Chapter Three #2
off the front doors of them, then mounted them on the wall.”
She pointed up at the imposing wall. “Everyone in town was invited to write up something for the time capsule. It was supposed
to be about what life was like at the time and people’s hopes for the future.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Let me guess. Instead people talked about the scandalous things their neighbors were doing.”
“Something like that.”
She tapped on a waist-level brick with a drawing of a bird on it.
“Yours?”
“It’s actually the demo for anyone who wants to understand how the system works.”
She pulled out the brick, revealing an open cavity behind with a slender book tucked in place. After pulling it out, she fanned
the pages, showing him they were blank.
“We know which slots are currently vacant, but have no idea which ones belong to which person. That’s why we have them put
a mark on the brick so they can identify it later. A lot of people come in every session and add to their diaries. A few people
have been doing it for years.”
“What if someone doesn’t come back to take their diary?”
She shrugged. “I always thought they would stay here forever but if the wall has to come down, that’s not an option.” She
paused. “I guess we’ll find out when some of the diaries aren’t claimed.”
“You’re going to have people come and get their diaries before the work begins?”
She nodded. “We’re going to give them a couple of days to do that because when the bricks are taken off, the diaries will
be exposed.” She looked at him. “You sure you can’t put the supports in without taking down the bricks? Isn’t there a way
to add something on the outside? Like vertical beams we strap on. We could wrap the wall or, you know, something.”
One eyebrow rose. “You’re telling me how to do my job?”
“No, but I’m suggesting there could be options.”
He nodded slowly. “With your vast construction experience. Makes sense. What did you have in mind?”
She stared at him. “I don’t have a plan,” she began, only to pause.
“Any thoughts of the load those beams could handle? Steel is probably our best bet, but it’s going to look like crap.”
“But you could do it?”
He looked at her. “No.”
“Then what was your point?”
“I don’t tell you what books to keep in inventory and you don’t tell me how to do my job.”
She bristled slightly. “I’m in charge here.”
“Not of my project. You hired me for a reason, Jax. I’m good at what I do. When I say something has to be done a certain way,
it’s because that’s the right way to get the job finished. I don’t cut corners. I do quality work. You’re going to have to
trust me on that. If you can’t, then I’m not the guy to be working on your store.”
His gaze was steady. She tried to stare him down but he didn’t blink. In the end, she was the one who looked away.
“So you’re saying we have to take down the bricks,” she said, conceding the point.
“I am. It’s necessary so we can get to the wall behind the PO Boxes. The house wasn’t designed to carry that much weight.
You’re lucky there haven’t been major structural issues. We’re not like San Francisco, but we do get earthquakes. As it is
now, anything over a three-point-five is going to send that wall tumbling and it’ll bring the roof with it.”
She shivered. “There’s a happy thought. Okay, you’re the expert. The wall comes down. I just wish we didn’t have to deal with
it all.”
“With two shifts of my team working, we should be able to do it all in less than two weeks. It’ll be the most disruptive part
of the job, but it will be over quickly.”
“So like a shot of Novocain at the dentist?” she teased.
His smile was slow and surprisingly sexy. “Something like that.”
A woman in her early thirties walked by. As she passed them, she looked directly at the contractor. “Hello, Marcus.”
He nodded and started to turn away.
“I see you’re still working with . . . your hands.”
The tone was whatever was beyond suggestive and her steady gaze invited, well, Jax wasn’t sure what, but something very much
like Harris’s adult sleepovers.
Marcus didn’t react to the comment, instead he wished her a nice day and turned back to Jax. He said something about storing
the bricks such that they could be put back in their same place when the job was finished, but she couldn’t get past the weird
encounter.
“Friend of yours?”
“No.”
“Was she coming on to you?”
“Probably.”
She tilted her head. “You sound so calm. I thought it was strange, but you’re very accepting. So it happens a lot?”
He shrugged. “A hazard of the job.”
“Being a contractor?”
“I don’t know. Women think what I do is sexy or appealing. I don’t get it.”
“Maybe it’s not the job. Maybe it’s you.” She paused as she realized what she’d said, then figured she might as well state
the obvious. “You’re kind of good-looking.”
The one eyebrow rose again. “Only kind of?”
She grinned. “There’s no way you’re fishing for compliments so I’m going to assume you’re being funny. It’s just strange to
have someone act like that. Those of us from the normal section of the scale don’t deal with that kind of thing.”
“I don’t like it, and you’re not normal.”
Now it was her turn to stare. “Excuse me?”
He shifted, suddenly uneasy. “I meant you’re pretty.”
“Thank you and I don’t care if you’re lying when you say that. Because the alternative is saying I’m less attractive than
normal and why are we talking about this.”
His mouth twitched with amusement. “You started it.”
“And now I’m going to end it. So bricks. That will be a job.”
“Yes, it will.”
Ryleigh walked around her classroom as she did every day after her students were gone, picking up whatever had been left behind.
She found a couple of hair clips, two small race cars and a lone shoe, which was a little troubling.
Did that mean someone was walking home with only one, or had an extra one gotten into a backpack and wouldn’t be missed for a while?
She put everything in the lost and found bin she kept in the back.
Tomorrow she would give her kids a chance to reclaim what had been forgotten.
It was still several weeks until the semester ended for the summer but already emotions and energy were running high. Over
the next month she would have to add more and more physical activity to her lessons so everyone had a chance to burn off the
excess and would be better able to focus. She had a few games she liked to use that combined things like answering simple
math equations on the whiteboard with taking laps around the classroom. There was also a language game that taught counting
in French, Spanish and German, and with each number, students moved over that many chairs. Of course the last week of school,
nothing helped, but by then, she was looking forward to the long break as well. While she loved what she did and adored her
students, having the downtime was always good. Summer break meant when August rolled around, she was ready to be back in the
classroom.
“Bye, Ryleigh,” one of her fellow teachers called. “See you tomorrow.”
She glanced toward the open classroom door and waved back. “Bye. Have a good night.”
She continued to tidy her room, pushing desks into neat rows and adjusting the chairs. The sense of order, which would last
all of five minutes in the morning, settled her, although it did nothing for her vague feeling of dread. The one that had
been born on her trip away with Dustin and had only grown since.
She was genuinely at a loss as to what to do and what to feel. Speaking with Dustin made the most sense and it had the added
advantage of being, you know, mature. But he’d been gone at his conference so there hadn’t been any way to start an “Are you
ever going to want to marry me” conversation in person.
She unlocked her bottom desk drawer and pulled out her backpack and her purse. She’d just started loading the former when Shawna Cipriani walked in.
“Hi,” the first-year teacher said with a smile. “How are you? How was your day? My kids were wild for sure. It was like someone
had loaded them up on sugar or maybe a double espresso.”
“It’s the time of year.”
“I guess they’re all excited for summer.” Shawna, a pretty blonde who was quick to smile, wrinkled her nose. “Don’t get mad,
but I’m not ready for the school year to be done.”
“That’s because it’s your first year and you’ve done a great job. Trust me, by this time next spring, you’ll be counting the
days.”
Shawna laughed. “I hope not. I hope I’m always this enthused. Plus I’m going to miss my students. It’s hard letting go. I’m
glad I’m teaching fourth grade and not fifth. I get to see my kids next year, but when they’re done with fifth, they’re off
to middle school.”
“It’s a small town. I promise you’ll run into your students for years. Usually when you’re doing a midnight emergency ice
cream run in your pj’s.”
“You’re saying always take that extra minute to put on real clothes?”
“I am.”
Shawna set down her bag. “A few of my students were talking about their plans for summer vacation. I haven’t decided what
I want to do. My parents own a sports bar on the pier in Los Lobos. I’ve always worked summers in their place but I’m thinking
I maybe want to do something different.”
Los Lobos was only a few miles north of Port Palmas. Both were coastal towns with a big tourist business, but Ryleigh had
to admit she preferred where she’d grown up to their slightly larger neighbor.
“I work in my sister’s bookstore,” Ryleigh said. “It’s a nice break from teaching, and summers are always extra busy. If you don’t want to make the drive, I’m sure you could find something locally.”
“Maybe.” Shawna sounded doubtful. “Although if I’m being honest, working for my folks is kind of expected and I really hate
disappointing them. Especially my mom. We’re so tight.”
Ryleigh thought about what Jax had told her about Harris wanting Shawna to spend the night and wondered if he’d discussed