Eden Manor, Book One
Monday
Vanessa Franks stared at the rickety balustrade of the main staircase in Eden Manor and tried to fight a familiar sense of rising panic and helplessness. The staircase must have been a masterpiece when it was carved a hundred and fifty years ago, but now it was dilapidated and broken.
And Vanessa was responsible for getting it back to its former glory in only one week.
Ever since her husband had died three years ago, Vanessa had struggled to hold his business together. She'd never wanted to be a contractor, although she'd grown up with DIY parents and so knew more than most about construction and renovation. But her husband, Carl, had poured his soul into his contracting business, and she'd vowed not to let it fall apart now, just because he'd died in a car accident. Even after three years, with each new job she took on, she felt like she was grappling with loose ends that would inevitably slip through her fingers.
Forcing the anxiety into a tight ball in a dark corner of her mind, she took a deep breath and smiled at Ruth Owens, her friend and the best woodworker in North Georgia. "I know it's kind of a rush," Vanessa said, "but do you think you can have it done in a week?"
Ruth was in her fifties-a strong, plain-spoken, no-nonsense kind of woman. "Don't know. That's pushing it, for this kind of work."
"I know. But the owners moved up the timetable, and they really want to get it done. Do the best you can, will you?"
"Sure thing." Ruth was shaking her head, the loose graying hair that had escaped her braid brushing against her cheek. "What's the hurry anyway?"
"I guess their investor is coming to visit this weekend, and they want to show him as much progress as possible. They mentioned the staircase particularly."
Vanessa had been thrilled when a young couple had bought Eden Manor, an old lakeside Victorian mansion that had sat empty for years. They were going to turn it into a bed and breakfast, and Vanessa had fought hard for the contract to restore the house.
She'd been happy to at least get the fine craftsman jobs-the detailed woodworking, the stained glass and ironwork, and the preservation of the old fireplaces. She'd wanted the entire project, but obnoxious Joe Coleman had outbid her for the grunt work. He had most of the construction laborers in the county in his pocket, effectively shutting her out of the bigger jobs.
It had been different when Carl was alive-since he'd grown up in the area and had a lot of friends-but now there was nothing Vanessa could do to get the workers away from Joe. Fortunately, she had cultivated relationships with the fine craftspeople in the region, or she would be out of work completely.
She hoped somewhere Carl was happy that his business still survived-that he was pleased about how hard she was working to keep his company afloat.
"Did I lose you somewhere?" Ruth asked, breaking into Vanessa's thoughts.
"Oh. Sorry. Just worrying, as usual."
"I'll do the best I can here. Nothing to worry about."
Vanessa smiled, gratified by Ruth's relaxed good-nature and her loyalty-something the world was in short supply of. "There's always something to worry about."
"You worry too much. You're doing real good. Carl would be proud of you."
A wave of emotion washed over Vanessa, momentarily burning in her eyes. Carl had always been proud of her, even when she'd been in college and her greatest feat had been an A on a difficult exam. "Thanks."
"Seriously. I never thought you could make a go of it after Carl died. I thought you should just sell out to Joe like he wanted. No offense-you're just so little and pretty and delicate, and you don't look like you could do big jobs like this."
Vanessa was used to the sentiment. It was hard enough to be a woman in this business. Being five-three and small-boned, with big brown eyes and long, wavy brown hair made it even harder. She'd had to get used to men patronizing her or coming on to her-or sometimes both at once. "I'm not really delicate."
"I know. You just look that way. Anyway, the point is you're doing a great job and you have nothing to worry about."
"I'd worry less if Joe Coleman wasn't always lurking around, trying to nibble at the edges of my business."
Ruth laughed, rubbing the mahogany wood of the lovely old balustrade, as if it were a special friend. "Oh, Joe, he doesn't mean any harm."
"Yes, he does." Vanessa's shoulders stiffened at the thought of the man's arrogant, infuriating face. "You know what he did when he first came back to town. And he still wants to buy me out. He'd love to see me fail."
"Nah. I'm not sure he wanted that, even then. He just has a thing for you, is all."
"He does not have a thing for me. He does all that flirting stuff on purpose, trying to manipulate me."
Ruth appeared to be privately amused. "I don't think so."
"He flirts with everyone. I see him all the time down at the hardware store and the coffee shop. If she has an X chromosome, he'll flirt with her."
The year after Carl had died, Vanessa had been foolish enough to take Joe's flirting seriously. Carl had been dead for six months, and Joe had moved back to the area from Atlanta because of his parents' failing health. He'd started up as a contractor and hung around her a lot, being sweet and funny and interested in everything she was doing. It had been far too soon after being widowed for her to consider another relationship, but she'd still been humiliated and deeply disappointed to realize that he wasn't interested in her at all. He'd just wanted to take over the business that her husband had left her, and he'd been trying to woo her into selling out to him.
She'd overheard him talking to a couple of his buddies in the hardware store about how he had her in his pocket and how she'd sell out to him for sure. She still cringed at the memory of his smug, amused, condescending tone and how foolish she'd been to take him seriously.
She knew better now. Joe Coleman might have the rest of the world fooled-thinking he was good guy-but she wasn't going to be deceived by him again.
"Right," Ruth said, still looking unconvinced. "Whatever you say."
Vanessa didn't reply. She'd realized a long time ago that responding to comments like that only made her look weaker and less confident. Anyway, she liked Ruth, and she didn't want to argue with her about something so silly.
It didn't matter what anyone else thought. It only mattered what Vanessa knew to be true.
Ruth must have been watching her expression because her tone changed as she added, "You could stop all the gossip, you know, if you'd ever decide to go out with someone else."
Vanessa gave a huff of resigned amusement. "I don't know what you believe, but no one has been asking me out."
"But that's your fault. You send out all these back-off vibes."
"I do not."
"Sure, you do. Maybe you don't even realize it. But guys are pretty much wimps when it comes to romance, and they're not going to ask you out if they don't think you're going to say yes."
Vanessa frowned. "I'm not interested in going out with a wimp. Besides, there's no one around I want to go out with."
It was true. She'd met Carl when she was still in college in Augusta, her hometown. They'd been set up by mutual friends, and they'd hit it off and married within the year, soon moving back to northern Georgia, where he'd been raised. She'd only been twenty-five when he died, and since then she'd been too busy with work to have time or energy to be interested in romance.
North Georgia didn't have a lot to choose from in terms of eligible men, anyway.
"There's always Joe," Ruth said.
Vanessa's head gave a little jerk. "You're kidding, right? There's no way in the world I'd be interested in him."
"Of course not."
Vanessa had to fight not to snap back a response, but she managed to restrain herself.
Ruth could tease all she wanted. Joe Coleman was the last man in the world she'd ever want to be paired off with.
***
Thirty minutes later, Vanessa was leaving Eden Manor, heading to her SUV, so she could drive to the hardware store and order the supplies Ruth needed for the staircase.
Joe's guys were working on siding. He had six of them on the job today, in pairs on various sides of the house. At this rate, he'd have all the wood siding replaced and painted by the end of the week.
Peter and Kelly, the new owners of Eden Manor, would be so pleased with his success.
She tried not to begrudge him. He'd lived in the area all his life, except the few years he'd worked in Atlanta, and he'd grown up with most of the guys on his crew. Naturally, when they were looking for work, they'd gravitate toward him. It didn't mean all these guys thought she was incapable of doing this job.
But she knew most of them were watching her as she made her way to her SUV. Today, she was wearing jeans and a simple T-shirt. She never dressed provocatively or even showed a lot of skin. But guys tended to look at women when they passed by, no matter what they wore, so she was used to them looking at her.