Her friends seemed to have changed, too. She hung out with the hard-drinking party crowd and he heard through the grapevine she was dating a much older guy.
As he worked off a particularly stubborn section of drywall, he frowned at the memory of her odd reaction to Pam earlier. The air in the bookstore had been as cold as trying to surf the Pacific in January.
Emma definitely didn’t like the Lucas Construction office manager. What was that all about? Why would she have so much animosity toward Pam?
He was friendly with Pam. They had worked together for years and he considered her hardworking and dependable. When he needed any kind of paperwork for a job, she was always quick to prepare it for him. He knew Rosie relied on her extensively.
Still, he had to admit Pam was not his favorite coworker. He had seen her be vindictive to subcontractors who encountered unavoidable difficulties and she liked to carry tales to Rosie that showed other coworkers in unflattering light.
He had also wondered at times whether she might not betoo close with a few of their competitors. He had seen her around town several times having lunch with Vic Blackwood, who had once been the acting head of Lucas Construction after Gary Lucas died, but who had left the company under a cloud a few years later.
Rosie didn’t talk about it, but he suspected Vic had run Lucas Construction into the ground. Around the time he left, Rosie sold Stormhaven and turned the running of the bookstore to her mother so that she could take the helm of the construction company.
Now, several years later, Blackwood seemed to be thriving. Vic’s company often competed with Lucas on bids and frequently undercut them, turning in completely unreasonable bids that resulted in substantial overruns. To see Pam around town being so friendly with the man seemed disloyal somehow.
Regardless of his concerns, he had avoided bringing them up to Rosie. How could he complain about Pam telling tales on coworkers when he was tempted to do the same thing?
Why didn’t Emma like Pam?
He couldn’t figure out any good way to ask her as they continued to work, mostly in a comfortable silence interspersed occasionally with questions about the renovation.
They had nearly finished the wall when he noticed Emma stretching her back and shaking out her arm muscles.
“We’ve made good progress tonight. More than I expected on my own. I’m good with what we’ve done.”
“We only need another hour before we finish, don’t we? Let’s keep going.”
He frowned. “You can’t work at the bookstore all day and then stay until midnight helping me.”
“I told you I didn’t come in until four. You’ve worked alonger day than I have. I know you’ve been putting in a full day at other jobs before coming here.”
“That’s different.”
“How?”
He tried to think of an answer. “Because I’m used to it.”
“This is my project,” she said. “I’m invested in the renovation and I want to be part of every step. Or at least as much as I can.”
He had to admire her grit. He expected that grit had carried her through some pretty dark times.
Together they worked to clean up the construction mess they had made, carrying the debris out to the large dumpster he had placed in the rear parking lot.
The rain had stopped for now and a few stars peeked out from behind the clouds. The air was cool, fresh, smelling of the sea and the night.
“Guess who came into the store yesterday?” she asked when they returned to the bookstore for one more load.
“Who?”
“Bailey Hunter. She looks exactly the same as she did in school.”
Bailey had been their class valedictorian, crazy smart but never annoying about it. She was now an attorney in town, one he would definitely use if he were ever in trouble.
“Except she’s now Bailey Lattimore,” he said. “She married Jamie Lattimore a few years ago.”
“Did she? I had no idea. She didn’t mention it.” She paused. “Are you and I the only two unattached people left in our graduating class?”
“Not even close. There are plenty of us. It only seems like it sometimes. I think those who stuck around town seemed to have paired up and settled down at a higher rate than those who left.”