Page 46 of The Coppersmith Farmhouse (Jamison Valley 1)
She turned her eyes to me and smiled huge.
We were going to be okay. Soaking up her smile, I was certain it was true. Someday the sting of losing Ben wouldn’t hurt so much. I would always be sad Mom and Ben couldn’t be with us to watch Rowen grow up, but the hurt would subside.
“Georgia, you want to pick me up at the station?” Jess asked.
“Sure. The recital starts at six. I’ll get Roe at five, buzz back here to get changed and then come get you around five-thirty. Is that okay?”
“Sounds good.”
“Why do you always call Mommy ‘Georgia’ instead of ‘Gigi’ like everybody else?” Rowen asked.
I’d noticed his preference for my full name but hadn’t asked him why.
His eyes sparkled as they traveled from her to me. “Because behind Rowen, Georgia is the most beautiful name I’ve ever heard.”
Never in my life had a man said something so kind and wonderful to me and my daughter.
Another warm wave of happy coursed through my body and settled in my heart.
“You’ve reached Jess Cleary. If this is an emergency, call 9-1-1. You can also try me at the sheriff’s office. Otherwise, leave a message.”
“Jess,” I clipped. “I just got off the phone with Ryan. He said you’ve already paid him to tear down the barn, and that since they’ve started, they can’t stop. It would be too dangerous leaving it partially up. Then he informed me that he’s got the plans drafted for the new garage his crew will be starting next week. Of course, I told him that under no circumstances is he allowed to start that project, seeing as I had no idea what he was talking about. But too late. You’ve already signed the contract and paid the deposit.”
I sucked in some air. “When I told him I was the property owner, not you, he said something about precedence and you being the long-term caretaker and having done projects there in the past, blah, blah, blah. He’s basically being a coward and doesn’t want to back out on the contract and piss you off. Oh, and then he informed me that if I was having a conflict with the caretaker, I should file an official complaint with the sheriff’s office.”
Another breath and I continued with my ranting message. “This is not okay, Jess. You can’t make these decisions without discussing them with me first. So, Sheriff, you can take this as my official complaint. You can also find new plans for the evening because I’m telling Maisy she doesn’t need to bother coming over to babysit Roe.”
I hung up the phone and let out a frustrated growl.
It was the Friday following Roe’s recital, and I was sitting in the staff lounge at the hospital.
Correction. I was seething in the staff lounge.
“Ah, Gigi? Are you okay?” Maisy asked from behind me.
“No. I’m not. But good news for you, you’re off the hook to have a sleepover with Rowen tonight.”
She took the chair across from me.
The staff lounge was a small, square, colorless room with no windows.
I hadn’t spent much time in the lounge. I think most of the hospital staff felt the room was as depressing as I did, because it was almost always empty. People would swing in to grab some coffee or stow a packed meal in the fridge, but then they tended to find somewhere else to spend their time.
I didn’t want an audience for my phone call so I had come into the lounge, thinking it was my safest bet. But with the way my day was going, I wasn’t entirely surprised that alone time wasn’t in the cards. I should have gone to my car.
“Sorry,” I said. “I didn’t mean to snap at you. I’m just
so . . . so . . . pissed off!” My hands were fisted and shaking.
“I take it you and Jess are fighting?”
“Oh yeah, we’re fighting.”
“What happened?” she asked.
I huffed out a breath. “Well, you know about the incident last Saturday with the devil creature.”
She nodded.
