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“But what about the rest of my yard?”
“I promise, we’ll make it right. Just…give us a little time.”
As much as he hated to think how much attention his mess of a yard would attract, Isaac hated the idea of having to deal with insurance adjusters or worried business partners far more. Hopefully, this Delaney woman would be good to her word. He’d give her a day, no more. After that, he made no promises.
“Fine. You’ve got until tomorrow evening. And good luck with the leak.”
Chapter Two
Del leaned againstthe checkout counter at Brooks Books, trying to finally catch her breath. Between unshelving hundreds of books and making several trips to and from the hardware store next door gathering five-gallon buckets for catching rainwater and oscillating fans to help dry the place, she was nearly spent. Thankfully, the buckets seemed to be working, and today’s rainclouds had finally moved east, which meant they were out of danger. For now, anyway.
“Is this the first time the roof has leaked?”
“No.” Aunt Faye sat atop her favorite stool on the opposite side of the counter, looking as exhausted as Del felt. “I’m thinking your mother had issues when she and your father first rented this space. At the time, someone on the town council owned his own roofing company and volunteered to patch it. But he’d warned council that they should be putting money away to replace the roof in the next five years. Twenty-some years later, we’re still waiting for that new roof.”
Del shook her head. She’d attended more town council meetings than she could shake a stick at, and the resounding theme was always the same: when it came to large capital projects, there simply wasn’t enough money to go around. But surely they would step in and do something now. The town owned this building, renting half its space to her family for their bookstore and the other half to George Haines. Haines Hardware and Brooks Books had become staples in this town, places everyone came to visit. She doubted either operated much in the black, but in small towns it wasn’t just about the money—places like these brought the community together. Why, she couldn’t even imagine Bourbon Falls without these two landmarks.
Her gaze swept through their beloved store. She’d grown up within these beautiful brick walls, three-quarters of which held shelves lined with books of every shape and size. Had played hide-and-seek countless times with her sisters among the shorter, two-sided free-standing shelves that wove through the middle of the space and gone sliding in her socks across its waxed hardwood floors as often as they’d been able to get away with it.
Tonight, however, her heart ached at the sight. Its western wall stood half bare, the books they’d been able to salvage from its collection relocated to tables in the back room while the small number lost to water damage lay in a sad pile at its base. A small collection of fans was also aimed in that direction, aiding in the drying process. Atop many of the free-standing interior shelves were a smattering of buckets, placed strategically to collect rainwater that earlier had been streaming in from the aged roof. And the wooden floors, notoriously spotless and shined to perfection, lay dirtied with footprints and water-soaked towels.
They were all lucky Faye had been here when the leaks began. If this had happened overnight or on a Sunday when the store was closed, the losses would have been far more severe.
“Then we’ll have to petition that they finally step up and make these repairs, before you or George loses any more inventory,” Del said.
“Did it hit his side of the building pretty hard, too?” Faye asked.
“No, but he was watching just in case a leak sprang up over there. Hopefully, the town will send someone out here tomorrow to get up on the roof and at least patch what they can. Then you can get your store back in order, and he won’t have to worry about the issue spreading to his side.”
“I hope so. Goodness knows I won’t be getting much sleep until I know we’re out of the woods. Speaking of which,” Faye said with raised brow. “Why do you look like you spent the afternoon playinginthe woods?”
Del looked from her muddied and burr-speckled attire to her niece, who was stepping through the front door after dumping another water-filled bucket. “Why don’t you ask Brooklyn?”
“Ask me what?” she asked, dropping into a nearby folding chair. It seemed even the youngest of the Brooks girls was worn out from tonight’s activities.
“Why your aunt looks like she spent the afternoon mudwrestling in the woods.”
“It was the stupid tree’s fault, okay? If it hadn’t fallen across the road, I wouldn’t have slid into that big bush.”
Faye’s hand flew to her chest. “You went off the road? Oh dear heavens. I take it you’re okay?”
“Yeah, but now I have a dent in my front bumper.” Brooklyn dropped her face into her hands. “Mom’s probably gonna ground me for a year.”
“Accidents happen, Little B, she knows that,” Del said. “Though, if we can keep Isaac from filing a claim with his insurance, that’d probably help keep your mom a little happier. I’d hate to see what an accident would do to your rates.”
“Or we could just not tell her at all and I could make something up about the dent,” Brooklyn said in a sing-song voice.
Ha, like that was going to happen.
“Time-out,” Faye said. “You haven’t told Mia about this yet? And who is Isaac?”
Del pushed off from the counter, hands in her hair. “Oh my gosh—with everything going on here, I forgot to call her!”
Her oldest sister was going to let her have it for sure, especially since Brooklyn had just spent the last three days staying with her while Mia was at a teacher’s conference in Illinois. What kind of responsible aunt forgot to notify her sister of a freaking car accident? She started pacing the checkout area. Surely, there was a way to bring it up belatedly without her sister going ballistic.
“I think you should keep forgetting. Also, Isaac is the hermit that lives next to Grandpa,” Brooklyn said, interrupting her fretting.
Aunt Faye gasped. “This all happened in Isaac Manning’s yard?”
