Aidan: Loyal Cowboy: Aidan: Loyal Cowboy\The Family Plan by Cathy McDavid

Author:Cathy McDavid
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2012-08-31T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Two

Jolyn stood in the middle of the stark room and evaluated her surroundings with a critical eye.

Bright midday sunlight poured in through a lone, dingy window, emphasizing the room’s dismal condition. Dust particles floated in the air, thick enough to choke a snake. The faded vinyl flooring buckled in those spots where it wasn’t altogether missing. Jolyn counted seven holes in the walls, the smallest one the size of her fist. Paint was a distant memory.

She didn’t have to be a contractor to see that the room was a mess—and perfect for her fledgling business. Built onto the side of Cutter’s Market, one of Blue Ridge’s two small groceries, the room had a separate entrance and convenient parking for customers.

“Well, you want it or not?” Mrs. Cutter asked. She chewed on a plastic straw, a replacement for the cigarettes she’d given up two decades earlier.

Jolyn did want the room, but she tried not to appear overly eager—which is why she’d waited a full week after returning home to approach Mrs. Cutter about the For Rent sign in the window.

“It needs a lot of work.” She ran a finger over the yellowed and cracked light-switch plate.

“Hell, yes. If it didn’t, I’d have rented it out ages ago.”

Jolyn pretended to consider the offer on the table. In exchange for use of the room rent free, she would be required to fix it up at no cost to Mrs. Cutter and make any necessary repairs to her store, also at no cost, for as long as Jolyn used the room.

“Mind if I put a lock on the door?”

“Don’t bother me none as long as you give me a spare key.”

“And I want a separate phone line.”

“You pay for it, you got it.” Mrs. Cutter leaned a shoulder on the doorjamb. Rail thin, scratchy as sandpaper, and with only a sprinkling of gray in her hair, she didn’t look her age—which Jolyn guessed to be sixty-five, if not older.

“Then I suppose you have yourself a new renter.”

She couldn’t suppress the happiness bubbling up inside her. Sutherland Construction Company would have an honest-to-goodness office. When she was through fixing the place up, she’d frame her license and hang it right there next to the door where everyone could see it when they walked in.

“Do you have a lease agreement for me to sign?” she asked.

“Lease agreement?” Mrs. Cutter laughed sharply. “Good Lord, child. I’ve known you your whole life. Your parents for over thirty years. We only need a lease if you’re thinking of breaking it.”

“I’m not.” Jolyn laughed along with Mrs. Cutter and extended her hand. “Can we at least shake on it?”

They no sooner clasped hands when they were joined by Jolyn’s mother.

“Am I interrupting anything?” Dottie Sutherland peeked through the open door.

She was, Jolyn knew, on her way to the community center across the street where her dance class would be giving a recital that afternoon.

“Come on in,” Mrs. Cutter said. “I was just leaving. Got a couple

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