JD shoved and the door swung out, hitting the side of the building with a loud bang. She bolted for her car, jumped in, and locked the doors. Cranking the engine, and her hand on the gear shift for a rapid reverse out of the area, she stared at the house to see if anything was going to come out after her. The schoolhouse door remained open, but nothing had followed her outside.
Breathing deeply to calm herself, she began to feel stupid. Someone was playing a joke on her, she realized. That was the only conclusion she could come up with. One of the contractors must have stayed behind and was still poking around upstairs. He probably thought it would be funny to give the female project manager a good scare. She expected him to come out any moment, laughing. She gritted her teeth and waited to see who it was. Then she’d know who not to award the contract to. A moment later, she noticed that there were no other vehicles in the parking lot.
***
“What are you doing Matthew?” Nathan asked as he suddenly appeared next to Matthew in the truck – the scent of rain preceding his unexpected visit. Matthew tightened his grip on the wheel.
“I’m not breaking any rules,” Matthew said as he drove along the highway.
“Getting a little too friendly with the project manager, there.” Nathan said casually.
“How else am I going to get the bid so I can get on the project site? Let me do my job.” he growled.
“You can still do your job without getting friendly with the project manager,” Nathan said authoritatively.
Matthew rolled his eyes and looked at Nathan askance, “Jealous?”
Nathan stiffened and gave Matthew a hard glare, “She’s Innocent, Matthew. Let’s keep it that way, ok?”
“I know the plan,” Matthew snapped.
They rode in silence for a time before Matthew mumbled, “Sure is a lot of trouble for paying back what we stole all those years ago, don’t you think?”
“Not this again. Don’t start,” Nathan retorted.
“You got me into this,” Matthew said.
“We both chose into it,” Nathan shot back, “Not my fault we angered a Fallen.”
Matthew sighed. “Doesn’t matter. When the job is done, then we get to move on, right?”
“Yes.”
Matthew focused on the road ahead, “Good, cause I’m sick of helping other people move on while I’m stuck here.”
“You and me both, little brother,” Nathan answered.
Chapter 6
Back at her apartment, JD dropped her purse and the extra bid packages on the coffee table then collapsed on the sofa. She was still shaken by the incident at the schoolhouse. It was possible that some homeless person had taken up residence in the abandoned building. Not a big problem. All it took was a police officer to come over and escort them from the property. That had to be the reason. Somewhere, there was an entrance to that secret room, maybe from above, or below, and someone had taken up residence there. It could even have been just rats from the under the floorboards. Nothing to worry about. An exterminator would take care of all that.
A glance at her watch alerted her that it was nearly 10:00 am and she still had a long list of phone calls to make. Laying her list on the kitchen counter, she proceeded to make the calls from the antique rotary phone on the wall next to the kitchen door.
The first call was to the police station in Bicknell−two towns away. The receptionist stated they would send a deputy to drive by and check the place out.
The second call was to the office trailer rental company. She called to check on the delivery date of her office trailer, which should have arrived on Wednesday. They told her the delivery truck had broken down and should be at the site by the following Monday. She could deal with that.
The third call took longer than the first two combined. JD drummed her fingertips on the counter as she waited for an annoying automated prompt system that wasn’t programmed to handle rotary phones. After several long moments of listening to the Brandenburg Concertos six times, she was finally connected to a young man with a thick accent who sounded as if he was working remotely in the snowy landscape of Antarctica.
“I need internet and phone service,” JD shouted into the receiver above the static. She spent the next hour trying to get a technician to come out sooner rather than later to hook up her trailer next week to service. Just as she hung up, the phone rang for the first time since her arrival. It’s unexpected and unfamiliar ring made her jump. She lifted the receiver.
“This is JD,” she said guardedly.
“Julia, what’s wrong girl? I got your message. You sounded desperate! Did you break a nail or something?” It was Missy. She was the only one who could call her by her given name, aside from Gramps. They had been best friends since junior high school, before JD had switched to using her initials.
“No, don’t be stupid,” JD said, but glanced over her nails to check anyway. “I just needed to hear a friendly voice.”
“Ugh, is that all? I thought you had called for some advice, and I would have told you to go out and have fun – meet people, go out on a date, but you never listen to me. How can you go through life being so ridged and prudish all the time? I mean, seriously, you need to loosen up.”
“Shut up, Missy,” JD interrupted her. “I really don’t need relationship advice right now.”
“I’m just giving you a hard time.” Missy laughed.
After a moment of silence from JD, she sheepishly confessed, “I did meet someone though.”
Missy screamed in excitement then chanted, “Tell me, tell me, tell me!”
“It’s nothing,” JD said. “He was one of the contractors that showed up to the bid meeting this morning. He’s gorgeous, but really annoying.”
“That’s too bad. I mean, the only woman out there on a site surrounded by lots of burly men? You have it so tough. What’s his name?”
“Matthew Rigo. I don’t think I’ll hire him, though.”
“Why not?” Missy asked, aghast. “Just because he is cute?”
“He’ll distract me.”
Missy laughed. “He must be really hot for you to say that.”
“Gramps would kill me,” JD muttered.
“If you don’t go broadcasting it, I won’t tell a soul at the office. Rick will never know. Your grandfather will never know. You’re going to be there for almost a year−what else are you supposed to do on the weekends? No one is going to blame you for making friends and having some fun,” Missy said.
“Maybe,” JD replied.
“All work and no play…”
“It’s just so unprofessional to fraternize with the hired help,” JD argued, but it was only half-hearted. Missy was right. Gramps would never know. He wasn’t there to intimidate and scare off potential boyfriends. And who cared what Rick thought anyway?
Missy must have sensed her resistance fading. “I want to hear all about how things are going, and I’m not just talking about your weekly project reports,” she said.
“Maybe I won’t tell you anything,” JD teased, and then laughed as Missy squealed with objection.
“So cruel!”
“I’ll talk to you later. Get back to work!” JD said and hung up.
JD went to her bedroom, flopped onto her bed, and wondered about her future and if Mr. Right would ever make an appearance. If he did, would she know it? Construction was in her blood. She was practically raised on construction sites. Gramps’ company would one day be hers, if she could prove herself worthy. It would be a huge responsibility, she knew. Gramps spent all his time in the office or out on the project sites. He didn’t have time for outside relationships. How could she expect to divide her time between her passion in construction and personal relationships?
She rolled onto her back and stared up at the ceiling envisioning the future when Gramps would retire in a few years. Rick would mentor her and act as consultant−much as he had done for Gramps the past fifteen years. If she got involved with someone now, how would it affect her dr
eams for a successful career in construction? Would Mr. Right expect her to settle down and raise a family? JD closed her eyes and tried to picture someone in her life and Matthew’s face flashed through her mind. All work and no play, Missy had said. JD snorted. Who said she was looking for Mr. Right anyway?
Chapter 7
JD was up and dressed for a run the next morning at 6:00. The small desert town was quiet in the cool, early morning air. JD checked her watch and made sure her cell phone was clipped on securely, although she didn’t know why she bothered. Out of habit she supposed. She started off with a walk to warm up, heading east along the main road until she came to Center Street, then she turned left. The schoolhouse was just up the way - a beautiful building against the backdrop of red and cream-colored cliffs.
As she started to run toward the schoolhouse, something yellow darted across the road in front of her away from the schoolhouse interrupting her wandering musings. It was a cat. JD smirked. At least it wasn’t black.
Birds fluttered overhead and she spotted what she thought was a fox as it dove for cover behind a clump of silvery green bushes. The air was incredibly clean and smelled sweetly of sagebrush and pinion pines. The wild landscape soon had her full attention as insects buzzed by, and a rabbit darted behind a rock. Prairie dogs sat motionless on top of some rocks in the distance, greeting the sun that rose majestically above the red cliffs.
JD nearly tripped over her own feet as she became preoccupied with the scenery and wildlife. It nearly overwhelmed her senses and soon she was just walking again, taking in the wildness. She wanted to absorb everything about this place and now understood why Rick liked running the St. George Marathon every year. He said the desert made him feel alive−nothing else in the world could compare to the feeling of running through nature’s most rugged, prickly, gritty, and inhospitable landscape that at the same time was so invitingly beautiful.
This place was so alien to everything she knew back home, JD felt like she was on another planet. She was mesmerized. She finally just stopped altogether and stood in the road as the sun climbed higher into the sky, unrolling a golden carpet of light across the expanse of rugged and achingly beautiful landscape.
She didn’t know how long she stood there, slowly turning, taking it all in, before her alarm went off, reminded her she needed to get ready for the workday. JD turned and reluctantly jogged back to her apartment, sucking in the sweet morning air to fill her lungs. She felt so alive!
Refreshed after a hot shower and dressed in cream-colored dress pants, white blouse, and brown, snake-skin heels, JD hurried downstairs to the General Store to find breakfast. Pulling open the warped screen door, she felt like she had stepped back in time to when visitors to this lonely town arrived on horseback and wore guns at their hips.
The store had hardwood floors, wood paneled walls, and a rough-cut timber ceiling. Narrow aisles of assorted goods ran parallel to the front of the store on her left. To her immediate right, an elderly Asian woman nodded a greeting as she sat behind a waist-high counter top reading a magazine.
JD glanced about, looking for the refrigerated section, and glimpsed it toward the back where a small deli/bakery was tucked into the corner.
Much to her relief, there were bananas, yogurt, and juice available. She gathered her breakfast items and continued to the deli/bakery to peruse its offerings. A few bagels later, she returned to the front counter and smiled at the Asian woman - her name badge read Liu.
“Good morning,” JD said as she piled her selections onto the counter. The old woman said nothing as she rang up each item by punching its price into the old-fashioned cash register. JD suppressed a snort at the antiquity of the device.
After JD paid for her groceries, the woman at the register leaned toward her and said, “You remodeling the Schoolhouse?”
“Yes,” JD answered.
The Japanese woman glanced about her and seeing that no one near enough to hear her, she said, “Be careful. Don’t be alone. The Schoolhouse has a dark and dangerous secret.”
JD stared at her, but the woman said nothing more as she leaned back, picked up the magazine, and began to read, giving her no more notice. JD left, feeling a chill despite the dry, desert heat that enveloped her the moment she stepped outside the General Store.
***
Matthew watched JD leave the General Store, a puzzled look on her face. At the register, Liu turned and watched JD go, then looked through the window across the street to where Matthew lingered by the large cottonwood trees. Even though he knew she couldn’t see him, she seemed to look right at him. Some humans, he had learned, were entirely too aware for their own good. He’d have to be careful around that one. As for the project manager, he had to be extra careful. Matthew jogged across the street, heedless of the car that zoomed past, unconcerned about his safety while in his concealed form. Getting into the building was lots easier now that he had an invitation to be there.
Chapter 8
Breakfast on the lawn in front of the Schoolhouse seemed like a tranquil way to begin the work day, JD decided, despite what that old woman at the General Store had said. JD refused to entertain the idea that there was anything mysterious about the Schoolhouse. It was a vagrant that had knocked on the wall the other day. For all she knew, the local Deputy had already gone inside and scared off the trespasser.
She spread a small throw blanket on the lawn and pulled out her laptop to review her to-do notes and contracts as she ate. She didn’t expect to get much done until all the bids had come in, but she might as well stay busy reviewing the budgets for the assorted contract projects that needed to be done. The budget was decent, but demolition, framing, and electrical work is very expensive, and she had to track every dime.
Her goal was to finish under budget, by a lot, and early. Accomplishing this would make her value as a project manager very attractive to investors considering other projects in the future with Gramps’ company. Gramps was nervous about letting her handle this project, and she didn’t intend to fail him. She intended to astonish him. Perhaps she might be just a tad optimistic as it was still too early in the process to know for sure how everything was going to play out. She had made allowances in the time table to account for weather delays, sick days, holidays, and an extra two weeks for setbacks, and she also had a contingency budget in case something went sideways.
When it came to the client, Gramps had taught her to always under-promise and over-deliver. It made the client that much happier when things turned out better than what they expected. Of course, if things didn’t go as smoothly or quickly as the project manager privately intended, the client was none the wiser.
As she sat there enjoying her bagels and fruit, she felt the hairs on the back of her neck raise and she quickly turned to look over her shoulder, expecting someone there. There was no one. She scanned the field behind her for any sign that someone might have been standing behind her, but again, saw not a single person. The day seemed eerily quiet, and she returned her attention to the schoolhouse, picturing the finished project. A three-story, red stone building with dormers on the third floor, against the backdrop of the surrounding cliffs of the desert and the blinding blue skies, it would look magnificent.
She was already impatient to get started on this project. There was so much to do to get organized. Her favorite part of project management was the organization. Organizing information on the spreadsheets, in her planner, her calendar, her room, her desk, her life−it gave her a sense of control, direction, and fulfillment. She felt like the conductor of a large orchestra. But instead of a wand, she had a roll of blueprints that she used to control the whole process; that, and very detailed contracts.
A sound erupted from inside the Schoolhouse, instantly derailing her train of thought. She snapped out of her reverie and looked toward the Schoolhouse. The noise came again sounding like someone was throwing bricks at a wall hard enough to obliterate them.
JD got to her feet and crossed the lawn to the
front door. Had she been so lost in her thoughts that she hadn’t noticed someone going inside? Opening the door, she took a step inside and promptly caught her heel between two warped floor boards, halting her forward momentum abruptly. She pitched forward, trying to catch the door frame, and just missed it. She fell flat onto her chest with a solid, aching thud. Dust flew up around her. With her arms splayed to either side of her, she lay there for a few seconds, too stunned to even think. A wave of embarrassment warmed her cheeks. She pushed herself up and yanked her foot free from the shoe that was stuck firmly between the floor boards. Dusting herself off, she discovered a tear in the knee of her brand-new pant suit. She groaned. The crashing noises continued somewhere upstairs. JD eyed the staircase and decided against going up to investigate.
“Hello?” she called out. She was not exactly afraid that someone was up there, just alarmed. JD glanced about looking for something to use as a weapon should it prove to be a dangerous encounter with a vagrant, but saw nothing that would be of any use.
“You’re trespassing on private property,” she shouted above the continued noise as she headed for the makeshift staircase. “You need to leave.”
The noises stopped instantly. There was no response. For a long moment, she just stood there, feeling the hot wind blow against her back through the open door. She watched the stairs to see if someone would come down.
A horrendous crash shook the entire building. Without a moment’s hesitation, she spun on her bare heel and dashed out the door, losing her other shoe in the process. Years of growing up in the earthquake zones in California had taught her to respond instantly to any shaking – inside or outside of a building, especially if that shaking was strong enough to cause the building to crumble at any moment. She didn’t stop running until she got to her car and jumped inside. Then, she remembered her blanket and laptop still lay on the grass fifteen feet from the front door. She watched the building, waiting for any aftershocks, waiting to see if it would collapse. She had experienced her fair share of earthquakes in California, but this wasn’t like any quake she had ever felt. Something about it seemed too unnatural. There was no roar, no build-up−nothing.
If I Fall... Page 4