Looking for Wildflowers

Chapter 6

The fever had completely broken by morning and Taylor seemed fine again.

"It was probably just some kind of bug." Taylor insisted as Riley tried to force her to lie down and take the week off.

Riley got back to work around the house, making sure Taylor drank plenty of water and got enough rest. By the time he was done, the floors and walls had been scrubbed, as well as the windows and cabinets.

He planned on redoing her floor as soon as he could get into town, possibly redoing her cabinets a bit, and getting her a new countertop. He wanted it all to be a surprise but he wasn't sure how to do that, so he left well enough alone and figured she'd be just as happy to be getting it done.

Today he was going into town to grab the rest of the supplies, so he made a list of everything he planned on doing and what he'd need. Once he marked what he already had and had already done, he stuffed the list in his pocket and headed off on horseback. He headed toward the nearest town, hoping Taylor would be alright by herself while he was gone.

He wasted no time, rushing from store to store and buying what was required. It only took a couple of hours and he had everything either in a bag he had brought or on the trailer the horse pulled. He had made good time if he said so himself.

As he pulled the horse next to the house, he noticed Taylor walking around in the house. She must be feeling better.

"Taylor!" he called, walking through the front door. She popped out of the bedroom in her typical leggings and whatever shirt she grabbed first. "I got all the supplies we need. I'm going to go do some work outside while you work in here, and tomorrow, I'll get started on these floors." they both looked down at the rotting boards, some of which had broken off completely and left a hole that Taylor tripped on each time she went by it.

"Sounds good to me. Once we're done with all this, I'll start making you some clothes. You can't live off just two outfits."

"Don't worry, I picked up some of the basics in town, so I'm no longer living off two outfits."

"Where'd you get all this money, if you don't mind me asking." She asked with a small smile as she crossed her arms.

"I've been saving up. Doing whatever job I can and saving every penny so I could get myself a place. Since you said I could stay here, I figured might as well spend it on fixing this place up."

"Oh Riley, you didn't have to do that. You should have kept that money." Taylor suddenly felt horrible for allowing him to help her.

"But I want to. You deserve a nice place to live."

"So what? You're going to spend all your money on me?" She laughed at it but noticed he nodded his head and went back outside to begin the yard work.

She looked out the now-clean windows and watched as he chopped wood for the fireplace, building up a stash for winter. They still had a few months before it was officially winter, but some chilly days had already passed by, meaning it was more than time to start preparing.

It always snowed a few feet a couple of times a year. Taylor despises winter because the only heat source she had was the stove. But now with Riley around, things would be different. Maybe she could finally have that romantic winter that she had always read about.

She decided to clean the living room up, making sure to wipe down all the furniture after dusting, moving a couple of things around, and even scrubbing the old dark purple wool carpet that belonged to her great-great-grandma. It was old and ugly and she absolutely hated it, but it helped provide warmth and comfort, so she dealt with it.

Once she was done, she worked on laundry and then dinner, making sure to make a good bit since she was sure Riley would be hungry after all the work and errands he had done today.

"You didn't have to go to all this trouble." Riley smiled as he walked into the kitchen and saw her making biscuit dough for the top of her pot pie.

"Well, you have to be well fed." she never looked away from the dough, carefully kneading it and rolling it out.

He stood and watched her work for a few moments before returning to the living room, noticing she had it all cleaned up and rearranged. All the laundry had been washed and folded too. It was obvious to Riley that she was excited about what they were doing to the house. He found himself smiling a little bit. It was going faster than he expected it would, but he wasn't complaining.

Crack.

The sound of Riley prying up the old wooden floors echoed all through the small house and could even be heard outside. He decided to do it room by room so they could still walk around the house when needed.

Once he had all the old rotten wood up, he took it outside and figured he'd toss it on a bonfire or something. It was noon already, so he had to work fast. They had started on the bedroom, so it was crucial that it gets done today.

Carefully, he measured, sawed, cut, and nailed new wood all over the room. They were lucky that the support boards were still in decent condition. All Riley really had to do was secure plywood and then add new wood on top. He had to work past nightfall, but he got the bedroom finished and they were able to sleep in it that night.

Taylor was running him a bath since he had worked so hard on everything up to this point. She just couldn't understand why a stranger would want to help her. Well, he's not a stranger now. Taylor thought to herself as the water slowly filled the tub.

"I'm going to do the dining room next. Then the living room and kitchen. The bathroom comes last since that has tile." Riley explained as he stood by the doorway wearing just a pair of jeans. He leaned against the doorframe, watching Taylor watch the water.

"You do what you need to, but take it easy. The bedroom looks fantastic, though."

"That's not done either. I have to prime it so the wood doesn't rot like before. Since it was so late when I finished laying the wood, I figured we'd wait and do that last." Taylor nodded her head as she mixed in some tea tree oil this time and made sure he had a towel at the ready.

As he was relaxing, she worked on getting dinner finished. As usual, the ending of his bath timed well with the ending of her cooking.

"After we eat, you can relax." He came up behind Taylor as she was stirring potatoes and brought her in for a soft hug from behind.

Once they had finished eating and bathing, they met up in the bedroom, both exhausted. They lay in silence for a while before Riley decides to speak.

"Want a repeat of the other night?" he smirked. He saw Taylor bite her lower lip out of the corner of his eye.

"I mean, sure." her voice was nervous but excited.

Riley looked over at her and saw her rosy cheeks. He also noticed how she was more relaxed when he held her now, accepting the affection. He took his time and was as careful as he was before, not wanting to mess anything up.

Once they were done, they both stood and put some clothes on, returning to bed normally as they had before.

"Goodnight." Riley whispered into Taylor's hair as they cuddled, with her responding the same.

The next few days were busy as they continued work on the flooring. Then Riley went back over it all and got it all set and stained just the way they wanted them. Once he was done with that, he started on the bathroom, which took him the longest by far.

But he got it done, and soon they had all new flooring.

He had carried in some gallons of paint, all different colors, but all pretty and soft, just like how he viewed Taylor. Another storm was rolling in, so Riley was glad he had brought them in when he did.

They painted the bedroom a soft blue color, and the kitchen a nice pastel olive. The living room was a light yellow, and the dining area was a light red. The bathroom was simply kept white. It took them a few days, but once it was finished, Taylor was overjoyed.

"I'm glad you like it." Riley laughed to himself as he watched her bounce on her toes and look around. The place was finally becoming a home. "I plan on redoing your windows as soon as I can, but it'll have to be one by one since I got to replace the frames."

Riley had also bought Taylor a new light gray carpet, about the same size as the wool one. He had heard her complaining about it, so he decided to fix it for her.

He had also picked up some odd-end items, such as nightstands, small bookshelves to go in the dining area, new light fixtures so the place was brighter, and he had even put in an order for a new stove and fridge. Similar to the ones she has now, just new and a bit updated.

"It's perfect!" Taylor exclaimed once it was all done and the place was nicely decorated and bright and not dark and falling apart.

"It's not completely done yet." Riley said as they walked around, looking at their progress.

"What do you mean?"

"I ordered you a new stove and fridge, they should be here in about a few days. I still have to replace your front porch, and I want to give you a nice deck out back."

"Riley, you've done more than enough-"

"Shush, that porch is getting fixed and you're getting a nice screened-in deck so the bugs won't bother you while you sit outside and listen to the storms." Taylor sighed, she knew she was going to lose this argument.