in his brain now turning.

Suddenly the doorbell rings.

Jamie, Eddie and Henry all look over in surprise but Sean slightly raises his hand "I'll get it." he offers as he starts for the door. He takes a deep breath then swings it open to see his girlfriend on the other side carrying a container of homemade sandwiches "Right on time." he greets her.

"Beth?" Eddie questions in complete surprise.

"Um hi everyone." Beth sheepishly greets as she takes a step inside "Sean said you'd be out here today so just wanted to come and um say sorry and um… bring you this." She adds as her arms spring out and forward to offer the container in her hands out "Kind of a peace offering." She awkwardly adds.

Impressed, Eddie reaches to take the container "Thank you Beth."

"Beth this is my Great Grandpa Henry." Sean introduces "And you technically already met them but officially this is my Uncle Jamie and Aunt Eddie – owners of this house."

"Yeah I think she already got that part Sean." Jamie counters.

"But thank you for the official introduction anyway." Eddie tacks on as she flashes her nephew a small smile of appreciation.

Sean gives his Aunt a brief smile back "Everyone, this is my girlfriend Beth."

A cordial round of 'Hi's, nice to meet yous' are exchanged.

"See now this is a much better way to make introductions don't you think?" Eddie chuckles "Much less dramatic!"

"WAY less." Jamie tacks on as Eddie looks down at the sandwiches in her hands then over to the fridge in the kitchen "Seeing as Sean and Henry will be here on a semi regular basis should we plug the fridge back in and see if it still works?"

"It surprises me the fridge and the stove were left here." Henry admits.

Eddie sighs "Mom wanted built in custom pieces, they are kind of useless if you remove them."

Everyone walks to the kitchen and Henry looks them over "Good quality units." He notes "They just don't build them like this anymore."

….

Jamie, Eddie, Sean and Henry all stand outside the house looking up.

"Guys…" Henry sighs "You can't wait with that roof. If you do you're going to end up with way bigger problems and it will only cost more money down the line."

"Well we were kind of hoping that could be the problem of whomever buys the house…" Eddie slowly and hopefully explains.

"And how are you doing in that department?" Henry challenges.

Jamie sighs "Not great."

Henry points at the roof "That's a huge reason why."

Slowly Jamie and Eddie both nod their heads in reluctant understanding.

"I'll get you a few quotes and we'll go from there okay?" Henry offers.

Jamie and Eddie nod.

…..

"You want me to crawl through that?" Sean states in disbelief as he points to the hole in the lattice work around the porch.

Jamie rolls his eyes "No." he counters as he steps forward and Eddie steps back while silently reaching for Henry requesting he do the same. Jamie then gives the lattice panel a slight flick with his fingers and the whole panel falls down causing Sean to have to quickly step out of its way "You can crawl through that and then fix it when you're done."

Henry laughs. Sean sighs.

….

Eddie opens the fridge in the kitchen and removes the container of sandwiches from Beth. She closes the fridge then turns and steps to the kitchen island to stand next to her husband who is looking out into the living room watching his grandfather explain the fireplace cleaning to Sean.

Eddie pops the lid off the container and grabs a sandwich "If they get half the list done I'll be impressed." She announces before taking a bite and her eyes light up. She quickly chews and swallows "Hey this is good, you should try one."

So Jamie silently reaches over and grabs a sandwich "No they'll get the list done." Jamie reassures his wife "Pop will see to it." he adds before taking a bite.

"Is that who taught you to be so handy?" Eddie queries before taking another bite herself.

Jamie nods as he chews.

Eddie thoughtfully nods as she also chews resulting in a silence.

Finally Eddie swallows "So when do I get to see you in your tool belt?" She sweetly inquires before looking over at her husband and raising her eyebrows suggestively.

Jamie slowly turns to look at his wife and swallows hard at the thought.

Eddie innocently shrugs and takes another little bite of her sandwich happy with the reaction that got her.

"Anytime you want Babe." Jamie promises "Anytime you want."

Eddie bites her lower lip in anticipation before leaning over to her husband and lowly whispering "What if I said I want?"

Jamie stares at his wife "Now?" He hisses a moment later before his eyes drift back out to his grandfather and nephew in the other room and he gulps.

Eddie nods "The Chevelle is in the garage." she points out "We just need to get them out of here for like what 10-15 minutes?"

"You tell me." Jamie counters.

Eddie jostles that around in her mind "Make it 20."

"Done." Jamie automatically accepts as he hands his half eaten sandwich over to Eddie requesting she take it from him and when she does, Jamie swipes his hands together to get rid of any remaining crumbs and makes a beeline for his grandfather and Sean "Hey!" He greets on a mission causing Eddie to quietly giggle.

Eddie watches her husband talk to Henry and Sean – she has no idea what he's saying but what ever it is is quite convincing for not even a minute later Sean and Henry are heading to leave out the front door.

"What did you say to them?" Eddie curiously inquires as she watches Jamie walk back towards her.

"Tell you later." Jamie states as he picks up his wife's hand and heads for the door to the garage "Because we only have 20 minutes and not a second to waste."

"You gonna set a timer?" Eddie muses as Jamie opens the door and the second he does they are hit with cold air.

Jamie groans and stops walking "Ugh. right."

"Why are you stopping?" Eddie inquires.

"Eddie it's cold in here."

Eddie squeezes past Jamie "Well I'm hot – in more ways then one - and I'll warm you up." She promises as continues on her way to the Chevelle tugging her husband with her.

"Damn." Jamie mutters as he watches his wife open the passenger's door and move the seat forward "Are you sure?"

In response, Eddie turns, reaches her hands behind Jamie's head and pulls him into her for a hot, needy open mouthed kiss that makes him loose all sense of reason as he reaches his hands around his wife's waist and pulls her flush up against him.

Finally needing air, the couple breaks apart panting a little "Yup, you're sure." Jamie deduces as Eddie ducks down and crawls into the back seat with Jamie quickly following.

….

Giving themselves one finally look over, Eddie adjusts the collar on Jamie's shirt and he fixes the hem on Eddie's blouse before they hurry up the steps and open the door to head back into the kitchen. They quickly do a scan to see the house still empty.

"I think we made it." Jamie states in relief as just then the sound of a key in the front door is heard.

Jamie and Eddie look over to see Henry and then Sean walk back in the house.

Jamie and Eddie both plaster innocent smiles on their faces.

"Well seeing that your back…" Jamie begins.

"…and I think we've gone over everything…" Eddie adds as she looks at her husband and he nods back in confirmation "We'll just leave you too it."

"Unless you have any more questions?" Jamie tacks on.

"I think we're good." Henry confirms.

"Great." Eddie accepts as she picks up her purse and heads to the door to the garage. She reaches for the door knob to the garage then pauses, turns and heads to the fridge. She swings it open, reaches in and pulls out the sandwich container "I'm taking these with me as a snack for the drive home." She informs Henry and Sean before looking directly at Sean "Tell Beth my compliments to the chef because these are really good."

Sean happily smiles "Will do!"

Jamie slightly shakes his head in realization "You told Beth the way to her heart…" he adds as he gestures at Eddie "… was through her stomach didn't you?"

Sean's smile grows and he gives an innocent little shrug.

Henry laughs "And the way to win you over…" He tacks on as he looks at Jamie "Is to win her over." he adds as he knocks his head towards Eddie.

Jamie looks at Sean to see him give another innocent little shrug.

"Well come on…" Sean defends "You sit around a dinner table long enough, you pick up a thing or two."

Eddie giggles as she opens the container and offers it out to her husband "Sandwich?" She innocently questions.

Jamie rolls his eyes, turns and heads for the door "No thanks I'll let you eat them."

"Ooooh! Good answer!" Eddie laughs as she closes the container and moves to follow.

Henry and Sean watch Jamie and Eddie head out and when they are gone Henry turns to Sean "You may not be in law enforcement but you can definitely hold your own against the ones that are."

Sean smiles "Thanks. Now I guess we need to get started on that list huh? Where is it?" he inquires as he looks around for the clipboard.

Henry walks over to the counter and picks up the clipboard. He begins writing on it "Well before we start on the list we need to add a few things to it."

Sean looks at his great grandfather confused "We do?"

Henry flashes his trademark slightly arrogant, mischievous smile "Oh we do."

Sean looks over his great grandfather's shoulder and his eyes go a bit wide at what he sees Henry writing "Um shouldn't we run this by Uncle Jamie and Aunt Eddie?"

"We will." Henry simply replies "When we're done."

Sean opens his mouth to protest…

"And not a moment sooner." Henry seriously warns "Got it?"

Sean takes a second before changing his mind on what he is going to say. Now he simply replies "Yes Sir." knowing the head of the family has spoken.

...