Emily's Chance (v5)

by Sharon Gillenwater

  Chance shifted in the chair, looking in her direction. His expression softened minutely, warmth filling his eyes when he met her gaze. His mom walked past him to join a couple of people on one of the two big red leather sofas. Though he nodded as Ed wrapped up his story, he suddenly seemed a bit uneasy.

  She was surprised by how well she could read his expressions. But she liked it. She smiled, trying to encourage him, hoping to lessen his concern about both the museum and her. He responded with a whisper of a smile.

  And Emily got a big lump in her throat. She was going to miss him. Not that they’d seen each other much, except in the evenings when he ate supper with his parents and visited with them and her for a while.

  Sue was right. He looked tired, and no wonder. During the fire, he’d started building the fire line with his bulldozer before the Texas Forest Service dozers arrived. And he’d kept at it even when those drivers switched out hours later.

  He’d been totally exhausted when he’d come to the shelter with his father and brother early Wednesday morning to eat and rest. They’d gone back to the fire a few hours later and finally called it a day when fresh teams of firefighters came in that afternoon.

  But he’d been back out there Thursday and Friday to assist 16 with hot spots. He’d taken off Saturday for his sister’s wedding and Sunday to rest, but he’d hit it hard Monday morning. Dealing with such destruction – especially when he probably knew most of those affected – had to take a toll.

  From the first time they met, it had been plain that he was a caring man. During the fire, when he learned she didn’t have any place to go, he’d sent her out to his parents’ house. She’d been there ever since.

  The original arrangement with the Historical Society had been for her to stay in Maybelle Huff’s cute little rental house. But it hadn’t survived the blaze. Thankfully, Emily had been able to throw her own things into her van before she’d raced to the museum. So she hadn’t lost any of her belongings.

  As Sue tried to get folks’ attention and start the meeting, memories of the fire flashed through Emily’s mind. In hindsight, she supposed she’d bordered on lunacy to stay in town and save things from the museum. But the old city council minutes and pictures that told the town’s history from the late 1800s were irreplaceable. She didn’t regret her actions one bit. She just wished she could see the project through.

  “All right, y’all, we need to get this meeting going. Ramona made chocolate cake for us, and the quicker we get finished, the sooner we can eat it.” The group quieted down. “May-belle, are you ready to take notes?”

  “Yes. I already passed out the copies of the minutes from the last meeting.”

  “Good. We’re going to skip reading them out loud for now.” Sue glanced around the room at the twenty people present. Not everyone in the Historical Society had come out to the ranch. Several were dealing with personal losses, and the museum was the last thing on their minds. “I’ll give y’all a chance to bring up questions in a little while. But first, Chance has a report on the condition of the building.”

  Ed cleared his throat. “According to the rules, we need to read the minutes.”

  “I think we can bend the rules a little this evening.” Sue looked at Chance.

  Ed frowned. “You aren’t following the proper procedure. We need to hear the treasurer’s report.”

  “It’s right there in front of you, along with the minutes. Read them silently if you think you have to do it right now.”

  Chance glanced at Emily and rolled his eyes. She smiled back, though she was worried that the meeting might get out of hand even before Chance gave his report. That it would afterward was a given.

  “When I was head of this society, we followed Robert’s Rules of Order.” Ed tapped his finger on the minutes to emphasize his point.

  “And it was a big pain sometimes.” Jim Johnson grinned at Ed. “Bridle your tongue, you grumpy ol’ galoot. We got more important things to cuss and discuss. Let Chance speak his piece.”

  “Thank you, Jim.” Sue smiled sweetly at the middle-aged farmer and pointedly ignored Ed’s scowl. “Chance, go ahead.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” He sat up a bit straighter and scanned the group. “I met the insurance claims adjuster at the museum this afternoon, and we went through the building thoroughly. There is extensive damage in addition to the part that actually burned. As I expect you know, the windows blew out from the heat. We checked several places and found the wiring melted inside the walls, including at the opposite end from the part that burned. So all of the wiring will have to be replaced. There is also a lot of water damage to the Sheetrock. What wasn’t ruined by the water was affected by the heat, so even that Sheetrock will have to be replaced since it won’t be as fire resistant.”

  “The insurance will pay for all of that,” Ed muttered with a bored expression.

  “It will to a certain extent.”

  “Certain extent, hogwash,” Ed blustered. “We have replacement coverage. Have had ever since we bought the building.”

  “Yes, sir, you do. But replacement coverage means the insurance will only pay to restore the building to its condition before the fire. It won’t cover bringing it up to current fire and building codes. With it being so old, that will mean a great deal of additional expense – higher grade wiring, better roofing, a sprinkler system, insulation, more expensive windows, improved plumbing, floor, et cetera. There are also some major structural problems with the foundation, roof, and one wall that weren’t caused by the fire and won’t be covered by insurance.”

  “What kind of problems?” Jim asked.

  “One side of the building has sunk lower than the rest of it. I think the foundation can be raised, but it’s not easy and won’t be cheap. The top of the wall has broken away from the roof and is leaning outward. There is a four-inch crack between the roof and the wall that runs almost the length of the building.”

  “Oh, my! Is it about to fall down?” Sue glanced at Emily. “Emily has been working in there all week.”

  “I think it’s safe enough to get the rest of the things out of there as long as we do it quickly.”

  “I didn’t see a crack.” Emily squirmed a little as almost everyone glanced in her direction. “I would have told you about it if I had.”

  “With all the smoke that’s been hanging in the air, I’m not surprised. Since the wind finally cleared it out this afternoon, the sunshine coming in at the back of the building warned us of the trouble before we even checked back there.”

  “What’s the bottom line, Chance?” Ed asked quietly. His expression reflected everyone else’s concern.

  “A quick preliminary estimate of materials puts the repairs above what the insurance will pay at a minimum of thirty thousand dollars.” Several of the members gasped. “A ballpark range on the labor cost is another twenty-five to fifty thousand, depending on how much volunteers can do.” Chance handed Ed the reports that he’d printed off, listing the damages and the estimated cost of repairs. The older man took a copy and gave the stack to the person next to him. The only sound in the stunned silence was the shuffling of papers as folks passed them around.

  Chance waited a few minutes, giving them an opportunity to peruse the information. He’d added the options suggested by the insurance adjuster.

  “So the insurance man thinks we should just tear it down and start over?” Maybelle frowned at the sheet of paper before she looked up at Chance.

  “He doesn’t think the building is worth repairing, and neither do I. You’d definitely be better off with something else, though I don’t believe starting from scratch would be the most economical. There must be other suitable vacant buildings in town that you could buy for less than you could build. It might even be better to lease something than go to the expense of buying one. That’s something y’all will have to sort out. There is also the possibility the city will want you to demolish the current building, which will take some of your money.”

 
“Not if someone volunteered to do it.” Ed’s eyes narrowed as he turned toward Chance. “Like you.”

  “Sorry, I can’t. My equipment isn’t big enough to handle the job. I might be able to help haul the debris away, but I can’t guarantee it. As soon as the insurance and FEMA checks start coming in, I’ll be swamped building houses.” Chance relaxed against the back of his chair, and the commotion started. So many people began talking at once, Emily didn’t know who said what.

  “What are we going to do now?”

  “We can’t fix it, that’s for sure.”

  “Got to tear it down. Can’t leave an eyesore like that if we want to attract people to town.”

  “We might as well give up.”

  “What are we doing even trying to start the museum now? Maybe we ought to just donate the insurance money to the Fire Victims Fund.”

  The room fell silent with that comment, and everyone focused on Sue.

  She gave them an encouraging smile. “Don’t give up yet. I still think opening the museum will benefit the town. We have some wonderful history that a lot of people who live here don’t even know about. People benefit from being connected to their past. That’s more important than ever now. If people know their heritage, it gives them another link to the town and to each other.”

  “Somehow it seems wrong to spend so much money – even 21 the insurance money – when so many folks are hurting.” Maybelle rested her notepad on her lap. “The little house we lost was a rental and covered by insurance, but we still feel bad about it. I can’t imagine how others who lost their homes feel.”

  Several people murmured their agreement.

  Emily knew she had to speak up. She’d wrestled all day with whether or not to say anything because she didn’t want to give up on the museum. But these people needed to know what they were up against. “We have another problem.”

  That got everyone’s attention.

  “At least half of the museum’s contents can’t be restored. Most of what can be saved are small things that were in the display cases. There is one buffet that cleaned up okay and a couple of chairs. All the other furniture either blistered from the heat, actually burned, or was ruined by the water.”

  “But you saved all the documents and pictures, right?” a soft-spoken lady asked. Emily couldn’t remember her name. In fact, it was the first time she’d heard the tiny, white-haired woman say anything other than a greeting.

  “Yes, we did. I know some of you have furniture or other things at home that you’re willing to donate, but will it be enough to fill a museum?”

  “Depends on how big a place we wind up with.” Ed lightly scratched his jaw. “Between what we had already and what folks here were willing to donate, we figured we had almost enough for the old building. But we hadn’t put out the word yet that we could use donations.”

  “I have an idea,” the quiet, shy lady said.

  “Go ahead, Frannie.” Sue gave the elderly woman her complete attention, as did the others.

  “I think we should look for a building that would hold our museum and also have a meeting room. We might have to partition it off, but throwing up a wall wouldn’t be too hard. My Henry did that in a couple places we lived so each of the kids could have a room of their own. There’s not a good place in Callahan Crossing for meetings, luncheons, or teas and such. At least not anything beyond church fellowship halls, and sometimes they’re hard to reserve.”

  “The meeting room is a great idea, but it wouldn’t be good to have a full kitchen in the same building as the antiques.” Emily hated to squash the idea. “The main problem would be cooking. Even the best vent and exhaust system won’t get rid of all the cooking odors, smoke, and grease, which would damage the things on display.”

  “We’d have to have a special permit for that too.” Maybelle chewed on the end of her pencil. “But if we had the food catered so it arrived hot, or only had cold things, we wouldn’t need a stove. Just a big refrigerator.”

  “If that would work for you, then it’s a wonderful idea.” For the first time all day, Emily felt encouraged, even excited. “You could charge enough rent to cover your expenses and add some money to the Historical Society’s treasury. You could be responsible for the food and charge extra, or let others bring it in for their events. I’ve seen similar things done several places, some with better success than others. It’s crucial to have people responsible for the meeting space and the catering who are dependable and organized.”

  “We could manage that.” Sue beamed at Frannie. “It’s a terrific idea. We’ll have a couple of major things to do first. Ed, would you look for someone to demolish the old building and find out what it will cost?”

  Ed nodded and wrote himself a note.

  “Now, who wants to be on the committee to look for a new building?”

  “I’ll be on it,” Jim said. “We ought to look into where the Ben Franklin store used to be. That building has been vacant for about three years since the furniture store moved out.”

  “But it’s almost as old as the one we had,” another man said. Emily really needed to learn who all these people were if she was going to work with them. She noticed Chance scribbling something on the back of one of the extra reports, his forehead wrinkled thoughtfully.

  “Yes, but I think it’s in better condition.” Jim twisted around to look at the other gentleman. “The last folks who rented it did some remodeling seven years ago before they moved in. It’s a shame they couldn’t make a go of the business, but we’d benefit from their improvements. It might not cost nearly as much to bring it up to snuff. From what I’ve seen, good historical museums – at least the ones that have the best ambiance – are in historical buildings.”

  “Ambiance?” Ed snickered. “Tryin’ to sound all citified on us, Jim?”

  “Naw, I just like the word.” Jim grinned and crossed one leg over his other knee. “Atmosphere and mood say the same thing but don’t sound as good.”

  “It’s true that a museum in a historic building does better, especially in smaller towns.” Emily sensed Chance’s gaze and glanced at him. His small-dog-with-a-big-bone grin jumbled her thoughts for a second. “Uh . . .” She looked back at Jim. “It helps make visitors feel as if they’ve stepped back in time. Was the store on Main Street?”

  “Yes.” Sue nodded. “Frannie, would you like to help Jim check on it?”

  “I’d be delighted to.”

  “Excuse me, Mom.” Chance waited until Sue looked at him. He glanced around the room, eventually focusing on Emily. “I bought the old Morse Building a year ago and have been fixing it up in my spare time, restoring what I could but still bringing everything up to code. I finished it the week before the fire. I didn’t mention it earlier because it’s so much bigger than the one you had that I didn’t think you’d be interested. But with your new plan, it might be perfect. It’s already basically divided in half by a central brick wall, with a large opening in the wall that connects both sides.”

  “Isn’t that where Hampton’s used to be?” Maybelle asked.

  “Yes, ma’am. Originally, there were two separate buildings that shared a wall. After Mr. Hampton bought them, he opened up part of the center wall and used the bricks to build a facade across the false fronts to make it look like one building.”

  “I loved to go in that store when I was a kid. You remember it, don’t you, Frannie?” Maybelle smiled at the older woman.

  “Of course. It was a grand place, with the women’s and girls’ clothes on one side and the men’s and boys’ things on the other side.”

  “And they had one of those machines that x-rayed your feet,” another lady said. “Remember how you’d try on shoes and stick your feet in that X-ray thing? Then you’d look through the viewer and wiggle your toes and see the bones move. It was supposed to help the clerk make sure the shoes fit.”

  “I reckon they could tell if they were too tight, but we could tell ’em that without all that scientific stuff. It
was just a gimmick to get people to buy higher-priced shoes.” Ed shook his head. “No tellin’ how many of us wound up with damaged feet from the radiation. I only got to look at my feet a couple of times. Finally grew tall enough to look through the viewer and about a year later they were outlawed.”

  “I never did see mine. I was too little.” Maybelle sighed wistfully. “But Mama would lift me up so I could see my brother’s.”

  Chance caught Emily’s gaze, his eyes dancing. What was he up to? “Tell us more about the building, Chance.” She smiled at those who had been reminiscing. “For those of us who don’t have such fond memories of the store.”

  He stretched his legs out in front of him. “Each half has one large room that was the display floor and a smaller room at the back used for storage or office space. You could have the museum on one side of the building and the meeting room on the other. I think either of the back rooms would be large enough for a kitchen.”

  “What about the opening between the rooms? Could you close that off and put in a door or something?” Maybelle asked, her pen poised above her notepad.

  “Yes. We could do a single or double door.”

  “It’ll cost a bundle.” Ed slanted him a calculating glance. “Unless you give us a real good price.”

  Chance shrugged lightly. “I’ll do better than that. I’ll lease it to you for a dollar a year, plus utilities.”

  Emily’s jaw dropped. “What?”

  “It’s a great old building right downtown. I don’t have much hope of selling it or leasing it. Even if I closed up the connecting wall, either side is too big for most businesses that might be interested in Callahan Crossing these days. I bought it and fixed it up for fun and because it was worth saving.” He held her gaze. “Can’t let the expert slip through our fingers while y’all waste time searching for another building. Might not be able to get her back again.”

  Emily glanced at his mother to see her reaction to his generous offer. Sue watched them with a speculative glint in her eye. When Chance winked at his mom, a slow smile spread across her face. He turned back to Emily.