Days turned into weeks. The only major thing that changed was the fact that Mel had hired Darla to wait tables and help Jamie behind the bar. Since he wanted to trust her opinions, he stayed out of the way and tried to avoid Darla as much as he could.
Which wasn’t as hard as he’d thought. Actually, it wasn’t until her second week working there that he’d realized the big change in her. For one, she didn’t smoke or drink anymore.
She was actually friendly and showed up to work on time and stayed until after closing time to help clean up. Mel had commented on several occasions how well Darla was doing and even hinted that he should have that sit-down talk with her that she’d asked him for.
Still, he continued to avoid it, wondering if it was all a ruse. He didn’t doubt that people could change, but Darla? He would need more proof than this.
Mel had a little more freedom since they’d gone and picked up her truck from the shop. She often ran on supply runs and was more confident now that her truck was, according to her, purring like a kitten.
This freed his time up, and he used it to start building the awnings over the decking area. Since he didn’t want to interrupt the customers enjoying their meals, he was stuck having to work early in the mornings.
The best part of the last few weeks had been that the joint seemed to always be packed. From the time they opened the doors to the time they locked them again, people packed in and enjoyed TK’s cooking or drank beers while watching sports on the new TV sets he’d hung.
Game days were always fun, and, since he wasn’t really needed to run the place, he spent most of it behind the bar, helping Jamie. He, of course, left the fancy drink orders to her while he stuck to opening bottles of beer or pouring drafts. Mel often helped out with delivering meals or clearing tables.
The day after Bella had been released from the hospital, he’d gone to visit her and Dylan. He must have sat for more than an hour, holding his sleeping niece. Never had he expected to fall in love with her so quickly. She was so tiny, so perfect. He knew there wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do to protect her or Dylan.
He made his visits more frequent over time and ended up having a lunch with them at least twice a week.
Since Mel and TK had taken over the running of the Hard Way, he figured the less he was in their hair the better.
Nights, after everyone left and the place sat dark, were his favorite times. He and Mel usually sat out around the firepit and watched the stars. He’d purchased more patio furniture, including a large sofa where they spent most of their time.
He honestly couldn’t believe he’d gotten so lucky as to have her in his life. He doubted he would have enjoyed sticking in Haven as much if it wasn’t for her.
She still struggled opening up to him and, as time passed, he could tell she was hiding something deeper from him. But every time he tried to bring up her past, she would shut down completely and, for hours after, she’d sulk around the place. So he avoided bringing up the subject.
The only time he’d gotten a hint at what she’d been through was the day she’d opened up to him about her ex in the kitchen. Still, she’d confessed enough that he understood the hell she’d gone through.
He wanted to do some research on her ex and her parents but was beginning to doubt that she’d given him her real name. The biggest sign of that fact was that she requested he pay her in cash. When he suggested she open a checking account at the local bank, she had paled slightly. He’d agreed to pay her however she wanted, but told her that, to keep the books on the up and up, he’d have to keep track of the payments for tax purposes.
He’d talked to Don, his lawyer, about expanding the bar and grill or building his own home on the back of the land. The man had immediately had his land surveyed. He had just gotten back from the lawyer’s small office on the other side of town and had the survey in his hands. He parked beside Mel’s truck.
She was out on the patio, clearing a table, when he walked over to her. She’d gained a soft glow to her skin from the sun from working outside, and he’d noticed that she’d stopped jumping at shadows. At this point, she probably knew more people’s names in town than he did.
“So?” she asked, shielding her eyes from the sun. He stepped around her so that she didn’t have to squint. “What did he say?”
“Our counter injunction against the Phillips’s initial injunction has won out. The judge ruled out any ownership the Phillipses had on this place,” he answered with a smile.
“So, it’s yours once again?” she asked with a smile.
“It is.”
“Did you get the survey then?”
“Yes.” He held up the folder and motioned with his head. “I thought you’d want to take a break and walk around my land with me.”
She set the tray of dirty dishes down and wiped her hands. “Let’s do it. Ed can finish this.”
They stepped off the porch, and he pulled out the survey and tilted his head as he tried to figure out which way it went. In the lawyer’s office, he’d stopped himself from looking at it. He wanted Mel to be there with him when he did.
“Here is the road.” Mel pointed to the map. “Let’s start there.” She pointed to the corner of the lot.
They walked towards the front of the property and he frowned down at the map when he realized part of the parking area wasn’t on his land.
“Looks like we’ll need to move some of the parking area,” he said.
“No, see.” Mel took the map from him. “We aren’t even at the corner yet.” She started walking towards a fence line that was half fallen down. He’d believed the fence had been his property line, which is why he’d kept the parking area inside it. When Mel climbed over the wood fence and kept going, he followed her. “This is it,” she said, stopping by a small orange flag on the end of a wood stick. “See, the survey crew left the stakes here to show the corners of your land.” She held up her hands and shielded her eyes. “There’s the other one.” She motioned across the parking area along the road. Sure enough, on the far end of his building sat another stake. “This is the front northeastern corner. That’s the southeast one, and we’ll find the western markers out along the tree line.” She pointed towards the field.
“It’s wider than I thought.” He looked between the two front markers. “We could expand the parking area. People won’t have to park on the grass.”
She smiled. “You could even put up a free-standing sign. Something to draw people in,” she suggested.
“Let’s check the back markers,” he suggested, and they started walking together through the field. “The old hotel rooms used to be in the shape of a U,” he said as they walked along.
“The foundations are still here.” She stepped over the old cement. “Wiring, plumbing. It all probably needs to be updated, but if you wanted to rebuild…” She dropped off and stopped as they stood in the middle of the U shape. “You could do a nice B&B or…” She shrugged and tilted her head. “Maybe an RV park. You know, like the campsite kind. Put a swimming pool in the middle, some swing sets for the kids. People are starting to love camping again.”
“That’s not a bad idea,” he admitted, and in his mind, he already saw the idea clearly. “When I was eight, my parents bought a travel trailer. You know, the old silver kind that looks like something out of an old family movie.”
“Airstream?”
“Yeah, that’s the kind. Anyway, we spent a whole summer going from state park to state park.” He smiled, remembering the fun they’d had.
“What happened?”
“Dad grew bored. After he found out that he had to pay several hundred dollars to store the thing, since we couldn’t park it in our driveway, he sold it,” he said with a sigh.
“The state park isn’t far from here,” she said, looking towards the hills. He’d taken her hiking there on their last day off. They’d spent an entire day walking the trails and enjoying a picnic TK had made for them while they looked out over the town from above.
“The campgrounds are always full this time of year. I bet we could have this place packed out quickly. We’d just need to have some minimal work done. Electric, plumbing.” He started thinking about what would need to be done to the place. “A pool would be a nice touch,” he admitted. “Maybe a hot tub?”
“Ah, I haven’t sat in a hot tub in years.” She rolled her shoulders. “I bet most people coming back from a full day’s hike would love to soak in a hot tub.”
“Okay, you’ve sold me on the idea,” he said, taking her hand. “Now, let’s finish seeing just how much land we have.”
He hadn’t realized his slip, until he felt her tense next to him. Glancing over, he replayed his words and held in a wince. Trying to be casual about it, he tugged her until they started walking again.
“If there’s enough, I’d still like to build a place back here,” he said, chatting on about how he’d like a home away from work. As they continued to walk, he felt her relax more and figured she’d forgotten about his slip. He hadn’t meant anything by it, but whenever he thought of this place, he thought of it as theirs. After all, she’d done just about as much work to make it happen as he had.
Actually, now that the doors were open, she was probably doing more work than he was. Sure, he pulled out his hammer and repaired things or made whatever they needed, but she was the one doing all of the ordering, bill paying, and dealing with employees while he just did stupid manual labor.
“It’s bigger than you thought,” Mel said, breaking into his thoughts.
“Hm?” he asked, returning to the now in his mind. They had walked to the edge of the trees, and she was frowning down at the survey. “See the markers?” She motioned to the trees. “They’re on the other side of the hill.”
He glanced through the trees and saw the orange flags through the thick brush about halfway up the hillside.
They were standing on the edge of the tree line. There was a small dip that rolled down towards a creek that separated them from the other side of a larger hill. The side of the hill that held his markers.
“You probably have enough land on the other side of the creek to build yourself a place over there,” she suggested.
He glanced down at her work clothes and his good jeans and knew that they couldn’t cross the creek dressed like this.
“We could go change and take a look at it now?” she offered.
“No, we’ll do it later. For now, we know there’s more land over there. Besides, I skipped lunch.” He took her hand again, and they started walking back. “We can start coming up with a plan for the RV park.”
“Sure, I can come up with a budget. We’ll need to get some quotes for electric and plumbing,” she said and continued to talk about what would have to be done as they walked back.
They took a lunch break together, sitting out on the crowded patio while eating chicken sandwiches. He enjoyed the way Mel made lists of items that would have to be looked into to make their next project come true.
Since he figured his sister knew about permits and dealing with the town’s regulations more than he did, he sent her a text message and asked her to look into that portion of the business.
He shot a text message to Don and asked him which part of the land was still zoned for commercial use. He’d forgotten to ask the man if the back portion could be used for a private residence, and asked him in the text message now, after Mel reminded him to.
“I don’t know what I would do if you weren’t around,” he admitted when they were done eating. “I mean, I would have obviously had to hire someone to do what you do around here, but I doubt Haven has anyone as capable as you.”
He had meant his statement to be a compliment but when a worried look crossed her eyes, he reached out and touched her hand.
“That was meant as a compliment,” he said softly.
“I know.” She sighed. “It’s just…” She glanced away from him. “I’ve been thinking.”
He felt his heart sink to the bottom of his gut as fear of her leaving surfaced.
Just then his phone chimed with his lawyer’s response.
“Go on, read it.” Mel motioned to his phone. “I should get back to work anyway.” She stood up and started to clear their table.
He stopped her by taking her hand. “Later?”
She nodded and then left. He sat there for almost a full minute before he finally looked down at the message.
“Yes, the front part of the land is zoned commercial, the back five acres are residential. You could very well open an RV park on the land behind the bar and grill. There are some codes you’ll want to watch out for. We can go over them the next time we meet.”
He set his phone down and glanced out at the field behind the place. The view alone was worth a lot to him, and he knew that if he set aside some of the land for an RV park, people would probably pay to stay there just for the same view.
It would be an added bonus that they had a place where families could sit down and eat meals. If he added a swimming pool and hot tub, it would make it even more highly desirable. He could build a small gift shop and playgrounds for added draw. Maybe put some of those small portable cabins near the back of the property for people who didn’t have RVs. Make it a cross between a B&B and an RV park.
He sat there for another few moments, dreaming about it, until his phone chimed one more time, breaking him from his dreams.
“You think this is over?” the text message read. “Screw you, McCaw. I’m coming for you and yours.”
He punched Dale’s number into his phone.
“Think you can swing by before you clock out?” he asked the man.
“Sure, what’s up?” Dale asked.
“Just got a nice threatening text message I’d like to officially report,” Brent said casually.
“From?” Dale asked.
“Who else. He didn’t even try to hide who it was from.” He chuckled.
“I thought his dad and brother were dumb,” Dale said with a sigh. “I’ll be there in half an hour.”
“Thanks,” Brent said and hung up.
Just then Darla stepped out onto the back patio and locked eyes with him, then set her empty tray down and moved towards him. Shit. The day had just gotten worse.