Free Restoration by Kim Loraine

John’s Stuff .
    Grace’s heart caught in her throat as she walked toward the still sealed box. She ran her hand lightly over the tape. The box was one the fire department had brought to her after his funeral. They’d cleaned out his locker and all of the little items he collected over the years were in this box. John was always picking things up and putting them in his coat pockets or making her save things that might need remembering later.
    “Let’s open it and see what’s inside,” Grace said after a moment.
    The box was medium-sized with no considerable weight to it. She wondered how much stuff might be in there. She brushed away the film of dust on top and carefully sliced the tape. There was a thick envelope at the top of the box with her name written in his simple handwriting. She carefully set it aside and continued to discover the last things connected to him.
    There were the odd knickknacks, such as paperclips he’d destroyed by bending them into random shapes, one of his fire helmets which she could barely look at, a manila folder full of pictures of them together, and his uniform.
    She set aside everything except for the uniform shirt. She took the deep blue fabric in her hands and brought it to her face. She inhaled deeply and could still smell him; clean and a little spicy. Her eyes were brimming with tears, but this time she was smiling.
    “Grace.” Valerie’s voice was soft. “Do you want me to go? I can get some lunch while you look through his things.”
    “No, I think I’m good. I’m going to save this for later.” She ran her fingers over the envelope with her name on it.
    Valerie nodded and sniffed, wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her sweater.
    “I think I’ll keep the pictures and the shirt. The rest can go to Marianne. Would you mind boxing it back up for me?”
    Valerie set to work on getting the box packed and placed it by the front door. Grace stood, brushed her hands off, and took the few precious mementos of John back to her bedroom. When she returned to her living room, Valerie took her in a tight hug. Grace let out the breath she’d been holding and pulled away to give Valerie a watery smile.
    “All right, let’s get to work.” She pulled herself together. “This house isn’t going to pack itself.”
    Months later, here she was, sitting in her new bedroom, an expectant Valerie waiting for details of her major make-out session with another man. She took a deep breath and stood.
    “Come on, let’s get something to eat and I’ll tell you about it.”
    “So, how are things with Drew? Any new developments you haven’t shared?” Valerie asked Grace two weeks later as they walked back from appraising the work site.
    “It’s really . . . different.”
    “Different good?”
    “I think so. I mean, it’s been fifteen days since we started really seeing each other, but we’ve both been so busy we’ve had most of our conversations by text. He may look like John, but I forget that most of the time. He’s just, different.”
    “Well, when are you seeing him again?”
    “Maybe this weekend. He’s been spending a lot of time going back and forth to London. I guess they’re working on an expansion deal for Ten’s.”
    Valerie’s eyebrows rose. “Really?” She eyed Grace carefully. “So you two haven’t, you know?”
    “Had sex?” She laughed. “No. Not yet.”
    “Really? You’ve got more self-control than I do. He’s hot. He’s got that whole mild-mannered, Clark Kent thing going for him.”
    A grin spread over her lips and she chuckled as she opened the door to their house and headed inside, ready to attack her barrage of emails. Valerie sighed as she opened her laptop.
    They’d been putting in long days as they tried to solve all the problems that came along with restoring historic buildings. They had to decide what was appropriate, safe, and fit the time period. Since the building served as connected homes, or apartments, it also had to be up to code to