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“Looks like the restaurant’s been flooded one too many times, and the last repairs must have been made with poor quality materials. When we pulled up the carpets, we found sections of rotting floorboards all over the place.”
“Blast it!” Boone muttered.
“It gets worse,” Pete disclosed direly. “We discovered mold behind some of the drywall on the side closest to the bay, where the water stayed high the longest. A lot of mold. It’s pretty pervasive.”
“You have to be kidding me,” Boone said, thoroughly frustrated. If there was extensive mold now, even as quickly as it could appear after a flooding incident, this definitely hadn’t happened overnight. Nor had those sections of floor rotted since this last hurricane blew through. These were most likely things his inspectors should have caught before he bought the property.
Exhaling a sigh, he concluded he’d just have to consider this a lesson well-learned. Next time, he’d hire an actual contractor to go over any potential real estate purchase to assure that the inspection wasn’t superficial or in the seller’s favor.
“Why didn’t you call me on my cell?” he asked Pete when he had his temper under control. “I could have gotten Tommy over there today to take a look.”
“I tried, but I guess the service is still spotty,” Pete responded. “One of the cell towers blew down or something. I did get through once and tried to leave a message, but it cut me off before I could explain what was going on.”
Boone pulled his cell phone from his pocket and noted the call logged in early in the afternoon. It must have come in while he’d had the noisy chain saw going. “Sorry. I was tied up over at Castle’s.”
“I knew that, so I didn’t want to make a big deal out of something that could just as easily be handled tomorrow. I thought about calling Tommy myself, but I figured he was there with you. You’d told me you wanted him to get Cora Jane’s roof fixed. I know how you feel about making that a priority.”
“It’s okay, Pete. None of this is your fault. I’ll call Tommy now. We’ll both come by first thing in the morning so he can assess the damage and give me a timetable for the repairs.”
“You talking daylight?”
“Or thereabouts,” Boone confirmed.
“You want me there?”
“No, give yourself a break,” he told the night owl. “I’ll handle this one. How about meeting me there around nine and we’ll come up with an action plan. Looks like I’ll need you to stick around here longer than we originally talked about. Is there anything you need to get back to right away in Norfolk or Charlotte?”
“No, both restaurants are good,” Pete assured him. “You have excellent management teams in place.”
Boone chuckled. “You pretty much have to say that. You hired most of them.”
“Doesn’t make me biased, though. If they screw up, that’s on me, too.” He hesitated, then said, “I’ve been thinking we could probably start looking for that fourth location you talked about once things around here settle down.”
“You getting bored, Pete?”
“Maybe just a little,” he acknowledged. “You know I love doing the start-ups.”
“Well, we’ll get serious about the next one soon,” Boone assured him. “Start compiling the market research for me, okay?”
“Will do,” Pete said eagerly. “In the meantime, should I cancel the ads announcing the reopening for this weekend?”
“We’ll decide that after I’ve been through the place with Tommy. Maybe it’s not as bad as you thought at first glance.”
“This is bad,” Pete warned him. “If that mold has spread beyond what I saw, we’re talking major renovations.”
Boone thought of the compromise Cora Jane had reached to get Castle’s reopened. “Is the kitchen operational?”
“Good to go and spotless,” Pete confirmed.
“And we know the deck is solid,” Boone said thoughtfully.
“What are you thinking?”
“That we could serve on a limited basis out there temporarily. We’re at the end of the season. Tourists will be pouring in here again by the weekend, based on what I heard from the local officials earlier today. I’d hate for the wait staff to lose out on the kind of tips they get this time of year.”
“You’d want to keep them all on, even with limited seating?”
“Dividing the tips more ways would be better than laying ’em all off, don’t you think?”
“And you’re not worried about our reputation if we can’t handle the usual crowds and can only serve a couple of specialties, rather than our full menu?”
Boone chuckled. “If anyone’s in a rush or out here to review the food, I imagine we can put a good public relations spin on keeping our kitchen open, our food selections limited but high quality, and our people working, despite being damaged by a hurricane.” He thought of Gabi. “I know just the person to draft a press release, in fact. I imagine she can make us sound like benevolent angels.”
Pete laughed. “If she can pull that off for a couple of guys like you and me, she’s a magician. Get that done and I’ll have it distributed. Might as well do a preemptive strike and generate some good buzz.”
“Now you’re getting into the spirit of this,” Boone said. “Put that press release on the list of things we need to finalize when I see you in the morning.”
Pete chuckled. “You are such a glass-half-full man,” he praised. “I don’t know how you do it. Even after Jenny, well, let’s just say it’s one of the reasons I love working for you. I know this was lousy news, yet you’ve turned it around, come up with a plan and are ready for action.”
“That’s why they pay me the big bucks,” Boone joked, thinking of how often he’d gotten by on practically nothing just to keep the first restaurant afloat in the early days. “And making sure the action really happens on schedule is why I pay you the big bucks. See you in the morning, Pete.”
As soon as he’d disconnected that call, he punched in the numbers for Gabi’s cell phone. Other than Cora Jane’s, hers was the one Castle number he’d memorized. She’d be the closest if he ever saw a need for a family member to get here in a hurry. He’d last used it just before the storm to make sure that someone was coming to get Cora Jane away from the danger zone. He’d known she’d never choose to go on her own. If she ever found out he was behind Sam Castle’s appearance on her doorstep, she’d be furious, but he was willing to take the heat to keep her safe.
Now Gabi answered, her voice sleepy. “Boone? What’s up?”
“Sorry, did I wake you?” he asked.
“No, just settling down.”
“I promise not to keep you long.” He explained about the crisis. “Any chance I could hire you to draft a press release for me on short notice? Pete’s worried people will be disappointed if we’re not operating at full capacity.”
“And you want them to see that you’re open at all just for the benefit of your employees and your customers, even though the situation isn’t optimal,” she summarized.
“Exactly. Can you do something with that?”
“Of course I can. Leave it to me. Is the fax machine at the restaurant operating? Or do you want me to email you the document?”
“Send it by email. That’ll be more efficient for distribution, I think.”
“Perfect. What time’s your meeting with Pete?”
“Nine.”
“You’ll have it well before that. And if anything about your plan changes, just give me a call and I can do a new draft on my iPad and get it right back over to you.”
“You’re an angel, Gabi.”
“Seems to me your halo’s pretty shiny, too,” she teased. “Want me to spread the word about that to anyone in particular?”
“I don’t need you to talk me up to Emily,” he said, grasping exactly what she was getting at.
“Why not? It couldn’t hurt.”
“Stick to PR, not meddling, please. Don’t make me regret calling you.”
“Okay, since you asked so nicely, I’ll focus on the task assigned for now.”
“Will you let Cora Jane know why Tommy and I are running late?”
“Don’t worry about that. You did more than your share to help out today. We’ll see you when you get there.”
“Thanks, Gabi.”
He hung up wondering what the odds were she’d keep her nose out of his personal business. Given her genetic makeup, probably not all that good.
* * *
Emily’s gaze kept drifting toward the parking lot. It was midmorning, and there’d been no sign of Boone. Castle’s had been swamped from the minute they’d opened the doors at six. Word seemed to have spread quickly among the locals that they were open for business, at least with deck seating. After an initial trickle, there in time to see a glorious golden sunrise, there hadn’t been a vacant table the rest of the morning.
No one had complained about the limited menu, either. The coffee was strong. The eggs, bacon, toast and grits were plentiful. Everyone seemed thoroughly happy with the limited selection. The baskets of free mini-pastries Cora Jane insisted on putting at each table were a huge hit, too. And the long-time regulars had been delighted to see Emily, Gabi and Samantha working side by side with Cora Jane again.
With the help of two waitresses, Emily and her sisters had managed to keep things moving, but they hadn’t had a minute to deal with any more of the cleanup inside.
Now with the customers thinned out, Emily was finally able to take a deep breath. She carried a cup of coffee to a table by the railing where she could see the ocean...and the parking lot.
“Looking for somebody?” Samantha teased when she joined her, propping her sneaker-clad feet on an adjacent chair with a sigh of relief.
“No, why?”
“You’ve spent a lot of time with your eyes peeled to the parking lot. I just thought you might be wondering where Boone is.”
“Well, he did say he’d be here today at the crack of dawn,” she said. Years of doubts and bitterness crept into her voice. “Despite Grandmother’s faith in him, I guess he can’t be taken at his word, after all.”
“He called Cora Jane right after we got here,” Samantha reported. “And he spoke to Gabi last night to explain.”
Emily stiffened. “He spoke to Gabi? Why?”
“He had some work he wanted her to do for him.”
“What kind of work?”
Samantha grinned. “Please do not tell me you’re jealous of your own sister?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I’m just wondering when he and Gabi got to be so tight that he’d ask her for help? Why not you? Or me?”
“Maybe because Gabi’s the one with public relations experience,” Samantha said patiently. “If you give me two seconds, I can explain all this and put your mind at rest.”
Emily knew she was overreacting, looking for excuses to judge him so she could keep him at a distance, so she drew in a deep breath and nodded. “Explain away.”
Samantha described the mess they’d found on closer inspection at Boone’s restaurant, Boone’s solution for working around it and Gabi’s role in spreading that word.
“This morning he had to meet with the people doing the cleanup over at his place, see for himself how serious the problem is and make some decisions,” Samantha concluded.
“And Tommy Cahill? Where’s he? Boone promised Grandmother he’d be working on the roof today. They’re predicting thunderstorms later this afternoon. We’ll be underwater inside, if he doesn’t at least have a tarp down up there.”
“Tommy’s with Boone, checking to see what repairs are needed. He’s meeting his crew here at eleven.” Samantha glanced toward the parking lot as several pickups turned in. “And there they are now. Right on schedule.”
She slanted a look at Emily. “You might want to cut Boone some slack. He spent all day here yesterday, even though he had his own worries. He put Cora Jane and Castle’s first.”
“You’re right,” Emily admitted, knowing that once more she’d misjudged him. “I know I’m just looking for reasons not to get along with him.”
“Because you’re scared,” Samantha suggested.
“Scared of what?”
“Falling for him all over again.”
“Not going to happen,” Emily insisted, though Samantha had hit the nail on the head.
Samantha grinned. “We could take bets on that, little sis, but I never take money from the delusional.”
* * *
After her conversation with Samantha, Emily went inside the restaurant, grabbed her laptop and slipped into one of the booths, hoping to get a little bit of her own work done before she was needed to wait tables or do more cleaning. She had a list of suppliers she wanted to check for the availability of their ski lodge furniture. With a deadline staring her in the face, she couldn’t afford to deal with anyone who didn’t have most things in stock in sufficient quantities. She didn’t have the luxury of waiting for custom pieces.
She’d been jotting notes and scanning websites for a while when she noticed B.J. standing quietly by the table.
“Hey there,” she said with a smile.
“What’re you doing?” he asked, sidling closer.
“Looking for furniture.”
“Can I see?”
“Sure,” she said, sliding over to make room for him.
He crawled onto the bench and knelt, leaning into her. The feel of his body with its little boy smell caught her off guard. She’d never really thought much about being a mother, but suddenly what she guessed were faintly maternal instincts were coursing through her. How about that? she thought, surprised and not entirely dismayed by the sensation.
She observed the way his brow was knit with a frown, the tip of his tongue caught between his teeth as he studied the screen intently. She’d seen that same expression on Boone’s face a time or two, when he was deep in thought. Finally B.J. turned to her.
“That stuff would look kinda weird in here,” he said hesitantly.
Emily laughed at his apt assessment. “It definitely would,” she agreed. “It’s not for here. Tell me why you think it would be wrong, though.”
“It’s all dark and it’s too big.”
“Precisely,” she said. “You have a good eye. Now, can you think of anyplace where it might look right?”
