Page 11 of 40 and (So Over) Fixing It
“Skiing?” Thad yelled more than asked.
JD gave him an indulgent smile. “Skiing. We’re already working on hiking paths through the woods, and possibly a stable and horseback riding eventually.” He turned back to Carter. “For now, though, we’re focused on the main lodge.”
Carter remembered that from the discussions he’d sat in on. The 130-room hotel would be inupscale rustic style,whatever that meant, but JD seemed enthusiastic about it. Although Carter was an investor, he didn’t have his friend’s same excitement when it came to building. He’d save his excitement for when he could bring Thad back to stay at the completed lodge. Thad was the one currently bubbling over with delight as they came into view of a huge crane and several other pieces of heavy machinery. Steel beams and stacks of materials the crew were slowly putting together to frame the enormous building dotted the site, along with a massive expanse of gray concrete. Oh, and a whole lot of mud.
JD slid a bit, then righted himself with a grunt. “They’ll need a couple more days for things to dry out before they get back to work, obviously.”
“Will they be working while we’re here?” Thad asked as they stepped onto the flat gray surface of the foundation. Both hands fiddled with the too large hard hat he wore. Carter had already taken pictures—that tiny face peeking out from beneath the yellow plastic had been too adorable to resist. He’d text the pictures to Rachel later, after they were inside again and he didn’t have to add her maternal worries on top of his own anxiety about bringing a ten-year-old to a construction site, active or not.
JD had no such anxiety, probably because he didn’t have kids. And Carter had to admit that the huge steel beams, some already welded into place—or whatever it was they did with steel beams—and some still stacked a good couple of stories high around the building site, were pretty impressive. He adjusted his own hard hat at an angle that allowed him to see the beams that would support the roof several stories above them.
“We want the lodge to feel as much a part of the woods as possible,” JD explained. “It’ll end up being smaller than we wanted, but we plan to add a second, smaller location later to supplement.”
Carter eyed the surrounding trees. “I admit I wasn’t too sure about the decision from all the way up in New York, but seeing it now, actually standing in the environment, I totally understand.”
“It’s definitely a different feel from a high-rise in New York City.”
“Our apartment is way up high,” Thad put in. “Way higher than this.”
“Yeah,” JD said, “but look at what else we have: trees, mountains… We even have deer and bears.”
The wordbearssent a shiver down Carter’s spine. “And that’s why you have to stay near the mansion,” he reminded Thad. “No running off into the woods without one of us, okay?”
“Are bears dangerous? They look so cute on TV.”
JD’s words were serious, imparting the importance of what he was about to say. “They are dangerous. I didn’t know it at first either, but even the little cubs that look like teddy bears are dangerous. And where cubs are, mama bears are sure to follow, and they’re the most dangerous of all.”
“Oh.” Thad seemed to consider that. “Okay. But can I see a deer?”
JD chuckled. “I’ll take you over to meet Lily’s granddad. He knows all about wildlife. He can show you some pretty neat things.”
“Yay!”
Carter laughed at his son’s enthusiasm.
They skirted well around the areas that had been dug out for basement locations—laundries, storage, and that type of thing, Carter assumed. Temporary barriers had been placed for safety, but Carter gave Thad another warning, just in case. No coming up to the build site without an adult. His son nodded, his eyes huge as he stared down into the pits from a safe distance away.
At the opposite end of the giant build, Carter took a moment to turn and stare back toward the mansion and beyond, to the valley below the mountain. Maybe a hundred yards downhill from the edge of the foundation, he noticed what looked like an old shed sitting near the end of a turnoff he’d barely noticed on their way up. Its outer walls were covered in timeworn lumber, the roof made of corrugated tin that was more rust than metal at this point. It looked like a stiff wind would blow it right down. He nodded toward the building. “Is that original to the land?”
“It is.” JD chuckled. “The crew wanted to tear it down before they got started, but Erin insisted on keeping it for the time being. She uses it as her shop for now. It’ll disappear when the landscaping starts to come in.”
Erin.The woman JD had said was driving the truck on Saturday. Wisps of the anger he’d held against her ever since then began to trace across his mind.
Just as he was about to say something, the rumble of a heavy engine reached them. A truck. Carter’s eyes narrowed.
“Well, speak of the devil.” JD grinned, then glanced down at Thad. “How about we go meet the woman responsible for all this?”
Thad followed willingly, oblivious to Carter’s hesitation. “You mean a girl is in charge of all this stuff?” His little hand waved behind them toward the building site.
“Absolutely!”
“Even the big crane?”
JD cocked a brow down at Thad. “Don’t you think girls can build stuff as well as boys can?”
Thad considered that very seriously. “I guess so. Samantha in my class is always drawing pictures of buildings and apartments and things. I just never thought about her building them.”
“Wait till you see Erin on one of those big bulldozers,” JD told him. “She’s better than any of those boys at running that thing.”
