Chapter Five
Catherine
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G LORIANA MANOR WAS quickly becoming like a second home to me. I had called Timothy earlier to let him know I wanted to come by, but he was running errands. I knocked once just so I didn’t scare the housekeeper.
“Hello?” I called out as I walked into the house. “It’s me, Catherine. Timothy said I could stop by.”
I closed the door behind me and looked around. The housekeeper appeared with a friendly smile. “Hello.”
“I’ll just be here for a minute. I just wanted to let you know I was here. I didn’t want to freak you out.”
“No worries.”
I jogged upstairs to Timothy’s office. I was looking forward to the first day on the job. I always got excited when we started a new project. But this was also the time I was going to have to calm the client down. I went to the shelf where Timothy told me he stored the blueprints. I was hoping to use the blueprints and notes I had taken on Gloriana Manor to review before heading to Henry’s house to meet with my subcontractors. His property was built in the same year as the Gloriana. I was hoping to use what we learned from this job to make the next one run a little smoother. The faster we got it done, the more money we all made. And I never wanted to be the contractor that ran weeks and months behind.
I took the blueprints and sat down at Timothy’s desk. I quickly opened the binder and made sure everything was included. I had made a lot of notes that were going to come in handy as well. As I rummaged through it, I looked for a pen to make notes related directly to Henry’s house. I grabbed a notepad, and then my eyes landed on something unexpected: Timothy’s contact book. It was a relic from another time. It was from back in the day when people still wrote down names and addresses in a physical book.
I couldn’t help but smile at the sight, finding it endearing that Timothy still held on to such old-fashioned habits. The man really was nostalgic. The house was a testament to that. He loved old stuff. That was something we had in common. I thought it was another big plus on his side. Anyone that appreciated the slower way of life was a good man in my eyes. I went back to making notes when an idea popped into my head. It was a terrible idea.
Terrible.
“Don’t do it, Catherine.”
My eyes went back to his book of contacts. It was too tempting. What could it hurt?
With a sudden urge to indulge my curiosity, I flipped through the pages of the book, scanning the names and addresses listed within. I kept flipping, looking for one particular name. “Bingo.”
I found the name I was looking for. Regina’s information was neatly written in Timothy’s handwriting. My heart skipped a beat as I stared at the words on the page, a mixture of anger and sadness swirling within me. Regina was the reason Paisley was gone, the reason Timothy was suffering. I hated her for what she had done, for tearing apart Timothy’s world.
Without hesitation, I took out my phone and snapped a picture of Regina’s contact information, knowing that it might come in handy later. I felt naughty and couldn’t even say why I was doing it. It wasn’t jealousy. I knew he could care less about her. He didn’t love her. He couldn’t stand her.
I closed the contact book and gathered up the blueprints and notes I needed for Henry’s house. I almost deleted the picture from my phone. It felt like I was snooping. Timothy and I needed to be able to trust each other. He wasn’t going to appreciate me going through his personal things. I would tell him.
Later.
I left Gloriana Manor behind and made my way to Henry’s house, my mind filled with conflicting emotions. I was determined to focus on the task at hand, to do my job to the best of my ability. But Regina was always going to be like a shadow. Every single day, she was going to haunt everything we did. I wanted to confront her and make her pay for what she had done. It was like turning on the light and blotting out the shadows. I knew her shadow would continue to haunt us all until someone did something about it.
I pulled up to Henry’s house, pleased to see the subcontractors were already on site. I hopped out and walked to the front door. It was hanging open. “Hello?” I called out.
Henry strolled toward me with an irritated expression on his face. “Hi.” I smiled. “I see everyone is already here.”
“But you weren’t.”
“No. I won’t always be here.”
His blatant displeasure was obvious. “I hired you, not them. I expected you to be the one handling things.”
I smiled. “I don’t actually do all the work.”
He frowned. My joke didn’t land. “What the hell does that mean?”
“It means I oversee the bulk of the work,” I said. “My job is to come up with a plan. I’ll handle some of the woodworking projects.”
He didn’t seem too pleased that I was overseeing the work on his house instead of being the one crawling around on my hands and knees. “I was under the impression you were going to be doing the job.”
“Henry, look at this place,” I said. “Did you really think I would do all of this on my own? I’m not an electrician or plumber. My job is to ensure everything goes smoothly. I’m here to coordinate the various aspects of the project and make sure it stays on track. That’s my role.”
He shook his head. “I don’t think this is a good idea. I don’t know any of these people.”
I had to stay calm. This was the anxious homeowner. It was the same scenario on almost every project we did.
“I understand your concern, Henry,” I said firmly, meeting his gaze head-on. “But for now, I’m just overseeing the project. I’ll be doing some of the complicated restorations during the finish work phase, but until then, I need to make sure everything is running smoothly. These are the best contractors in the business. Most of these people worked on the Gloriana Manor project. I’ve worked with them on countless projects. We all work well together. I trust them. You hired me because you trust me, so please, try not to worry.”
He didn’t seem satisfied with my explanation, his expression still filled with irritation as he crossed his arms over his chest. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes, knowing that it wouldn’t do me any favors in this situation. He was a wealthy man, much like Timothy. Like Timothy, he was probably used to getting his own way. If I came on too strong, he would fire us.
“I’m going to need to research all these people,” he said. “I don’t know who they are. I want license numbers. I need to know if they are bonded. Insured.”
He was purposely being obstinate. I took a deep breath, debating how badly I wanted the job. The verbal abuse was not something I’d signed up for. Just then, I spotted Luke sauntering up to the house.
“I’ll start by introducing you to the electrician who I brought on to upgrade the panel,” I said. “We talked about redoing some of the wiring and replacing the outlets, right?”
I waved at Luke and gestured for him to come over. “Luke, I’d like to introduce you to the homeowner, Henry.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Henry,” Luke said and shook his hand.
Henry’s demeanor didn’t improve when he met Luke; in fact, he was downright rude to him right away.
“Credentials,” he demanded, crossing his arms and looking at Luke with an icy gaze that would have chilled anyone to the bone. But Luke, having seen his fair share of unpleasantness in his time, didn’t flinch.
“Of course,” he said coolly, pulling out his wallet and showing his license to Henry. “I’ve been an electrician for over ten years. I assure you, sir, I know what I’m doing.”
Henry squinted at the card as if expecting it to be counterfeit before handing it back and giving me a hard look. “I want to see everyone’s credentials. And their insurance details too.”
It was a difficult ask, yet not unreasonable. I nodded. “Understood. I’ll gather all the necessary documents for you.”
Henry didn’t look satisfied, but he reluctantly nodded. “Good. And I want regular updates on the project’s progress.”
“Of course,” I agreed. “I will keep you informed every step of the way.”
He grunted an answer and stomped off back toward his car, parked in the rubble-strewn driveway. Watching him go, I sighed before turning to Luke, who was watching the whole scene with a bemused smile.
“Fun guy,” he commented.
“Oh, he’s a real charmer,” I agreed.
I couldn’t hide my disappointment at his behavior, feeling a sense of frustration and indignation bubbling within me. When I brought these people onto a job, I was their boss. As their boss, I needed to protect them from Henry’s bad attitude.
“Don’t worry about it,” Luke said. “We’ve all dealt with assholes like him. It’s part of the job.”
“Thanks,” I said. “I’ll show you inside.”
“Don’t worry about it,” he said. “I can find my way around. You don’t need to deal with that guy anymore. Guys like him get off on pushing ladies around. I was nice to him, and I will always be professional, but I don’t think he’s going to mess with me. It’s cool.”
“Okay.” I nodded. “I’ll be back later today. I need to get a few things.”
“I’ll keep an eye on things while you’re gone.”
I climbed into my truck and took a few minutes to catch my breath. Henry was a jerk. His attitude had left a sour taste in my mouth. I couldn’t help but wonder if I had made a mistake in taking on this project. My first meeting with him should have been a sign.
I drove away, going back to my house to pull the information on all the contractors. I was going to print everything out and hand it over to Henry. I was tempted to pull some of the reviews as well, just to prove my point that they were the best.
While at home, a sudden urge came over me. I was tired of people like Regina and Henry.
I took a moment to collect myself before pulling out my phone and dialing Regina’s number. I needed to talk to her, to see if there was any way we could resolve the situation with Timothy and Paisley.
“Hello,” Regina’s voice rang out.
“Regina, hi, it’s Catherine.”
“What do you want, Catherine?” she snapped, her voice laced with irritation.
I took a deep breath, steeling myself for the conversation ahead. “I just wanted to see if we could talk about Timothy and Paisley,” I replied, trying to keep my voice steady.
Regina scoffed, dismissing my concern. “Why should I talk to you about them?” she retorted. “It’s none of your business.”
I felt a surge of frustration at her response, but I refused to back down. “I just want to help,” I insisted, my voice tinged with desperation. “I care about Timothy and Paisley. They aren’t happy. I would like to try and work something out that will make everyone happy.”
Regina was silent for a moment. “Fine,” she said with disgust. “We can talk about it in person. I’ll be in New York next week.”
With that, she hung up, leaving me feeling more conflicted than ever. Should I tell Timothy about Regina’s upcoming visit? Part of me wanted to spare him the pain of seeing her again, but another part knew that he deserved to know the truth.
Before I could make a decision, my phone rang again. It was Luke, saying there was an issue at Henry’s house. With a sigh, I steeled myself for yet another challenge. I collected the information for the contractors and left the house once again.