Page 23 of Big Witch Energy

“I scared Mitt Sherzinger pretty badly on my way over,” Alice confessed. “I also may have knocked him right off his bike tires as I tore down the sidewalk. It’s possible I owe Mitt an apology.”

Caroline nodded. She turned her head toward the bar, where most of the family’s pictures and mementos had shaken loose from their places on the high shelf—all but one, the old landscape that had hung there for as long as Caroline could remember. It hung steadfast, despite the weight of the frame and the dodgy craftsmanship that held it in place. Caroline frowned, her eyes traveling down to the area behind the bar, near the kitchen door. The ghost in the purple dress had moved there, in the shadows behind the ice machine, glaring at everybody as if she was annoyed that they were being so noisy. At the same time, she looked…satisfied? Like the family had this coming?

“You guys see her, right?” Caroline asked.

“Yep,” both of them chorused.

“That can’t be good,” Caroline muttered.

Riley shook her head. “Nope.”

***

In the aftermath of the “ceiling heart attack,” a crowd gathered outside the Rose while Trooper Celia Tyree strung yellow CAUTION tape across the entrance. Cole inspected the damage as Iggy Gilinsky and his brother-in-law, Jeff Flanders, climbed onto the roof, nailing a tarp over the external damage. This didn’t strike Caroline as particularly safe, but she wasn’t in the habit of trying to tell Iggy what to do. Judith and Regina were in the Wiltons’ garage taping together boxes to store what supplies they could salvage. Norma and Margaret stood in the snow, creating carefully organized labels. Samantha arrived to help Ben clear each and every person who had been inside, to make sure they hadn’t suffered any injuries that needed to be reported to the Wiltons’ insurance company.

Petra had set up a table with thermoses of coffee and tea for those who were helping, and even those who weren’t. Rugalach was reserved for people who were helping, though. Petra had standards.

While it had been an absolute bastard of a day, it warmed Caroline’s heart to see her community coming together to help her family. And yes, it was a little embarrassing, especially when some of the people helping them should—by all rights—be at home recovering from their near miss with the ceiling. But this was what Starfall did. When Judith’s husband, Steven, had a heart attack, Gert had organized the meal train. When Norma’s grandson needed help with chemistry, Caroline tutored him. Islanders helped islanders. It was simply the Wiltons’ turn.

Denny Wilton had arrived on the scene just a few minutes before, but unlike Caroline’s mother, he hadn’t approached the entrance. He just stood there, in his parka, staring at the building and looking defeated. Will and Wally had arrived too, but were largely useless, only picking up exactly what Gert directed them to and putting it down in the exact location she specified. So her progress was actually slowed down by their presence.

Caroline suspected the boys had only come to help clear away the items that could be salvaged because they knew it would look terrible that everybody else on the island showed up to help and they didn’t.

Cole joined the three ladies outside, wearing an honest-to-goodness Bishop Reconstruction hard hat. On another day, the sight of a big, bearded virile man in construction gear might have done it for Caroline, but all she could see was the destruction, and Ben, gently caring for the people whose close brush with serious injury made Caroline want to weep.

“OK, I’m pretty sure this was the result of a slow leak in the roof,” Cole told her. “Over time moisture wicked in and everything deteriorated on that side of the building until that section just couldn’t hold its own weight. Particularly, when you take into account the uh, hasty construction on the outdoor dining area? Whoever built it was supposed to use bracing. Without it, the porch put extra, unsupported weight on the existing exterior walls. Like putting a ten-pound earring on your ear, eventually, that earlobe is going to have some real problems.”

While Alice and Riley shuddered, Caroline swallowed heavily. Her father had been little over half-finished with the project when Chris died. He was too paralyzed by grief to even think about proper bracing and had trusted her brothers to finish the porch for him. He’d refused all offers of help from Iggy and Jeff, wanting to keep other people out of their suffocating bubble of misery. They had done—to no one’s surprise—a hasty job by the barest definition of the word. And her mother didn’t have the will or the energy to tell them so. Caroline also suspected Sven, who happened to be the county inspector-slash-property-assessor, felt bad for her parents when he certified the finished product. That combined with the obligation he’d felt, knowing Gert had taken care of his family when he was ill, was probably enough to get a “it’s probably fine” certification.

Riley gave a decisive nod. “OK, well, Cole, I think you’re going to have to start work here immediately. Caroline’s family depends on the Rose. It’s a big part of the community. We can’t just leave it open to the elements. Can you imagine if this would have happened during football season?”

“It’s possible you’ve lived on this island a little too long,” Alice noted.

“I don’t usually take on last-minute projects on the fly,” Cole protested, his dark eyes going wide. “This seems like a bad idea.”

“I don’t like to throw around the words ‘unlimited resources,’” Riley told him. “So, I won’t do it lightly. All repairs to the Rose will be covered by the Shaddow Foundation Trust.”

“You can’t do that,” Caroline cried.

“I can and I will,” Riley insisted. “Consider it a historical preservation project, which is right up the Shaddow Foundation Trust’s alley, and I have complete discretion about the sort of projects the foundation supports.”

Riley usually played down her fortune, referring to the Shaddow Foundation Trust, when it was basically just her checkbook. Inheriting a family mansion and more than enough financial assets to keep it running had its benefits, which she really hadn’t adjusted to after a lifetime of paycheck-to-paycheck.

“But I had plans for your library all drawn out,” Cole protested.

“It’s the family’s responsibility to take care of what’s important to the island,” Riley said. “Particularly, when you consider how certain factors involving the Shaddow family may have contributed to the condition of the building.”

“Uh, what does that mean?” Cole asked, his dark brows furrowing.

“The Shaddows were partners in the original construction of The Wilted Rose and insisted on certain specifications. If they hadn’t meddled so much, maybe the building would have lasted longer,” Riley lied smoothly. It concerned Caroline, that she was able to do that so easily.

Caroline objected. “I know my mom. Family pride won’t allow anything else.”

“OK, OK,” Cole said, writing some notes on a yellow legal pad with his enormous, long-fingered hands. “But what about your library renovation, Miss Denton?”

“It’s Riley,” she said. “And it can wait until Caroline’s workplace is safe.”

“I don’t like this,” Caroline told her. “We have an emergency fund, just for situations like this. You have to when you own a practically ancient building. I insist on paying half.”

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