Page 32 of Silent Threat
Annie looked down at her shoes. “I feel pretty stupid.”
Ed patted her arm in a fatherly gesture. “You were helping your cousin.”
“She was helping me too. Can’t blame her for not knowing the bathroom studs were rotten. I live here, and I didn’t know it either.”
They walked back to the bathroom, to the worst of the damage. Every time she looked at that blue tarp, she wanted to cry.
Ed tapped around and shone his flashlight into the walls and partially open ceiling. He hemmed and hawed, but then finally said the words Annie most wanted to hear. “Good news is, the house definitely isn’t gonna collapse.”
But before Annie could sink into sweet relief, Ed added, “Bad news is, I’m booked a couple of months out. I’ll ask the crew and see how many guys can come over after the regular hours.” He frowned.
“But?”
“They can still only put in an hour or two a day. Construction’s hard work. They’re pretty tired by the time I’m done with them.Andthey’ll want overtime.”
While that sounded reasonable, it also sounded expensive. And slow. So much for a quick fix.
She must have looked as discouraged as she felt, because Ed said, “You could ask someone else. I won’t be offended.”
“I’d rather wait for you.” She wanted someone she trusted.
“I’ll send out someone with some plywood, tomorrow the latest. He’ll seal up the hole, so at least the house will be secure. Then I’ll make sure someone comes by to clean up the construction rubble inside. I saw you have a construction container already, so at least we don’t have to wait for that.”
“You have a roundabout estimate?”
“I’ll work one up by tomorrow. Then I’ll see if I can squeeze you in the schedule somehow. If you’re sure Kelly’s crew won’t come back.”
“I’m sure. Her guys looked traumatized.” Rob, the one who’d knocked out the wall, had called twice to apologize. “And I think Kelly lost confidence.”
“She’ll bounce back. That girl always does. Shame about her husband.”
Annie couldn’t deny Kelly’s resilience. She wanted their relationship to be less strained, but she wasn’t sure how to overwrite the past.
“I called the insurance company yesterday,” she told Ed. “They’re sending a claims adjuster next week.”
“We shouldn’t do anything until they see everything and take pictures.” Ed began walking out. “Give me a call after they leave. Think about how you want to fix up things, how much budget you can get together. See how much the insurance gives you, then call the TV station and Kelly. They should take responsibility.”
“I’ll contact the TV station.” Although, as far as she knew, the tiny local station was always strapped financially. And Annie definitely wasn’t going to sue her own cousin.
Ed left with an encouraging smile and a friendly wave. Annie headed to the garage, not surprised to see Cole’s shiny new truck in the driveway already unloaded.
She went in search of him.
He wasn’t in the garage. Weird. He hadn’t been in the house, so where was he?
Finally, as she went around the front, she saw him by the road. She could see the tight set of his mouth even from thirty feet away. Now what? Then she saw what he was looking at, and her breath caught.
Could I, please, catch a break?
A ten-foot section of her fence was down past the garage, posts and wire fencing lying on the ground, demolished.
Cole must have seen her from the corner of his eye, because he turned toward her.
“When did this happen?” she asked.
He raised an eyebrow.
She was moving too fast, nearly running, so he couldn’t read her lips. She slowed down as she neared. “When did this happen?”
