Lavender Blue Read online

  “I think it came down inside as well,” she told him, relieved that he hadn’t been hurt. “It sounded like the Thunderdome opened up a location in our dining room.”

  The corner of his mouth might have curved the slightest bit for the briefest of moments at her Mad Max reference, but she wasn’t sure because a second later he was shaking his head, his jaw flexing, possibly due to the words he looked ready to mutter, but didn’t, in deference to her presence. “I’ll head in and check that out, but you’ll all need to use the front entrance to the house until I give the all clear.”

  Hannah nodded her assent, then grew worried again. “Wait, Vivi went to check the dining room fireplace. Should she not be in there? Is there a chance—”

  But Will was already moving her safely inside the enclosed veranda, then letting her go and heading through the door into the kitchen. She followed right behind him. “Stay here,” he told her in a tone that left zero opening for argument, then cut through the spacious kitchen toward the arched doorway that led into the formal dining room. “Ms. Baudin,” he called out as he went. “You shouldn’t be—”

  Vivi met him in the arched doorway, bringing him up short. “I’m fine, I’m fine. And I believe I’ve mentioned, it’s Vivienne,” she told him. “Or Vivi. Sounds like you’re calling my mama otherwise. God rest her soul.”

  Hannah’s worry immediately lifted. She hid her amusement at the abashed look on Will’s dirt-streaked face. A moment ago he’d looked like a five-star general commanding the troops. Only Vivi could reduce a general to a chastised schoolboy.

  “Sorry, ma’am.” At her perfectly arched eyebrow, he said, “Miss Vivienne.”

  Vivi accepted the polite, southern form of address with a smile and a regal nod that did her showgirl background proud. She always carried herself as if she was casually balancing a thirty-pound headpiece. In heels. “As I was about to say, it appears half the chimney is now filling the fireplace grate and a good part of the stone hearth. What on earth happened?”

  “It collapsed,” Hannah said. “Almost took Will with it.”

  Vivi’s eyes traveled from Will to Hannah, paused consideringly, then moved back to Will. “You’re okay, though?”

  Will nodded. “The stonework on the front room chimney that I restored first was bluestone veneer on block, redone from the original brick back in the mid-eighties. It was just as stated on the plans I got from the county. Supposedly all four had been redone the same way. Only when I went to repoint the joints on the dining room chimney, I learned—too late—that they had just slapped the stone to the front of the brick, which had been crumbling due to leaks that weakened the structure from the top down. Hence the remodel in the eighties. For some reason, they didn’t replace the brick on that one, just put the stone over it. Only whoever did the job didn’t do anything to shore up the disintegrating brick joints first. Maybe they thought attaching stone to it would do the trick, and, I’ll admit, it’s held up for a long time. But once I started to remove the stone, they all started to go. The brick behind the stone essentially crumbled. There was no way to know until the stone being removed revealed the brick, and by then it was already too late.”

  “Well, I don’t see how you could have known otherwise,” Vivi said, seeming calm about this unexpected state of affairs. “I’m just grateful you weren’t injured. Will you be able to rebuild using the bluestone?”

  At the same time, Hannah asked, “Are the other two chimneys like that one? Or the first one?”

  “Yes,” he told Vivi, “only it will be a more extensive repair. For that one, at least, you’re looking at a full replacement. And I don’t know what that will mean for the fireplace inside, but I imagine it will have to be rebuilt from top to bottom. You wanted the hearth and mantel redone on that one anyway, so it’s not quite as bad as it sounds.” Will turned to Hannah. “I don’t know yet. I’m going to brace them before I go further, so at least if they start to go they won’t fall into the yard. The dining room chimney will have to be dismantled the rest of the way and removed.” He looked back to Vivi. “I’ll do a full assessment and give you a revised estimate; then you can let me know how you want to proceed.”

  “Well, we need functioning chimneys,” Vivi told him. “I’m not closing them off. So, do whatever needs doing.”

  “You’ll want to look over the cost analysis,” he told her, looking surprised at her casual reaction. “My previous bid wouldn’t cover—”

  Vivi merely waved her beringed hands at him, the many gold and silver bangles she wore on her wrists making a jingling sound at the motion that sounded like wind chimes. “As I said, do what needs doing. I trust you’re charging a fair price, despite not having any competition.”

  Will frowned at that last part. Hannah knew that Vivi was never quite as casual about things as she let on. Nor was she stupid. Far from. Though the lavender hair and over-the-top accessories might lead one to think otherwise, Vivienne Baudin was shrewd about finances and a keen judge of character. That didn’t mean she didn’t test the waters from time to time, just to make certain.

  Thanks to both of those finely tuned traits, along with a very successful career in stage costuming and alimony from two wealthy ex-husbands, money wasn’t an issue for Vivi. Most recently, she had also received a substantial inheritance—part of which had been March House—from the man she’d thought of as her soul mate. That didn’t mean she wasn’t smart about her finances, but her cushion was such that when she decided she wanted something, she found the right person for the job, then rarely let any obstacle come between her and getting the desired end result.

  Hannah smiled. Will McCall was about to find that out.

  “There are other tradesmen down in Turtle Springs,” Will began, and Hannah could see his jaw was a bit tighter, though his voice was as calm and smooth as it had been all along. “I can recommend two who work with me on bigger projects. I’m sure they’d be happy to come give you a new—” He fell silent when Vivi arched one perfectly penciled brow, causing Hannah to fake a cough to cover the laugh she’d unsuccessfully tried to swallow.

  “Must have swallowed a little dust from the debris,” she claimed when the two looked at her. The slight narrowing of Will’s gaze told her he knew it wasn’t dust. As did Vivi’s amused look.

  “Are you trying to wiggle out of your contract?” Vivi asked him.

  “No, ma’am,” Will said, then immediately added, “Miss Vivienne,” before she could stare him down again. “But if you’d like to get other bids—”

  “What I’d like is for you to stand by your word and deliver me the four new fireplaces we agreed upon. I trust you’ll put together a bid that is fair to both of us. Particularly as there are the walkways, the stone well down by the paddocks, the stables—though we’ll have to talk to Chey about them a bit more before we embark on that adventure—and Lord knows what other items I haven’t discovered yet. This place is nothing if not a scavenger hunt of what needs restoring next.” She waved her hands again. “My point being that in a place this old, which has been sitting empty for as long as it has, there are bound to be a few surprises and more than a few hurdles. I hope you won’t let that discourage you. I had really hoped you’d be up to the job.”

  “No, ma—” Will stopped mid “ma’am,” and for the first time ever, Hannah spied the barest hint of a curve at the corners of his no-nonsense mouth.

  She felt some internal part of her all but lean in his direction, urging that smile to continue to emerge. Even the promise of one had done amazing things to those oh-so-serious eyes of his. What would they be like, sparkling with laughter? she wondered, instantly entranced by the idea of finding out.

  “I mean, yes, I can handle the job,” he finished, the serious expression returning to match his tone. “I’ll rework the schedule once I’ve gone over the extent of the deterioration and give you a new bid.”

  “Excellent,” Vivi said, beaming once again. “Do what is needed, keep me apprised, and bill m
e when you need to. I trust you can get someone in here to clear out the debris from the dining room? Is it safe to go in there? The wall and roof aren’t going to come down, are they? I had that architectural firm do a complete analysis when we drew up the renovation plans, so they’ll be getting a call from me regarding those chimneys.”

  “Don’t be too hard on them,” Will said. “I don’t see how they could have known, either. I have copies of all the plans filed with Rockfish County for this place, and according to them, all four chimneys were renovated the same way.”

  “Sounds like someone might have been cutting corners,” Hannah offered.

  “Most likely,” Will replied, and looked her way again.

  She thought he’d glance back at Vivi, only his gaze stayed on hers, as if he expected her to continue the conversation. She should be well past the shock of the brick shower by now, but darn if her pulse rate wasn’t still thump-thump-thumping right along. The temperature felt like it was climbing by the minute. Sure, blame it on the broken chunks of brick. Made her wish she had one of those hand-painted, Japanese silk fans that Vivi favored.

  When she didn’t add anything further, Will looked back to Vivi and Hannah let out the breath she hadn’t been aware she’d been holding.

  “Yes, I’ll get the dining room cleaned out, but it would be best if you all steered clear of that room until the work on that chimney and fireplace is done. We may have to do the same for the remaining two. I’ll let you know.”

  One of the remaining fireplaces was in the library, just off the foyer, on the opposite side of the house from the kitchen and dining room. That room was still empty, save for a few moving boxes that the four of them had stored in there, so staying out of the library wouldn’t be an issue. However, Hannah knew that the final fireplace was in Vivi’s master suite upstairs, but decided not to bring that up. The two of them could negotiate that situation when the time came.

  The entire second floor of the house was Vivienne’s private lodgings, so it wasn’t as if she’d have nowhere to go. But Hannah knew the other rooms were still empty or filled with moving boxes and a few dust-cloth-draped pieces of furniture, until Vivi decided how she wanted to renovate and decorate them.

  Even though Vivi had inherited the house and all the property it sat on, including the acreage already planted with lavender, the deal the other three of them had struck when deciding to take on this new life venture was that they would each invest in the farm. That meant they had each bought a quarter of the farm property, and their own private quarters.

  Avery’s residence was the one-story addition that had originally been added off the back of the house at the turn of the twentieth century. Its original function had been to accommodate live-in help, but somewhere in the mid-fifties or sixties when live-in help was no longer required by the owner at that time, the wing had been refurbished into what was called a mother-in-law suite. It was a fairly big apartment, with its own small kitchen, two full baths, two bedrooms, a decent-sized living area, and a small study.

  Avery had turned the latter into her own little chemistry lab, where she’d been figuring out how to make the various items they planned to produce and sell from their lavender crop.

  Cheyenne, the fourth member of their fearsome foursome—as she’d tagged them back when they’d all befriended one another—had claimed the stables and the small attached stone cottage that had been built for the stable manager some decades back. As she’d come with three horses, that had made perfect sense.

  Hannah’s investment had netted her the converted loft space over the garage. It was more spacious than it sounded, given the garage had been built to hold several horse-drawn buggies, along with a variety of the first models of automobiles. They all used it for their vehicles and had room for a tractor besides. When they bought one. The loft had its own galley-style kitchen and a lovely full bath with an old claw-foot tub. The main area was an open floor plan that included her living space and bedroom. What had sealed the deal for her was the huge floor-to-ceiling windows that made up the rear-facing wall of the oversized room, facing the fields and the mountains. Two additional skylights set in the high-peaked, open-beam ceiling overhead filled the space with the perfect natural light. Hannah had set up her easels and unboxed all of her paints and brushes before she’d even unpacked her clothes.

  “If your deadline for the chimney and fireplace restoration isn’t flexible due to other work you’re having done, we can bring in more help,” Will went on, drawing Hannah from her thoughts. “But that would increase the price.”

  His voice was deep, the cadence steady, almost soothing. He was the epitome of unruffled, calm, and confident. The kind of man who engendered trust just by his bearing. Her mind darted to that moment he’d pulled her to safety, right up against the hard length of his body, then instinctively sheltered her when more debris had rained down from the roof. He’d taken charge as naturally as if he’d been been born to it. Or trained for it. She wondered again if he was former military.

  “Use the front door only for now,” he said, then nodded toward the mudroom that jutted off the opposite side of the kitchen from the veranda. “Steer clear of the doors exiting either side of the house. Until I can get the rest of the chimney torn down, I can’t guarantee which way the debris will roll.”

  Hannah turned to Vivi. “Avery should be back shortly and she’ll be coming around to the mudroom side. I’ll wait for her on the front porch, get her to park up there.”

  “How long do you think that will be?” Vivi asked Will. “Not using these doors, I mean.”

  “I have to get back up there to determine that,” Will replied. “I’ll need to check on the other two chimneys as well. Might be just a few hours or could be a day or two, depending. That much I’ll know today.”

  “We’ll be here,” Vivi told him. “Just let yourself in when you’re ready.”

  He nodded.

  “I’m going to head out front,” Hannah said.

  “I’ll follow you out,” Will added, surprising her.

  She walked down the hall leading to the front foyer, assuming he wanted a word with her, and wondering what for. Maybe he was worried that Vivi didn’t truly appreciate how the crumbled chimney was going to change the bottom line and he wanted to tell her separately, get her to talk to Vivi.

  She opened the heavy oak door with the beautiful, floral pattern inset in leaded glass that formed an oval-shaped pane. The door itself was badly weathered and the lead around several of the glass panes needed to be resoldered as well, but it was stunning craftsmanship and deserved a full restoration. So many items left on the to-do list, she thought, trying not to let the magnitude of everything they had yet to do discourage her.

  Just because they each had the financial wherewithal to finance the work didn’t lift the burden of needing to get it all done. And that was in addition to learning to run the farm and educating themselves on how to turn it into their joint business venture. And now the chimneys were going to be a bigger deal than they’d thought. But what else is new? There were times she thought they’d never get it all done.

  She stepped back out into the spring sunshine and let the warmth and beauty smooth the edges off her worries. She turned, expecting Will to pause and say whatever he’d followed her out to say. She braced herself for the impact of being pinned under that gaze again, feeling a little foolish for her reaction. Only to feel even more ridiculous when he merely nodded and walked right on past her and down the steps. She laughed at herself, realizing he’d followed her out because he couldn’t safely exit through any other door.

  That didn’t stop her from watching his long-legged stride as he headed back around to where his ladder was propped against the roof. Or the way he filled out the back of those canvas work pants he favored.

  “You waiting on Avery or simply admiring the scenery,” came Vivi’s amused voice behind her. “Not that I can blame you,” she added, a knowing twinkle in her bright blue eyes. “I hi
red him because he seemed to know what he was about, and he came highly recommended.” She sighed and fanned her face with her hand, setting her bangles to jingling. “But I readily admit the view certainly was a point in his favor.”

  Hannah nodded, not embarrassed at being caught ogling. Not by Vivi, at any rate. Vivi, Avery, Chey, and Hannah knew one another right down to the core and marrow. They were closer than family, their understanding of one another running as deep as was humanly possible. So, there was no point in pretending or trying to hide anything from one another. Nor did she want to.

  To other people, the idea that the four of them—who’d only met one another six years ago—would each up and leave their lives behind to start on this crazy joint venture had seemed just that: crazy. Most people couldn’t understand the level of trust or the unique sisterhood that came with the particular bond the four of them shared, and Hannah, for one, was grateful they couldn’t.

  Because that meant they hadn’t been where she and the three women nearest and dearest to her heart had been. That meant they had never experienced the depths of grief so deep and all-consuming that they hadn’t known how to climb back toward the light, much less the land of the living.

  Hannah slid her arm around Vivi’s waist and Vivi draped her arm over Hannah’s shoulder. They watched Will disappear around the side of the house, then looked at each other. Vivi wiggled her perfect brows, making Hannah snicker; then they both full-out laughed.

  Yeah, maybe they were a bit crazy, the four of them. But Hannah would take their kind of crazy, and the joy they’d figured out how to reclaim for themselves, every single day. No regrets and no looking back. Except to the ones they’d loved so deeply and lost.

  They’d learned that, for them, the way to manage their grief, and their survivor’s guilt, was to bring the ones they’d lost forward with them. To tackle new goals, take new risks, jump into life, full on, and experience everything it had to offer.