Olivia found herself liking the woman immensely. “Where are we going?”
“You’ll see. Back to Berto and the young man who is no longer yours.” She offered an impish smile. “See? You are not the only one who can change course. Now we must discuss tomorrow. Berto hears they want Dillon to become the new auditor. Town and county both.” She glanced over. “The question, the concern, is how long this Dillon plans to remain.”
Which seemed the proper moment to share what she knew of Dillon’s recent past. The story took them along several more blocks of low-slung houses, some beautifully kept up, others as decrepit as the park. Emilia turned down one side street, another, winding their way farther from the town’s heart.
Finally Emilia halted at the boundary of a rain-sodden construction site. The building project covered all of one block and much of the next. Raw earth and piles of construction materials glistened under the looming gray sky. “This is my darling man’s dream project.” Emilia pointed to a lone house rising in the second block’s far corner. “That is to be his show home.”
It would have been all too easy to discount the cottage entirely. The yard was raw earth, its neighbors were three skeleton frames, the drive unfinished. But as to the home itself, Olivia murmured, “Lovely.”
“This neighborhood has been Berto’s passion since forever. One I share. We both grew up here. Back then, it was a good place. People worked hard, kids played safely in the streets, friendships were strong, families stronger.” She stared at the empty block, remembering. “Time has not been nice to our neighborhood. We want to change that.”
The cottage was a modern rendition of the Craftsman style. The simple whitewashed exterior was brightened by pale-wood frames around the windows and matching pillars fronting the broad porch.
“It will be noisy,” Emilia warned. “Sunrise to sundown.”
“We can live with that,” Olivia said. “Definitely.”
“Berto will finish your neighbors next. He says three months should do it, once the rains end. Until the next home is live-in ready, he wants to use your place as his show home.” Emilia glanced over. “You and your former young man will be okay with this?”
“I can’t speak for Dillon. But my guess is, he’ll be thrilled.”
“The power company promises this neighborhood will have power fully restored by this evening. Berto hopes they can have water turned on tomorrow, two days at the most.” Emilia smiled. “Of course, this is a builder who is making these promises. At Christmas time. After these storms.”
“I understand.” Olivia studied the home and recalled, “When I was little, Mom used to take me on these long wandering drives. She’d stop at homes like this and say something like, ‘One day.’ ”
As Emilia started to respond, her phone chimed. She glanced at the screen, and abruptly started away. “So it’s settled. Now we must dash.”
“Wait, what about seeing inside?”
“No time, no time!” She was almost running. “Hurry! ”
