Witcher Upper - Amy Boyles Page 0,5

you mean, no good? Sadie’s the best friend I ever had. She’s the best person I know.”

Malene’s lips pinched together. “You should be more careful about who you trust,” she murmured. She went inside, leaving me standing on the sidewalk, wondering what in the world she was talking about.

When a breeze ticked by, flipping up my robe, I decided it was time to go home and get ready for work.

Chapter 3

“Have you had breakfast yet?” Sadie asked when I arrived on the jobsite.

“I have not,” I admitted. Being out of chocolate silk pie really put a damper on my breakfast options at the house.

Sadie shot me a thousand-watt smile before pressing a warm paper cup into my hands. “Picked up a mocha for you—and an éclair.” She shook a baggy at me.

I graciously took both but sipped the drink first. It was from Bender’s, the local coffee shop. The place took its name from Julie Bender, the owner. She had been widowed a few years ago and, instead of hiding inside her house, decided to open a coffee shop with a bed-and-breakfast upstairs.

Julie made the best everything, and the drink did not disappoint. There was something absolutely divine about the combination of coffee and chocolate.

“Thank you,” I cooed at Sadie.

She winked. “What are best friends for? Besides, you’re going to need all the help you can get. Dooley is on his way here, and he’s steaming mad.”

I groaned. “He is? I’ve already dealt with my fair share of drama this morning. Do I have to deal with him, too?”

Sadie shot me a sympathetic smile. “Sorry.”

“What’s he mad about this time?”

She nodded toward the skeletal barn sitting in the middle of a peach orchard. “Says we put it in the wrong place.”

I shook my head. “We did not put it in the wrong place. Dooley himself came out here and showed us where it was to go.”

Dooley Hutto had proven himself to be quite literally the most difficult client that we had ever worked with—and we’d only just started the renovation job. He first approached Sadie and me wanting us to find a barn for him to buy, which we did. Simple enough, right? It sounds simple, but Dooley would call me every hour on the hour asking about how we were going to reinforce the barn, and if it was really going to work, and was there a man on the job who would be supervising.

Apparently Dooley didn’t think that Sadie and I were capable of doing any kind of construction. So we introduced him to Liam. Once we got Dooley convinced that yes, we could renovate a barn exactly the way that he wanted, he then searched for a site. We showed him about ten different locations, and he found something wrong with each of them. One had too many big rocks on it, another had a natural spring that he worried would flood even though we gave him options on how to control it. Another was absolutely beautiful, with rolling hills and wild buttercups growing on it, but get this—Dooley said it was too pretty. After a while I got the sense that Dooley had commitment issues and would never decide on the perfect spot, and I told him that.

Y’all, my temper is short and so is my fuse. I flat out suggested that Dooley find another design and contracting firm because I was done being called at all hours of the night and sick of his lack of commitment.

Well, I don’t think anyone had ever told Dooley Hutto off in his entire life, because his face turned red as a beet and he practically begged Sadie and me not to leave the project, to give him one more chance.

I found a perfect spot to house the barn, one with a field of lavender behind it. Dooley took one look and proclaimed it the most beautiful place that his money could buy.

Sold. And piece by piece, we very carefully and successfully moved the barn onto the new land.

After that, Dooley had calmed down, but apparently he was back on the rampage, angry about something or other, and I was going to be the person to deal with it. Why? Because Dooley always came to me when he had a problem. Oh, he told Sadie about it, but I would be the one dealing with it.

Just then, the sound of a truck rumbling up the gravel path caught my attention.

I took one look at the faded green pickup trolling