Page 42 of The Fixer

As Joy led her around, Hailey gushed over the building’s potential.

Joy smirked. “You sound like your fiancé’s brother.”

Hailey’s expression transformed into that of a delighted child as she ran her fingers over wooden scrollwork or a rotten window sash. “Yeah,Charlie loves these old places. They really bring out his creativity. And when he’s done, you have gorgeous historic details with all the modern upgrades, and it doesn’t matter if he’s working on a commercial building like the Miners Tavern or an ancient miner’s two-bedroom bungalow.” She stared at Joy for a beat and broke out into laugher. “I do sound like I’m drinking the Charlie Hunnicutt Kool-Aid, don’t I?”

“Or you’re his one-woman PR team.” Joy narrowed her eyes. Had she just uncovered the real reason for Hailey’s visit? “Did he send you here to talk me into going all out on the renovation?”

Confusion etched itself in Hailey’s soft features. “No. Charlie doesn’t need PR people. He prides himself on his work speaking for itself, and from what I know, he’s got more than he can manage anyway. He’d probably have a few choice words for me if he thought I was trying to sell him. Like I said, we just hit town, and I haven’t seen or talked to Charlie since yesterday when he showed up to tend bar.” Her sincerity had Joy flinching with sheepishness inside. “God, I’d love to own this place!”

Charlie’s earlier comment about potential buyers bubbled up, and an idea formed. Whether it was born of genius or guilt, Joy had no idea, but she barreled ahead, unchecked. “Wanna buy it?”

Hailey’s mouth swung open. “I hope you don’t think I was fishing!”

“Not at all. I was kidding anyway.”Kinda.

“Oh phew!” Hailey’s shoulders seemed to relax with relief. “Are you planning to keep it? Maybe use it as a mountain getaway? I bet it brings back memories.”

Joy barked a mirthless laugh. “That’s thelastthing I want to do. The memories it brings back are ones I’d rather demolish along with the building, but I need to look at all the options and decide what’s best for the estate.”

What? Where did my objective of dumping it as soon as possible go?Honestly, Joy’s logical brain had gone on hiatus. Skipping her Adderall and anti-anxiety meds had to be the reason why.

Hailey’s light brown brows scrunched together as if she was trying to determine if Joy had gone off her rocker. She threw another surprise Joy’s way when she said, “Then let’s get this place cleaned out so you can do just that and move on.”

Tears wedged in Joy’s throat, making it hard to choke down her emotions, and she reined in the urge to throw her arms around Hailey andhug the breath out of her. “Maybe you could help me with the display cases? They’re too much.”

Hailey rubbed her hands together. “Let’s do it!”

They grabbed a handful of bags and empty boxes and devised a plan of attack—well, Hailey did. Joy’s thoughts were too scattered to attackanything. And maybe the task would be less daunting now that she had an ally.

Charlie barged into Noah’soffice at the tavern. His brother looked up from his computer and gave one lazy blink. “What’s up?”

“I didn’t want to be a buzzkill right before you and Hailey left on your romantic getaway, but … Oh, did you guys have a good time?”

Noah practically leered, the son of a bitch. “Oh yeah. It was … epic. Didn’t get much sleep, though.”

Charlie cut him off before he could elaborate. “I want to talk to Leo Cantrell—in person, face-to-face. You’re welcome to come with, but I’ll go it alone if you want to stay out of it.”

Noah lowered an eyebrow. “Can I ask why?”

“I was at the building department yesterday, and it turns out nobody’s filed anything to get the depot project moving. We’re stuck in some kind of fucking limbo, and I want to find out why so I can get it the fuck unstuck. I also need to balance my work schedule over the next few months. To do that, I have to know if the depot will be on my schedule. Plus, I have a shit ton of money tied up in it, and I’d like to get moving on it so I can get it back. I get that I’m only a minor stakeholder compared to those big wheels, but I wasn’t expecting that they’d sit on it indefinitely. I don’t like being hamstrung.”

Noah’s second brow joined the first. “Nothing’s on file? Are you sure?”

“Positive. Not a single application for project review or zone variance has been filed. Must be nice to be balls-deep in money. What the fuck are those guys doing?”

“No idea. I thought it was all being handled. I’ll callLeo—”

“No. I know you guys are buddy-buddy, but this ismyproject, and I want to go the guy directly. No middlemen. Too many opportunities for miscommunication.”

Noah raised his hands, palms up, in surrender. “Okay, don’t get your titties in a bunch.”

“I think that’s panties.”

“Panties. Right.” Noah’s gaze slid to the side, focusing on something not in the room, and a goofy grin sprouted on his face.

“Dude!”

Noah snapped his attention back to Charlie, his expression on the sheepish side. “Let me see if I can arrange a meeting. And you don’t mind if I tag along?”

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