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    Unfinished Business
    Unfinished Business
    Unfinished Business
    Ebook274 pages3 hours

    Unfinished Business

    By Diane M. Pratt

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    About this ebook

    Molly's days at Banbury Village, a living history museum, are filled with variety and occasional surprises, such as when Cecelia, the goat, escapes and it's Molly's job to capture her; or when Molly has to singlehandedly plan the annual Valentine's Ball fundraiser. But for the most part, her life is peaceful. Some might say boring. Things might have been very different had the great love of her life, Gage, not left town after graduation, never to return. She wonders if he might have stayed had she told him how she felt about him all those years ago, but she knows she can't change the past. Then one day, Gage returns.

     

    Gage knew he couldn't stay in Banbury knowing Molly was with Brent, and when he left town he told himself it was for the best. But fifteen years later, he knows he has to return and tell Molly he's been in love with her since the first time he saw her. When his eyes meet hers across a crowded room, he knows he's come home. All he needs to do is convince her they belong together.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDiane M. Pratt
    Release dateMar 13, 2020
    ISBN9781393856771
    Unfinished Business
    Author

    Diane M. Pratt

    Diane M. Pratt lives on Cape Cod where she avoids the summer traffic by hiding at home with her trusty laptop, long-suffering husband, and all the chocolate she can find. Escaping from reality in a romance novel, the ultimate goal a happy ending, is her idea of a good read.  

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      Book preview

      Unfinished Business - Diane M. Pratt

      Chapter 1

      Y ou did what? Molly Garrett looked from Evelyn to Anita, her great-aunts, sitting across the kitchen table from her as she tried to absorb their latest announcement. The girls, as she knew they liked to be called, shared a glance with a complete absence of remorse, and Molly thought for possibly the zillionth time the sisters must have been a source of never-ending challenges for their parents.

      There’s no need to get uptight about this, Molly, Anita said.

      Being a stress ball is not going to help the situation. Evelyn wagged a finger.

      Molly didn’t think she’d ever get used to being chided by the 80- and 82- year-olds, all because she was the one who had to clean up their messes, but this wasn’t the time to think about that. How did you even set up a website? Let alone get bookings for rooms that are barely habitable? Maybe barely habitable was a little harsh, but she was past the point of diplomacy.

      I came up with the name. Anita smiled proudly. Banbury B&B. I thought it should be named for the town so everyone will know how to find it.

      Once Michelin discovers us, we’ll be booked solid for the next century. Evelyn nodded at Molly.

      She stared at them, their naivete both charming and frustrating her. How did you make a website? One question at a time might be the only way to get answers.

      Oliver and Petey helped us.

      Who are Oliver and Petey?

      Oliver is the mailman and Petey is our paper boy.

      Naturally. Who else would one ask for website advice? How old is Petey?

      He turned 13 last week, Anita said. He knows everything about computers and he showed us.

      To be honest, Petey did most of it, but he showed us what we have to do, Evelyn said. Oliver was quite helpful, too. He said since we already had a rooming house, it wouldn’t be any different to name it and run it as a bed and breakfast. He even told us we needed extra insurance for it.

      A rooming house was a slight exaggeration, but Molly knew Mr. Blum had rented a room at the house for years, ever since the aunts had bought it when Great-Uncle Hugh, Evelyn’s husband, had died so soon after Great-Uncle Aaron, Anita’s husband. Mr. Blum, who Molly had always liked for his friendliness and courtesy, had recently passed, and she wondered if the aunts were feeling a financial pinch without his monthly rent payments.

      She didn’t want to delve too deeply into what she knew the aunts would consider their personal business, but she could skirt around it. Are you doing okay financially? She wished she was able to interpret the look the aunts exchanged.  

      We’re fine, dear. Don’t you worry about us. Anita sat up straighter. What we need you to help us with is getting the six bedrooms ready for the guests. Our first bookings are for July first.

      July first. Which was only some five and a half months away. She didn’t like to bother her parents with the aunts’ escapades, but she was going to make an exception for this one. If they had stayed in town instead of moving to Florida, this would all be on them instead of on her. Even though there was little they could do since they were so far away, they could certainly offer a suggestion. Or two.

      She hadn’t been in the upstairs bedrooms for years, but she knew what little furniture there was had coverings. She wondered how many of the bathrooms, of which there were also six, were functioning. Why don’t I take a look at what we’re dealing with. She stood, smiling as confidently as she could.

      I told you Molly would know what to do, Anita said to Evelyn, and the girls nodded at each other. We’ve got lots of ideas.

      Molly pictured dollar signs and wondered how much the lots of ideas were going to cost and how the aunts were going to pay for them. She chose not to think about who was going to do whatever was needed to get the whole house into guest-ready shape. New furniture was only a portion of the project, but with all those bedrooms, the living and dining rooms, the book room, and the kitchen, there was going to be significant financial outlay. It was going to be a serious reality check for the aunts, who could write a book on frugality, beginning with how to use a rubber spatula to get every last bit of peanut butter out of a jar. Of course, once the aunts realized what it was all going to cost, they’d realize their dream, or scheme, or whatever they considered this, wasn’t going to happen, and it would be kinder to prepare them.

      I don’t want to be a wet blanket, but you need to think about this. If everything is going to cost more than you can afford, you’ll have to cancel the reservations and shut down the website.

      Where there’s a will, there’s a way, Evelyn said, winking at her sister.

      That’s right, Anita said. With Banbury’s tricentennial this summer, we’re going to be booked for weeks and weeks because tourists will want to see the parades and fireworks and plays.

      This is big-time, Molly. Evelyn frowned at her. Not everyone wants to stay in a hotel when they can stay in a nice, cozy B&B.

      Molly looked at the living room furniture, the faded couch and chairs, the mismatched lamps on the end tables, the heavy drapes closed against the gloomy winter day, and couldn’t even fake enthusiasm for their scheme. Let’s take a look around upstairs.

      I’ll bring a notebook so we can keep track of what needs to be done, Anita said, opening a kitchen drawer and rooting around until she found what she needed. You lead the way, Molly. It will take Evelyn and me a little longer on those stairs.

      And just who was supposed to run this imaginary B&B? The aunts couldn’t be making beds and cleaning and feeding guests. She couldn’t do it, either, since her job as assistant to the Director at Banbury Village, the living history museum, kept her busy five, and sometimes six, days a week. And occasionally seven when staff called out sick and she had to fill in as anything from pottery maker to pig handler to sheep shearer. Being a hotelier for all her free hours wasn’t her idea of living the good life, and she sent a silent wish that it didn’t happen.

      It couldn’t. It was as simple as that. She would help the aunts see that their dream was well-intentioned but impractical, then refocus on another stressor, the Valentine’s Ball, coming next month. The annual charity event was instrumental in keeping Banbury Village afloat and required every bit of her time and attention. Between making sure the barn was in perfect condition, arranging for the decorations, food, drinks, and entertainment, for starters, not to mention finding a way to sell enough tickets to make it worthwhile, she wouldn’t have a spare minute for anything else. Especially watching her sweet great-aunts bankrupt themselves.

      Chapter 2

      Gage Harris knelt on the living room rug and opened another cardboard box. Aha . Found the oven mitts. Now maybe he wouldn’t burn off his finger prints on the lasagna pan as he’d done the night before. It had been two weeks since he’d moved back to Banbury, not to a house, as he’d hoped, but to a condo, since it was a quick and easy buy. The two bedrooms would hold him if things worked out as he hoped, and if not – well, he didn’t want to think about if not. His parents, who remained in the house he’d grown up in, were getting up there, although they frequently reminded him people in their sixties weren’t quite ready to be stuck in a home. Some of the stories they told him made him wonder, and it was easier to keep an eye on them if he was living local. And some of the time he could convince himself that was the true reason he’d moved back.

      The commute to Berezin Engineering was certainly shorter since it was also in Banbury, saving him an hour a day on the roads. He’d liked living just south of Boston, since he’d had access to all the night life he’d wanted. Which had turned out to be less than he’d expected, and certainly less than his ex, Autumn, had wanted. But social expectations had only been one of their many points of conflict, and they’d finally agreed to part ways.

      Emptying the box, he thought about how much he wasn’t missing either Autumn or the bright lights of the city. Banbury had been a fun place to grow up, between the beach, Banbury Village, and all his friends. It had been a while since he’d been back, basically since he left for school, and he’d lost touch with all his friends, which he guessed made them former friends. In one particular instance...Well, wasn’t that why he’d come back?

      He glanced out the window, grabbed his coat and keys, and headed for his truck.

      MOLLY’S HAND STARTED cramping during the inventory tour of the fourth bedroom, but she soldiered on, wanting to know what they were facing. The aunts were chattering excitedly about their plans and she scribbled accordingly, postponing the moment of reckoning until they’d finished every room. Every single room.

      In the fifth bedroom, she changed her attitude from where is all this money going to come from? to I’m sure I’m going to win the lottery any day now. It made getting through the rest of the rooms an actual pleasure as she pictured them the way they could be if money were not an issue.

      Let’s give every bedroom a different color theme. She stood in the hallway, seeing the aunts’ eyes, bright with excitement, as they imagined it.

      That’s an excellent suggestion, Molly. Anita squeezed her arm. Let’s do the next room.

      Evelyn stepped by Molly and opened the door. This room should be lavender. What do you think, Anita?

      Perfect. Yellow would be blinding with all the sun this room gets.

      We’ll use red, white, and blue in Mr. Blum’s room, Evelyn said. He would have liked that.

      Should we call it Mr. Blum’s room? Anita asked, looking from Evelyn to Molly.

      Molly withheld her opinion, hoping they went with color names instead.

      Why don’t we have a plaque made that says Mr. Blum slept here? Historic homes often have plaques proclaiming famous people slept there, such as George Washington, and Abraham Lincoln.

      Molly pressed her lips together, reminding herself this was a solemn moment, wondering if Mr. Blum would feel honored. As they continued through the rooms, the wish list growing ever longer, she no longer worried about the cost of the makeover. The aunts would never be able to afford everything they’d need. Wondering about the alleged website and the alleged bookings and how payment had been made, if it had been made, what the aunts had decided was a fair price for the rooms, what they planned to serve as the second B in the B&B was enough to supply an hour, maybe two, of borderline hysterical laughter.

      But she was made of strong stuff, and she would get her aunts through this. Or bring it to a screeching halt and come up with another plan for them, one that was more manageable for a couple of octogenarians. There had to be another Mr. Blum out there, just waiting for the chance to be fussed over by a couple of sweet ladies. Girls.

      Closing the notebook at the conclusion of the tour, she smiled at their hopeful faces. Let’s sit and talk about all this.

      I’ll make tea, Anita said, heading out of the book room. Evelyn followed, and Molly looked around. The book room had built-in shelves crammed to capacity, mostly with books, but there were a few scattered knickknacks, as the aunts called them, a coffee table, and three wingback chairs. It was a nice room, but like all the others, it would need refurbishing. If the B&B were, by some miracle, to actually happen. Paint for starters, a new rug, and either new or re-upholstered chairs. She sat in one chair after another for confirmation. Definitely new chairs. Guests who had shelved out who knew how much per night would expect to be as comfortable as they were at home, and preferably more so.

      Molly, dear? Are you coming?

      Anita’s voice. And she had no idea how reality was about to come crashing down on her, the poor thing.

      Coming. She wished she had penciled in break the aunts’ hearts on her calendar for today so she’d feel more prepared.

      GAGE DROVE BY HIS OLD stomping grounds, memories hitting him in rapid succession. Banbury Elementary, Hoxie Middle, and the high school, buildings where he’d spent most of his waking childhood and teen hours, days, years. The bowling alley seemed to have been dragged from its former 50s style to the current century. It had been a lot of years since he’d been in there.

      Then there were the beach, the tennis and basketball courts, Banbury Village, and Picture Lake. Not many towns around boasted an ocean and a lake, and from what he remembered, the lake after dark had been prime real estate for making out, with its grove of pine trees around the unpaved parking lot. He didn’t even have to try to remember the name of the girl he’d wanted to bring there but never had.

      Thanks to social media, he knew she’d stayed in Banbury. What he didn’t know was if she still blamed him.

      Chapter 3

      S hould we do one room at a time? Molly looked from Anita to Evelyn. Or a total wish list? Wish was a euphemism, but the shock was going to be hard enough for them to process and she was going to ease into it. They looked so eager, anticipation brightening their eyes, and she felt like Scrooge.

      One room at a time, Evelyn said.

      Then we’ll start with the bedrooms. The twin beds need to be replaced by queen-sized. That’s frames, mattresses, box springs, and linens. And matching curtains and area rugs. The wood floors need refinishing, too. Everything in the closets will need to be cleared out. When the rooms are painted, the painters can do the closets, too. She thought the mention of outside labor might provide a dose of the reality of the situation. Then we have the bathrooms. The fixtures are... How to make old and ugly sound less bad? They need to be replaced, too. The aunts seemed to be taking the news well, which may only have meant they had no clue what it would all cost. Which made three of them.

      The dining room will need a table that seats twelve if you’re renting all six rooms at once. Which could happen. The living room furniture needs to be replaced so you’ll have more seating. The same for the book room. The kitchen needs an island. Luckily you have the space. If you want to do this right, you should get new cabinets and counter tops, but maybe the cabinets can be painted. All the rooms need to be painted. Basically, every room needs to be updated. It’s a huge undertaking. She closed the notebook, hearing the overworked paper crinkle.

      How soon can we get started? Anita asked.

      Molly stared at her. Well, we need to find out if you have the money for everything, and to do that we need to figure out what all these upgrades will cost.

      We have a Sears catalog, and we can get prices for linens, Anita said.

      I think they have furniture, as well, Evelyn said, smiling at her sister.

      That’s an idea. Not a good one, since the catalog was probably twenty years out of date, but Molly saw no need to be critical. Since that may be an old catalog, we probably shouldn’t rely too much on the pricing.

      We could add a few dollars to the prices, and that should give us the right costs. Anita smiled as if she’d solved the world’s problems.

      Why don’t I do some research? Molly knew her new best friend was going to be the notebook. At least until she reached the dreaded bottom line and she had to give her aunts the news.

      Oh, would you do that for us? Evelyn asked. You’d do it so much faster.

      I’ll go online.

      We could do that. Couldn’t we, Anita?

      Molly eyed them, imagining them ordering everything in sight because they wanted to be helpful. Have you ever ordered online?

      We almost did once. Mr. Blum helped us, but we changed our minds when it told us we had to put our credit card number in. No, thank you, we said to each other. Evelyn nodded to Anita.

      Which reminded Molly she needed to take a look at their website. How did you take payment for the bookings? She didn’t imagine thirteen-year-old Petey had the know-how to set up credit card accessibility. But then she didn’t know any thirteen-year-olds.

      We only accept checks, Anita said. That’s better for us, and it helps our guests not to get in over their heads by running up their credit cards.

      All righty, then. Molly stood. Thank you for the tea. I’ll get a guestimate for all the furnishings and we can go from there. Which would be absolutely nowhere.

      Who are we going to hire to paint and do the floors and the bathrooms? We should get someone this week. Summer isn’t that far away. Evelyn frowned at her.

      Let’s hold off on finding someone for now. Wait until I see what all this will cost. She waved the notebook. Maybe she’d have to make some calls to see what replacing the bathroom fixtures would cost. And refinishing the floors...And painting...Right.

      If you think that’s best, then we’ll wait. Anita said. But we can’t wait too long. This might be the best time to get workers to do everything, since they can’t work outside in the winter.

      I’ll get those numbers crunched as soon as I can. Don’t want to lose out on snagging all those workers. She hugged each of the aunts. I’ll call you.

      Thank you, Molly. You’re a good girl, Anita said.

      Be careful driving. There might be ice, Evelyn said.

      I’ll be careful. Bye. She got her jacket from the closet and headed out with both notebook and high hopes the aunts wouldn’t be too disappointed when they heard the bad news. Reaching in her purse for

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