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Chapter 13
Liam
I liftedmy newest creation out of the back of the pickup.It was heavy, but I wasn’t about to let the fifty-five-year-old woman who had just paid me three hundred dollars for a horseshoe firepit creation lug it around.
“Where would you like it?”I adjusted my hold, grateful I didn’t have the boys underfoot.I’d get to Williston later than my normal, but I had to deliver my custom orders.
Charlotte Garcia rushed ahead of me.“I have a place for it behind the garage, but you can set it on the pavement.My daughter’s coming by later, and she can help me move it.”
My shoulder muscles began to burn.“It’s not a problem.Lead the way.”
Her mouth formed an O, but she changed direction and opened the gate to the backyard fence.“Right through here.”
She pointed to a spot on a patterned concrete slab.I set it down, made sure it was stable, and stepped back to admire my work.The pattern of the horseshoes that made up the grates was fancier than the straight lines in the pavement.The two complemented each other.
Charlotte had her phone in her hand, snapping pictures.“This is just perfect, Liam.You are a master with a torch.”
I chuckled to cover my embarrassment.My supervisors had told me I did a good job, but they weren’t the type to gush over my work.“Thanks.”
I’d only had a taste of custom orders, but I’d miss this.I’d dropped off my other piece, the cross made from chain links, and that customer had been thrilled.He’d put it right into his garden and done the same as Charlotte for pictures.
Charlotte tucked her phone away.“Did I hear correctly?You’re not going to be at any more markets?”
“Not in Coal Haven.”I’d been researching the ones in surrounding towns online.They’d be harder to juggle with the kids, and I’d have to make sure I packed my goods well so they weren’t damaged in the commute.Steel creations weren’t fragile, but if someone was paying me, I wanted them to have my best.
“Do you have a website?”
I took off my ball cap and scratched my head.“No, but maybe I’ll think about designing one while I’m away from work.”I’d have to buy a computer first, which I could do with what Charlotte had paid me.Shipping items this heavy might be a sticking point for a lot of potential customers.But online sales were an option.
“My sister owns Haven’s Furnishings.You should talk to her.”
“Thank you.I’ll think about it.”It would be a risk to do anything more.Charlotte’s sister, Hattie, had experienced her own troubles with my father’s wife.If Naomi found out I was trying to sell my work in Coal Haven, she’d make sure Cameron put a stop to it.
The earnestness fell from Charlotte’s expression as if she’d read my mind.“Hattie doesn’t care who Cameron and Naomi Barron think they are.Naomi tried to force Hattie out of the building her store’s in, and it only made Hattie’s business stronger.My sister has an eye for quality, and once I send her these photos, her mind is going to churn up all the possibilities.Call her.”
This time I didn’t brush off the thought so quickly.The Garcia sisters were well known in town, and well respected, mostly because people were too afraid to mess with them.Charlotte had learned her husband was cheating on her.She kicked him out and hauled all his belongings to his other woman’s house and dumped them on her lawn.Then she’d divorced him and changed her name.
I’d heard about the location dispute between Hattie and Naomi.Grandma Gin and Grandpa Bob had discussed it around the dinner table when I was in middle school.Naomi had been on the city council, and she’d wanted to demolish that corner and erect a new building with retail on the main floor and condos on the top.Claimed it would revive downtown.
Hattie had launched a campaign and called it Historic Coal Haven.She’d recruited the historical society, the state archives, and surrounding libraries to advocate and provide research on the benefits of preserving the original look of communities.Hattie had also gathered research about how tax breaks and startup incentives revived downtown at a fraction of the cost of demolition and new builds.To top it all off, she’d asked the council if projects like the retail/combo new build would be allowed to be bid on by companies owned by family members of those on the council, like Naomi’s brother, who owned a commercial construction company.
The entire downtown was preserved as part of Coal Haven’s history, and she’d needed the city council to sign off on it.Naomi had put on a serene face around town.If she had argued, she’d look like a greedy politician—exactly what she was.But acting as if she didn’t care about Coal Haven—a town in which she behaved like royalty—would’ve been too damaging.
If anyone wanted to renovate downtown, they had to stay within certain specifications, but they also received grants and funding from the city, county, and state.The ashes had fallen, and it’d been years since I’d heard of issues between Hattie and the Barrons.
I admired Hattie.As a kid, I’d hung on updates.My father had earned plenty of blame in the way he treated me, but so had Naomi.It’d been recreational to watch her get taken down a few notches from that high throne she perched on.I wasn’t ready for an epic battle against her, not alone.With the Garcia sisters, though?I couldn’t have better support.
Still, I was reluctant.I had just started applying for jobs.How much did I want to tempt fate?“I don’t want to cause more trouble.”
Charlotte snorted.“Hattie would tell you thatyou’renot causing trouble.Once those Barrons stick their noses into business that isn’t theirs is when the trouble starts.It’s on them.”She laid a hand on my shoulder.“I’m going to have her call you, Liam.You’re too talented, and if the rumors are true, you’ve gotten a raw deal in this town.”
“I appreciate it.”And I did.Looking through adult eyes at what Hattie had done helped me remember how much of the town had been on her side.My father and his wife held a lot of power, but perhaps not as much as I had thought.
“The Barrons don’t have carte blanche to Coal Haven.Your great-granddaddy might’ve founded this town, but that doesn’t mean they own it or us.”She shook her head.“Naomi’s trying to run for mayor, and I’ll sit with every quilt circle in town and shit talk her.You shouldn’t have to fight for what’s right, but you do, and sometimes you have to fight dirty.”
I didn’t know if laughing would be rude.Charlotte’s flinty eyes made me think she was going to start bobbing side to side like a prizefighter.She wasn’t kidding, but I didn’t disagree.Hattie didn’t have kids, and Charlotte’s were grown and gone.They could afford to fight dirty.My kids lived here.They would start school in two months.When they were teens, they’d look for a job.I wanted them to have more opportunities than I’d had.Which might have to start with building my own support base in Coal Haven instead of lying low.
“Just hear her out,” Charlotte said, sensing my reservations.
