CHAPTER TEN
RYAN

By the time the last pizza box hits the dumpster, the inn is loud again. Nail guns popping somewhere in the back of the building. Drywall being dragged across the subfloor with absolutely no regard for anyone’s nerves. Jake’s voice from the parlor running the whole operation like an air traffic controller who also moonlights as a stand-up comedian.

I’m back at the plans, which is where I should have been a half hour ago instead of  spending that time on the front porch watching Dani fold a slice of abomination pizza in half and eating it with the satisfaction of someone who has never once made a decision she regretted.

I flip to the electrical layout and make a note about the adjustments from earlier. The offset Dani called in about thirty seconds is going to look better than what I had planned. I’m not going to say that out loud, but I’m also not going to pretend it isn’t true on paper.

The sound of a truck announces itself from the street before it even pulls up to the curb. Whatever’s happening to those brakes should be reported to someone. Through the front window I clock the battered pickup and the man stepping out of it. Walter Wright steps out, wiping his hands down his shirt in a futile attempt to smooth out the fabric and turning to face the inn, taking the view in with the resigned amusement of a man who’s seen it all, hated most of it and still gets up every morning for the sheer entertainment.

“Sounds like Walter’s here!” Jake calls from upstairs.

A few seconds later, the front door bangs open and he barrels in, flannel sleeves shoved up to his elbows as his work boots track dirt like it’s a personal mission. He looks around, takes in the exposed studs, the half-demoed walls, the fact that the building is currently being held together by hope and profanity then lets out a low chuckle. “Who’s in charge of this trainwreck?”

Dani lifts her hand without looking up from whatever she’s been drawing on my grandparents’ unfinished wall. “Of course, that would be me.”

I open my mouth.

Close it.

Walter squints at the lines. Then at her. “Is that your design, Dani?”

“Unless the ghosts haunting this place took up art,” she says.

He grunts and steps around her to run his calloused fingers over the marks. Something about the way he does it is careful. “You always did have a heavy hand,” he mutters.”Hell of a talent, though.”

“Thanks Dad,” she says.

“Hello Mister Wri—,” I say, reaching out to shake his hand.

He grabs my hand and pulls me forward, reaching around and putting one hand around my shoulders before I can finish the thought. “It’s about time you came back home to the valley.” He turns on me then, eyes narrowing like he’s already decided something. “Are you staying long?”

Dani snorts. “I’m guessing that’s a hard no.”

Neither of us dignifies that.

“If you need supplies,” he continues, like we’re already in a business arrangement I didn’t sign off on, “you’ll pay our contractor rate. No markup. Call Rowdy or send Dani.” 

“Jake’s already got Rowdy on speed dial for this one, Dad,” Dani says, still focusing on her work.

“Good!” He tugs at his beard. “This place is a money pit. But I’d sure love to see it booked out again.”

“I know it’s a tall order,” I say. “But we’re going to pull it off.”

“I remember.” He nods slowly, like he’s running a memory reel in his head. He opens his mouth like he’s about to say more, then closes it again and claps his hands together once. “Alright, listen up.” His voice cuts clean through the noise. “East Divide’s playing Gus’s place tonight.”

The effect is immediate.

Someone whoops.

Something drops.

A voice from upstairs yells back, “No shit?”

Jake materializes in the parlor doorway, grinning. “Deck’s back in town already?”

“Full band. Full set. Doors at eight.”

“I’ll be there,” Dani says, without hesitation.

Walter points at her. “Of course you will.” Then back to me, eyes narrowing. “You coming, Calloway?”

“I’ve got work,” I say.

His mouth twitches. “We all do. But when you live in Oak Valley you leave it behind at the end of the day.” He shrugs like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “Otherwise, what’s the point?”

I nod once and look back at my tablet, which has nothing useful to say about any of this.

He claps Jake on the shoulder, gives Dani a quick wink and stops dead in the doorway.

I follow his eyeline to the front walk.

There’s a woman coming up the path with a tablet under her arm and the kind of focused expression that means she’s been planning this conversation longer than we’ve been having ours.

Walter makes a sound low in his throat. “Tell her I was never here,” he says, and disappears through the hallway leading to the side door before I can respond.

I stare after him for a second.

The front door opens.

She steps in mid-knock and plants both feet like she’s taking in a crime scene instead of a lobby mid-reno.

Jake goes quiet on the staircase.

“Dani Wright.” Her voice sounds about as charming as her presence is so far.

“Lois.” Dani sets her chalk down and turns around. Completely unhurried. “I figured you’d give us a few days before you came by.”

“You know I prefer surprise visits,” she says with a smirk on her face that makes my eye twitch. “I find it’s the most efficient way to get a real read on where a project is.” 

Based on the way Jake is studying the ceiling right now, it probably is not going according to plan or schedule.

“I know.” Dani’s mouth tips up. “I appreciated it.”

The woman makes a sound that I don’t like as she pulls up her tablet. She looks at me then. Like she’s been aware of me the whole time and has just decided to acknowledge my presence now. “You must be the Calloway boy.”

Oh… we’re doing this? Okay. “Ryan,” I say, reaching my hand out.

She looks at me the way this entire town used to look at me. Like I have something to prove but no one has told me what that something actually is.

“I have concerns.”

“Of course you do, Lois” Dani says, putting her chalk down for the first time since lunch. “Walk me through them.”

The woman whose name is apparently Lois taps at her tablet screen, I can see from where I’m currently standing that her list is color coded. 

I can respect that.

“Very well,” she says, sucking in a long breath. “The paint colors submitted go against the committee’s approved palette, which is curated to maintain historical accuracy. The renovation timeline is ambitious… at best. And a note came across my desk this morning about a wall being removed. As I’m sure you’re aware the code strictly forbidden—”

I’m doing timeline math on item two when Dani interrupts.

“The wall is non-structural. We’ve already spoken with Brent about it and he’s agreed to sign off on the documents since there are no potential negative impacts to the structure itself.”

Lois makes a tsk-tsk sound behind her teeth as she taps at her tablet’s screen again. “And the palette?” 

“Airdrop me the committee’s approved color schemes,” Dani says, pulling her phone out and tapping at it. “I’ve been working from the Victorian archive but if there’s an existing doc I can build from that.”

Her eyebrows pinch together creating a cascade of wrinkles on her forehead. “I sent it to you in September for the Oak Valley Library project.”

“This isn’t the library project, Lois,” Dani sighs. “Send it again.” Her phone chimes in response to receiving the file. “Thank you.” She keeps moving. “The balustrade stays. We’re restoring it. That probably needs to be in the project record. The Heritage Overlay—” she looks at me again.

“We can submit the full interior plan before the end of the week,” I add.

“So you’ll have eyes on everything before we close a single wall,” Dani tells her.
Lois lets out a long sigh and rolls her eyes as she taps her tablet. “What’s your email for the project channel? And before you say I already have it, I want to add you fresh so the notifications actually work this time.”

Dani sighs, but gives it to her. The notification goes off before Dani’s even put her phone back in her pocket.

Lois looks at the lobby, but this time it’s a different gaze than what she had when she walked in. “I always appreciated that millwork,” she says. “I hoped someone would restore it.”

“I know you did,” Dani says. “It’s staying. We found it under five coats of beige and it’s fine.”

Her face softens just enough that my shoulders can relax in response.

“Oh,” Dani continues, “The Cherry Street drainage issue was outside the property easement for the house on Mission.” Dani continues, ushering Lois toward the door while they chat about a project that has nothing to do with the inn.

Smart.

“I’ll ask them to flag the existing drainage pattern while they’re here,” Dani continues and I have no clue what she’s talking about but I’m grateful it has nothing to do with the inn. “That’ll give Pat the documentation she can take to the county if she needs to.”

“It would help,” Lois admits.

“Then they’ll get it done.” Dani laughs, reaching for the door knob behind Lois and pulling the door open. “The last thing we want is for you—or the county—to find out about things from Lou Jenkins.”

Lois nods knowingly like maybe that’s happened before, which knowing this town I’m willing to guess that it absolutely has. “I’ll look forward to the submission before the review window,” she says.

“You’ll have it,” Dani says.

Lois nods at me then Jake before leaving. 

The door closes behind her.

Jake exhales from the staircase. “That was the smoothest thing I’ve ever watched,” he says. “I’ve been trying to get her off my case for years,” he adds, heading back to the parlor.

The nail guns start up again somewhere in the back of the building. The inn gets loud the way it was before, like it didn’t notice the interruption.

I look at Dani.

She’s already crouched down at the base of the focal wall, chalk in hand, working on that same design she’s been tinkering with all afternoon. It almost looks like the beginning of a root system. She hasn’t looked up since Lois walked out.

I open a note on my tablet and set the date for the end of the week. Full interior plan to the preservation committee. I stare at it for a second longer than necessary then add a second line. Ask Dani to co-present during the committee meeting.

I close the app and watch the way Dani’s hands move as the design blossoms on the wall. 

She steps back, tilts her head, makes a small sound that means she’s thinking, and adds one more line that I can’t see from where I’m standing but she seems pleased with it because she smiles at it as she tucks the chalk back into her supplies. 

“Done with that for the day?” I ask.

“Mhm.” She catches me watching her when she finally glances up. I glance at the wall. Fast. A very smooth cover, I’m sure. Ugh. “Gotta get cleaned up for Gus’s.”

“Oh, right.” I nod, slowly. “So Gus owns Bottoms UP and Tripp opened a pizzeria. Things really do change fast around here.”

“Not so fast, really. It’s been ten years.”

Ouch.

She purses her lips together like she’s fighting something back. That might be one thing that hasn’t changed in Oak Valley. “Are you coming tonight?” she finally asks.

“Nah.” I shake my head and run a hand through my hair. “I’ve got work.”

“Dad already shot that excuse down.” The edges of her mouth curl up just enough that I notice. 

“I’ll think about it.”