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I flashed back to that moment when the deer jumped out in front of me. It had to have been over twenty minutes since I escaped Dane, but still, I didn’t want to go out there and be accosted again. Better to call Leslie than try to track her down in the shop.

I pulled my phone out of my back pocket and pressed in her number.

“Yeah, Boss?”

“We have the wrong address in the system for Mrs. Laughton. She’s moved to Florida. She has a cell phone, so you can contact her and get her new address, and iron out any payment issues.”

“I’m on it.”

“Anything else?”

“Is the creepy customer gone?”

“Any customer that you upcharged to almost five-thousand dollars is not creepy.”

“Next time I’m sending Mr. Leers-A-Lot your way.”

“Okay, he’s creepy. Yeah, he hurried out after Ernie started flirting with him. Ernie used one of our velvet boxes and gift wrapped the gifts. He also added a healthy upcharge. Did the guy get handsy?”

“Just a little bit.”

“Anytime someone uses their hands, is inappropriate. So good for Ernie.” I could hear the satisfaction in Leslie’s voice. That woman did not take any shit. She fit nicely into our little family here at Gathered.

“Wait until Henry hears he sold his piece for the full asking price. He’s going to be really happy, and his granddaughter is going to be over the moon.”

“Henry is going to get a piece of all the up-charges too.”

“Oh, I know that,” Leslie agreed. “Wouldn’t have it any other way.”

After she hung up, I looked to see how Darla was doing with the notecards that were put in each package, along with the biography of each craftsman if it was one of our handmade products. The girl had fantastic handwriting.

I saw her shaking out her hand.

“Do you need help with this?” I asked.

“Wendy helps whenever my hand cramps up,” Darla assured me. “Anyway, I like writing the notes. It really makes this job more fun than just sending out packages.”

It warmed my heart to hear her say that.

“Maybe Lance could help too,” I suggested.

“No way,” Wendy said while shaking her head. “You can barely read anything my cousin writes. This is a job for cheer professionals.” She giggled and Darla joined in.

I loved their attitudes.

I turned to Lance to make sure he wasn’t feeling bad at Wendy’s teasing. He grinned at me, as if reading my mind. “I’m good not writing the note cards. I’ve got enough to do with the measuring, weighing, producing labels and the actual packaging and sending.”

“You’re right. You do. Thanks for the good job on that.”

“It’s my pleasure, Boss.” He saluted again with the tape gun.

Chapter Eighteen

The ground on Lot Seven was softer than I liked.

I crouched down and pressed two fingers into the soil near the northwest corner of the staked footprint and felt the give beneath the surface crust. I made a note on my tablet. Behind me I knew Renzo was walking the perimeter.

This was one of my favorite parts of a job—the early days at a site. The quiet of it. Nothing built, nothing committed, just raw ground and the drawings in my head and the chance to imagine them coming together.