The Summer Sisters (Juniper Springs Book 2)

by Sara Richardson

  “Sassy?” Peg Conway waved at her from across the street. “It is you! You’re back!”

  Lord have mercy. Sassy looked to her left and then to her right, but it was too late. She had no place to hide, and the woman had already stopped traffic to make a beeline across the street.

  “We weren’t expecting you back in town for another month.” Peg ripped off her bedazzled sunglasses and seemed to inspect her with narrowed brown eyes. “What’s wrong? What happened? Are you pale? You look pale.”

  “I’m not pale,” she corrected patiently. “I’m Irish.” Peg, on the other hand, had ancestors from Greece, and the woman earned a golden sun-kissed appearance every summer.

  “Well, thank the good Lord you’re back early.” The woman prodded her underneath the antique emporium’s awning as though she worried someone would see the two of them talking in broad daylight. Even if someone did see them, they likely wouldn’t believe their eyes given the way she and Peg used to bicker when they’d both been on the town council two years ago. Peg and Harold owned the bank in town and somehow believed that qualified them to run things the way they saw fit.

  Money or no money, Sassy had never had a problem standing up to them.

  “You’re not going to believe what’s happened.”

  That happened to be Peg’s favorite line. While her husband held the role as president of the bank, his wife had earned the title of queen gossiper in town.

  “Mayor Lund up and quit!” The woman didn’t wait for a response. “She walked out of the office two days ago without even bothering to give two weeks’ notice.” Peg gave a good look around as though this news hadn’t already traveled within a hundred-mile radius of where they stood.

  Ha. By now, even the moose in the woods likely knew about the mayor’s untimely departure. Especially with Peg on the loose.

  “Rumor has it she met someone online.” The woman’s whisper somehow seemed louder than her speaking voice.

  “Well, good for her.” Lord knew poor Mayor Lund wasn’t going to meet someone in this town. Sassy could attest to the fact that there weren’t any eligible bachelors over the age of fifty. Mayor Lund was only a few years younger than her and had gone through a terrible divorce a few years back. She deserved to be happy.

  “It’s not good for us.” Peg went into full argument mode, one hip kicked out, arms crossed like she was standing behind her head councilwoman podium at the town hall. “Not at all. I’m sure you’ve heard Ned Pearson passed away…”

  Sassy hadn’t heard boo while she’d been on vacation, but that likely wouldn’t matter. The more she spoke, the longer this conversation would go on, and Peg wasn’t helping her headache any.

  “Ned was going to leave that nice plot of land he owned next to the museum to the town trust.” The woman’s eyes widened and narrowed with the different inflections in her tone, adding dramatics to the bits of gossip. “We were going to create a community garden there, but instead that horrible Graham Wright talked poor old Ned into leaving the land to the museum instead.”

  That she could believe. Graham had moved to town six years ago to take over as the president of the Juniper Springs Geology Museum. From the start he’d been more concerned about preserving the building and grounds than he had about making the museum a fun and educational gathering place for tourists and the town. She’d even heard he’d kicked someone out for touching the glass on a display case. Needless to say, museum attendance had dropped nearly in half.

  “Mayor Lund was going to challenge the will and get that land back for the town,” Peg continued, uttering a humorless laugh. “Obviously that’s not going to happen. So we need an interim mayor to continue this battle. And you’re the perfect one for the job.”

  Those words thrust Sassy into sudden clarity. “Me?” She couldn’t have heard right. “Why me?” Peg had hardly agreed with anything she’d said back when they’d served on the town council. They’d argued on just about every issue—from the budget to the town’s goals to the community growth and infrastructure. “Why can’t you be the mayor?” Peg wanted to be the one pulling the strings anyway. Wasn’t that why she’d spent the last ten years serving on the city council in the first place? Well, that and the woman was bored.

  A lengthy aggravated sigh made it obvious Peg had considered the possibility. “It’s no secret that my…um…charitable involvement in the town hasn’t been well received by everyone.”

  Or by anyone, really. But there were certain ways small towns like this one worked. Harold had amassed enough wealth to make sure he could contribute to all of the various causes in Juniper Springs—the Rotary Club, the schools, the youth baseball and soccer teams, the community improvement programs. While no one particularly liked Harold and Peg, most everyone in town was also afraid to lose funding and donations for one program or another. Everyone except for Sassy, that was.

  “I know we haven’t always seen eye to eye on things.”

  Sassy snorted a little. She couldn’t help it. Didn’t this beat all? Peg begging her to be in charge?

  “But think about it, Sassy.” The woman’s face broke into an encouraging smile. “You would be the perfect mayor. Everyone here loves you. You have no conflicts of interest, and you’ve always wanted the best for this town. This is your chance to really contribute. On an interim basis, of course.”

  All true. And yet…“You can’t just make me the mayor. There has to be an election, a process—”

  “I can make you interim mayor,” Peg interrupted. “I can call an emergency session early this evening, and the council won’t hesitate to approve you.” She pulled her phone out of her sleek leather purse and started to tap on the screen, already setting her agenda in motion. “This is the perfect next step for you anyway. Now that you’ve given up the inn, what were you planning to do with your life?”

  That was the question. The one she hadn’t been able to answer for herself for the last two months. She’d enjoyed the traveling, the new experiences, the food, but being gone so long only proved she wasn’t meant to be a professional tourist. She thrived with connections, community, family, and now that Rose and Dahlia and her sweet great-niece and great-nephew were here, this was the only place she wanted to be.

  She might be turning seventy. She might be facing a health struggle. But she still had something to offer the world.

  “The meeting is on the calendar.” Peg dropped her phone back into her bag and raised her eyebrows hopefully. “You don’t have to make a long-term commitment if you don’t want to. I’ll set up an election later this fall. I promise.”

  Mayor Sassy. Madam Mayor Sassy. It did have kind of a nice ring to it. She could do this. She could champion a community garden in her beloved hometown and leave her mark on this place for future generations to come.

  Peg clasped her hands in front of her chest, her face flushing as though she was holding her breath. “What do you think?”

  “I think I’d best go home and unpack my suitcases.” She’d been home all of one hour and she was about to become the new mayor of Juniper Springs.

  Chapter Four

  Rose

  How hard could it be to fix a tiny leak in the roof?

  Rose stared up at the ladder she’d leaned against the side of the Mistletoe Cabin and tried to decide the best way to get her supplies to the top. There were the extra shingles she’d found in the garage. And then the roofing cement the online video had recommended.

  Thankfully, she’d located a pair of old jeans in one of the boxes her aunt had stored in the attic. They happened to be men’s Levi’s, and the waist was about four sizes too big, but she’d managed to secure them in place with a leather belt that certainly did not match her beat-up tennis shoes. But who cared what she looked like. She had a job to do.

  And, actually, men’s jeans weren’t half bad. This style had all kinds of pockets where she’d stored her tools—a hammer, a box of roofing nails, a small crowbar. Now she just had to lug all this stuff up th
ere without losing her balance.

  Marigold barked out her encouragement from a few feet away.

  “Believe me, I wish you could come up with me too.” When she’d first gotten the idea in her head to fix the leaky roof before Tony showed up tomorrow morning, it had seemed pretty simple. The online video had shown a step-by-step tutorial of a lumberjack-type guy replacing a few compromised shingles, but he’d likely had a whole crew helping him set up before filming.

  “I don’t need a whole crew.” She was a mountain girl now, damn it. There was no reason to waste Tony’s time with a minor leak when they had much bigger things to tackle tomorrow.

  That in mind, Rose secured the shopping bag with the shingles and cement onto her arm and then began the climb up the ladder one rung at a time, the hammer and crowbar in her pockets weighing her down.

  At least it was a nice day. The sun sat directly overhead, giving a metallic sheen to the blue sky. A light breeze trembled through the aspen leaves surrounding the cabin, making her comfortable in the sweatshirt she’d worn to protect her arms from getting scratched.

  “Woof!” Marigold put both paws on the highest rung she could reach and whined.

  “I know, girl.” Rose took the dog almost everywhere she went these days. “You can spot me from the ground.” Thankfully the Mistletoe Cabin was only one story, so even if something did go wrong, she wouldn’t have that far to fall.

  Eyes straight ahead. No falling. Rose made it to the top with only a slight quiver in her knees and carefully pulled herself onto the roof on all fours, heaving the bag next to her.

  “Okay, first things first.” She awkwardly shifted to her butt and started to organize the supplies, lining up the new shingles and setting the plastic bucket of cement to the side.

  She had identified the general area of the leak from analyzing the water damage on the cabin’s ceiling, and now she could see where a few of the shingles had curled and separated—likely thanks to the windstorm they’d had a while back.

  The roofs on the cabins had been one thing she’d thought they wouldn’t have to worry about, since Sassy had them all replaced six years ago. Rose should’ve known better. There wasn’t one thing she hadn’t had to worry about around here. But it was worth it.

  She lifted her head to scan the property she now owned with her sisters…and with Colt. Four equal shares to keep her aunt’s legacy in the family.

  She’d spent summers swimming and canoeing in the glistening pond, the sun warming her skin. She and Dahlia and Magnolia wandered in and around the trees, making up stories about a fairyland they had yet to find. And now it was up to her to bring the magic back to this place. To give her niece and nephew, and countless other kids who would come visit with their families, a place to play and dream and create and get away from the screens that always seemed to be positioned firmly in front of their faces.

  Leave it to her to turn roofing into a global quest for the greater good. Rose shimmied the hammer and crowbar out of her pockets. She’d never used a crowbar before, but how difficult could it be?

  First step? Remove the damaged shingles. She went to work, prying and pulling against them with the bar. Yes! One came loose and popped off, flipping onto her leg. See? She could totally do this.

  Rose picked up the shingle to move it aside, but it stuck to her fingers. Wow, that glue made a mess. She carefully secured the crowbar under her arm while she tried to detach the shingle from her skin. “Ow.” It stung exactly like ripping off a Band-Aid. The shingle fell to her lap, landing sticky side down, and attached itself to her jeans. Of course.

  Rose went to pull it away and lost the crowbar in the process. The tool rolled down to the edge of the roof and landed in the gutter with a clang.

  Somewhere below, Marigold barked.

  “I’m good,” she called to calm her dog. “Everything’s fine.” Now she knew why her father had hated home improvement projects so much. They never seemed to go smoothly, no matter how much you prepared.

  “No problem.” Rose turned onto her knees, the rogue shingle still sticking to her leg, and gingerly made her way to her feet, carefully standing up. She’d have to ease down the roof a few feet and get the crow—

  The sound of wood cracking stopped her cold. What the—

  Craaaack! The roof under her left foot gave way, and her whole leg plunged through the wood up to her mid-thigh.

  “Ah!” She steadied both hands against the shingles around her, trying not to move, trying not to even breathe, in case the whole roof caved in.

  Marigold went crazy. Rose could see her now, running in desperate circles while she yipped and barked.

  Yes, it was time to panic. She had neglected to bring her phone up with her because she hadn’t wanted to drop it. And she was pretty sure she wouldn’t get her leg out of the ceiling without some serious help. She could scream, but with the nearest neighbors over a half mile away, they weren’t likely to hear her.

  Great. Just great. It appeared the water damage up here may have been a bit more serious than she’d originally anticipated. Tony was going to love this.

  “It’s okay, Mari,” she called down to her dog. “I’ll be okay.” The roof, however, would not be. Somehow, she had to get out of here without doing more damage.

  Rose eased her upper body forward, trying to army-crawl her way out, but her leg wouldn’t budge.

  The boards beneath her groaned.

  Nope. That was it. She wasn’t going to move another inch. She rested her forehead on her arm, fighting back tears. All she’d wanted to do was fix a couple of broken shingles, and now she would likely have to have Tony replace the whole roof, not to mention re-drywall the ceiling inside.

  “Woof! Woof!” Marigold’s bark suddenly had a happy lilt.

  Rose lifted her head and held her breath so she could listen. A car. The very distinct hum of an engine slowly grew louder.

  “Help!” She propped herself up on her elbows and tried to get a view of the driveway. “I’m stuck! Somebody please help!” Oh, please let it be Dahlia. Or she’d even take Tony at this point…though he would likely quit on the spot if he saw her right now.

  Straining her neck to lift her head higher, she finally got a glimpse of the car. Or, rather, the truck.

  Colt’s truck.

  Rose let her forehead fall back to her arm with a groan. What impeccable timing. When she’d seen Colt and her aunt off, his exact words had been, “I can’t wait to see what you do with the place.” He’d actually shown confidence in her. Now he was about to find her with her leg stuck in the roof.

  The engine noise died and doors slammed. Marigold was practically singing now, serenading Sassy and Colt with one of her howling welcome home ballads.

  Rose lifted her head again. She had no choice. It wasn’t like she could hide up here forever.

  Down below, both Colt and Sassy were greeting the dog. She’d best get this over with before they walked away and couldn’t hear her.

  “Welcome home!” Rose yelled to get their attention.

  Everything seemed to silence. She could imagine the two of them trading confused frowns. “Rose?” Sassy called, probably looking around the land.

  She sighed, the humiliation already traveling up her neck and making its way to her face. “Up here!”

  “Up where?” Colt asked.

  Why oh why did all of her most embarrassing moments seem to happen with that man as her audience? Like last Christmas, when she’d first come to town and had face-planted in the snow right in front of him? Or when she’d been trying to help him hang up the Christmas lights and a stray dog—who she now knew and loved—had come tearing out of the woods, causing Rose to freeze in panic on that very ladder right there?

  Speaking of the ladder, the top of it started to wiggle.

  “I’m coming up,” Colt announced.

  She braced herself, trying to find a posture that would help her maintain an air of capability when she saw him. But there was no bracing her
heart. It seemed to lift at the sound of his voice, lift and then dive and then roll…

  “Rose?” Colt appeared at the top of the ladder. His dark hair had grown a little longer, fringing the tops of his ears. The shadow on his jaw suggested he hadn’t shaved for a good few days, but it fit him, that scruff. It looked good. He looked good.

  “Hi there.” She smiled as though her cheeks weren’t burning up. “I seem to have a little problem.”

  “Yeah.” Shock registered in his wide eyes. “Are you hurt?”

  “No, no.” She laughed a little to ease the pressure in her chest. “But my leg does seem to be stuck in the roof.” As if he couldn’t see that fact for himself.

  “Okay.” He didn’t move, but his eyes darted around, and Rose had gotten to know him well enough to know he was formulating a plan. Colt wasn’t much of a talker—which might be another reason she worried about annoying him sometimes—but he was a man of action.

  “I’m not sure how stable the rest of this area is.” He crawled fully onto the roof, seeming to test each move before he made it. “So we’re gonna have to move slowly and carefully.”

  “Good idea.” As if she hadn’t been doing that before she fell through. He probably thought she’d been tap-dancing up here.

  Colt made it about a foot in front of her on his knees and then extended his hands. “Hold on to me, and we’ll ease you out of there little by little.”

  “Is everything okay up there?” Sassy called. Thankfully, her aunt didn’t seem too eager to climb the ladder.

  “Everything’s great now,” Rose assured her. At least she had backup. “We’ll be right down.” Her aunt didn’t need to know the full extent of the damage they were dealing with.

  Colt’s large hands seemed to swallow hers up, but they were surprisingly warm and gentle as he carefully tugged and coaxed her body away from the hole in the roof. She shimmied her leg free and then rolled onto her back, staring at the sky.

  “You sure you’re not hurt?” The man sat next to her, looking her over as though he wasn’t convinced.