“What do you mean?” I asked. “Can’t you just repaint it a different color?”
He shook his head curtly. “I wish it were that easy. The concrete will have to be patched, leveled in a few spots, sanded, washed, and dried thoroughly. Then you’re going to need two coats of stain, and then two of sealer. All in all, it will take me about a week, and that’s rushing it.”
“A week! I can’t afford to close for a week. What about a wood floor instead?” I’d toyed with the idea earlier, especially every time I went into the hardware store and saw those old, scarred pine floorboards they had there.
Young scratched his chin for a moment, and then he said, “The wood planks take two days to acclimate, and while that’s happening, we need to put down a moisture barrier, a new subfloor with sleepers, and plywood before we do any installation. You’re looking at three to four days for that.”
It was still too long. “Is there anything you can do so I don’t have to shut Donut Hearts down at all?”
The contractor got down on one knee and looked at the floor again. “They’ve got something new you might like. We can patch the gouges, level a few of the worst spots of the floor, and then put down floating vinyl floor right on top of it, given that amount of time.”
I didn’t want an ugly floor in my beautiful shop. “I’m not sure I’d be happy with that.”
“You don’t have to make up your mind right now,” he said. “I’ll bring you some samples. You might be surprised by what’s out there these days.”
“Fine, but I still need to approve it first,” I said, though I wasn’t entirely convinced vinyl was a viable option. Still, it might be the best I could do given my time constraints. Besides, if I hated it, I could always have it ripped out and start over, so I couldn’t afford to just dismiss it out of hand, at least not until I’d seen some samples first.
“Is there anything else?” he asked me.
“Just one more thing. When can you get started?” I questioned him.
“This afternoon,” Young said.
“Really? So soon?”
“If that’s a problem, we can push it if you’re not ready for us,” Young said with a frown. “Your mother said this was a priority, so I just assumed you’d like it sooner rather than later.”
“This afternoon would be great,” I said. “Do I need to be here when you’re working?” Jake and I had a date to visit the pawnshops in Maple Hollow, but if I had to push them for my remodel, we could always delay our trip until I’d consulted with the contractor.
“No, we can do the work without you.” He studied his clipboard then nodded. “I’ll bring samples of the shiplap and some floor choices by around ten. If you approve of the selections, we’ll get started after you’re closed for the day.”
“Excellent. Would you like a cake donut and some coffee while you’re here?”
“No offense, but I never cared for donuts, and I don’t drink coffee.”
“Then I guess we’re done here,” I said as I showed him out. I didn’t trust people who didn’t like donuts, but I was willing to make an exception this time. I was getting truly tired of living with the temporary fixes my friends had been so kind to make.
Young paused at the door and looked around one last time. “Snappy shouldn’t have destroyed all of your walls, even if it does make my job easier. It’s clear from the walls and the ceiling that the damage was only in one section, but that was the way the man operated. Why charge you for a nickel if he could stretch it to a dime?”
“Did you know him all that well?” I asked.
“Not really,” Young said. “We didn’t get along. It’s still a shame that he’s dead.”
“You won’t have any problem working in the space where he was murdered, will you?” I asked him.
“No, not one bit.”
I just hoped that he was a better contractor than he was a person.
“Good morning, Suzanne. I’d like a dozen donuts, please. Feel free to choose any you’d like for my selection.”
It was a little after seven, and I was surprised to see one of my suspects, Deloris Mack, in my donut shop ordering my treats so recently after her ex-husband had been murdered there.
“Are you okay being here?” I asked her as I did as she asked.
Deloris looked around the space, seeming to take it all in. “I had no choice. I needed to see where it happened for my own peace of mind. Where exactly did you find him?”
I pointed to the spot where Snappy’s body had been. She gravely took a few steps and stood over it, staring down at the floor at her feet. Running her hands through the air as she wiggled her fingers, it looked as though she were trying to absorb the karma of the crime scene. Either that or playing an imaginary piano. I’d known the day before from her attire that the older woman had a New Age feel to her, and her current behavior did nothing to change my mind. After a few more moments of movement, she seemed to gather the air around her to her chest, and then finally, she shoved it all away from her as she nodded her head once in dismissal. “I’m so glad I came. He’s at peace now.”
“How can you be so sure?” I asked her, honestly curious about such a statement.
“Do you doubt me?” Deloris asked as she glanced furtively around at the exposed wood and bricks of the walls. Was she hoping to find more emeralds hiding there, or was it simply an innocent gesture? I was getting awfully paranoid, and I knew that I had to stop it if I was going to keep conducting my investigation, even though sometimes a little paranoia was a good thing. After all, it had saved my life on more than one occasion.
“No, of course not. I’m the first to admit that there are more things going on in this world than I’ll ever be aware of.”
“How very enlightened of you,” Deloris said in response, clearly pleased by my answer.
I was handing her change to her when Hank Bloch walked in.
They looked surprised to see each other, but they both recovered quickly. “Deloris, you’re a little far away from your candle shop, aren’t you? Did you come by to offer some kind of voodoo hooey to tame the bad juju in the place?” It was immediately clear that the two weren’t big fans of each other.
“Thank goodness not everyone is as Neanderthal about my beliefs as you are.” She scowled at him for a moment before asking, “I’m surprised you were able to find your way out of Maple Hollow. What brings you here?”
“I started to feel bad about not finishing this job for Suzanne,” Hank said. “After all, Snappy took this on, and we were partners through thick and thin.” He whistled softly as he checked out our walls. “I hadn’t realized he was doing a full demolition in here. It’s going to take more work than I was expecting.” Was that a look of disappointment on his face as he noticed that all of the studs were now exposed? Funny, but Young had been elated that he wouldn’t have to match old plaster. Perhaps they were motivated by different intentions.
“It is what it is,” I said as noncommittally as I could manage.
“Well, I can’t get to you this week, but I can make time next week for sure, three at the outside.”
“Thanks, but I’ve already found someone else,” I told him.
He looked surprised. “That was quick.”
“What can I say? It needs to be done.” I wasn’t about to tell him that my mother had expedited the process.
“Okay, if you’re sure,” he said. “I just wanted to check in and see if I could lend a hand here, but if you’ve got it covered, I’m going back to my other job.”
“Ripping off widows and children, I presume?” Deloris asked him.
“Are you still here?” Bloch asked her, trying his best to act surprised, though she’d clearly been standing there the entire time. “You know, when a woman like you reaches a certain age, she starts to become invisible
to most men.”
I could see that Deloris was firing up a response, and I knew that I needed to step in. “Thanks for coming by, both of you. Deloris, enjoy those donuts. Mr. Bloch, thank you for your concern. I hope you both have better days today than you each did yesterday.”
That seemed to take the wind out of their sails, and they both left grumpily. I didn’t care if they resumed their argument outside, though I would have preferred it not being in front of Donut Hearts, but it was still better than having to hear it inside myself.
“What was that all about?” Emma asked as she poked her head out of the kitchen after they were gone.
“Just two customers who couldn’t get along with each other,” I said, not really answering her question. I wasn’t about to tell her and, by proxy, perhaps her father, that two of my prime suspects had just made it a point to examine the interior of my donut shop, regardless of what their stated reasons might have been.
I was wondering if we’d see Snappy’s son or his girlfriend anytime soon when the front door opened later, and to my delight, Young walked in with batches of things under his arms. Glancing at the clock on the wall, I saw that it was two minutes until ten.
He’d kept his word so far, which was a very good sign indeed.
“I got those samples like I promised,” the man said as he laid his pile of things on the display counter. I would have rather he’d used a table, but in his defense, we were still getting by with folding chairs only, so there were none in sight.
“Let’s see what you’ve been able to come up with,” I said.
He pulled out two small sections of shiplap boards, both painted white and antiqued exactly like they’d been in my picture. “They fit together like this,” he said as he butted the two long edges together. He’d randomly sanded the boards after they’d been painted, and he held them against the wall to show me the full effect.
I marveled at just how good they looked there and knew instantly that it had been the right choice.
“Perfect. If the rest of the boards look this good, we’ll be in great shape.”
“They will,” he said. Was that the hint of a grin on his face upon receiving my approval? Next, he took a sample of gray, nondescript vinyl flooring and laid it on the concrete.
“I hate it,” I said, ready to dismiss the idea entirely.
“Hang on. I’ve got more options,” he protested.
“Fine, but I can tell you now, they aren’t going to work.”
Young pulled another long, thin sheet from the stack and replaced the earlier one. It featured a weathered gray wood-grain print, and from where I was standing, it was difficult to tell that it wasn’t the real thing.
I knew in an instant that this was the floor I needed for Donut Hearts. “That’s perfect. How do the seams look?”
“You’ll never see them unless you get down on your hands and knees,” he said. “They snap together like some kind of kid’s hobby kit, they’re tough, and they’ll float on the concrete subfloor like a dream. We won’t even have to prime the concrete after we get it all leveled out with quick-drying cement.”
“Sold.”
“Good. That’s all I’ll need then, except a key to the place.”
I was reluctant to hand over a key to Donut Hearts to anyone, particularly someone I didn’t really know, and he must have seen something in my expression. “Listen, if you’re uncomfortable giving me one, that’s fine. If you want to stay here while we work, it won’t be a problem. You won’t be able to get in our way, though. Otherwise, you need to let me have a key. Don’t worry. You can trust me.”
“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard that before, usually to my regret,” I said with a wry smile.
“You’ve never heard it from me, though. It’s your call, though.”
I was being silly, and I knew it. I walked over to the register, hit No Sale, and retrieved our spare key from the drawer. “Here you go.”
“Thanks,” he said as he pocketed it and collected his samples. “I’ll take good care of it.” As he gathered up his samples, he grinned at me as he said, “I’ll be back.”
“I’m looking forward to it,” I said, and then he was gone. The interior walls were going to be perfect, and I had a hunch the floor would be fine, too. Vinyl wasn’t as durable as concrete by any stretch of the imagination, but it would be quick to install and should be easy to care for.
It wasn’t the ideal answer to the situation, but it was certainly the most expedient one that would still yield acceptable results.
It might not be everything a girl ever dreamed of, but it was easily a compromise that a grown woman could accept.
Chapter 11
“Hey, Suzanne, you aren’t closed yet, are you?” Gabby Williams asked me loudly as she stuck her head in the door. In a softer voice, she implored, “Please say yes.”
I looked behind Gabby and saw half a dozen kids from two to ten outside, all peering in through my Plexiglas window.
“You’re in luck; we’re still open. Come on in,” I said loudly with a grin.
She shot me an evil look. “Suzanne.”
“What? I’m sorry, I couldn’t quite hear that last bit you said.”
It was too late for her to counter my loud reply. The kids all swarmed into the donut shop and immediately pressed their faces against the display case. Emma and I would have to do double duty on the glass, but it was worth it seeing Gabby so ill at ease. I’d heard that her extended family was in town for New Year’s, and these must be from the youngest generation.
They were a mob all by themselves, but Gabby wasn’t going to go down without a fight. In a loud voice that would have done a master sergeant proud, she said loudly, “Don’t touch the glass. Now line up, from oldest to youngest.”
“Aunt Gabby?” one of the smallest of the children asked. “I don’t know how many I am.”
“You’re two, Delaney, so you go to the back of the line,” Gabby said.
Anyone who had ever spent time around small children could have predicted the outcome. It was hard to imagine that loud a wail could come out of such a small package. “It’s okay, Delaney. You can have my spot,” one of the older girls said.
“Sydney, we’ll do things just as I said,” Gabby insisted.
The ten-year-old barely looked at her great aunt. “Then she can have my donut.” Sydney got down on one knee. “Go ahead, Delaney. Pick one.”
“That’s not fair,” another little girl said from behind the line. “I’m older than she is.”
“Not by much,” a young boy said.
It was complete and utter chaos, and it was all I could do not to smile. Gabby Williams had been known to strike fear into the hearts of residents young and old in April Springs, but she couldn’t handle a pack of children without losing complete control.
It was time to step in, not so much to help Gabby as it was to keep these kids from all breaking down into tears.
I walked around from behind the counter and asked, “Who likes donuts?”
“Me!” they all shouted in unison. In Gabby’s defense, they were quite loud when they were all talking at the same time.
“The first rule here is that there will be no donuts for anyone who shouts,” I said with a wicked grin.
Gabby looked at me as though I’d lost my mind, but I’d dealt with grade school classes full of small kids, so I at least had an idea about what I was doing.
“Now, let’s see hands. Donut lovers?”
Every hand shot up, and three kids even put two in the air, but they were all as silent as church mice.
It was nice to see the newfound respect in Gabby’s gaze, but if I let her know that I’d seen it, it would vanish quickly enough.
“Very good,” I said. It was time to strike quickly
now, while I still had them. “We have glazed donuts, chocolate cake donuts, and lemon iced donuts left.” I could see them gearing up for arguments about who got what, so I added quickly, “I don’t know how you’re used to doing it, but at the donut shop, we go by height.”
One of the older boys looked smugly at the others. He’d clearly gotten an early growth spurt and was used to holding it over the others, so it was time for my particular twist. “We start with the shortest and work our way up.”
There were clouds on the horizon on a few of their faces, but the prospect of protesting and losing their donuts altogether managed to keep them in check, at least for the moment. “Emma, I need some help out here,” I called out to my assistant.
She trotted right out, and after she nodded a quick hello to Gabby, she took in all of the children milling around. I warned her not to say a word with a quick glance, so she bit back whatever comment she’d been about to make and asked, “What can I do for you, boss?”
“I’ll call the donut out, you bag it, throw in a paper napkin or two, and we’ll serve them to go, since we don’t have enough seats for this crew. Is that okay with you, Gabby?”
She was stuck, and she knew it. If they ate at my shop, I’d be the one cleaning up the mess, but if she protested that they couldn’t get them to go, there would be no donuts, and if that happened, there were going to be some very unhappy children in my shop. I knew Gabby would make me pay for the fun I was having later, but it would be worth every second of it for now. “That will be fine,” she said grimly.
“Okay then, we’re good to go,” I said as I leaned over and spoke to Delaney. “What would you like?”
She smiled at me as though I were Santa and the Easter Bunny all wrapped up in one. “Chocolate.”
Emma held up her end, and I handed Delaney her bagged donut. I went to the next little boy in line, and so on and so on, until I got to the very end. “Glazed, please,” the young man said with a brief flash of a smile. I had to fight the urge to give him two for being such a good sport, but I knew if I did that, the rabble would be roused again.
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