Page 3 of Undone

With a glance toward the underused kitchen, I headed out toward the hall that connected to the east wing. I entered the old elevator and pushed the button for the second floor.

When the elevator doors opened, I heard a racket out in the hall. As soon as I craned my neck out, I spotted Halstead, the head of Maintenance, at the other end of the hall, pushing a large heavy-duty garbage can under a stream of water pouring out of the ceiling.

“Halstead!” I called, my joy at seeing him battling with concern over what looked like a waterfall where there wasn’t supposed to be a waterfall.

“Little Avie, I wondered when you would get here.” In spite of what appeared to be a roof disaster, his weathered face morphed into an affectionate grin, his eyes brimming with warmth and concern. “Get over here.”

I would’ve run to him even without the directive, and within seconds, I was wrapped in the big, burly man’s grandfatherly arms.

“How you holding up, little one?” he asked when I buried my face in his chest.

To everyone else, Halstead was gruff, quiet, and focused on his responsibilities of making sure everything at the inn worked as well as it could. To me, he was the giant teddy bear who’d always made time for me. I’d suspected for ages that he had deep, unrequited feelings for my aunt, though I’d never asked him.

“I’m doing okay,” I said, willing it to be so. “How areyouholding up?”

“Keeping busy, as you can see.” He ended the hug and gestured to the ceiling, and I didn’t fail to notice he hadn’t really answered my question. “I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I’ve been telling your aunt we need to do something about the roof for quite some time.”

“What needs to be done?” I stepped back because that was no small trickle, and I didn’t care to get splattered.

“Right now? I’ll have to patch what I can. We had some wind last night and I suspect some more shingles came loose, but I won’t know till I go up and look.”

“It’s raining too hard,” I said.

“Reckon it’ll subside soon enough. I need some supplies from the hardware store ASAP while I try to Band-Aid this. You up for that?”

“Sure,” I said automatically, thinking I needed to be about three places at once. “What about the front desk?”

“There’s a sign behind the desk you can put out. Phyllis had her number on it for emergencies. Change it to mine. It’s on the list there.”

A piece of plaster fell from the ceiling, as if to emphasize we needed to do more than stand here and chat, so I nodded.

I was no innkeeper, but even I knew this was no way to run this place.

I started toward the stairway, then stopped. “I don’t have a car.”

Halstead straightened from a crouch. “Phyllis’s spare truck key’s in the pen cup behind the front desk, where she always kept it.”

“Right.” Phyllis’s truck that was now my truck. “What do you need specifically?”

I pulled out my phone and jotted down items as Halstead rattled them off, then hurried down the stairs and out the side door of the inn.

I made my way toward the cottage in the trees, where the truck was parked, trying to summon a facade of steel.

Dragonfly Lake and the Honeysuckle Inn had never been easy, carefree places for me, and now, on this dreary, depressing rainy Monday, between the practical challenges of the inn and the emotional trip wire I knew was lying in wait, I had no idea how on earth I would make it through this godforsaken day.

Chapter2

Cash

Meetings had never been something I had patience for. Sitting still wasn’t one of my strengths, even when the subject of discussion was my lifeblood, my passion.

Trying to bite down on the antsy feeling that seemed to be my constant companion lately, I forced myself to listen to my brother Seth as he explained the ins and outs of our restaurant, Henry’s, as well as the Rusty Anchor, the brewery our brother Holden opened last month. We were in the back booth at the Dragonfly Diner, meeting with Kennedy Clayborne about the possibility of her handling our marketing.

“So they’re two separate businesses but you market together,” Kennedy said, summarizing Seth’s long-winded explanation.

“That’s right. We revamped our menu in conjunction with the brewery’s grand opening. You can sit on Rusty Anchor’s beer patio and order from a special Henry’s menu. When you eat at Henry’s, you can order Rusty Anchor beer.”

“And we have several dishes that incorporate Rusty Anchor beer,” I added. “Next time we meet, we’ll do it at Henry’s and you can sample them.”

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