Solid foundation heartla.., p.1
Solid Foundation (Heartland Overhaul Book 1), page 1
Solid Foundation
Riley Long
Copyright © 2024 by Riley Long
All rights reserved.
No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher or author, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law.
Contents
1. Chapter One
Jake
2. Chapter Two
Max
3. Chapter Three
Jake
4. Chapter Four
Max
5. Chapter Five
Jake
6. Chapter Six
Max
7. Chapter Seven
Jake
8. Chapter Eight
Max
9. Chapter Nine
Jake
10. Chapter Ten
Max
11. Chapter Eleven
Jake
12. Chapter Twelve
Max
13. Chapter Thirteen
Jake
14. Chapter Fourteen
Max
15. Chapter Fifteen
Jake
16. Chapter Sixteen
Max
17. Chapter Seventeen
Jake
18. Chapter Eighteen
Max
19. Chapter Nineteen
Jake
20. Chapter Twenty
Max
21. Epilogue - Nine Months Later
Jake
Chapter One
Jake
Sweaty and covered in grime from the day’s work, I pulled open the door to Hayes Restoration and Renovation headquarters, cool air rushing out to greet me. I’d recently joined the team at Hayes, a well-known construction company in the area that was under the leadership of Levi Hayes. Levi had hired me as his newest foreperson, and I had spent the day working on a nearby job site when I’d gotten a text from Levi that he wanted to talk to me about some things. I nodded to the receptionist as I entered and headed straight back to Levi’s office. The door was open and he was looking intently at something on the computer monitor in front of him, fingers tapping away at the keyboard.
“Boss? You wanted to see me?”
Levi tore his gaze away from the screen and focused on me, waving me in. “Hey. Yeah, come on in and have a seat, why don’t you? Shut the door, if you want.”
“I’m not about to get fired, am I?” I asked with a grin.
Levi shook his head and chuckled. “Nothing like that. I just had a few things I wanted to talk to you about.”
“Got it.” I elected to leave the door open and took a seat across from his desk.
“Give me just a sec to finish this up,” Levi said, turning back to his computer. He went back to typing, brow furrowed as his focus intensified.
When Levi finished, he turned back to me with a warm smile. “Sorry about that. How did it go with Jared and Mathias last week? They put an offer in, right?”
I nodded, wondering why he was asking me this. He had been friends with Jared for years, playing on a kickball team with him, and I was certain he’d heard about the pending sale already. “Yeah. I’m looking forward to getting started on the house as soon as the sale closes and they’re ready.”
“Speaking of that…” Levi inhaled and exhaled slowly before pointing at his computer monitor. “Here’s the thing. We’ve been approached by a TV producer. He works for a network that wants to come to Port Grandlin and restore an old home. They’re calling the show Heartland Overhaul. They tell me if the first one goes well, it has series potential, not that they’re making any promises.”
“What does this have to do with me?” I had a sinking feeling I already knew though.
“They asked me if Hayes would be the construction crew on site. The other option is to bring in their own crew, but this would come with some benefits we wouldn’t otherwise get.”
I raised one eyebrow. “Benefits?”
Levi smiled tightly. “They’re paying for both materials and labor. It would be guaranteed work, at least for a little while, and the production company promised a hefty bonus check to anyone who works on the show. And of course, there’s the matter of the publicity it would bring to the company, which means it’ll bring in more restoration work for us—both for the show, if they decide to continue it, and outside of that.”
I was hardly interested in publicity. I preferred to lie low—do my job, go home, and spend my downtime doing things like having a beer with my buddies at the garage. “Yeah, I don’t know, boss. It doesn’t really sound like my thing. I’m happy behind the scenes. I like what I’m doing. Being asked to perform for a reality show doesn’t sound like my style. Maybe you could ask someone else to run the TV show projects?”
“You really want that? It means you won’t get to work on that house.”
I grunted. “No.”
Levi nodded. “I get it. I really do. Just… think about it, okay? I’m not going to force you to do anything, but I know Jared wants you working on the house, and the production team wants Jared’s house for the show. Having you on the show would make it work for everyone. If you really decide you can’t stand the idea of being on the show, I can put someone else on the job.”
I clenched my jaw and scowled. “I’ll think about it.” I didn’t want the work going to anyone else—I’d gotten excited at the prospect of fixing that house up for Jared and Matthias—but I also didn’t want to be on any damned reality show. “Anything else?”
Levi smiled and shook his head. “That’s all. Thanks for thinking about it. See you tomorrow.”
I grunted and stood. “Sure thing, boss.”
I climbed into my pickup and headed home, my mind turning over Levi’s suggestion. I had next to zero interest in being on a reality show, but he had made some good points—the show would bring the company more work, which would only benefit all of us, and the mention of the bonus didn’t hurt either.
Once I pulled my truck into the garage, I headed inside of my little rancher. I’d bought it when I’d moved to town and it had definitely started out as a run-down little place, to say the least. I’d lived there about six months, and I had spent my time at home working on the things that needed fixing. I’d already repaired the plumbing and replaced the flooring in the living room and the bathroom. My next home renovation project was going to be the kitchen, but I wasn’t in any hurry. Takeout dinners worked just fine for the time being. My fridge was full of takeout, quick toaster meals, and beer, and that was just the way I liked it.
Soon enough, I was stepping into the shower and washing the day from my skin, scrubbing off the dirt, dust, and sweat. The hot water pounded my shoulders and I took a few deep breaths. When I’d worked on the plumbing, I’d also made sure to adjust the water pressure from a trickle to a steady cascade, and for that, I was grateful. It made cleaning up after a long, strenuous day on a job site that much better.
When I was finally clean, I got out of the shower and dried off, heading to my bedroom for clean clothes. I picked a white T-shirt and relaxed blue jeans, my standard uniform outside of work, slipped on my sneakers, and headed to the kitchen. Before I left again, I grabbed a six-pack from the fridge.
Most days after work, I joined my friends at Bumpers and Grinders, the garage my long-time best friend Axton owned, or we met at a brewery in town, or I sat around at home, playing guitar and passing the time. That day, I headed to the brewery we frequented. By the time I’d arrived, Axton was two drinks in, parked near the pool tables, while our other buddies, Slade and Knox, shot pool. Other than our group, it was mostly empty, which was a welcome change. Port Grandlin loved its breweries and there were many nights that we met up and had to cram into a corner and wait for a pool table to open up.
As I entered, the guys all looked up and called out their greetings. In response, I nodded and waved. “Hey guys.”
I made my way to the bar and grabbed a beer before heading to sit next to Axton.
“How was work?”
“Fine.” I sighed, sipping my perfectly poured drink. “They want to make my next job into a reality TV show.”
“Wait, what?” Slade’s cue slipped as he took the shot and he missed the ball he was aiming for. He grimaced at the pool table before he gave me a look of confusion. “What are you talking about?”
I took a sip of beer and shrugged. “Apparently some TV bigwig wants to do a show about restoring old homes. They’ve picked Port Grandlin, and they want that old house I was working on last week to start with.” I rubbed the back of my neck and sighed. “Guess I won’t get to restore it after all.”
“Why the hell not?” Knox narrowed his eyes at me before refocusing on the pool table. He took a clean shot and sank a solid ball in a side pocket, which caused Slade to mutter a swear.
“I don’t want to be on TV. Can you imagine?”
Axton chuckled and shook his head. “Your surly ass? On TV?” He snorted. “Hardly. What would they do with your perma-scowl?”
I flipped him off and took a long pull from my beer. “So I guess that’s it for me. I really liked that fucking house, too.” I wasn’t sure why I felt so drawn to the house that wasn’t even mine. It needed a ton of work—in some places it needed strip-to-the-studs work—but it was beautiful and I felt like the restoration efforts were calling to me. My hands itched to get inside and start demolishing things.
Knox took another shot and missed. “I thin k you should go for it.”
“Yeah, yeah, fuck you too,” I muttered.
Slade tapped his cue on the concrete floor twice. “He’s right. You should do it.”
I rolled my eyes. “What are you two even talking about? Me? On reality TV?”
Axton lifted his glass and nodded at me. “Who gives a fuck about the reality TV part? You want this job, right?”
“Sure, but—”
“No. But nothing. You want the job, you were offered the job, you take the job.” Axton nodded at me. “Right?”
He made it sound so simple. “I’ll think about it,” I conceded finally. “But no promises.”
Chapter Two
Max
As I filled my coffee cup from the pot in the break room, footsteps echoed across the vinyl tile. The second I finished pouring, I glanced over my shoulder to say hello and saw my boss, Doug Cutler, entering the room. I nodded and smiled by way of greeting.
“Morning, boss.”
“Max,” he said with a wide smile. “Just the person I was looking for.” He leaned casually against the counter and I raised my eyebrows, curious.
“What can I do for you?”
“I have a new project, one I think you’d be perfect for.”
I nodded and sipped my coffee slowly, trying not to burn myself. “I’m listening,” I said as I lowered the cup.
“We’re planning a pilot for a home makeover show, one with a twist. This is more of a… well, it’s a makeover-slash-construction hybrid. We’ll be taking an old house or building in a small town and restoring it. We need a producer with a strong vision for this one and I’d like to put you in that position.”
I frowned into my coffee cup. “I don’t know. I don’t have much of a construction background.”
He held up a hand and shook his head. “No need. We have a great construction crew on the ground locally we’re working to get on board. They specialize in this sort of work, and the foreman we’re hoping to get is very experienced. He’ll be a great liaison for you. And the homeowners have experience with reality shows already. They were on Destination Love last season.”
“Which ones were they?” I was a sucker for Destination Love and the previous season had been the first season that followed exclusively LGBT couples, which was especially of personal interest to me as a gay man working in reality TV.
“Jared and Matthias.”
“They’re in Virginia, right? That’s not too far away.”
“Six hours by car, I think.”
I couldn’t stop the little smile that formed on my face. Like nearly everyone, I’d loved their episodes—they’d quickly turned into fan favorites for their natural chemistry—and working with them on a show sounded like a dream. It sounded too good to be true, honestly. I looked Doug in the eye. “Why me?”
“You’re good at what you do. Let’s face it—those interior design shows you’ve been doing are great, but your talent for creating a narrative is under-utilized.”
A chuckle escaped me. “Flattery will get you everywhere,” I murmured. “But seriously, is that the only reason?” I liked my boss well enough, but in the television industry, it was important to stay vigilant about things coming my way. I hadn’t been burned yet, but anything was possible.
He sighed and drummed his fingers on the counter. After a moment, he spoke again. “Okay, you’ve got me. The foreman—well, the one we’re trying to get on board—he’s a tough nut to crack.”
“So he’s, what, an asshole?”
Doug shook his head slowly, a small smile on his face. “Well…”
“And you think I’ll be able to deal with him better than anyone else?”
He nodded. “That’s part of it.”
I turned the idea over in my head for a moment. “Anything else I need to know?”
“It’s not all bad,” he conceded. “I’d like you to lead the show. And you can cast your host, anyone in our stable of talent. You can even pick your crew leadership. Besides, there’s series potential here. If this season works out, if the network picks us up, we could have a multi-season run.”
Cast the host and crew? That sounded like an amazing opportunity to get a few of my friends at the studio, all up-and-comers, in positions of influence. I took another sip of my coffee. Besides, I’d been working my way up the ranks in hopes of executive producing at some point, and this would be a good feather in my cap. “You’ve got yourself a deal.”
His smile was wide as he knocked twice on the counter. “I knew you’d come around. Let me know when you’ve picked your host. We’ll draw up the contracts for you to review. Come by my office next week and we’ll discuss the details.”
“Sure thing. Thanks, Doug.” While working with a sour construction crew didn’t sound super exciting, running my own pilot did. And one with series potential was even better. Not to mention picking my own host for the show. I could navigate an asshole foreman if it meant running my own show. The whole project could catapult my career. A little time with an irritable coworker would be worth it.
I knew exactly who I wanted for the host, too—my best friend, Sterling. He had plenty of experience in front of the camera, and he was charismatic enough to handle any difficult local crew members. I’d need to run it by Doug, of course, but I had faith he’d agree to it.
I sent out a group text to several of my friends from the studio, asking them to meet me for dinner at our favorite little diner. We were basically a big family, and I wanted to let them all know we had an exciting project on the horizon.
The day was close enough to over that I slipped out of the office and headed to Dottie’s, the diner where I’d asked my friends to meet. I was relieved that the table we preferred, big and round and tucked into the back of the restaurant, was empty. I slipped into a chair and gave our favorite server a smile.
“Hey, Katie,” I said as she stopped by the table.
“Max, how’ve you been? Any news in the TV world?” Katie flipped her long, wavy brown hair behind her shoulder and gave me a warm smile. She was about my age, late twenties or so, and waited tables at Dottie’s to pay the bills, even though she wanted to write books for a living.
“Actually, there is. I’m getting a new show.”
“Ooh,” she squealed. “That’s great news!”
“Don’t tell anyone yet, okay?”
She nodded and mimed zipping her lips. “Your secret is safe with me. Now, what can I get you?”
Before I could answer, my friends began to arrive. Sterling settled in first, followed closely by my favorite camera operator, Gideon. After Gideon came Kieran and Micah, both designers—Kieran did interior design and Micah did set design. Brooks, a director, settled in last, apologizing for his tardiness. We quickly ordered and Katie scurried away to put our requests in with the kitchen.
We were all talking over each other, laughing and catching up and generally having a good time. Once the food arrived, we quieted a little, stuffing our faces instead of running our mouths.
“So, what’s going on?” Gideon asked after we were done with our meals. “You don’t usually call a meeting like this just for the hell of it.”
I grinned. “I actually have news.”
“Spill it, asshole.” Sterling kicked my ankle under the table. “Don’t leave us hanging.”
“Fine, fine.” I took a deep breath. “I talked to Doug Cutler today and he offered me a shot at running a show. My own show.”
A cacophony rose up around the table, everyone congratulating me. “Tell us more,” Brooks said when things finally quieted down.
“Well, it’s in Virginia. The show is a renovation-type show. Restoring an old home, working with a construction crew to bring it back to life.”
