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He looked at her to see if she was joking but there was no trace of the smile he’d seen earlier.
“I see you’re serious. I know a lot of scammers come after storms but you don’t need to put that label on me, and I’d appreciate it if anyone else says anything like that to you, you set them straight. I came with letters of reference and anyone can look at our social media pages to see what kind of business we are.”
Jo relaxed a bit. How lucky could she be to have a legitimate roofer appear magically next to her just when she was beginning to wonder how she and Gran would find someone.
“Well, that’s good to know because I definitely need a roofer,” she said.
“Your house lose some shingles?” he asked.
“Not my house, my motel. And it’s more than just some shingles, it’s a whole lot of shingles and probably some things I can’t even see or describe.”
“You own a motel?” He raised his eyebrows and set his beer down, looking at her with interest.
“Oh, I didn’t mean I own it. I manage it. Well, I do in the summers. Truthfully, actually this is my first summer. But I know it really well. I’ve been coming here since I was a kid. My gran owns it. But she’s kind of laid up now with a hurt ankle from the night of the storm, so I’m trying to take care of things so she doesn’t have to worry much. I think this storm took something out of her. Reminded her a lot of a bad storm years ago. I’d prefer she not see the place until we’ve got it all together again. The sand has been removed and all the other issues have been taken care of. Except the roof.”
“Well, I’d be glad to have my crew take a quick look at it. Which motel is it?” He asked.
“It’s the Hatteras Hideaway, it’s the first one you come to…”
“Oh, I know it very well, “he interrupted. “I helped put that place back together once before.”
“You did? That motel has been in my family for forever so you must have done some work for someone I know!” she exclaimed.
“Well, I don’t know about that. This was years ago, nineteen seventy-five, when Evelyn came through. I was working here for the summer on a boat, but after the storm, I tried to help out property owners where I could since the boats were pretty much all gone. At least the one I mated for,” he said.
“But in seventy-five my great-grandparents owned the motel. They were the Kents. You had to know them,” Jo said.
“Kent?” Jonathan’s demeanor suddenly changed. “I never knew them, but I knew of them. Their daughter was managing the motel that summer just like you are now. Her name was Susan. Susan Kent. Hmmmm. Imagine that. And you say she still owns that motel? I’m not sure she’d welcome me back to help this time around.”
He put his burger on the plate, half eaten and placed two twenties on the bar as he got up to leave.
“Wait a minute,” Jo said. “Why would you say that? My gran is one of the most well-respected people on this island and she treats everyone pretty fairly as far as I know.”
“Well, a nice way to put it is that we didn’t end things on the best of terms,” he replied.
The wheels in Jo’s brain were moving so quickly she couldn’t quite process everything she was thinking. “What do you mean, end things?”
“Look,” he said. “I never expected to be having this conversation. I knew your grandmother, Susan, very well. But that was a long time ago and that’s water over the dam. I’m sure she’s never given a second thought to what happened to old Chris.”
“But you are Jonathan. I heard you, and you said your company was JCS Roofing,” Jo stammered. Her heart was racing and her throat was suddenly dry. She reached for her lemonade.
“I did and it is,” he said looking at her carefully. “JCS. Jonathan Christopher Smith. But back in the day everyone knew me as Chris and….”
Jo started to say something but nothing would come out. That’s when she fainted.
“Good God,” he called out. “I need some help over here.”
Marcie flew from behind the bar counter and yelled, “Carolyn, get the door. Let’s get her outside to get some air. Looks like she fainted.”
Chris and Marcie together managed to get her outside and under a tree. “MaryAnn, grab some water,” Marcie yelled. Then she looked at Chris carefully. “Did you say something to her? What did you do?”
Chris stood up and looked Marcie in the eye. “I have no idea what happened. We were talking about a roofing job and then I realized I knew her family and then she passed out. She seemed really agitated but I swear I didn’t say or do….”
Mary Ann brought the water and lifted Jo up to a sitting position just as her eyes started to flutter. “Whhhaaa…What happened? I …” she said, almost in a whisper. Then her eyes fell on Chris. “You. You bastard,” she shouted.
Chris threw his hands up in the air. “I don’t know what the hell is going on here but I think you need some rest or something stronger than that lemonade you’re drinking. And I can assure you I won’t be doing your roofing job. Find someone else.”
He looked at Marcie and said, “I think you need to find some help for this young lady. I left enough money to cover my bill on the counter. Sorry for the disturbance. I’m leaving.”
