Chapter 24
She stood in front of the shop, shaken. Breath coming fast, all kinds of questions swirling.
Broken glass. The raw, pale look of fresh wood where the door jamb was splintered. She peeked in the large store-front window through a rip in the paper that had been tacked up on the inside, and hell. The rest was a shambles too.
Display cases that had stood tall and stalwart around the perimeter were overturned, laying on the wide floorboards of the century flooring. The crack of fresh wood was obvious there too. Liquor bottles, garbage, and fast-food wrappers strewn about.
And the back wall—was there damage to it?
“Hey, Amy.” The intricately carved front door opened and Lance McDermott, an OPP officer, stood here. “Can I help you?”
“Lance. What happened in there?”
“Vandals. Don’t know if it was townies or kids driving through. There’s damage. I wouldn’t want to be the owner of this space.”
Suddenly, she felt two feet tall. She didn’t speak, just pulled the paper out of her briefcase and handed it to him.
With his characteristic under-reaction, his eyes focused briefly on it, widened slightly, then he put it back in her hand. “Just last night, eh?”
She nodded. “I’ve been scoping it out for a while.”
His dark eyes softened for a fraction, then he was back to normal. He held the door wide. “You’d better come in.”
* * *
She stepped through the door and immediately the distinctive scent of an ancient building hit her nose. Almost like clean, washed wood, with a dash of spice thrown in. Something in the air, and a thing she’d always liked and appreciated.
She ran her fingers along the wainscoting in the short hallway, the design extending along the wall even as the space opened up. She was going to paint that cream. Put up some lovely, patterned wallpaper above it, nothing too bold. Something welcoming.
But the whole front area of the store, once she stepped inside it, was a mess.
Lance stood quietly as she walked around the space. But he was there, available if she needed anything, and for that she was grateful. Along with Rock Peyton and Sherise Stand, she loved the Ontario Provincial Police serving Jack’s Bay. Everyone counted on them. Not that they were needed a lot, it seemed, but when they were, they were there. Solid.
“It’ll need a fair bit of work. Whoever it was wanted to make an impact. You’ll have to do cleanup, cosmetic stuff. There’s structural damage too. Got insurance?”
“Yeah. But the payout time will be an issue. And in the meantime, I’m on the hook for all of it.”
His eyes darkened, but he didn’t comment.
“Some of this I was going to do anyway. But I was counting on the fixtures to be in good shape.” She looked over to the side where a hole was bashed into the wall of the small, first floor powder room. “Plumbing might be an issue now.”
“You’ve got resources, right?”
He was referring to her family money.
“I’m on my own for this, Lance.” At his querying look, she explained. “My choice. A girl’s got to take the world on sometime. You know what that’s like.” Another expression passed through his face, and she knew he knew.
“Is it safe to go upstairs?” She jerked her head toward the staircase in the front hallway.
Lance inclined his head. “Let’s go.”
The three smalls rooms upstairs were fine. There was some cosmetic damage in the bathroom. “Boy, were these vandals on the job! I mean, who has the time to drink, have a fast-food feast, damage the first floor, and make sure they also take mess up the second floor too? All while keeping to the schedule of getting on the lam before daybreak?”
“Dedicated.”
She ran the taps, flushed the toilet. “At least that’s working.”
Lance’s phone vibrated, and he checked his messages. “Rock’s on his way over. We’ll have the scene secured, and then there’s be paperwork. Should we go back down?”
“Yup. Let’s go.”
Downstairs, Lance got on the phone to take care of messages while Amy continued to inspect the area. Crazy how things could change overnight. The place had been perfect for her foray into what she hoped would be her business life. And to top it all off, she was thrilled she’d be in a historical building.
While others called said buildings ‘dumps’, the history in this whole stretch of architecture called to her. She’d tapped a university internship program to get an archival student to come and assist. Part of her business plan was to help the community with paralegal work, financial planning, and part of it she hoped to work into a grassroots loan organization, though that was just a dream. A far off one, actually.
And part of the building was going to house local history. Though she was going to have to come up with a plan to do that in a cool, new interesting way, if it wasn’t going to be a total snooze-fest, despite her love for the area and her desire to preserve it.
But all of her plans depended on getting the place fixed up, and fast. And for that, she couldn’t count on her family this time. Her brothers were already occupied, running Bay Boats, supplying most of the craft sales in the area as well as repairs to boats and small engines, and her sisters were crazy occupied too.
Her oldest brother Brent would have been great to help with the renovations, if he had a minute. A talented artisan of wood, she always felt his skills, while great for the family business, were not being utilized to their full extent. Cody, she’d have to rein in to not be such a party animal. If a good time was to be had, he’d be at the forefront, though once he was focused, he was priceless. Liam, Aaron and Ethan were reliable, and she’d have loved to have them on board too.
And her sisters Thea and Tash? They were amazing in their own right and would have been a huge checkmark in the yes column. But they were all so focused on Bay Boats, it turned out this was going to be entirely her baby.
“So what’s your next step?”
Lance, having finished his calls, stood in front of her. Amy surveyed the damage one last time, sighed. Wrinkled her nose as a funny odor hit her—was that from the basement? Ugh. Had water gotten in from this morning’s rainstorm? “Contingency fund will cover some of it, and I’ve got some savings, but right now, I’ve got to make a phone call.”