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“It’s fine. I was lost in thought, or hatred for this stupid frame.”
“Do you want some help?”
“Surely you have better things to do.” Like take your shirt off again and chop some wood or something right outside my window.
“Nope. Free as a bird.”
He was still standing in the doorway. “You’ll need to come into the room to help.”
He looked at the floor for a moment. “I’m like a vampire. I need to be invited into a lady’s room.”
Wilda smiled. “Please come in, Milo.”
He stepped through the door and walked up to her. “So, this looks…”
“Impossible?”
“We took it apart to load it, so not impossible, just challenging.”
“Every time I get a couple of the slats in, they start falling out when I try to add the next one.”
“Sounds like it’s a two man job. Or a man and a woman.”
“Where’s Caleb?”
“He and Frenchie are resting in the living room with his box of books.” He knelt beside the frame. “If you get on that side, we can keep the pressure on as we start putting in the slats.”
Wilda moved and picked up a slat. “Should we start at one end?”
“Yeah, let’s try that.”
They started at one end, and when they got halfway, three slats fell out. Wilda got to her feet. “Who designed this thing?”
Milo laughed. “Don’t quit now. We’ll lose them all.”
She knelt again and picked up one of the fallen slats. “I’m never taking this bed apart again. When I move out, this bed is staying.”
“It’s a pretty nice bed.”
“I know. I love it. But this is ridiculous.”
“Come on. We’ve almost got it.” They slowly made it to the other end, then tightened the bolts to keep everything in place. “See. Piece of cake.”
Wilda cocked her head. “I started this an hour ago. Not a piece of cake.”
“This is where you want it? Here between the windows?”
“Yes.”
Milo adjusted the frame, centering it between the two windows. “Okay, let’s get the mattress in place.”
“What can I do?”
“Just stay out of my way.” Milo handled the mattress as if it didn’t weigh a ton, dragging it across the floor and dropping it onto the frame. They both held their breath, expecting the frame to collapse under the weight. The frame held, and Wilda sat down tentatively.
“I think it’s good.”
“Do you have any other impossible things to put together or heavy things to move around?”
