Page 45 of Sins or Secrets
“The place needs a lot of work.A hell of alot,” I say, looking around.
“You can say that again,” Bree agrees, gazing ahead at what I have to call the remains of the dance school.
She got here fifteen minutes ago, and I showed her around the place.The tour ended here at the worst part of the damage.
The dance school barely has a roof over it and because one of the walls is gone, the complete studio inside is exposed.The doors are gone, the mirrors shattered, the beautiful wood floor a wreck.The piano is still there, surprisingly, on the part of the floor that didn't get ruined, but everything is a mess.It all lays before us in ruins.
Across from it is the boathouse which looks just a fraction better.
The wind picks up the ends of my hair and I swoop it to one side.
I look around me at the mess of the land and I don’t know where we’ll begin.It feels like this is going to take a lot more than six months to fix.
“What did the builders say?”
“They seem confident that it can be done, but over time.It sounded like they were trying to appease me and like it was definitely wishful thinking to think they could get the place ready in time to invite people here for a summer school.”
“I’m inclined to agree it’s wishful thinking,” she says when she looks at the ruined side of the house.There are two contractors walking around what used to be one of the larger sitting rooms.They’re taking notes.
So far the only work done was the roof in the kitchen.That was done before I got my stuff here last night.Logan worked fast. True to his word it was sorted and the man that was here when I arrived started checking the fixtures and appliances to make sure they were all working.
The house might be half a mess but I absolutely felt more comfortable here than I did at the motel,and it wasn’t just because I didn’t have to worry about some creep Logan was trying to shield me from.
“The house isn’t too bad, but the place is totaled Quinn.I didn’t realize it was so bad.It seemed like Lilly got the worst hit of the hurricane.”
“Yeah it really does seem that way.”
“Okay, enough lamenting. We know the place looks bad.What next boss lady?” she giggles.
I smile. “Let’s go sit by the lake and talk.” I motion ahead to the little wooden bench that’s still intact.I ate breakfast out here this morning and took some bread to feed the swans.
Bree and I sit together and gaze out at the little family of swans swimming by.When I used to spend my days here, that little bench used to be my thinking spot.I’d go over dance moves and choreography over and over again in my mind.
“So here are my thoughts,” I begin.“Lilly left instructions on what she wanted us to do so we just have to put it together.”
“There were instructions?”
“Oh yes. Plenty of instructions.We definitely have our work cut out for us.”
When I went to sign my contract Mr. Mulligan gave me a box with all the instructions for the school.It had everything from the list of students who’d signed up from last year to the staff she’d been using.I was impressed by how organized Lilly had been for such a sick person.
“Well that should make it easier right.It should be fun putting a dance school together.I haven’t danced in years. I really miss those good old days, and playing that old piano.” Bree casts a glance to the little piano in the studio.
“I miss those days too. I’m looking forward to teaching and setting everythingup.The contractors are going to be focusing on the house for at least a month, but they’ll clean up the rest of theplace.They won’t however get to the studio until maybe nextmonth.It’s a lot lower on the priority list and more cost effective if we do things thisway.”
“This must be costing afortune.”
“Yeah.” And I’m thankful Lilly left enough money to fix up theplace.“It will look even more beautiful than it didbefore.”
“I can just imagine.”
“I want the dance school modernized though.It’s totaled as you can see, so I think that gives me free reign of the newdesign.”
“That will be very cool. If it gets done in time do you think we could have some classes before the summer school?That might be a nice way to ease everyone in.”
I nod. “Yes. That would be great.I think maybe things will look a little better in two weeks and we can start brainstorming.”
I throw out some bread to the swans as they approach the bank, and both of us smile as the biggest one waddles over and picks it up.
