cost down.”
“Of course. Our specialty. And just for you, I’ll throw in some extras. We’re based out of Milwaukee and just beginning to branch out.”
Fatigue descended on Emily in a sudden rush. Leaning on her cane, she suppressed a yawn. “When could you start and how soon could you have it done?”
The man cupped his elbow in one hand, and tapped his cheek. “Twelve weeks from the day we start, which could be within the week. And that’s a generous estimate. Chances are, we could have things wrapped up in ten. Does that suit your timeline?”
“Th-that would suit me just fine.”
“Very well. I could fax an estimate yet today.”
“If you could e-mail it, I should be able to get it by Monday.”
“Consider it done.”
Blinking away the vision of bubbles dancing in a crystal ball, she imagined skylights and French doors and nodded. Consider it done.
“I’ll make it up to you.” Lexi whipped her ponytail over her shoulder and threw her book bag into the truck. “Ice cream. Uncle Harry’s.”
Jake arched an eyebrow at his niece. “You’re buying?”
“Of course not. You are.”
He put the truck in first gear and pulled away from the school. “And this would be making it up to me how?”
“The pleasure of my company.”
“Do you seriously think there’s room in my packed social calendar for hanging out with a seventh-grader?”
Lexi Sutton giggled like a girl with no cares in the world. “I seeeeriously think.”
Giggles could be deceptive.
“Just so you know, if I agree to this, it’s because of grasshopper ice cream, not the seventh-grader.”
She raised her own eyebrow mockingly and rolled down her window. “Whatever.”
“Where’s Adam?”
“Doing penance. He had to skip science club and go home on the bus for feeding Pansy in the middle of the night.”
“Ben has rules about midnight feedings?” The name of his late sister’s second husband left an acrid taste in his mouth. Strange how a man with zero self-discipline handled his stepkids like a drill sergeant.
“Ben has rules about when you can breathe.”
“So he hides your inhaler on you when it’s not time to breathe?” It was hard to make light of a subject like Ben Madsen, but Jake wasn’t going to allow the slug to wreck the little time he could steal with the twins.
“He would if he could. I keep it locked in my safe in Mom’s box.”
He had to shift the focus onto something positive. “So how was school?”
“You do realize that’s the lamest question in the universe, don’t you?”
“Okay, so give me a better conversation starter.”
Lexi opened her backpack and pulled out a large white envelope. “Well, you could ask me if anything special happened in school today.”
Jake cleared his throat. “Hi, Lex. Did anything special happen in school today?”
“Funny you should ask. The track coaches awarded me the Congeniality Person of the Month award.”
“Wow. That’s awesome.” Emotion roughened his voice. “I’m proud of you.”
Lexi smiled shyly and turned to the window. “Ben will get a good laugh out of this one.”
Jake let several miles pass in silence as he tried to formulate an answer that wouldn’t push them into a downward Ben spiral. He turned left onto W. “Is he still bowling on Thursday nights?”
“If that’s what you call sitting at a bar with maroon shoes on.”
Taking his eyes off the road, Jake lifted her chin. “I’ll take you and Adam out for pizza Thursday night.” It was a statement intended to bring hope.
A tiny smile rewarded him. “Don’t worry about us so much. We’re okay.”
Right. By the time he trusted his voice again, they could see the sign for Uncle Harry’s. “I promised your mom I’d watch out for you two.” His throat tightened with something very much the opposite of hope. “That includes worrying.”
“I know.” She tipped her head to one side. “You’re really good at uncle-ing.”
Emily stared up at the leather loop that served as a handle for the door to the attic. There was probably a drop-down ladder, but it did her no good when the handle dangled at least two feet beyond her reach. Instinctively she looked around for something to stand on, a futile gesture in an empty house.
Leave it.
Common sense spoke loudly, but curiosity overruled. She had plans for that space.
On the main floor, she scanned her meager pile of essentials and headed out the back door. A small shed hid behind the lilac bushes in her backyard. She took the key ring off the black hook, hoping one of the rusty keys Cara had sent would open the