"The other contractors never mentioned that," she said. Daniel did not comment on their competence. He showed her where the soil stayed damp, where the original footing sat too shallow, and where the gate hardware was beginning to drag. "I don't charge for problems I haven't fixed," he said, "but I don't hide the problems I've found. I'll put the choices and the costs in writing, and you can decide."
Catherine glanced at her phone when it vibrated. For a moment the face she used at work replaced the one that had been looking at the fence. "Bring the estimate to the kitchen entrance at eight-thirty," she said. "I have a call I cannot move." She started back toward the house, stopped, and added, "The south-side spigot is available if you need water."
Daniel watched her leave, then returned to the exposed base of the post. He had met wealthier clients and ruder clients and wealthier clients who were not rude at all. Catherine struck him as a woman who had spent so long evaluating risk that she no longer knew how to meet a stranger without assigning one. He understood that impulse more than he wanted to admit.
At eight-thirty he knocked once at the kitchen entrance. Catherine opened the door with her phone against her shoulder, motioned him inside, and finished an exchange about budget scenarios while he waited without interrupting. The kitchen was elegant in ways his own would never be, but an ordinary cereal bowl sat in the sink beside a handwritten note reminding someone to buy poster board. On a refrigerator covered with expensive stainless steel, a small magnet held a child's drawing of a bridge.
Daniel set the estimate on the counter. Catherine read the scope twice, compared the total to the two previous quotes, and asked why his number was lower. "I price the repair I can justify," he replied. "Those other figures may include risk allowances, but I'm not selling you a new fence when most of the existing structure is good." She turned another page, looked at the material specifications, and noticed that the labor hours were listed separately.
"If you find another problem?" she asked. "I stop and call before changing the price." "And if I don't answer?" "Then the job waits. It doesn't become more expensive because you were on a meeting." Catherine's mouth moved as if it might smile, then settled into a neutral line again.
She authorized the work. Daniel requested the standard materials deposit and confirmed the access hours, not allowing the house or the woman's reputation to change his normal business practices. Catherine watched him put the signed form away and asked, "Why not start charging from the moment you arrived? Other contractors do." He considered her question and gave the answer he had given Noah about repairs, though in different words. "Because I wouldn't want someone charging me while I decided how to protect my own home."