Harper shook her head. “It’s not a conversation we can have while he’s gone. I don’t know what it means for him, for us, for me. He tells me he can’t love me. I didn’t understand why before. Now that I have a name for it, for her, I don’t know if I can live in her shadow,” Harper said.
“Is that what we’ve been doing?”
“Maybe you’ve been living in the shadow of her death.”
“It’s amazing how much can change in a morning.” Joni sighed and picked up a coffee mug. “I just don’t know how to let go of the guilt.”
“Well, maybe you can start by letting the Garrisons back in?”
***
They started with breakfast at the diner with Charlie and Claire. And it gave Harper hope to see slates wiped clean and what was once a strong friendship began to rebuild.
She wondered what Luke would think if he could see his parents talking about chickens with his mother-in-law and for once was glad he wasn’t present.
Joni might be ready for a fresh start, but there was no telling what Luke would be ready for.
She decided to put it out of her mind. There was no point in worrying about what she couldn’t control. She was relieved to head back to the office on Monday and distract herself with work rather than all the reasons she shouldn’t panic about what Karen and Joni meant to her future with Luke.
She was plowing her way through her to do list when her desk phone rang.
“You’d better send another crew over here cause I’m about to walk off the job,” Frank bellowed through the phone.
“What’s your problem now, Frank?” Harper asked, rolling her eyes.
“My problem? My problem is this idiot lackey didn’t bother showing up to work today and now I’m down a pair of hands for drywall.”
“Does you calling him an ‘idiot lackey’ have anything to do with him not showing up?” she asked mildly.
“Just get an extra pair of hands down here now,” he growled and disconnected.
Harper sighed and hung up. She brought up the week’s schedule on her computer. Every crew was swamped. They had managed to hit critical points in several projects at once and while that was good for the bottom line, it made the logistics tricky. She dialed a few of the foremen and got the answer she knew they would give. “Can’t spare anyone until next week.”
She scrubbed her hands over her face. Well hopefully Frank wasn’t going to be too picky about what pair of hands showed up.
***
She hopped out of the car at the job site. Frank was overseeing the addition of an in-law suite on the back of a cute little bungalow for the Delanos. Garrison had built the home ten years earlier, and now that Mr. Delanos’ mother was getting a little lonely, they wanted her closer.
Harper had looked up the plans before she left the office. The addition was going to be a large bedroom with a sunny sitting area and bathroom and good-sized walk-in closet. There was even a private back porch accessed through a set of French doors.
She tugged her ponytail through the back of a Garrison baseball hat and grimly set her shoulders. Time to deal with Frank.
“What the hell are you doing here?” he demanded from where he was wielding a pencil over a sheet of drywall on sawhorses.
“Nice to see you, too, Frank. I’m your extra hands. And before you start complaining,” she held up said hands as a warning, “I’m literally all you’ve got. None of the other crews can spare anyone.”
Frank swore colorfully and rolled his eyes heavenward. “Why me?”
Harper ignored him and looked around the framed-out addition. The insulation was in and the cathedral ceiling was, thankfully, already dry-walled. New windows had been installed, making the whole space feel bright and airy.
“This is really good work, Frank,” Harper said, poking her head into the bathroom.”
“Of course it’s good work. I did it. Why does everyone always act so surprised?” he grumbled.
Harper hid her smile.
“Well, if you’re the best I’m going to get, we might as well get started,” he sighed. “How much can you lift?”
