This was her hometown. She’d lived her entire life short of the last nine months. Libby turned onto Green Street.
J.J. shuddered. This was ridiculous.Get it together, Tucker.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m weirdly freaked.”
As they drove into town, things felt familiar. Normal. As comfortable as her favorite slippers. The shops along the north side of Green looked beautiful. She knew it was all Libby, but maybe she had a little part in making this happen. Hope’s restaurant was bustling, even so early in the season.
“I’m so proud of Hope. Aren’t you so proud of Hope?” As she said this, J.J.’s fear receded. She was so happy for her friend. Of all of them, Hope had one of the rougher times with her ex before moving back to Irish Hills. Hope’s dreams were the longest delayed, but now they blossomed.
“Honey, heck yes, she’s a goddess at that place.”
“We’ll get dinner while I’m in town.”
“If we can get a table.”
“Right?” J.J. said and again, felt pride, that Hope was living this dream, and J.J. had been an accomplice to it.
She had given Libby crap about having ulterior motives and trying to lure J.J. into a business venture. Still, J.J. had been with Libby the whole way. And seeing Hope’s, and then the boutique, and mercantile, it almost felt like they were her babies too!
“Okay, yeah, the south side of Green, though, we’re behind.”
J.J. looked across the street, avoiding the center of it. She didn’t want to see the gazebo. She also avoided looking to the end of the street, her old salon.The place that—no!She put a hard stop to her last memory of the salon.
J.J. turned her attention to the future. She knew one question was all it took to get Libby to go on and on about plans for Irish Hills.
“Oh, okay, yeah, so where are you on that?”
J.J. had planned to show no interest. She knew Libby, given an inch, would take a mile. That was great when the two were in step, but J.J. was out of step. Now J.J.’s plan went out the window. She needed distraction from the memories that drove her out of this town.
As they took a loop around the main street to get a better view of the south side of Green, the question answered itself.
The roof was done. That was good.
“D.J. took on the roof project right away, a very strong start. And I was struggling to get the insurance funds. I used credit cards to pay for some of the materials we needed. It was a tough slog in the fall. But we got it done before the winter. That was key.”
“Good on D.J. for that. But we’ve got boarded windows. Where’s the sidewalk?”
“Yeah, that’s just the stuff you can see on the outside. Inside, we’re working on electric and plumbing, and it’s, ugh…I hate to say this about D.J.”
“It’s okay, spill it.”
“He’s great half the time, and his work is impeccable when he completes it.” J.J. could feel Libby’s discomfort with the next part, but J.J. had asked for it. “He’s unreliable, and he’s also bad at managing his subs.”
Libby was direct even though she was gripping the steering wheel and furrowing her brow as she told the truth, as she saw it, about D.J.
J.J. didn’t like hearing bad stuff about her kids. No mother did. But she also wasn’t a woman who wanted sugar-coating. She didn’t give it and didn’t want to get it. J.J. put her hand on Libby’s shoulder to try to ease the tension of the moment.
“Look, it’s okay,” J.J. reassured her, “that’s why I’m here.”
“I’m so glad you are. I think that’s going to change the game. I do.”
Libby had shared that she’d found D.J. passed out on the job the other day. It made J.J. wince, but it was the unvarnished truth.
“The good news is that the insurance money is finally in,” Libby continued, “and I can mostly pay for the repairs. If we could get on track with them, this could be ready to go this summer. Late summer, but still. I do need to get revenue in here.”
“I do know that drill.” J.J. had helped ensure that the vacancies didn’t stay vacant for long over the last few seasons.
