“I don’t know,” she admitted.
I looked down at the two plain envelopes, still resting on the tray. They represented a grim finality. The end of something good.
And looking back at our beautiful ex-employer, maybe even a missed opportunity.
“And what about him?” asked Chase, pointing with one arm. Across the courtyard, the big stonemason was busy slitting open a fresh bag of cement. Getting ready to mix his latest batch of mortar.
“Julian?”
She sounded nervous. More nervous than ever.
“Yeah. Julian.”
“He’s… just gonna finish up that section of the wall,” Madison replied hesitantly. “When he’s done, I’ll call for a last inspection. Hopefully, with a little luck…”
“You’ll squeak by?” I asked. “Uh-uh. No way.”
Chase rubbed his arm across his lemonade-covered mouth and nodded in agreement. “The inspector’s gonna piss all over that idea,” he said matter-of-factly. “Every time he comes here he finds something wrong with what needs to be done. And you haven’t finished half the projects on his last ‘to-do’ list.”
For a moment she opened her mouth to protest, but the three of us knew better. I watched her pretty little face draw deeper into worry. Lines began to form on her perfect, porcelain forehead.
“Listen,” I said. “Madison…”
She shook her head, as if she already knew what I was going to say. Maybe she did.
“Keep us on,” I told her. “A few weeks more, anyway. We can finish the stairwell, maybe get the rest of the framing done on the mill tower. We’re nearly done there. It would be a shame not to finish up.”
Chase put his glass down. As he did, he used two fingers to push the envelopes away. “Yeah. What he said.”
Madison’s expression still hadn’t changed. “But I can’t pay you.”
“Pay us whatever you can,” I offered. “Or pay us later on down the line, when you can pay us.”
Her eyes went glassy, and I could see she was on the edge. It could go either way, and I didn’t want that.
“Listen,” I said, placing my hands on her shoulders. “It’s okay. Your uncle… he was always good to us. And then you, when you took over? Even better.”
“Totally,” Chase jumped in. “No offense to the old man, but he never brought us lemonade.”
She chuckled briefly, and I knew I had her. I tilted her chin gently in my direction and smiled, forcing her to do the same.
“Seriously,” I said. “Keep us around a little while, and don’t sweat the money.” I nodded toward Julian, who was still mixing. “If anything, give it to him. When an inspector comes, you’ll need that outer wall finished for sure.”
“But he—”
She stopped herself, mid-sentence, and I knew there was something more.
“He what?”
Madison looked down at the ground. “He’s not taking money either,” she said guiltily. “I tried to fire him, just like you guys. But he told me he’d work for free.”
“That little bastard,” Chase swore.
I knew he was kidding. but also, on some levels he wasn’t. Julian had been our main competition in trying to woo Madison. We’d been fighting him for her lemonade affections for months now.
“Imagine the balls on that guy!” Chase continued. “Trying to outbid us all the way down to zero. Stealing our thunder. Taking our—”
“He’s just helping her out,” I said, in defense of the giant mason. “Same as we are.”