Page 38 of Ten Beach Road

Fourteen

Avery awoke to the gnashing of gears and the rattle of a big truck. These were followed by shouts and the sound of a huge metal object landing on an even harder surface. She jumped up and peered out. Directly beneath her window stood Chase Hardin and a newly delivered Dumpster. Racing out her door to the bathroom, Avery skidded to a stop behind Nicole, who was already dressed. Avery was still wearing Trent’s castoff T-shirt that she slept in and could tell by the look on Nicole’s face that she must have an especially virulent case of bed head.

“I just need to use the toilet and then wash my face. Can I jump in there ahead of you?”

“That’s all I’m doing, Avery,” Nicole said. “That’s all any of us ever have time to do.” She tapped her foot impatiently. “But go ahead. Chase is here. And I wouldn’t want you to have to do combat on a full bladder.”

“Thanks.” Avery stepped forward and rapped lightly on the door.

“Just a sec,” Madeline called from the bathroom. Outside the truck drove off in another grinding of gears. Others arrived. There was a clatter of metal and more shouts.

The doorbell rang, which was apparently just a courtesy because less than a heartbeat later footsteps echoed in the foyer.

“Vanna?” Chase’s voice carried up the stairs. “Time to rise and shine!”

“A little warning would have been nice,” Avery grumbled.

“No kidding. And given the look on your face, you might want to take an extra thirty seconds to brush your teeth,” Nicole said. “Just in case you have to get in Chase’s face.”

“Ha,” Avery said. “I should stay just the way I am so he can see what this stupid plumbing schedule of his is doing to us. But then that’s probably part of his fiendish plan.”

“Don’t worry, it’s kind of hard to miss the ramifications.” Nicole looked Avery up and down, which was when Avery realized how not dressed she was.

“Be right back!” In her room she pawed through her suitcase and the pile beside it until she found a pair of cutoffs and wiggled into them. She got back just as Madeline vacated the bathroom.

“I’m in desperate need . . .” Avery began.

Madeline smiled. “I’ll have a pot ready by the time you come down.”

Avery drew a deep breath as she sailed into the bathroom and raced through what barely qualified as a “toilet.” Chase was already in the kitchen drinking a cup of coffee when she got there. An opened box of glazed doughnuts sat on the kitchen table. Madeline put a cup of coffee in her hand.

Chase looked her over, starting with her bare feet and working up her bare legs past the sleep shirt to the hair that she couldn’t remember combing. “Gee, I didn’t mean to pull you out of bed,” he said.

Avery raised her hand and turned the palm toward him.

“What?”

“We try not to talk to her more than necessary until she’s finished her first cup,” Madeline explained as she picked up the box of doughnuts and held it out to Avery.

Avery took a doughnut and bit into it, sighing with pleasure as the warm sugar melted in her mouth and mingled with the coffee. She drained the cup and held it out to Madeline for more, finishing off the doughnut in a few quick bites.

Chase cleared his throat. “Hello?”

Fortified, and now fully awake, Avery turned to face him and was immediately irritated by his freshly shaved face and still-damp hair. He was too attractive under the best of circumstances but the fact that he was showered and groomed struck her as grossly unfair.

“The scaffolding is being unloaded and as you probably heard, the Dumpster’s in place,” he said. “That means it’s time to start getting rid of anything we’re not keeping. And that includes . . .”

“The wallpapers in the downstairs and upstairs baths, the carpet in the master, the ruined baseboards in the salon and the kitchen, and probably most of what’s in the garage,” Avery finished.

A gratifying look of surprise flitted across his face. “Um, yeah,” he said.

“And I’m assuming it must be about time for Enrico to come back and finish up the roof,” she commented as if they were having an actual conversation.

“Yeah. He’ll be here in a couple days.”

“So we’re expecting him on . . . ?”

“Um, Thursday. First thing.”

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