Misty Lake: Book One in the Misty Lake Series (27 page)

She was smiling, immensely proud of herself, and it had Riley wondering what in the hell he had gotten himself into. He had done some difficult jobs over the years, some painstakingly tedious ones, some, in his opinion, downright ridiculous ones, but this one might fall in a category all its own. He eyed her, tapping his fingers on his thigh as he took a deep breath.

Susan nervously waited for his reaction. She hadn’t planned on springing this on him so soon but when he told her the schedule for the subcontractors, it really couldn’t wait. She had figured he wouldn’t like it but she was confident she could convince him. It was her place, after all, she had the final say. But, she knew she needed him on board. If he refused to tackle the extra work she’d have to look for another contractor and that was something she didn’t want to think about.

Finally, Riley gave a huge sigh, shaking his head and looking towards the ceiling. “Fine, let’s go walk through and you can tell me what you’re thinking. We’ll have to draw up more plans, see what kind of additional permits we need.”

She threw her arms around his neck again, jumping up and down while she did so. “Thank you, thank you, thank you! You’ll see. It’s going to be amazing. I have so many ideas.”

They headed to the barn with Susan barely able to contain her excitement. “Just so you know,” Riley warned, “if I think your ideas are stupid or impractical, I’m going to tell you.”

“Sure, sure, then you’ll tell me how to fix it so it’s not stupid or impractical,” she said with a grin.

Riley didn’t know whether to be annoyed or impressed by the fact that her ideas were neither stupid nor impractical. He made a few suggestions, a few changes, but mostly just for form’s sake. He found himself swept up in her vision and felt as if he could see the finished event center as clearly as she could. They talked, argued, negotiated, and finally agreed on some of the details. When it got dark enough that the small lantern they’d carried with them to the barn didn’t do much more than create some shadows, Riley knew it was time to call it a night.

“All right, that’s enough for tonight. I’ll draw some of this up, run it by you in a day or two, and I’ll talk to the electrician and the plumber about the additional work. Right now, I need a shower and something to eat. And you need some sleep.” He couldn’t see the dark circles around her eyes in the dusty, gray light of the barn but he knew they were there.

As they left the barn, Susan thought ahead to the next day and started to worry. “What do I need to tell the electrician tomorrow? I’m not sure I understand all the blueprints well enough to explain what I want. What if he has questions I can’t answer?” She was biting her lip and twisting her hair.

“Don’t worry, an electrician knows how to read blueprints and I’m only a phone call away.”

“Okay. What if we haven’t thought of everything? What if I want to change something or add something later?”

“Relax, Red. The subs aren’t going to finish everything at once. There’s some work they need to do initially then they’ll be back later on as the work progresses.” Riley climbed into his truck and started the engine. “Everything will be fine. I’ll try to stop by some time during the day to check on things.”

“Thanks, that would make me feel better.”

“Okay then, see you tomorrow.” He gave a little wave as he started to back out, then stuck his head out the window and added, “Oh, by the way, electrician’s name is Cindy.”  With a devilish wink, he revved the engine and sped off.

Margaret Standafer lives and writes in the Minneapolis area with the support of her amazing husband and children and in spite of the lack of support from her ever-demanding, but lovable, Golden Retriever. It is her sincere hope that you enjoy her work.

To learn more about Margaret and her books, please visit
www.margaretstandafer.com