Carl took a long sip of his coffee. “We aren’t related, but you think like I do. Maybe it’s the nurturing we got from Mama.”
“I’d like to call her today. Is it too soon?”
“She’s been up for hours.”
“No, I mean to tell her about Cid.”
“No. I hear Cid called the Martins as soon as you two returned from Whole Foods.”
This made Sally blush. She got up and kissed Carl on the head. “Pew, I recommend a shower. You smell like a construction site, and not the nice part.”
“Ever the charmer,” Carl said. He finished his coffee and watched Sally continue to work on her breakfast rolls. Damn if he didn’t see his mother in the way Sally worked the dough.
~
The librarian was surprised to see Kiki and Alan when she opened up the doors. “I’ve just put a reserved sign on the second-floor workroom,” she told them. “I understand you’ve got a lot of material to go through.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Alan said.
“Come to the counter, and I’ll clear off a rolling rack for you to use.”
“Thank you,” he said.
Kiki grabbed his arm as they walked. “Stop a moment and look up.”
He did so without question. He saw the beauty of the ceiling. “Wow.”
“I want to recreate that in the condos I’m going to renovate.”
“I think then, you and Cid need to sit down and iron out your differences,” Alan counseled.
“I don’t want him taking control of my projects,” she said.
“Does he tell you what to order or who to hire?”
“No,” Kiki said. “I see where you’re going with this. He only steps in when he thinks I’m not paying attention and I could possibly get someone hurt.”
They approached the desk, and Alan put a mental bookmark in the conversation until they were in the research room. Kiki and he split up the list and met back at the elevator with the cart full of materials. They rode up the large lift in silence. Alan admired the carved surfaces.
“Seems to me that they had a few craftsmen in the area who really knew how to work with wood.”
“Yes, I’m beginning to see this. I wonder if any of their heirs are still around?”
The room wasn’t lit with fluorescent bulbs. It had ceiling fixtures and a lamp on the large table itself. It was plugged into the table.
“I like this. Remind me when I renovate my place to do something like this,” Alan said.
Kiki was pleased that she was included in the timeline of being around when Alan renovated his house. “They bring up the electricity from the floor. See the brass covered outlets,” she said, pointing to the polished wood.
Kiki closed the door and leaned against it. “Go ahead, the coast is clear. Tell me what’s on your mind.”
“I don’t think you and Cid should work with each other anymore. We have had the same conversation about your fears he’s taking over several times this renovation and a few times in other renovations. Admit, even though everyone else likes him, that you dislike Cid.”
Kiki frowned.
“And then ask yourself why.”
Kiki looked at Alan.
His face softened. “Not everyone gets along, Kiki. Jesse recommended his friend, who turned out to be very handy when the ghosts and ghouls came out to play. But there are other finishing carpenters, and Cid has built up a good reputation. Let him go. Whatever it is that causes you to zero in on him when you’re feeling insecure isn’t worth the trouble of trying to get beyond.”
“Wait. It’s his problem not mine.”
“No. It’s yours,” Alan was quick to say.
Kiki folded her arms. “Honestly, when the shit hits the fan, my crew is supposed to come to me. I can see their eyes move in his direction. Just like my friends did when Mimi had a great idea.”
Alan exhaled.
“He’s not Mimi,” Kiki realized.
“No.”
“And he’s not trying to take my friends away.”
“I don’t think so. Cid is kind of a one-on-one friend. He’s friends with Jesse, but Ted’s his BFF, and he’s fine with that. I don’t know him as well as Ted, but he’s part of the nerd culture. The persecuted who don’t trust easily because of it.”
“Alan, I’m such an idiot.”
“No, you’re human. I admit I suffer illogical fears too. I still think Burt Hicks is trying to take my lover away from me.”
“I haven’t spoken to him since Michigan, and we didn’t exactly end things on the best terms up there.”
“Really?”
“Yes, he took over the whole enterprise. The Campbells saw him as…”
“I believe PEEPs were the first point of contact. The Campbells wanted to see if the house would be safe to renovate. I believe Cid convinced Burt to invite you in.”
“That’s not what I remember.”
“It’s what happened. You’re indulging in revisionist history,” Alan pointed out.
“Still, Burt wanted complete control of my renovation!”
“No one wants your renovations. They are full of headaches and unrealistic deadlines,” Alan said, sorting through the materials. “Do you want to start with Atwater’s political pamphlets or…” Alan looked over at Kiki, and she was fuming.
“My deadlines aren’t unreasonable!”
“It’s not you who I was talking about,” Alan said calmly. “I was talking about your clients.”
“Oh.”
“Political or biographical?” he asked, holding up a pamphlet in each hand.
“Biographical.”
“Good, I hate these things,” he said, piling the biographies and books written about Congressman Atwater by his friends and family. There was even a friendly-looking pamphlet that gave Atwater’s personal experiences in judging pies and cakes at the county fare.
Kiki looked over at Alan. “All of this is really political, isn’t it?”
“I fear so, but if we look at the early years, we may find out what his
