Emily's Chance (v5)

by Sharon Gillenwater

  Emily wandered over to the center red brick wall. Each of the outer walls was also made of the same red brick and, like this one, were a foot thick. All appeared to be in good condition. The fire hadn’t reached this block, but the heavy smoke had blanketed the whole town for days. She was surprised the inside of the building wasn’t coated with a layer of black soot. “The building must be well sealed. I don’t see any smoke residue.”

  “Replacing the windows and door helped, along with caulking every nook and cranny. I had the thermostat set just high enough to keep things from freezing, so the heat pump hasn’t been running much. I’d also changed the furnace filter about a week before the fire. It filters out just about everything and did a good job keeping the smoke out.”

  “We’ll have to wash the outside of the building, but everybody in town is doing that. I’m sure I can recruit volunteers from the Historical Society to handle it. Did you have to repair any of the brickwork?”

  “There were some places along the back wall that were missing big chunks of mortar. I studied up on it and used a lime-sand mortar.”

  “Good man.” Emily shot him an approving smile, and he puffed up his chest and grinned back. Cement was a key ingredient in modern masonry mortar and was too hard to use with old bricks. It would cause them to deteriorate.

  “I had to replace the floor, which is a shame. It was inch-thick, wide-plank pine. But a water pipe connecting the radiators sprung a leak a few years ago and flooded the place. It wasn’t occupied, so no one noticed it until someone walking by spotted water seeping out the front door. By then, it had ruined almost the whole floor.”

  “This looks good, though. Is it old wood from another building?”

  Chance shook his head. “It’s new but finished to look old. I debated about using salvaged wood, but I couldn’t find enough of anything I liked.”

  She noted the absence of radiators. There were vents in the floor, indicating forced air heat. “It’s good you took out the radiators. That isn’t the safest way of heating a museum.”

  He sauntered across the room to her side. “I didn’t know it would be a museum when I took them out. Mainly I didn’t want a repeat of the ruptured waterline. I thought it would make a good meeting hall, so I figured it would be nice if the middle was as warm as the sides.”

  “This building has a crawl space big enough to work in? Most don’t.”

  “Even better. It has a basement. Along with running a general store in the other side, Mr. Morse was a whiskey distributor. He supplied saloons and fancy restaurants all across West Texas and the Panhandle.

  “The basement made it fairly easy for me to run the ductwork for the central heating and cooling system. I installed a heat pump along with an auxiliary furnace for really cold winter days.”

  “Like this morning.”

  “This wasn’t too bad. Only a little nippy. Really cold is when it drops down into the teens or lower.”

  Emily pretended to shiver. “This morning was cold enough, thank you.”

  “You’re a wimp.”

  “No, I’m smart. I live where it’s warm all year round. Mostly.”

  He chuckled and nudged back the brim of his blue cap with the local feed store logo on it. “It gets warm here too. Even hot.”

  “That makes it even more important to be able to keep a reasonably controlled temperature. The heat pump will help dehumidify the building too, and that’s good.”

  “Don’t want it smellin’ all musty when folks come in.”

  “And we don’t want things getting moldy.”

  Chance surprised her by grabbing her hand and drawing her closer to his side. Not that she minded. “So what do you think?” he asked. “Will it work?”

  “Absolutely.” She glanced up as a big smile lit his face. Walking toward the back of the building, she tugged him along with her. There were two doors, one single and one double. Opening the single one, she found a small bathroom. The new porcelain pedestal sink and Victorian high-tank toilet with a pull chain were a perfect style for the early days of the building. And a historical museum. “This is beautiful, Chance. You’ve done an amazing job with this whole thing.”

  “Thanks. I enjoyed almost every minute of it. Except for slicing my fingers a few times installing the ductwork.”

  “Ouch! That’s not good.”

  “And there wasn’t anybody here to kiss it and make it better.” He pretended to pout.

  “Poor baby.” She inspected his big, strong hands. “All healed up anyway.”

  “Yeah, but it wouldn’t have hurt nearly as much if a certain pretty lady had been around to offer sympathy.”

  She patted him on the back. “There, there, dear. Now, show me the storeroom. Does the other one have double doors too?”

  “It does. They also have big metal roll-up doors at the loading docks in back. The building is set back far enough from the alley to facilitate truck deliveries. Or in the earliest days, wagon deliveries.”

  “Excellent. That will make it easier to bring in larger items.”

  “There are regular doors for each section too. And extra parking.”

  She smiled up at him. “This just keeps getting better and better.”

  “I’m not sure if the metal doors on the outside have been here all along, but it appears that Mr. Morse had the loading bays built into the building. The storerooms were a later addition, probably by Hampton’s. I assume Mr. Hampton wanted double doors to make it easier to haul the clothing racks out onto the display floor.” Chance opened the right side door. “Or it might have been because they couldn’t get the shoe X-ray thing through a regular door.” He flipped on the light and stepped aside so she could enter.

  Standing in one corner of the storeroom was an old but beautifully maintained X-ray Shoe Fitter. Emily gasped and ran across the room to inspect it. A light coating of dust covered it, but all the parts were there and in good condition. Scuff marks around the bottom and scratches from fingernails or jewelry on the top near the viewing ports told the tale of the hundreds, or perhaps thousands, who had used the machine over a decade or two.

  “I don’t know if it works or not,” said Chance, clearly enjoying surprising her. “After I read some articles about it on the internet, I was too chicken to find out. Didn’t want to risk burning my skin from the radiation. Since I’m full grown, I don’t suppose it would stunt my bones like it could in kids, but who knows what else it might do.”

  “Exactly. Do you have the power cord?”

  “I took it home. I didn’t want to risk somebody finding it and firing the thing up.”

  “Good. That’s where it should stay. Maybelle is going to be so excited when I tell her about it. Did you find anything else lying around?”

  “Some wooden shelves in the basement.” He pointed to the stairs in the corner that led down. “There was a box of decades-old newspapers in the other storeroom. I gave it to Mom. I don’t know if she took it to the old museum or not.”

  “She did. It’s one of the boxes we rescued.” She walked out of the storeroom, standing outside the door as he turned off the light and joined her.

  “Good. I hope they’re useful.”

  “Definitely. It’s always good to have newspapers available for research purposes, as well as displaying them occasionally.”

  He checked his watch and rested his hand at the small of her back, gently urging her toward the other room. “We’d better scope out the rest of it. I have to leave pretty soon.”

  The other side of the building was basically identical to the first, except it had no bathroom. That made the second back room slightly larger. She studied the big metal roll-up door. Like the rest of the building, there were no gaps around it for cold air to whistle in during the winter.

  “Will this room be big enough to prepare for the tea parties?” Chance asked, checking to make sure the door was locked.

  “They don’t plan to do only tea parties.” She looked sideways at him. “Men can hav
e meetings here too.”

  “Don’t need to.” He rubbed the side of his nose with his fingertip. “We might have a confab at the gin, in the pasture, or in a field, or maybe park in the middle of the road to chat.”

  “And at the Boot Stop. I’ve seen a bunch of men there on several occasions.”

  “Most of the time those are just guys having a meal. Or maybe pie and coffee.”

  Resting her hands on her hips, she turned to face him. “You mean there are no men’s groups in this town? No committees or organizations that get together?”

  “Sure there are. But they all already have places to meet.”

  She tapped him lightly on the chest with her index finger. “You’ll need to promote this meeting room to your buddies, Chance.”

  “Yes, ma’am. I don’t know how much good it will do, but I’ll try. Men get kinda set in their ways. And they aren’t impressed by fancy sandwiches and salads.”

  “Do they always need food?”

  “No.” He grinned. “But it helps.”

  “I expect your mother and her friends will come up with something. We don’t want to take business away from the Boot Stop or anyplace else, but there must be a need. Otherwise, the members of the Historical Society wouldn’t have been so enthused about the idea.”

  She walked back into the main room. Chance closed the door to what would become their kitchen and leaned against the wall, watching her. They would have plenty of room for luncheons or meetings. She looked back at him. “Do you have the floor plans on your computer?”

  “Yes. I can print off a copy tonight. Do you want a digital one too?”

  “Both would be great. Once I have an idea of how many tables the society wants to put in here, I can start mapping things out with my CAD software.”

  Strolling over to the museum side, ideas for exhibits – if they found the right things – and where to put them filled her mind. Pausing, she studied the big picture windows at the front. While perfect for a store, they could be detrimental in a museum. “Did you replace these?”

  “Yes. The old ones were single pane. Lousy on energy efficiency. The double pane ones will work a lot better.”

  “They’ll also help keep out moisture, which is important. But sunlight deteriorates things.” Though the building faced north, a beam of sunlight caught a small section of the window and came directly into the room. It probably wouldn’t happen often, but over time it would damage whatever sat there. “We’ll need to have the windows tinted to cut down on any potential UV rays. There should also be blinds for better light control. There should be plenty of room in the society’s budget for that.”

  “Fine with me. What about an office and a workroom?”

  “We could put them along this wall. I don’t think we necessarily have to have separate rooms for either one, but I’ll leave the final decision up to the society.”

  “Do you have much to work with for the displays?”

  “I have a list of things members intend to donate, so I can begin with that. They’re starting to put out the word that we need more, so hopefully we’ll get more contributions.” She put her back to the windows and scanned the open space. “You’re doing a wonderful thing, Chance. Being able to use this building will elevate the museum to another level. It’s going to be good for the community.”

  “Heaven knows we need some good things to happen around here.” He slid his arm around her waist in a light hug.

  Which felt entirely too good.

  “And I didn’t want you to leave,” he added quietly.

  “I’ll be leaving when it’s finished in three or four months.”

  “That gives me time.”

  Turning her head, she looked up at him, her heart doing a little pitter-patter at his words and his intense expression. “For what?”

  “To convince you to stay.”

  Two hours later, while she worked in the bunkhouse, cleaning items from the museum, Emily was still trying to wrap her head around Chance’s words. What had he meant by them? He’d been awfully serious. But he hadn’t elaborated, and she’d been too dumbfounded to push it.

  Sure, she liked him. What woman who drew breath wouldn’t? But he was a heartbreaker. Even his own sister said so, though Emily would never tell him that. She’d had her love rejected once and didn’t intend to open herself up to that kind of pain again. They could be friends, maybe even date casually – if there was anything to do that classified as a date around here. But that’s as far as it would go. As far as she’d allow it to go.

  She had plans. A career she loved and wanted to take to the highest possible level. She was good at her job and had the recommendations to support her claim. All she needed was the opportunity to prove it in a position that could lead to advancement.

  After a brief knock on the door, Chance’s sister, Jenna, opened it, letting her two-and-a-half-year-old son, Zach, come inside ahead of her.

  “Hi, Emily!” The cute little guy raced across the room to where she was working and stopped beside her chair. “What you doin’?”

  Scooping him up in a hug, she received a quick one in return. “I’m still cleaning up things from the museum, trying to get the black smoke off them.” He was a beautiful child with pale blond hair and deep blue eyes with gray starbursts radiating from the center.

  Though he hadn’t inherited Jenna’s red hair and turquoise eyes, he favored her a great deal.

  Like everyone else, Emily adored him.

  He turned in her arms and studied the items on the worktable. “They in the fire,” he said solemnly.

  “Yes, they were, and they got all dirty. But some things have turned out okay.”

  He pointed to a pair of World War II binoculars. “What’s that?”

  “Those are binoculars. They make things that are far away seem bigger and closer. Let’s go over to the window, and I’ll show you.” Setting him on the floor, she stood. He walked beside her to one of the windows. She checked to see that the field glasses were still in focus from the day before, then folded them so the eyepieces were as close together as possible. Picking him up, she balanced him on one hip and held the glasses up to his eyes. “Look through here at your grandma’s porch.”

  Zach looked through them and laughed.

  “Move the binoculars around a little until you see the rocker.”

  As soon as she said it, she realized that was asking too much for such a little kid. Even though she held on, he moved them too much and too fast.

  “No see it.” He looked up at her with a frown. “You help.”

  “Okay. You look through, and I’ll try to move them just a little bit.” She glanced at Jenna, who was trying not to laugh. “This isn’t easy.”

  Jenna grinned and settled in another chair. “Hey, you’re trying. That’s what counts.”

  Emily wasn’t so sure of that. Zach was getting frustrated. “Can you still see the porch?”

  “Yeah.” Though she held the binoculars, his little hands curled around them. “Grandma!”

  Jenna laughed, and Emily joined her. “That’s right. Grandma is on the porch. Does she look close?”

  “Uh-huh.” He started wiggling. “My go see Grandma.”

  Emily set him on the floor and glanced out the window again. “I think she’s coming over here.”

  Jenna stood and walked over to help Zach open the door. “Have you talked to her since you went to see Chance’s building?”

  “Yes. I told her that it should work great. How did you know I went to see it?” Emily followed them out the door, deciding to leave it open for a few minutes and air out the bunkhouse.

  “Mom called.” She paused, making sure that Zach was running straight to his grandmother. “She’s more excited about you and Chance going to look at it together than she is about the building.”

  “Is your mother a matchmaker?”

  “Not usually. At least not too much.” Jenna turned to Emily. “But I’m sure she sees what I do.”

&nbs
p; “Oh?” Emily tried to be nonchalant. “What?”

  “That he’s crazy about you.” Jenna watched her mom and Zach for a minute. They’d stopped to observe something in the grass. “He’s never been this way with anybody else, Emily. He lights up whenever you’re around. I think you like him too.”

  “Yes, I do. But I’m not looking for a serious relationship. My course is laid out.”

  “Sometimes the course we set for ourselves isn’t what God has in mind. Look at Nate and me. Don’t be so set on what you think is right that you miss what God has for you.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind. Did you find a building for the Mission?”

  “I did. It’s on Second and Alder. It’s a thousand square feet bigger than the old one and brick. Lots of parking. And it’s still in an area that will give folks a bit of privacy. Some people would rather not have others know they’re coming to the food bank.”

  “I can understand that. Did you buy it?”

  “No, the owner wants to lease it. His rent is fair, and he has no objections to the changes I want to make. I’ve ordered a big refrigerated display case and a freezer case. So we’ll have plenty of room to keep the dairy products and frozen meats. They’ll be delivered next week, along with the shelving units and worktables. We should have things set up and everything moved from the church in a couple of weeks. I’ll call the district food bank this afternoon and get back on their distribution list.”

  “Do you need me to come help at the church this afternoon?”

  “I think we have enough people lined up,” Jenna said. “Pastor called a little while ago and said some folks from a church in Mississippi rolled in about 10:00 with a rental truck full of canned goods and clothing.”

  “Mississippi?”

  “They said they’d been helped after hurricanes, and they wanted to help somebody else. Money is still coming in every day to the Fire Victims Fund at the bank. It’s amazing.”

  “There are a lot of good people in the world. We sometimes forget that when there are so many bad things on the news.” Even Emily’s parents had sent a thousand dollars to the fund, which she appreciated. Her father and mother had some faults, but they did help many worthy causes.