Chapter 14
LACEY
“Over there. Yeah, just a few feet to the left, I think.” I clamped my hands to my hips as I directed the sign installer.
Not everyone in town seemed all in on my idea to transform the Phillips property into wedding central, but regardless, I had a plan and I was sticking to it.
I’d either succeed and blow away everyone’s expectations or go down in a plume of tulle, glitter, and fake rose petals.
The woodworking company in town had come through, creating a beautiful, handcrafted sign that lit up from within. I grinned as the guys attached it to the base they’d set in concrete last week.
Satisfied they didn’t need my help anymore, I turned to head inside the house.
That’s where the majority of our time and budget would go.
With only a few months before Adeline’s wedding, we’d need every spare second to transform the house into an event space.
I paused on the wraparound front porch. I’d been to events at the Phillips House over the years but it hadn’t been the showpiece I’d envisioned.
The city had transformed the gorgeous interior into more of a functional space.
Now it was up to me and the team of volunteers to restore it to its original glory and make it the kind of wedding venue that brides couldn’t pass up.
I turned the handle on the original mahogany door and stepped into the massive front foyer. Instead of hearing the buzz of the sanding machine from the vendor who was supposed to be refinishing all the hardwood floors, a high-pitched shriek filled my ears.
I turned around just in time to collide with Adeline. Papers flew everywhere. Adeline barreled past me, through the front door, and didn’t stop until she’d hit the middle of the front sidewalk.
“What the heck was that?” I muttered as I bent down to pick up the paper explosion.
“Rats.” Roman walked toward me from the doorway leading to the kitchen.
“It’s okay, I’ve got it.” I gathered the papers from the floor.
Roman squatted next to me. “I mean, you’ve got rats. Adeline wanted to take a closer look at the space, and we came across a baby rat in the kitchen.”
My pulse thundered in my ears. “Rats? Are you sure you saw a rat?”
“Pretty sure. Either that or you’ve got a mouse on steroids.” He pointed toward the front door that stood wide open. “Did she go out?”
“Um, yeah. She’s out on the lawn.” I swept the papers into my hands then handed them to Roman as I stood. “Here, she dropped these on her way out.”
“Thanks.” He took the stack of papers then left.
Rats. Could we really have a rat problem?
Weren’t rats more likely to make their home somewhere dark and dank?
Like the New York City subway system? I took cautious steps toward the doorway to the kitchen, hoping that Adeline and Roman were wrong.
Maybe they saw a family of kittens. Or if it had to be wild animals, maybe somehow a mama bunny had found her way into the building and made a burrow.
It didn’t matter that it was only March and most baby bunnies weren’t born until spring.
Trying to convince myself that surely they’d been mistaken, I crept closer to the kitchen.
Maybe the mama bunny had gotten herself in a family way and taken refuge against the cooler temps inside the house.
And maybe she had a few friends who’d done the same.
For all I knew, the Phillips House had become a home for single bunny mamas.
Word could be on the street. That’s probably all it was.
Bunnies were cute and helpless. Adeline wasn’t the outdoorsy type. It would be easy to confuse a baby bunny with a . . . rat! I jumped onto a built-in barstool as I entered the kitchen. A giant creature, more than double the size of a baby bunny, scrambled past where I clung to the stool.
“Mayor Cherish.” The guy who was supposed to be returning the hardwood floors to their former glory tipped his baseball cap at me. “We’ve got a problem.”
I folded my arms across my chest as Bodie taped the sign to the front window of the house. “How long until we can get back in there?”
“Depends on the contractor. Did you call the guy I told you to?”
“Yeah. He said he can come out on Thursday to take a look.” I shifted positions and shoved my hands in the pockets of my jacket. “But we’re on a tight deadline. Every single day matters.”
Bodie shrugged. “Then work on the exterior for now. You’ve got landscaping, painting, tuck-pointing . . . there are all kinds of things you can do until your problem is taken care of.”
I knew that, of course I did, I was the one who came up with the project plan in the first place. But I didn’t like being put off schedule. “How could Adeline mix up an armadillo with a rat?”
“I’m sure she didn’t stick around to take a real close look.” He took out his phone and pulled up a picture he’d snapped. “Besides, if she just caught a glimpse of the tail, she probably thought it was a rat.”
“Have you ever heard of an armadillo infestation?” I examined the picture of the strange creature on the screen. The only time I’d seen armadillos in the wild were on the side of the road, usually with a tire mark down the middle. They weren’t known for being the smartest animals.
Bodie tucked his phone away. “We had a few out at the ranch but the dogs tended to keep them away. Maybe we need to bring Shotgun over to run armadillo prevention.”
“No. I’ll let the wildlife expert do his thing.” It was too bad I couldn’t get him out here until Thursday though.
“Expecting someone?” Bodie nodded toward a van coming down the long drive.
“What?” I swiveled around, my mind already racing with ways to adjust my to-do list. “No, I told everyone to head to lunch until we figure out where to go from here.”
“We?” Bodie tipped his head down, meeting my gaze with those big, gray eyes.
“Yes, we. We’re in this together, remember? You’re the one who said the mayor and the sheriff’s office share the same business.”
“And who’s that?” Bodie nudged his chin toward the small parking area where a woman climbed out of the passenger side of the van.
She wore a cropped black leather jacket over a tight pencil skirt. Long blond hair flowed over her shoulders in perfect waves. She paused to pull a tube of lipstick out of her bag then angled the side mirror so she could see to apply it.
My phone vibrated in my back pocket, trilling the annoying sound bite I’d chosen for my alarm. The alarm I’d set to remind me of the appointment I had today.
“Oh no. It’s the reporter from Texas Times.”
“How the hell do you know that?” Bodie asked.
I reached behind him to rip the freshly taped notice from the front door. “Because we have an appointment today. I sent out press releases to try to get some interest from the media in our renovation. She’s the only one who got back to me.”
A guy holding a large camera rounded the van. My vision fuzzed at the edges.
“Hey, you can’t remove that notice.” Bodie clamped a hand around my wrist. “It’s legal.”
“Legal schmegal. If the one media outlet that took any interest in our project finds out we’ve got an armadillo problem, our venture will be sunk before it even begins.” I crumpled up the paper and shoved it in my pocket. “If you’ll excuse me for a moment.”
Bodie didn’t follow me down the steps to the sidewalk. Thank goodness. We might be in this together but I didn’t need him literally following in my footsteps and blocking me at every turn.
As I approached the van the woman looked up and smiled. I held out a hand. “Hi, I’m Lacey Cherish. You must be from the Texas Times.”
“I’m Samantha Cross and this is my cameraman, Jay. Thanks for making time for us today.” Her slim fingers wrapped around mine in a firm grip.
“Thanks for coming. I do have some bad news though.”
“Oh?” Samantha cocked her head. “Is now not a good time?”
“We’re in the middle of renovations and the team refinishing the flooring just put a topcoat on the hardwoods.” I screwed my lips into a frown. “I was really hoping to show you the inside today. I even asked them to hold off, but you know how it is when you’re working with a bunch of contractors.”
Jay swung the camera down from his shoulder. “Well, that’s a waste of time. We drove all the way out here from Beaumont to do this piece.”
“Hi, I’m Deputy Sheriff Bodie Phillips.” Leave it to Bodie to step in.
“As Mayor Cherish mentioned, the interior is off-limits. Those guys would gnaw us to pieces if we messed with their floors. But how about taking a look at the exterior? This place was in my family for generations. I can give you some backstory if you’d like. ”
Samantha turned toward Bodie, a huge smile on her face, basically giving me a cold shoulder.
I wanted to wrap my hands around Bodie’s neck and squeeze.
Instead I managed to summon a grin. “That would be great, Bodie. Maybe you can start with why your family business decided to go under after so long. If Samantha really wants to get the history of the place down, she probably wants to hear the whole story.”
“I’d love that.” Samantha reached into her bag and pulled out her phone. “You don’t mind if I record the conversation, do you? I find it’s easier than trying to keep up taking notes.”
“Not at all.” Bodie gave me a strained smile. “Why don’t we start at the beginning? Follow me.”