“Are you just going to cross your legs all evening?”
In reply, the dog sauntered back into the living room and dropped into his bed.
Adam threw his hands in the air. “Fine! Be that way.” He yanked his jacket off the hook, turned off the kitchen light, and then headed out. “You better not poop in the house,” he called out to the dog, then closed and locked the door. Still in a huff, he marched to his truck, tugging on his jacket as he walked. “Weird dog,” he muttered under his breath.
As he looked both ways to pull out onto the highway, he had to admit he wasn’t really mad at the dog, he was just frustrated in general. Why did everything he set out to do since he came to this place have complications? First, he couldn’t find all the Jeep parts he needed. How was he supposed to make a living restoring vintage trucks and Jeeps if he couldn’t get parts? He knew he’d need to get most of the parts online. so he hadn’t worried much about buying a place in the middle of nowhere. Maybe he should have stuck closer to a big city where he could tramp through wrecked car yards and such. He sighed. And now, he’d found a cute lady to chat with, just a bit of a distraction to light up his mornings—someone to put on a clean shirt for– And she had to go and have a kid!
He shifted guiltily in his seat. It wasn’t like he had anything against mothers, he just wasn’t about to have a flirtation with a woman who had responsibilities. He had some respect for moms. One didn’t trifle with the heart of a single mother, it was—it was—not respectable.
He grunted in disgust. What had being respectable gotten him? He’d worked his butt off and still ended up divorced and homeless. He’d come to this place ready and willing to be— unrespectable!
Was unrespectable even a word?
The highway came to a tee and he turned left, then slowed as he entered town. His plan had been to spend his days in his garage, greasy, grimy, and happy. And maybe even spend nights there too if he felt like it. He was going to live on his own schedule and shave whenever he damn well felt like it.
Wow, his idea of being disreputable was pretty lame.
He squinted in the falling darkness as he ticked off the house numbers along Main Street looking for the address Heidi had given him. At number 111 north Main Street, he pulled up to the curb and turned off the engine, then kinked his neck to take in the ornate three-story house.
His gut went sour. Whatever he’d planned to be when he came to Sugar Mountain, it had not included toying with the heart of respectable woman who had a kid and lived in a fancy house, that was for sure. Maybe when he finished helping Heidi he’d go find the tavern and have a pint.
Heidi pulled back the curtains to peek at Adam as he sat in his truck. What was he doing? She moved away from the window. He was dreading coming in, that’s what he was doing. What was it about motherhood that put men off? It’s not like she wasn’t the same person she’d been the whole last week. The same woman who’d been hesitant to get involved with him at all. Could she blame him for holding back? She wasn’t being completely honest with him about anything. She was glad she’d told him about Tyler though, even if he hadn’t taken the news well. It was better to see that side of him now rather than later.
She sniffed. So be it. Tyler was her top priority and if the man couldn’t deal with it, then—then what? What had she been thinking was going to happen between her and Adam Williams?
The doorbell startled her and she jumped.
“Doorbell!” Tyler shouted from his bedroom upstairs.
“I know!” she yelled back with an eye roll.
She swung open the door and there under the porch light, Adam looked even more handsome than usual. Instead of the work clothes he usually wore into the post office, tonight he wore trousers and a button-up shirt under his jacket. His goatee was trimmed, his cheeks and neck clean shaven, and his hair freshly combed.
Her chest tightened and she hated the feeling, so she stepped back and motioned for him to enter. “Good evening, Adam, thank you for coming over. I really appreciate your help.”
He took off his jacket and Heidi hung it on an elaborate coat tree in the entryway. As she moved past him, she got a whiff of his cologne and her heart rate increased.
“This is some house,” he said, glancing through to the formal living and dining rooms. “I can see why it’s registered and why you’d hate to lose it. When was it built?”
“Thank you,” she replied politely, wishing he didn’t smell quite so good. “It was built in 1910.”
His gaze continued to bounce across the details of the fireplace, the mantle, the tile pattern of the entryway floor, and the ornate dining room furniture, complete with china hutch.
“I was thinking we could talk in my office, if that’s all right.” She interrupted.
He shrugged, directing his attention back on her. “Okay.”
Heidi led the way up the steps. “It’s on the second floor,” she explained.
“Okay.”
She’d almost forgotten that Adam said no more words than were absolutely necessary.
At the end of the hallway, she opened a door leading into a beautifully decorated office that overlooked the front porch. “This is my office. I was hoping we—”
He stopped and instead of walking into the office, he glanced back down the hall.
Heidi followed his gaze, wondering what he was looking at. All she saw was the pristine floor runner, the antique wall sconces that had once been gas burners, the line of closed doors, and the pristine window seat at to the far end.
“Didn’t I see three stories from the outside? Where are the steps to the third floor?” He asked.
Heidi’s face registered surprise. No one had ever noticed that she didn’t have a stairway up to the secret room. Adam must really know his architecture. “That’s just the attic,” she said with a tremor in her voice but confident that her answer wasn’t a lie. She motioned back to the office, hoping to draw his attention away from her secrets. “Shall we?”
Adam passed her and moved into the room. As she followed him in, he eyed her in speculation. “That must be one big attic. What is it, 500 square feet?”
She blinked up at him with her best dumbfounded expression. “Oh, I don’t have any idea.”
His lips thinned into a tight line.
Adam’s expression concerned Heidi. Maybe she hadn’t fooled him with her try at naiveté. But determined to get on with the business at hand, she bustled past him and took her place behind the desk. She didn’t think she could handle sitting beside him, given the distraction he presented. She was not at all sure she could keep her hands to herself if she were too close, and that realization disturbed her.
“I looked at the plaque out front,” he mentioned as he settled into a chair facing the desk. “Just like you said, the house is on the state historical register.”
In a vain attempt to look businesslike, she rolled her chair up to the desk and straightened the already perfect antique leather blotter.
Adam watched her fiddle with the items on her desk, then his eyes roamed the width and breadth of the room, taking in every detail. For some reason he hadn’t envisioned Heidi in a house like this. She seemed more like a sensible, modern woman, rather than an antique collector who surrounded herself with untouchables. She felt more like a tactile person, a person who dug into things—not one who sat and looked at things.
He would have pictured an office of hers to be open, bright, and lined with bookshelves containing classics and modern books. Her furnishings would be comfortable and cozy with cushions and corners to curl up with a book. Her desk would be tidy but piled with projects.
This room was filled with carefully placed, stiff and classic furniture. Everything was polished and proper. He couldn’t help but wonder how long and how much money it had taken to furnish the room, or the house as a whole. She must have gotten money from somewhere, because stuff like this didn’t come cheap. Even one of those books could cost thousands of dollars. His expression showed
his unease.
Of course, there was no way for Adam to know about the secrets within the library-made-office. He couldn’t see the snug TV room behind the bookshelves. Also hidden from him was Heidi’s server room, with all its blinking lights and wires, even now humming away behind the wall with the hand-painted wallpaper. It was just a good thing Adam hadn’t decided to sit on the needlepoint settee. One touch on the armrest and he would have found himself swirled into a whole different room.
Heidi glanced up and was shaken by his expression.
Feeling bad for upsetting her, he struggled to put his thoughts back in order. What did it matter if she had a fancy house or a ton of money? He’d had money and a big house and it hadn’t made his life a bed of roses.
“What I don’t understand,” he said, putting the task at hand back to the forefront, “—is why the city issued building permits to tear this place down.”
Relieved that he’d spoken and no longer looked upset, Heidi breathed a sigh of relief. “I don’t think they did,” she said, knowing she’d have to come clean on some level.
Adam fell silent, his thoughts circling back onto themselves. “So, who is pushing this through then? The city council? The mayor—” He stopped when he saw her expression.
“Yes, the mayor is going ahead with the project without going through the proper channels, evidently. I assume he’s trying to get it done before the state Department of Transportation (DOT) gets wind of it.”
He shifted in his chair and lowered his eyebrows. “That’s pretty gutsy of him. If he gets caught—”
“I’ve been wondering about that.” She interrupted. “What exactly will happen to him if he gets caught?”
“Well,” he leaned back into his chair and propped one loafer across the other knee. “The DOT should throw the book at him—you know, fines, stopping work, that sort of thing. And the state preservation association would throw a fit, depending on the damage he’s done. But, unfortunately—” He hesitated.
“Yes?”
Adam fingered the tie on his loafer then looked up through his eyebrows, felling guilty about his response. “If he’s well connected, he’ll get away with it.”
Heidi pushed back into her chair in disgust. “But why? Why would he go to all this trouble to do it under the radar?”
Adam grimaced. “In my experience, crooked deals make somebody a wad of money.”
All the starch went out of Heidi and she slumped in her chair. The mayor was willing to put the town at risk to make money? Wouldn’t she have known that? Wouldn’t the society? Yes, the man was an eccentric fool, but was he that underhanded and calculating too? She tapped her fingers on the desk as she thought. Finally, she looked up, her expression grim. “If he’s got the deal in the bag, will filing a demolition review even do any good?”
Adam’s foot dropped to the floor and he leaned forward to prop his elbows on his knees. “It would bring the project to the attention of the state before it even has a chance to get off the ground. The first thing the historic committee will do is check for building permits and who issued them.”
Hope sparked in Heidi’s heart. “Or who didn’t…”
He nodded in agreement. “But if the need is big enough, if traffic is enough of a hazard, they may just approve his plans and move forward.”
The spark in her heart went out.
Adam straightened. “Don’t give up. You could always offer a better traffic solution.”
Her gaze came up to meet his. Within five minutes he’d come to the same conclusion that it had taken her and the society a week to reach. But she was no closer to a solution than she had been the first day she heard about the project. “Well I certainly can’t plan an alternative. What am I going to do?”
“Don’t worry,” he assured. “I’ll help you with this. We’ll figure it out.”
Chapter Nine
Adam climbed in his truck and slammed the door. What kind of rats nest had he walked into now? This little town had a slew of secrets, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to know what they were.
He started the truck and pulled away from the curb.
A crooked mayor? A widow with an attic she didn’t want anyone to know about? An underhanded construction project? What next?
Headlights zipped past him on the highway and he gripped the wheel, his knuckles white. He couldn’t in good conscience leave Heidi to face losing her home alone. He wasn’t the type to turn away from a woman in danger. Besides, he’d have to see her around town and know she was homeless because of him.
He rubbed one hand down his face. Now, he was being melodramatic. Heidi was a smart lady with a good job. No matter how underhanded the mayor was, he’d have to pay Heidi for her property and she’d buy another house.
But her place was pretty amazing. That house had been standing there for well over 100 years. If he didn’t do anything to help, every time he’d drive down Main Street he’d think about where the house had been and feel like a heel.
He pulled into his drive, parked, and headed into the house. When he flipped on the kitchen light, he was surprised to see the dog waiting for him at the door. That was a nice feeling. It had been a while since someone had waited up for him. But the dog just gave him a sad look and wandered off to drop back into his bed.
Women’s excited voices filled the room as Heidi banged the gavel to bring the meeting to order. “Come on, ladies, we have a lot to discuss tonight, settle down.”
The women, however, were too busy recounting the details of Mission Rabid Racoon. Full cups of fresh coffee and even Mildred’s celebratory red velvet cake sat forgotten in front of the society members.
Heidi tried again, pounding the gavel so hard the head threatened to fly off. “Ladies! Come to order!”
Next to Heidi, Mildred thumped her pile of notes on the table to level the bottom of the stack. “You may as well try to rein in bedlam,” she lamented. “They’re over the top tonight.”
The look on Heidi’s face made Mildred sigh. She elbowed Monique, motioning for her to whistle.
Sure enough, the shrill whistle got all the women’s attention, and Heidi once again banged the gavel. But as she gazed into the enthusiastic faces of her friends, her frustration melted away. She cleared her throat, taking a moment to organize her thoughts.
“I motion we get on with it,” Monique suggested.
“Second that,” Sarah offered, looking calm and happy, and also proud of herself for participating in official society ritual.
“Ladies,” Heidi started, “First off, I’d like to congratulate you. Mission Rabid Racoon was a great success.”
A cheer went up, complete with clapping and a few whistles.
Heidi waited, enjoying a moment of celebration.
“Let’s cut that cake!” Jessica said, pulling the plate toward her and reaching for the knife.
“Listen, while you do that—” Heidi shouted.
The ladies quieted somewhat as they got busy serving the cake.
Heidi continued. “—as you know, we not only got into the mayor’s office, Sam was able to take detailed photos of the blueprints for the project that the mayor has planned.”
The group once again burst into a round of applause, raising their forks in salute as Sam stood to take a bow.
Heidi’s heart warmed at the glow of her friends. But she raised her hand to shush them once more. “Unfortunately, the information we gathered is very troubling, but before we get into all that, we need to discuss the spring festival.”
The jovial mood in the room dimmed as the ladies moaned, tossing each other disgruntled glances.
Jessica dropped her fork onto her plate with a frown. “Can’t we talk about that at the end of the meeting? It ruins my appetite.”
Come on,” Heidi assured Jessica and the other women. “We can figure this out, we just need a few volunteers, then I can share what we learned on the mission.” She looked down to the woman at her side. “Mildred, is your pencil sharp?”
“Fine, I’ll be a nurse,” Jessica fretted. “And my boys will be wounded soldiers. Again.”
“Thank you, and—?” Heidi prompted.
“I’ll order the blood,” Michelle grumbled. “Do we have to do an amputation this time? It’s so gross.”
“That’s the best part,” Sam cried in protest.
“Nothing loosens the purse strings like blood,” Monique muttered.
Michelle pulled a nail file from her purse and went to work on her nails, ignoring the invitation to participate.
“Who is going to be the doctor?” Heidi asked, cutting to the chase.
Silence fell across the room as every member of the society looked anywhere but at the grand master.
Heidi sighed. It was a good thing the group didn’t really focus on doing reenactments because they hated it. “Fine, I’ll do it,” she huffed.
A collective sigh of relief puffed from the group.
“Moving on—” Heidi paused for effect. When all eyes were on her she continued. “We have learned that our mayor, Thomas Winslow, has taken it upon himself to plan and build a huge viaduct from highway 221 which will redirect traffic right over the top of our Main Street.”
A rumble of concern arose. “Let me finish, please.” Heidi demanded. “He has planned an exit from this four-lane monstrosity that will dump directly into a new shopping center with a huge parking lot. This will, in his mind, solve the traffic flow problems along Main Street, as well as offer tourists a place to park.”
A cacophony of protest broke out and Heidi banged the gavel again. She couldn’t even tell who was saying what. Half-eaten pieces of cake sat forgotten as arguments about the mayor broke out between the members of the society. Some of the women thought him a dull-witted dandy while others thought he was pure evil. Few fell in between.
Trouble on Main Street Page 9
