“Great, my favorite chore,” she said, making a face, then laughed. “Just kidding, I’ll do my share.”
“I was just kidding,” he said, grinning at her. “Hattie would kill me if I let you wash even one dish. You’re a guest.”
“Do you think we could stop by my apartment so I can change my clothes and pack a few things?” she asked. “I arranged for a rental car, but it won’t be dropped off until later this afternoon, and if we’re going to be…demoing…”
He laughed. “I don’t think that’s a word, but I know what you’re trying to say,” he said, shaking his head. “We can swing by on the way downtown, no problem.”
“Sorry, I don’t know much about construction,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. “I worked in the registrar’s office all through college, and this is my first job out in the real world. I wasn’t really even supposed to have one.”
Malcolm turned to look over at her. “What do you mean?” he asked. “Isn’t that why you get a degree?”
She knew that she’d said too much, but couldn’t think of a way out of the conversation. “Not according to my stepfather,” she said, trying to keep the bitterness out of her voice. “He thinks women should only go to college to find a husband. He made me get the business degree so I would be able to run a richhousehold, you know, manage the servants, the food budget, that kind of stuff.”
He stopped and looked over at her again. “You’re kidding, right?” he finally asked. “This isn’t the 1950s, that’s so old-fashioned.”
“It’s more about control,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. “He didn’t even expect me to graduate; he was kind of mad when I did. Now I can go out and make my own money, and he can’t hold his wealth and power over my head.”
“Good for you, and look how well you’re doing,” he said, smiling at her. “You’ve only been on the job for a little while, and you already got a promotion.”
“Malcolm, that’s horrible, and this is just temporary,” she said. “As soon as Sandra is better, she’ll be back.”
He stopped again and looked over at her. “Rose, I don’t think Sandra is going to come back, not after what she did to your car,” he said, shaking his head. “I’m sure the job is yours for as long as you want it.”
“I guess so, I just don’t like the way I got it,” she said, then sighed. “We’re talking about depressing things again. Let’s talk about the new café.”
He explained about Elaine Bradshaw and her vision for the first floor as they drove to her apartment, then explained about cleaning out the bar so he could rent that space as well when she got back in the truck. When they pulled up in front of the building, Malcolm was grinning like he’d won the lottery, and she forced herself to look at it through his eyes. Stripping away the dirt and grime, she imagined the building with a coat of fresh paint, the windows sparkling clean, and a pretty awning over the front door.
“Well, what do you think?” he asked. “Isn’t it great?”
“It’s got a lot of potential,” she said, pleased with her word choice. “I can’t wait to see inside.”
“I’ve been working on it for a couple of weeks now, and it’s been coming along great, you’ll see,” he said. “Don’t judge it by the outside, I haven’t started out here yet.”
“I’m sure it’s going to be great, Malcolm,” she said. “I mean it.”
“Just keep an open mind,” he said, then jumped out of the truck and came around to open her door. “You’d be amazed at how much difference a fresh coat of paint can make.”
When they walked through the front door, the first thing she smelled was cleaning solution, and then she saw the gleaming wood floors. “Oh, aren’t the floors beautiful? I wouldn’t do a thing with them,” she said, looking around with more interest. “You really have been working hard, it looks amazing in here.”
CHAPTER 14
***MALCOLM***
He couldn’t help but be pleased with Rose’s compliment, not just because it was true, he had worked really hard, but because she could see the value of the building just like he had. “Come on, I’ll show you the bar. It’s still a mess, but I think the space has a lot of potential,” he said, pulling her across the entryway and through the big wooden doors. “It’s a little dark in here, but once I pull down the shutters covering the windows and get rid of the wood paneling, it should brighten up nicely.”
After flicking on the light, he led her to the center of the room, then spun her slowly in a circle. “Imagine it the way I described it,” he said. “Elanie thinks it would make a great jewelry store or something like that.”
“A bookstore, it’s the only thing that makes sense,” Rose said, a dreamy look on her face. “When I was a kid, I always dreamed about opening a bookstore. I had it all worked out in my mind, what it would look like and the people who would work there. It was a place I could go in my head when things got tough. That probably sounds stupid or a little crazy to you…”
“It’s not crazy, it’s sweet and a little sad,” he said, pulling her into his arms, his protective instincts awakened again by thepain in her voice. “I wish I could have been there for that little girl. I hate to think about you being that sad.”
“It was a long time ago,” she said, but didn’t step away from him for several wonderful seconds. “I’m a big girl now, but someday, if I can find the money, I’m going to open that bookstore, and it’s going to be everything I dreamed it would be.”
He looked down at her, “I bet you will,” he said. “Now are you ready to swing that sledgehammer? This place won’t be anything but an old bar if we don’t get to work.”
“I guess so, but you’ll have to show me what to do,” she said, hesitating when he held out the heavy tool. “I’ll probably suck at this too, just like I did at pool.”
“I don’t think you can suck at breaking things,” he said, forcing the handle into her hand. “Just pick it up and swing it. The goal is to smash the bar into small enough pieces we can get it out the door and onto the trailer so I can take it to the dump.”
