Chapter 25
Chapter Twenty-Five
RHETT
T he contractor’s name was Buster, or at least that was the name he went by, though he admitted rather sheepishly that his given name was Fred. Not sure where the Buster moniker came from, and since the expression he wore after worming his way out of the tight crawlspace where he inspected the foundation told me he had no intention of taking the job, I didn’t care to find out the origin of Buster .
“Well, well, well, haven’t seen one like that in years,” Buster muttered as he peeled out of the gray protective coveralls. “Do you get many earthquakes up here?” As he asked it, he surveyed the area.
Him bringing up the topic of earthquakes didn’t boost my confidence on his final analysis. “Uh, do you mean specifically up here on this hill or the area in general?”
Buster had a laugh that came with a decent amount of spittle. I’d already learned to stay back after that unpleasant reality literally hit me in the entryway when he spotted what he thought might be mold. I wasn’t sure why it was funny, but apparently, it was a comical thing in the world of renovation.
“I meant in general. Anyhow, that stone foundation would need some fortification that might help in an earthquake. Not a big one—but a good shaker, and it should hold with additional support. Or, if we want to make sure it can hold and not fall down this hill in a major quake, we can do a major overhaul.”
Since I had no real grasp of the seismic activity in the area it seemed the overhaul would be the safer bet. “What would that entail?”
“Well, we put supports down there and lift the entire house up off the stone foundation. Then we pour a new foundation, we set the house back down and bolt it to the new foundation. Then it’ll be like new. A nine-pointer could roll through, and your house would still be standing.”
“I’ve lived in San Francisco, and I don’t think anything would be standing after a nine-pointer. Let me think about it.”
“I get it. I get it.” Buster was the belly-scratching type. He rubbed the round mound that strained the buttons on his work shirt. “Talk it over with the little lady.” He was also the “little lady” type, apparently.
“There’s no wife. Just me.”
His face snapped up. “Really? Then who was that beautiful blonde I waved to as she walked down the path?”
I was confused and not altogether sure Buster knew what he was talking about. I wasn’t expecting Ella for another hour. She knew I was talking to a contractor and didn’t want to get in the way.
“Oh, that’s just a friend. I didn’t know she was here. Well, send me an estimate for both things, and I’ll make a decision. What about the rest of the renovation? Are you interested?”
“Foundations are my specialty. If you’ve got a mold problem, you’ll need a lot of mitigation first. Then I can put you in touch with a friend whose specialty is interior renovation.” Buster dropped his coverall over his shoulder and looked back at the house. “Hope you have deep pockets. This place is beautiful, but it’s going to take a lot of this.” He held up his hand and rubbed his fingers and thumb together.
I nodded and made the first move toward his truck. I was done with Buster and his last-century gestures and habits. He got into his truck. “I’ll send you over an estimate in a few days. It’ll take me a bit to pull together the numbers. Haven’t done a job this big in years.” Yet another layer of confidence in my latest contractor peeled away.
“I’ll keep an eye out for it in my email.”
He spun his truck around. I pulled out my phone as I headed to the house. I called Ella. “Sorry I missed you this morning. Did we get our times crossed?”
“Not following.” She sounded slightly groggy. A cute sounding yawn followed. “When did we miss each other? I’m embarrassed to admit I slept very late and am still clad in flannel and socks.”
I decided that Buster was delusional or maybe someone made a wrong turn up the drive. It happened occasionally.
“Sorry, the ramblings of my belly-rubbing contractor.”
“I’m getting very confused by this conversation.”
I laughed. “Maybe I left you lightheaded from all the kisses.”
“That definitely happened, and your kisses were worth every second of dizziness, but if I woke up still lightheaded, then I think we can blame the wine.”
I walked down the hallway to the library. I needed to get a fire going for Ella’s visit. “So, my kisses made you dizzy?”
“Did I say that? I don’t think I said that.”
“The words ‘worth every second of dizziness’ were tossed around.” I picked up a piece of wood and dropped it on the grate.
“You know me—fictional writer and all that. You never know what words might come out of my mouth.”
“Right. So, no dizziness.”
“Well, that part might not have been fictional. But hey, I’ve got to shower and get dressed. I’ll be there soon. Are we still on for book sorting?”
“I suppose we can stash a few books in between.” I struck a match and tossed it into the hearth. The kindling I’d piled in there earlier lit right up.
“In between what?” she asked.
“In between the dizzying stuff.”
“Now how am I supposed to get my hair and teeth brushed with that last sentiment? See you soon, and I might look like a frazzled scarecrow when I show up at the door. It will be all your fault.”
I leaned down to push the logs around and get them going. I was still smiling to myself about the conversation as the flames took off and began lapping at the top of the hearth. I glanced around and sighed dejectedly. For the first time since I upended my life and moved to this relic of a house, I felt homesick for my beautiful modern house in the hills. A turquoise blue infinity pool disappeared serenely over a lushly landscaped hillside. Almost the entire back of the house was made of glass, and on a clear evening you could see over the glittery city lights right out to the ocean. I hadn’t missed my old life, my stupidly rich life, because so many bad memories came with it, but today, just for today, I would have loved to treat Ella to that amazing view and a swim in the pool. Instead, we’d make do in my dark, dusty library that sometimes smelled of rotting paper and sometimes of decaying ink. The only place in the room that didn’t cause your lips to turn blue from cold was inside a ten-foot circle around the fireplace. It would have been nice for one day, I thought, then just as quickly decided Ella wasn’t the type who needed to be wowed by a fancy house or infinity pool. She grew up in that small cottage overlooking that perfect little beach, and in her eyes, she was the luckiest kid in the world to live there. Frankly, she wasn’t too far off on that assessment.
A knock on the door pulled me from my thoughts. It couldn’t be Ella yet. Did Buster leave a tool behind?
I put down the poker, walked to the entry and pulled open the door. “Did you forget—” I stared at the woman across from me. “Why are you here?” I asked.
“Now, is that any way to greet your wife?” Christine didn’t wait to be invited in. She reached for my arm as she sashayed past. I pulled it away.
“You’re not my wife.” I swung the door shut.
Christine turned around and batted her fake lashes at me. “Technically, I still am.” She lifted her hand to remind me of the exorbitant money I’d wasted on the massive diamond she insisted she had to have for our engagement.
“The ring means nothing. The lawyers are getting the paperwork together. Then we’ll sign and part ways forever.”
Her plump top lip turned up. “That sounds so final.”
“Yep, that’s because the divorce will make it final.”
Christine leaned in closer. “You forget, love. I have to agree to the terms first, and so far, I’m not happy with what the lawyers have negotiated.”
She continued uninvited through the house. The familiar sound of her heels on the wooden floors made me flinch. I hated that sound. The look of disgust on her face as she surveyed the house was comical. Christine was not born wealthy, but she put on airs as if she’d been a member of the Rothschild clan. When I married her, she could barely afford her apartment. I’d never seen anyone spin so fast to the privileged class. She talked poorly about employees and berated her house staff as if she herself had never suffered any hardship. It was a hideous side to her character that I hadn’t seen when we dated. She’d been very good at masking it.
I stood with my arms crossed as Christine was drawn into the library. “Finally, some warmth,” she said snidely. She glanced over her shoulder. There was a time when I considered her beautiful, but once I knew the whole person inside and out, I found her anything but. “Why don’t you open a bottle of wine and we’ll talk?”
“It’s nine in the morning. I see you’re still hitting the bottle a lot.”
She sat demurely down on the big chair, the one Ella used when going through the documents and letters we found. “Can you blame me? You’ve left me stranded and heartbroken.”
A dry laugh shot from my mouth. “Stranded? You mean in the twelve-million-dollar hilltop home? And I believe in order to be heartbroken, you need an actual heart.”
She pretended to be hurt by my words but then quickly switched back to her usual hard expression. “Are you seeing someone?”
“I hardly think that’s your business.”
“That answers my question, and it is my business. You see, I intend to show the divorce judge that you have broken me down in spirit and left me so heartbroken and in such despair that the only thing that will help would be a much larger portion of your fortune. And if you’re seeing someone, that’ll help. Unless, of course, you just want to get back together and pretend that mess with Mike never happened.”
I flinched again. This time it was due to her utter lack of compassion. “How casually you talk about Mike, a man who died a horrid death in a burning car. He was a big part of both our lives—more yours for the last few months, but that’s beside the point. You’ve proven my earlier theory that you are heartless.”
“I wasn’t the one who let Mike burn to death in that car.”
Every muscle in my body tensed. “Get out,” I said between clenched teeth. “I can’t stand to see or hear you for another minute. Just get out. Now.”
Christine huffed as if she’d been terribly put out by my order. “Fine. I’ll freeze to death in this house anyway. You’ll be hearing from my lawyer again. I’m not happy with the offer.”
I followed her sharp heel clacks down the hallway. I shot ahead of her and pulled open the door. Her green Mercedes was parked next to my truck. She turned her nose up at the house as she walked down the steps.
“Were you here earlier?” I asked.
She stopped and looked back with a disaffected expression. “I parked on the road because I wasn’t sure how you’d react if I drove up. I can see now my worries of you pulling out a shotgun were not far off. I walked up and knocked, but you didn’t answer. Maybe you were in the shower. You do have plumbing?” she asked with a smirk.
“Just go and don’t come back. We’ll only communicate through lawyers from now on.” I shut the door and then walked to the window to make sure she left. Dust flew up as she spun her car around and drove off. I was glad she’d be long gone before Ella arrived. With any luck, I’d never have to see Christine again.