Chapter Nine
Rosie
At the end of a long week, Rosie walked into the Lucas Construction office, grateful for the comfortable familiarity of the
place.
How much of her life had she spent inside the walls of this sturdy brick building at the edge of town? Over the past several
years—after she had been forced to step in to save the company—she had been here nearly every day.
It wasn’t the life she might have chosen for herself, but she was still proud of all they had achieved.
Inside the door, the first person she greeted was Pam Clarke, who had been with the company nearly from the beginning. Pam
handled the accounts receivable, payroll and office admin. Rosie considered her both her right and left hand.
“Morning,” Pam said without looking up from her computer. “Happy Friday.”
Rosie paused beside her desk. “How’s Phoebe today?”
Phoebe was one of Pam’s two cats, both as beloved to her as children. Worry creased the other woman’s brow as she finally
saved whatever she had been working on and looked up.
“Not great. I was up all night with her. She threw up twice.”
“What does the vet say?”
“I talked to the emergency line first thing this morning. Dr. Mahmood says I can take her in later today.”
“Do you need a personal day to be with her? I totally understand. I can handle things here.”
“No. It’s fine. I’ve been watching on the cat cam and she seems to be resting comfortably. One of my neighbors is going to pop in to check on her this morning and I’ll go home on my lunch break.”
“Okay. But if you need to run out before that, let me know. The only thing on my calendar today is the weekly meeting with
the project managers. I should be able to handle that on my own.”
“Thanks, Rosie. You’re the best.”
They both knew that was not true. Pam was the glue holding everything together here. She had been instrumental to the success
of Lucas Construction. During the early years after Gary died, Pam and Victor Blackwood, Gary’s second in command at the time,
had done their best to run the company. It hadn’t been their fault that everything seemed to go south at the same time, with
supply shortages, economic hardships in the area and a long string of bad luck.
Only after Vic left to start his own construction company when she refused to sell to him did Rosie realize what bad shape
Lucas Construction was in. With no other choice, she had stepped up. Along with Pam’s considerable help as well as other loyal
employees who had stayed with them, they had managed to yank it back from the brink.
Pam and her other coworkers were the most valuable asset Lucas Construction had. For a time, Rosie had left them all to flounder
alone. She wouldn’t do it again.
“I’ve left the agenda for today’s meeting on your desk in case I have to rush out,” the other woman said.
“Thanks for that. I meant to be here earlier to organize my thoughts, but I had Olive again this morning.”
“How is that cute little girl?”
Rosie could feel her heart sigh when she thought of her granddaughter, who already had brought immeasurable light and joy to her world. “Adorable. She never stops talking.”
Pam chuckled. “A lot like her mom was, if I remember correctly.”
“You most certainly do.”
“You’re so lucky to have both of them staying with you this summer.”
The other woman’s voice held only a trace of envy, but it was enough to make Rosie feel sad for her.
This was not the first time Rosie had caught a few glimpses of envy in the other woman’s tone or expression. Pam had no children.
She had been married and divorced three times and had a few stepchildren she didn’t stay in touch with.
Rosie certainly didn’t think every woman needed a husband and children to be happy. Definitely not. There were plenty of women
who were happily single and/or childless and had created exactly the life they wanted.
Unfortunately, she suspected Pam was not among their number. As much as Rosie enjoyed her friendship with the other woman
and valued her highly in a professional manner, at times Pam exuded an indefinable air of discontent. Whether that was from
her personal life or something else, Rosie didn’t know.
“Thank you,” she said now, then picked up a stack of papers out of her cubby and headed into her office.
She had redecorated the space a few years ago, though she had kept Gary’s desk. If she closed her eyes, she could still see
him sitting behind it, completely in his element as he made plans for another project.
He had loved Lucas Construction and had been so very proud of the work they had done.
On her desk were pictures of her and Gary together and another one of Olive and Emma. Her family. The walls were covered in framed photographs of some of the larger projects they had finished, touchstones that filled her with pride.
She was double-checking the agenda for the meeting when someone knocked on the frame of her open door. She looked up and smiled
when Bryce came into her office.
“Morning,” he said. “I was hoping to catch you before the meeting, but you look like you’re in the middle of something.”
“Not really. Just going over what we need to talk about.” She set the agenda aside. “Come in. What’s going on?”
He sat in the visitor chair across from her desk. He looked nervous, as if he were about to confess a dark secret.
“I thought you should know I’ve offered to help Emma out at the bookstore in my free time. I was there last night and I’m
heading over again tonight.”
“Emma? My Emma,” she asked in surprise.
“How many other Emmas do you know who work at a bookstore?”
“None,” she admitted. “I’m sure there are plenty but not here in Wood Briar. What are you helping her with?”
“Last night I helped her move a bunch of boxes full of books for the sidewalk sale that starts today.”
“I forgot about that.”
“She is trying to rearrange things to make the store more open and welcoming.”
“It needs it badly. That place is oppressive inside, even for the most dedicated book lovers. I’ve been trying to convince
Mom to clean things out and declutter for a long time, but you know how stubborn she is.”
Rosie might ostensibly own the bookstore but that didn’t make her mother amenable to any of her suggestions, unfortunately.
Bryce hesitated, appearing to weigh each word before he spoke. “Emma is trying really hard to turn things around there.”
“I know. I’m so proud of her. I knew she would be great at it.”
“Has she talked to you about doing a few more extensive renovations?”
She and Emma seemed to mostly talk around each other, always careful not to offend the other. “She’s said a few things, but
has been vague on details.”
“It’s not my place to discuss it with you. It’s hers. But I get the impression she’s trying to do whatever she can to refresh
things on a shoestring. She doesn’t want to ask you for help.”
Rosie frowned. “That’s silly. It’s my bookstore. Anything she does to improve it will only help me in the long run.”
“Well, you may want to bring that up with her. Don’t tell her I said anything. I don’t think she would appreciate my interference.
I wouldn’t have said anything, but I feel like you need to know I’ve offered to help her out in my off-hours. I’m going over
tonight to help her paint behind the checkout counter and move some bookshelves.”
“You don’t have to explain yourself to me, Bryce. And you don’t have to work for free either. You are a valued employee of
Lucas Construction. I’ll pay you for the time you spend helping her.”
“What if I don’t want you to pay me? I want to do this to help Emma.”
She frowned. “What is she thinking about doing?”
“Again, probably better you hear it from her.”
“I’ll ask her. But you can tell me your thoughts, can’t you?”
He looked torn for a moment, then nodded. “Last night I was grabbing some tables and a rain shelter out of the storage room for the sidewalk sale. Seems to me you’re wasting valuable retail space by using that area to hold stuff you could store in a shed somewhere and not in the store.”
She sighed, feeling guilty. “That was always in my master plan when I bought the building, but then I got busy here at Lucas
Construction and put everything at Rainy Day on the back burner.”
“You might want to think about moving it to the front. I’m happy to help out with the work if you want to budget for some
of the construction materials.”
He told her a little about what Emma wanted to do at the bookstore, all of which made perfect sense. She should have done
most of it years ago.
“That sounds like more than you can do in your spare time.”
“It might take longer after hours, but we could still make it work.”
“With you working sixteen-hour days already? I don’t think so. Not to mention it would only stretch out the chaos for months
at the bookstore. It seems to make better business sense for you to hit it hard for a few weeks and be done, rather than extend
it out all summer.”
“I suppose that’s something you can talk about with Emma.”
If Emma was determined to renovate the bookstore, perhaps that was another indicator that she meant to stick around. Oh, Rosie
hoped so.
“We need to come up with a plan.”
He nodded his agreement as ideas spun through Rosie’s mind. She quickly pumped the brakes when she realized what she was doing.
“I can’t take over,” she said. “This is Emma’s baby. I want her to own it.”
“Good call.”
“I’ll talk to her tonight.” She gave him a steady look. “You know I wouldn’t trust anybody but you to handle something as important as renovating the bookstore, right?”
She liked and admired all four of her project managers and considered each a valuable part of the company but there was something
about Bryce that was different from the others. He went the extra mile on every single project, offering smart suggestions
to improve the plans and coming up with creative solutions whenever problems arose. He was the hardest working employee she