by H. B. Stumbo
I leaned back in my chair and rolled my eyes. “I was getting bored.”
Rick leaned against the desk behind me and crossed his arms, “Slow season too slow for you?”
I shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t know, maybe? I don’t want to be as busy as I was six months ago, I need a break, but I need something more than a few bedroom updates or office updates to keep me going.”
Rick ran his hand along his chin and smiled. I knew that look; he had a plan for me but he was approaching it lightly, he didn’t want to scare me away.
“How would you feel about a plantation remodel?”
I coughed and shook my head, “Absolutely not.”
Rick sat down in the wooden chair next to me and rolled it closer to my desk. “Let me rephrase that, a partial plantation remodel. An outdoor remodel, not even an indoor remodel.”
I raised my eyebrows and he continued.
“The Wait Plantation out on Water’s Road is one of the older plantations in the state. Most of the grounds are overcome with weeds and woods now, I think part of the orchard is still there but for the most part nature reclaimed its own.”
He pulled a folder out from behind him and opened it up to some pictures. They were old pictures, no doubt from the fifties or sixties and showed a large two story white house with a wraparound porch. It was old, it was beautiful, and I wanted it.
“The house has quite a few rooms, and recently the family added a large garage out back. Most of the inside to my knowledge has been redecorated in the last couple of years. It sounds like the main concerns are the gardens and the landscaping, and some odd jobs near the garage. The Waits want a full blown landscaping remodel, that’s where their intentions lie right now.”
I smiled. It had been a while since I have had the chance to work with landscaping and Rick knew I liked it more than anything else.
“I think you’d be perfect for the job and I need someone with good direction and someone who doesn’t screw off. They want this done as soon as possible. The owner thinks he would have better luck doing it himself instead of hiring someone else, someone he doesn’t know to do it. I’ve promised him that I have just the person for it, and when he found out about your previous projects this spring and your lengthy list of successful renovations, he agreed to meet with you.”
“And what if I say no?” I smiled, sarcasm flooded my voice.
Rick laughed and shook his head. “Then I’d pay you more to do it. This client…he’s important.”
“You’d up my salary for one landscaping renovation?” I looked oddly at Rick who seemed nervous. He twiddled his thumbs and his leg bounced up and down as he looked at me and nodded his head.
Must be pretty important, or wealthy. I thought to myself as I eyed Rick curiously. His facial reactions gave nothing away.
“So this guy, he wants the gardens redone completely?” I pointed to a picture of a massive outdoor work of art that resembled some of the gardens at historical landmarks. I instantly thought of the Vanderbilt family home in North Carolina.
He shrugged. “He was a little elusive about exactly what he wanted but said he needed help with some things. His chief complaints were the backyard garden and some areas back there. I told him I’d fill you in on things and arrange a meeting.”
I tapped my pen against my desk. I’d always wanted to tackle a large and old house that wanted to add more beauty to the exterior, but I wasn’t up for the challenge in the heat of the summer and right when I was coming off of the busiest season of my life.
“I don’t want to work like I did in the spring, Rick.”
He shook his head. “No, I know and it won’t be like that. I need you to do the designs because you do the best. Get him to approve them, sell him on your ability to beautify anything and then call in the right people. He’s willing to foot a pretty large bill for this but he’s going to get a cheaper cut. Hell I offered to do the whole thing free of charge, it is the right thing to do after all but he said overhead was important.”
I looked at him strangely; he could tell I was confused.
“The Waits, they own a share in Rine’s Designs.” He smiled and it touched his eyes, I groaned.
“The silent partner wants a landscaping remodel?” I was baffled, why an owner would want to pay for anything from his own company was beyond me.
He nodded and laughed, “Yep, the very one. Listen don’t let that intimidate you. The Waits are a wonderful family, one of the wealthiest but most modest. Mr. Wait inherited the house, the land, and obviously anything his father had his hands in, like this company. For the most part he sold most of the controlling rights to myself, but he does still control part of it. Why he won’t just let us do this for free is beyond me, probably because he has more money than God.” Rick laughed at himself and shook his head. “He said he was willing to contribute to the overhead of the company.” Rick scratched his chin and sighed.
“That’s slightly moronic.”
“For him, yes. For us, no.” Rick looked around the old warehouse that had been converted into the urban chic building it now was and I could see the wheels turning. He was looking forward to bringing in money so that they could update where it was needed. This would help his overhead greatly, especially a full blown landscape remodel. Those could be the upwards of thirty thousand depending on how big they were.
“I’ll do it, but if this guy is unhappy at all with anything or doesn’t like my pace I’m out. I’m not dealing with super tough projects this summer. I need a break.”
“No, no I understand and I really think once the design part is over it will just be a matter of you checking in and seeing how things go. Baiting the guy is going to be the hardest part. Hell he doesn’t even trust part of the company he owns to do a good job. That’s why you are the only person for the job, Charlotte.”
I nodded; I understood what Rick needed from me. Not only did he want to make sure the job was done but he was thinking long term about the future of the company. If he couldn’t keep a co-owner happy or pull him in with the designs, then there was no way we’d last forever.
“I’ll get you his information, tell me what day works best for you and I’ll set up a time for you to go over to the house and meet with him. From there everything is on you.”
I nodded again and offered a weak smile. He walked away and I delved into my emails and messages and tackled as many of the call backs and follow ups as I could. I had a feeling the next few days would end up being a project planning period and if I wanted to impress, I need time and focus.
I worked late that night. Somewhere between taking care of my little side projects and researching the Wait Plantation I lost track of time. Aunt Lara had called me around seven and pulled me out of my research. She made fried chicken and let me know it would be ready in about a half hour. Normally I declined her invitations because ever since my life took a drastic turn, she was unable to look at me without nearly breaking down. Tonight though, my stomach had other plans. I was hungry and I didn’t want to go home and cook so I agreed to go over for dinner. I printed off the information on the Wait house and the land and threw it into a manila folder before heading over to the house I grew up in on Second Street.
Aunt Lara and Uncle Rich were happy to see me. Lara began to tear up when she hugged me and I tried to pretend that I didn’t notice her sizing me up. She was worried that I was too thin and that I was depressed. Her worry was replaced by Rich’s unconditional love than he had always had for my brother and me. He hugged me tightly and wanted to know all about work. I filled him in on a few designs I was working on but left out the Wait Plantation for now. I didn’t want to talk about anything that wasn’t set in stone, and I didn’t know how many people knew that the Wait’s owned part of Rine’s Designs. I figured regardless of how things ended up, I’d keep that piece of information to myself.
We chatted over dinner and it felt normal. Lara wanted to know if I had heard from Micah and we compared stories that h
e was telling us about his time in the southern hemisphere. My adventure and life seeking brother was working on rebuilding schools and churches in South America and he seemed to be trying to keep himself just as busy as I kept myself, only our reasons for that differed.
“Have you talked to Kim, dear?” Lara asked between bites.
My mind wandered to my best friend and I suddenly missed her. Kim was a traveling representative for an advertising company. When she landed the job three years ago her territory was the southern United States but since then she spent most of her time out west. She was home every couple of weeks for a few days here and there and I missed her deeply when she was gone. She had been in Texas for two weeks and was going to California for another two weeks soon.
“She won’t be home until mid-June, she is really liking Texas right now but I miss her.”
I noticed Lara give Rich a fleeting look of worry and I sighed. “I’m fine, Lara. I miss her but I’m fine.”
Lara seemed surprised and shook her head. “I know you are dear, it’s just the thought of you alone when she is away and when Micah is away too…it worries me. You know you’re welcome to come stay here if you’re lonely.”
I shook my head. “I know, but I’m okay. I like loneliness sometimes. It’s peaceful and I do some of my best work when I’m lonely.”
Lara’s lips tightened and she brushed her thick, curly hair to the side with her fingers; a nervous habit she had developed over the adolescent years raising Micah and I. My lips curved upwards into a smile when I thought about some of the stupid things my brother and I put her through just to get our kicks when her anxiety would flare up.
Rich cleared his throat. “Lara, I think Charlotte knows what is best for herself now. She’s turned into a very wonderful young lady. Let’s not ruin the evening with talking to her about what would make us happiest.” He smiled at her and took a sip of his wine and leaned towards me. “You know we would love it if you did decide to come home and stay with us for a while, but I know you’rehappy in your house. You need to stick to your guns on your happiness Charlotte, no matter what anyone says.” He winked at me and Lara seemed to relax a little.
I left that night feeling quite exhausted no doubt from the amount of work I had completed in one day. Lara’s loaded carbohydrate cheesecake probably didn’t help aid in my lack of energy either. I knew Lara wanted what was best for me and she had been worried about me since the day I showed up at her house, but at this point I think what was best for me was being on my own.
I laid awake that night and contemplated whether or not to text Micah and fill him in on things, but I knew that if he was busy or tied up with something and didn’t respond right away, he would worry for days about me and drive himself insane. I could text Kim and see how she was but I knew she liked to spend her time with her co-workers in the evenings. Kim’s love for cheap beers at expensive looking bars went well with her overall desire to be a single lady forever. Sometimes I envied the life she lived and sometimes I thanked God he didn’t bless me with a life like that. Tonight I envied it; tonight I wished I had no cares in the world.
I rolled over and sighed, I needed to just get some sleep and move on with the rest of my week. Deep down in the belly of my soul I knew I needed a new hobby, something else to keep myself busy and occupied when work thinned out and I was plagued with unlocking the most hostile parts of my mind.
I closed my eyes and begged for sleep; right now that was what I wanted. It found me shortly after and I drifted into a dark colorless dream about white houses, bare lawns, and a long haired, devastatingly beautiful yet violent man from my past.
Chapter 2
When Thursday rolled around I was refreshed and ready to tackle the rest of the week. Thanks to my Tylenol PM and my large glass of wine, I had spent the last two nights in a long and restless sleep. I pulled into the office earlier than normal and smiled when I realized Rick wasn’t even here yet.
I peered around the empty parking lot and felt uneasy. Today was the day I was meeting with the Waits to discuss their landscaping remodel and I was a nervous wreck. I couldn’t decide if it was because I was trying to impress a co-owner or if was just because it had been a while since I had done a landscaping remodel. I felt rusty, I felt like I needed to refresh myself on Landscaping 101 before I headed over to their house. I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was being watched; an unsteady feeling that had developed and raged on like a fire for about six months now. When the dust settled and my life slowly fell into a comfortable pace, I began to feel the need to look over my shoulder more frequently. It was as though someone was watching me and Lara believed it was because I was paranoid or still fearful that Jackson would someday come back.
Typically though and to my relief, every time I had that feeling I was able to find a reason I felt that way and it never had to do with Jackson Greene. Today the explanation was simple; in the old warehouse next door was a consignment shop that thrived during the summer months, and today was the summer season’s biggest sale day. There were a line of people waiting outside already and several of them were looking my way. I took a deep breath and told myself to get a grip, today was a big day and I needed to be on my game.
I made my way to my desk and enjoyed the quietness of the office. I powered my computer on and pulled up the information on the house that I had saved. I printed off several pictures of the house, some dated back to the 1800s when it was a thriving plantation. To my surprise the Wait family had owned the plantation since pretty much the beginning of time. It was like God created Adam, Eve, and the Waits and while he gave Adam and Eve the Garden of Eden, he gave the Waits a plot of land and a plantation. The irony now was the Waits wanted a garden, and the irony was not lost on me. The plantation had survived hundreds of years with the same family which wasn’t always an easy accomplishment.
The history of the plantation had evoked something deep within me and I spent a lot of time reading through books and newspaper articles on the house and the land. The Wait family seemed to be very well respected throughout most of southern Alabama and they had a reputation for being modest and trustworthy. I wasn’t sure what to expect from the current inhabitants of the house but I figured that some traits run deep in families and I hoped that modesty and respect were two of the traits the Waits inherited.
I leaned back in my chair and scanned the property records from the early thirties to try and get a feel of what the gardens were like. My thoughts were interrupted by Rick clambering his way through the office while shouting into his phone about a recent remodel one of the interns had been heading up. He nodded at me as he walked by and slammed his office door. When Rick was like this he was intimidating. I didn’t do well with shouting or yelling, and at least Rick had the sense to yell behind closed doors.
I could hear him going back and forth with whomever he was shouting at. One of the newer interns had totally altered the layout of a summer beach bar without the client’s approval. I had a feeling this intern would be out on his ass and Rick would find someone else to clean up the mess. Although I wasn’t due at the Wait Plantation until one, I decided to head out now before Rick had the great idea to bombard me with another summer project. I grabbed my camera and a few folders and disappeared out the back door. At least by leaving this early I could grab lunch on the boardwalk and maybe give Kim a call to catch up with her. I smiled to myself as I made that my plan. It had been too long since I had enjoyed one of the fresh fish tacos from the vendors on the pier and I didn’t mind taking advantage of the fact that tourist season wouldn’t be in full swing for another week or two. I made my way to the pier and tried not to focus on the fact that within the next few hours I’d need to drive down Water’s Road and meet with one of the most well respected families in southern Alabama. My nerves didn’t need that thought right now.
When I exited my car an hour later I was greeted by the sound of cicadas chirping from the nearby cypress trees. I noticed a few willow trees looming t
o the south of the garage and I instantly felt a pang of homesickness that I couldn’t explain. The Wait Plantation on Water’s Road was one of the only homes along the small road that bordered the inlet and was nestled romantically along the coastline. I dreamed about houses like this, they rarely existed in real life.
I breathed in the salty air and stood motionless along the paved driveway as the wind rustled around me and left me feeling peaceful. Peace was an emotion I was not familiar with, at least not anymore. Sometimes I wondered if I had ever actually experienced it at all. When it did engulf me, like right now, I reveled in it and drank it in. It would evaporate soon because it was an emotion that didn’t sit well with me. I allowed it to pass through my veins and as the breeze died down the feeling blew away and moved on.
I focused my attention back on the house in front of me. The whole place was beautiful. The simplicity of where it was located was beautiful. It may have been the most beautiful place I had ever been and I had only seen the front of the outside.
The house was more charming than it looked in any of the photos I had seen. It was definitely old and in need of some minor repairs that would have gone unnoticed to the regular person’s eye, but it was as close to Southern perfection as it could get. The house was a worn white color with large windows lining the second story balcony. The first floor porch hugged the house and the shrubs and perennials that were scattered around the porch looked to be as old and as charming as the house itself; they just needed trimming. The wood was all intact and taken care of and from my stand point I couldn’t sense any bowing or rotting pieces, but that could all change when I stepped inside. I noticed the newly built garage in the West corner of the yard and baulked at the size of it. It looked more like a storage shop than a garage, but I was pleased at how well the garage fit in with the house. Whoever built and designed it did so with the style and theme of the house and landscaping in mind. I could stand out here all day and admire the beauty of this place. The willow trees lining the front yard were massive and ancient and stood at a wide berth apart like they were guarding the house. I wanted it.
