“It might be better for them to spend some time with you so they can conclude you’re not the devil,” Gabi suggested.
“I doubt I have enough charm to pull that off,” Emily said candidly. “Given how they treat Boone, I’m more likely to say the wrong thing and cause even more trouble.”
“When are they going home?” Gabi asked.
“That seems to be the question of the year,” Emily admitted. “They haven’t given Boone a date. It’s making him a little crazy. Having them underfoot isn’t easy, but he feels he owes it to B.J. to make an effort.”
“Well, whatever you do, don’t let them keep you away indefinitely,” Gabi advised. “If they realize their presence has chased you off, they might never go back to Florida.”
“That is not going to happen,” Emily insisted. “Not that I intend to admit this to Boone, but in a way, it’s been a relief to have the extra time here. The deadline on this renovation is a killer. If I take off, it’s going to be a lot harder to convince all the people working on the project that the deadline is written in stone.”
“I’m just saying, don’t let the Farmers ruin this for the two of you,” Gabi said.
“We won’t. Now tell me about you. Everything okay at work?”
“Same old craziness,” Gabi said.
“And your guy?”
Emily thought she detected a faint hesitation before Gabi finally said, “Paul’s okay.”
“Gabi, is something wrong? Have you broken up? Was he upset about you being gone so long?”
“No, nothing like that,” Gabi said.
Despite her sister’s reassurances, Emily didn’t like the way she sounded. “Gabriella, what aren’t you saying?”
Gabi laughed, though it sounded forced. “You only use my whole name when you’re annoyed with me, just like Mom.”
“It always got answers for her, so I thought I’d try it,” Emily admitted.
“There are no answers,” Gabi insisted. “Not even any questions. I guess I’m just a little down. I miss being with you and Samantha.”
“It was fun being together again,” Emily agreed. “Like old times.”
“But in other ways I realized you can’t go back again,” Gabi said, a mournful note in her voice. “We’re adults now, with all the complications that go with that.”
“Gabi,” Emily began, determined to get to the bottom of her sister’s odd mood.
“Gotta run, sweetie. Take care. We’ll talk again soon.”
Before Emily could protest, Gabi had hung up. “What on earth?” Emily murmured, staring at her phone. She was about to make a call to Samantha to see if she had any insights, but Andy Crawford was in front of her, his displeasure evident. She forced a smile.
“What have you worked out?” she asked.
“If I bring in a few guys on overtime for a couple of days, we can maybe pull this off,” he said.
“Maybe’s not good enough.”
“Four days of overtime and I can guarantee it.”
“Then four days it is.”
He eyed her suspiciously. “You got the budget for that? I thought we were doing this on a shoestring.”
“And out of the goodness of our hearts,” she confirmed.
“I can’t pay my men with a lot of holiday cheer,” he groused.
“I’ll see that they’re paid,” she promised. Even if it came out of her own pocket. “Want me to put it in writing?”
For an instant she thought Andy was going to pull out a pen and a scrap of paper, but then he shrugged. “Nah. I trust you.”
She nudged him in the ribs. “Thanks so much for that ringing endorsement.”
That finally drew a smile from him. “I’ve never seen you so worked up about a project before. You usually just roll with the punches and use a little smooth talk to pacify the clients.”
“This job really matters, that’s why,” she explained. “Think about it, Andy. This could be the first time in who knows how long that some of these families have had a Thanksgiving meal without worrying about being slapped around or worse.”
He blinked at her words, clearly shaken. An angry glint appeared in his eyes. “It’s been that bad for them? I guess I didn’t realize that. I mean I knew this is supposed to be a safe house, but for some reason it hadn’t sunk in what that meant.”
“Well, it has been that bad and that’s why we’re going to make this deadline, no matter what,” she told him.
He nodded, clearly on board a hundred percent now. “With maybe a few days to spare,” he promised. “Leave it to me.”
She grinned. “I knew I could count on you.”
He blushed furiously. “Well, just don’t get any ideas about taking advantage of my good nature with any sob stories for your usual clients, you hear?”
Impulsively, she gave him a hug. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”
“Stop that,” he grumbled. “You’re messing with my tough image.”
Emily chuckled as he walked off barking orders at his men, as if to contradict the scene some of them might have witnessed.
“This is going to work,” she said to herself as he went. This place was going to be finished, and it was going to be beautiful and, far more important, a place where at least a few more battered women would be safe from harm.
* * *
Boone walked into his house after work and found a pile of luggage in the foyer and Jodie and Frank waiting for him in the living room. They were side by side on the sofa, clearly anxious to make some sort of announcement.
“You’re leaving?” he asked, working hard to hide his elation.
“Not exactly,” Frank said, casting a resigned look at his wife.
“We’ve leased a house for the winter,” Jodie said. “We want to be here for B.J.’s school play and for the holidays. In the spring we’ll decide if we want to come back permanently.”
“I see,” Boone said, his spirits sinking. “Where’s the house?”
“Just a few blocks away. B.J. will be able to come to our house after school now,” Jodie said, a triumphant note in her voice. “You won’t have to worry about where he is or what he’s doing.”
“I haven’t been
