You Are The Responsible One

Vera's colleagues got back to Casey faster than he was prepared for. He ended up making a lot of phone calls and having to go back out to the farmhouse multiple times in the next two weeks.

After getting a ton of inspections done and meeting with someone from a historical preservation committee he realized that even though the house looked bad it wasn't as much of a wreck as he had thought.

At the very least the plumbing, wiring, and foundation were holding up. The biggest problem was the outside of it, the wood floors, and the cabinetry.

Vera could help with part of that but he was going to be dealing with a lot of contractors in his future. Joy.

Casey compiled all of the quotes and decided to deal with this one or two projects at a time. He only had money on hand for about half of this but if he kept saving as he went that would be less of an issue.

He lived a simple life and got paid well for an editor. He didn't really go out and do things either so that saved him a lot of money. Most of his free time was spent reading and that was a cheap hobby considering he usually went to the library rather than buying books. He rented a lot of movies that way too.

Kane called him boring but he liked to keep his head down. He wasn't as charismatic and preferred staying out of the spotlight.

This would be doable. He could start with getting the outside fixed so there wouldn't be any leaks. That was a major problem in such a rainy place. It was part of why the floors had been so messed up.

As soon as that was done, he could figure out what to do next. But there was (unfortunately) going to be a lot of going back and forth in the meantime. He lived and worked in Seattle, which was more than half an hour from the farmhouse.

The back road that Vera's store was on was the fastest way to get there when the freeways were congested with traffic. It was how he had ended up meeting her in the first place.

Inconvenient as his car breaking down and getting soaked through was, it had ended up working out in his favor. This would cost more but it would also get him a way better deal selling the house.

She had been right. The man from the historical preservation committee confirmed it, saying that farmhouses from that period were in demand since so few were preserved correctly. The difference in potential sales prices was staggering, especially since the house was on a decent bit of property.

Casey didn't need that much space. It was just him and Kane these days. He would far prefer getting himself a house in a quiet neighborhood in Seattle or a closer suburb where he didn't have to drive so far to get to a grocery store.

Kane didn't seem to care where he lived one way or another but he didn't exactly have the right to since he was mooching off of Casey as always. What did he even get up to all day when he was between jobs again? Bingeing endless shows on Netflix, probably.

Casey didn't see how that was any less "lame" than spending all of his free time reading but it was better not to bother him about it. He had never been able to win against Kane.

Speak of the devil… "So, how'd the historical preservation thing go?" Kane leaned casually against the wall and looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"As well as it could have. They're going to start with the roof and outer walls."

Casey didn't stutter nearly as much in front of people he was comfortable with. He still mixed up the starts of his words sometimes but that wasn't as frequent either. There weren't very many people he was comfortable with though. In fact, it might only be Kane because they had been together their whole lives.

He wasn't the most dependable person or the nicest but he was all Casey had. Even if all Kane ever did was give him a hard time, he didn't know what he would do without him.

"Can you afford it?"

"Obviously I wouldn't be going through with it if I couldn't afford it," Casey said, annoyed.

"Just checking. I should have known though. You are the responsible one," Kane replied with a laugh. "How long do they think it's going to take?"

"The roof or the whole thing?"

"Both, I guess."

Casey shrugged. "The roof and outer walls will take a couple of months because they have to special order the materials. As for the rest…who knows since I have to pace things. I'm not sure which project I should have them do next. Maybe the cabinets since I don't want to do the floors too early only for them to get messed up again."

"Makes sense," Kane said with a nod. "Well, I hope for your sake that it's done fast so you don't have to worry about it anymore."

That was an uncharacteristically nice thing for him to say. Normally he gave Casey a much harder time for being anxious about everything. He must be feeling generous right now.

"Yeah, me too," Casey muttered.

Kane clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Relax, you big baby. It'll be over before you know it!"

Would it though? Would it really? There was still a long way to go and then Casey would have to deal with a real estate agent to sell the stupid property for him.

"If you say so."

He really didn't want to deal with all of this but could acknowledge it needed to be done and that Kane would be of no use. He wasn't good with details and never had been. This may involve their childhood home but Casey was the one in charge for good reason.

At least since the workers would be handling things outside he wouldn't need to be onsite to keep an eye on things much. That would make his life easier.

Depending on how long the outside took, he might want to get started on the inside while they were still working but that would involve calling Vera again. She was probably busy so he didn't want to bother her.