“I think we’ll leave that sensitive subject to Carl to deal with,” Cid told her. “Faye, before you go, Sally has told me in confidence, and her brother has confirmed it, that Sally suffers from PTSD. This is post-traumatic stress disorder. Many of our returning veterans have it. She could…”
“Go off her nut,” Jesse filled in.
“No. She may feel the uncontrollable need to run away or fight. Please let Carl or one of us know if you see Sally is in distress.”
“I will. You’ll owe me,” Faye said. “I hear favors are returning.”
Faye disappeared.
Jesse looked over at Cid. “Explain favors to me?”
“First, I have to tell you about a guy who knows a guy who knows a guy…”
“Is this going to take some time?”
“Yes.”
“Then save it for story time. I originally thought you could read Sally and me Lady Chatterley’s Lover, but this sounds better.”
Cid raised an eyebrow.
“My house, my rules. You have to be Dad. And that means story time, hot toddies, cookies in the afternoon, and you get to do my laundry. Wait, that makes you Mom.”
Cid closed his eyes and shook his head.
“Did you think your courtship of Sally was going to go smoothly? Where’s the challenge in that?” Jesse said, grabbed his coat and slipped out the door.
Chapter Nine
“Cid Garrett is mutinying?” Alan asked because he thought he’d heard wrong.
“He’s taken control of the renovation.”
“How?”
Kiki explained all that had happened from her point of view. Alan, through years of dealing with irate heirs and clients, had learned to read between the lines. He also knew his position in Kiki’s life was her boyfriend. With that, the rules changed. He tiptoed into the conversation with, “Do you want the lawyer or the boyfriend to speak?”
Kiki melted. “First, the boyfriend.”
“I’ll kill him.”
“Okay, now the lawyer.”
“He’s just trying to keep everyone alive. If he’s worried, then you should be concerned too. Why don’t I come down there and mediate a compromise?”
“Look at Cid’s contract. See what I can do to fire him now.”
“Are you sure you want to do this?”
“Yes. It’s my company!”
“Kiki, he’s not trying to take over the company. I’ll call him and…”
“No you won’t!”
“I thought you wanted me to be a lawyer…”
“Shit.”
“If you fire him now, you have to pay him in full for the entire job, unless you can prove negligence. I seriously doubt that Mr. Garrett has been neglectful. If anything, I’m sure he’s got your back in this. You’re being too stubborn to see it. Take a step back and seriously look at this. What happened today?”
“They were attacked in the basement. If they had not been prepared by Cid, Pete may have been injured.”
“Pete?”
“What the Fuck. What the Fuck was pulled into the darkness after the ghosties consumed the energy from the work light’s battery.” Kiki sighed. “They did get the plumbing set up and the fuse box transferred. Why am I such a bitch?”
“Where is Wayne in all of this?”
“He’s on Cid’s side.”
“Wayne has always had your back. Maybe he doesn’t think Cid is doing anything other than protecting Wayne so he can get his work finished safely. Go and talk to Wayne.”
“I will. Supper will be interesting. Sally’s moved out of my room. Carl insisted.”
“Why?”
“He thinks I’m possessed by a demon. He told it to my face.”
“That would do it. Are you?” Alan asked.
“I don’t think so. Just trying to do business and keep to my contract and bring the job in early so I can get back to you.”
“Good,” Alan said. “Just make sure it’s to get back to me and not for the obscene bonus Atwater is offering you.”
“Yes, sir,” Kiki said.
The smell of garlic bread filled the building. Kiki followed her nose into the common room where Sally had laid an Italian feast of beef ravioli and spaghetti with large baskets of crispy garlic breads. Wine was airing on the side table. Also, there was an ice bucket of longneck beer cooling.
Jesse and Cid arrived after she did, and Jesse managed to put himself between the two combatants.
Sally poured wine and stood in the kitchen doorway waiting for them to begin.
“You’re not eating?” Pete asked her.
“Not with you riffraff. I have a delicate stomach,” Sally lied. The truth was, she was feeling off. She had taken her medication and would be enjoying her meal in the quiet of the kitchen at the counter.
By unwritten rule, no one talked about the job when they were eating. Cid showed pictures Mia had sent of the twins being pulled around on a sled by the two older boys on the great lawn in front of the castle.
“They can hardly sit up in those snowsuits,” Carl said. “I remember those days. I’d just get the kids outfitted and one would have to pee. The other would fall asleep from being too warm waiting and my wife would mouth, ‘I told you so,’ in her superior way. Still, we had fun.”
“I’m sure your kids remember it fondly,” Wayne said. “My first memory of snow was at my grandma’s house. My brother and cousins and I were all trudging up a hill. The older boys were pulling the padded wooden toboggan my father and uncles had waxed. My grandfather had cut a path in the autumn through the fallow hillside field, in preparation for winter sledding. We all piled on, and I was wedged between my brother and my cousin. The eldest two started the sled and jumped on. We flew down the hill. I was too small to see our descent, except from the
