Chapter 26
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Standing amid the yesterday’s destruction in the service center, Betsy felt the same chaos in her life that she’d felt the day, years ago, when her uncle had stood at their front door to tell them her dad had been killed.
Throughout her life, anytime she’d faced change or catastrophe, her own reaction had always been the same.
Sadness. Disbelief. Anger. Then perseverance. Always perseverance to move forward.
For just this reason, Betsy had deliberately arrived at the dealership thirty minutes before the appointment with Mr. Crestfall was scheduled. She hadn’t entered the main building which housed her office. That she couldn’t face yet. Instead, she’d gone to the service center building.
Her instinct was to reach out and begin cleaning up the mess, but she knew the insurance adjuster would need to see everything just as it had been left.
Of course, there were also remnants of the yellow crime scene tape still draped around the interior of the building.
Around the entire Peyton’s Dealership lot, also.
She’d leave that until the police gave her permission to remove it.
With nothing she could really do at this point, she wished she hadn’t arrived early. Depending on the time of the year, the service center was always noisy with conversation and music and machine noises—fans whirling, a/c whooshing or heat humming. Today there was utter silence.
She sighed. The building’s empty loneliness was almost overwhelming.
The past couple of days had been filled with activity, but Cain had been by her side all the way.
And after all her doubts about his possible involvement in drug dealing, she’d come to realize that half of her doubts had been due to her past paranoia.
The other half were because she’d always had a hard time trusting people
Paranoia might take a lifetime to master, but she was working on it.
Relying on Cain had become part of her subconscious.
They still might just be friends when this was all said and done, but she’d learned to trust her gut where he was concerned.
Now, at this moment, she missed his support and confidence and protection.
Not that she felt afraid; the back door would squeak when someone entered.
People were always trying to get her to WD-40 the hinges.
But she never had, never would. Non-important doors worked smooth as silk.
The one outside her office door in the main building, that one also had a sound that she thought of as her own built-in security alert.
Her phone rang with Marcy’s ringtone.
“Hey sister of mine, are you having a good time in New York?” Betsy said as she answered the FaceTime call, making sure to keep it tightly focused on her face. Seeing the destruction of the repair shop in the background would only upset them. Of course, seeing her sister’s face felt comforting.
“We’re just getting ready to head out on the tour bus,” Sadie said as she leaned into the frame. “I wanted to check on you before we go. Truman is staying in touch with JB and Cain, but I wanted to see you for myself. How are you holding up?”
Betsy smiled. Her mama was always a rock to the outside world and a strong shoulder to her girls. Yet, she almost had a sixth sense when it came to feeling others’ need.
“I’m okay. Right now, I’m at the dealership waiting for the Mr. Crestfall,” Betsy said.
“I thought you used Roosevelt Insurance Agency.”
“Yes, that’s who insures my home. But Papa Carrington had always used Crestfall’s Insurance, and it’s still through that agency. There’s a discount for being a long-time customer.”
The back door squeaked, and she spun around.
Cain stepped inside and a weight lifted from her. Since when had just the sight of him made her feel as if everything would be okay?
Quickly, she motioned him over with the hand holding the phone. Without thinking, she’d given Marcy and Sadie a view of the entire shop. Might have been a fast swoop, but she immediately heard her mama suck in a loud breath and yell for Truman.
“What all actually happened in there?” Straight and to the point, Marcy grabbed the phone and walked. “Show me, Betsy. Pan the room right now and show me how bad this is.”
“No. I can’t.”
“Yes, you can, sister of mine. And I mean right now!”
Cain walked up and put his arm across Betsy’s shoulder, and she leaned for a moment before straightening once again. This was going to be another long day.
Marcy cleared her throat. “Who else is there?”
“Hi, Marcy.” He leaned into the view. “It’s me
“It’s Cain Connery. I’m staying at his house since mine is trashed.” Betsy sighed. “But I’m sure JB already told you that part because you and Joanie sent me a tote bag. And before I forget, thank you. Thank you both very much. Even for the extra goodies you included.”
“No problem. We had fun putting it together. Now it’s all up to you,” Marcy replied in a teasing manner.
Cain’s glimmer of a smile along with a slightly raised eyebrow caught Betsy’s attention. Sooner or later he’d probably see all those goodies in one way or another. Even she felt the corners of her own mouth turn up a bit, and for a moment she felt a lot warmer than she had a second ago.
“Now show me the damage to the repair shop,” Marcy said, lowering her voice.
She knew Marcy wouldn’t give up on this, so she might as well give her a glimpse at least. “Fine! But don’t let Mama see.”
Marcy nodded as she seemed to walk across the room on her end of the conversation. Slowly, Betsy panned the room with her phone. She tried to avoid the crime scene tape and the chalk outline of where Papa Carrington had been found before the EMTs took him to the hospital. “There. You satisfied?”
“I’m going to give that husband of mine a piece of my mind the next time I talk to him,” Marcy huffed in agitation. “JB said there wasn’t much to see. Not much he could say.”
The door squeaked once again, and Cain moved in front of her as his hand eased in the direction of his shoulder holster concealed by his leather jacket.
“Hey, Mr. Crestfall just arrived. I’ll talk to you later, sister of mine.” Betsy ended the call, then turned to Cain. “Do you mind staying for this?”
“Whatever you want. I’m here to help anyway I can.” He glanced in the direction of Mr. Crestfall and a couple of other people walking beside him. “You’ve got this, Betsy. You’ve got this.”
Mr. Crestfall had arrived right on time. The man and woman with him quickly introduced themselves as adjusters. Of course, the insurance agency was well known in Crayton, but the two adjusters had probably been dispatched by the policy company’s main office.
“It’s good to see you,” Betsy said. “As you can see, this is a mess. You tell me, where do we start with filing the claim?”
“I was able to get a lot from the police report, but there’s still paperwork we’ll need to fill out. Photographs. Forms. First though, do I have permission for myself and the adjusters to take photos and catalog the specifics of the damage?” Mr. Crestfall asked.
“Sure. Whatever you need to do.” She pulled out a few sheets of paper from her briefcase. “In fact, I’ve already printed out the building specs plus the MRO…I mean the Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul inventory list. I can email you those files, also.”
The insurance agent reviewed the paperwork, then handed it over to one of the adjusters. “Be sure to get documentation in photos, also.”
The woman nodded and started working down the list. The man stood nearby as if waiting for further instructions.
Betsy’s brow wrinkled. “What do we do about the customers’ vehicles that were damaged? I don’t know how to document those for insurance coverage.”
Mr. Crestfall motioned to the other adjuster. “Can you take photos of the damage and get the VINs, the vehicle information numbers? We’ll have to work from that for now.”
Cain offered to show the adjuster the layout of the vehicles and shop. “Of course, they trashed the computers, too.”
She pulled an iPad out of her case and handed it to him, then turned to Mr. Crestfall.
“As you may remember, I had Cain Connery’s name added to our employee coverage a few weeks ago.
He’s in town on some personal business, and also working with the police as a consultant.
I hired him part-time for extra help this winter.
I completely trust him with my business records. ”