“Ms. Lowman, have you heard from your father? Does he know you entered the contest?”
“Do you know where your father is hiding?”
“Have you given any evidence to the police?”
The smile on her face threatened to fade, but she hung on to it. She wouldn’t let their questions take away from her moment. Because this was about her, not her father. This was about her talents and abilities. Her time to shine, not to hide in shame.
John leaned down and whispered into her ear, “Just keep smiling.”
She gave a short nod and hoped that this would be over soon. She could see the brothers clapping, Tiny beaming while Biggie wiped at his tears with a faded red bandanna.
Finally, the announcer gathered the five teams in a lopsided circle and handed them all manila envelopes. “Inside the packet, you’ll find the address of the house you’ll be working on along with the keys. Your budget is included along with a list of preapproved subcontractors.” He turned to Cassie. “I’ve already approved the Buttucci brothers’ application to work on your team.”
“Thank you. I’m pleased to know that,” she replied.
“We will have an in-depth meeting Monday morning at nine at the foundation’s office to go over everything that is required of you. In the meantime, go out and mingle. Talk to the press. Congratulations to all of you.”
Cassie glanced around, unsure of what to do now. She wasn’t interested in talking to the press since they wanted to focus on her father instead of her. She spotted Beckett looking as shocked as she felt. She took a step toward the contractor and he flinched. She’d heard the vet had returned from Afghanistan with PTSD, but she hadn’t seen evidence of it until now. He waved to her, so she approached him. “Congratulations, Beckett, on making the top five.”
He stared at her for a moment and said, “Thanks. You, too.”
“They paired you with Lauren Sterling, so you’re in good hands.”
He took a step away. “I guess.” He glanced around at the group of people waiting to talk to them. “I gotta go.” And he disappeared into the crowd.
The stage started to clear as Cassie turned to John. It probably wouldn’t hurt to address one of the elephants in the room that stood between them. “What I said earlier about not wanting to work with you...”
He held up his hand. “I know you didn’t mean it.”
“But I did. Still do.” She winced and tried to use better words. This wasn’t the way to start a working relationship. “I hope that we can find a way to work with each other, because it’s going to be a long, fruitless endeavor if we can’t.”
“I don’t doubt that we can work together, Ms. Lowman. But I believe we both need to make a commitment to each other and this contest right now.” He held out his hand. “I’m going to give my very best, and I hope you will, as well.”
She shook his hand. “I never give anything less than all that I have.”
With their hands clasped, she had the feeling that this was the beginning of something...different.
JOHN HELPED CASSIE off the platform, and the members of the press surrounded them, yelling questions and pushing in from all sides. When John had met Cassie earlier, he hadn’t put her name together with the contractor who had been accused of embezzling from his own company though never proven. However, he couldn’t hold her father’s alleged crimes against her. If anything, it would bring more attention to them during the contest. Maybe they could come up with a strategy to use that to their advantage.
“Miss Lowman has no comment about her father at this time,” John said into the microphone closest to him. “But we’d be happy to discuss making the top five teams tonight.”
After a few moments of Cassie fielding inquiries about her experiences in rehabbing houses and him explaining his design credentials, the members of the press started to recede into the crowd. Clearly they weren’t going to get the story they’d hoped for. Cassie turned to him. “Thank you for that. I still don’t know what to say about my father.”
He gave a shrug, as if it didn’t matter. “This is about us, not him. And the sooner we established that with the press, the better.”
But she still looked up at him as if he was a hero. Her two big friends approached them, and the slightly smaller one picked her up by the waist and swung her around. “I knew you could do this, kid.”
She squealed and demanded that he put her down. Once on her feet, she waved her hand at them. “John, these are the Buttucci brothers Luigi and Mario. Better known as Biggie and Tiny. They are the best in the construction business I’ve ever known, and we’re lucky that they’re going to be working with us. They do everything: demolition, electrical, plumbing. But where they really shine is in painting. They don’t need tape or edges. Steady hands, that’s what they have.”
John shook their hands in turn, wincing slightly at the pressure of each clasp. They seemed to be sending him a warning about not only themselves, but Cassie, too. He could see the protective stances they had with her, sandwiching her safely between them. He gave each of them a nod, hoping they could understand that he wanted only the best for their team. “It’s great to meet you both.”
They grunted, then looked back at Cassie. Tiny wiggled his eyebrows up and down. “Someone said you got the keys to the house. Wanna go see it now?”
It would be nice to get a sneak peek at the house that was going to consume all their attention for the next few months. John nodded. “I’m in.”
They each drove their respective cars to the run-down neighborhood and parked on the curb under a tall oak tree that mirrored others that lined each side of the street. John stared up at the house, which seemed to have a small porch that listed to one side. Cassie took a few moments to change out of her heels and into work boots that she had apparently kept in her truck.
John was the first to walk up the cracked pathway to the small, rickety porch. He put a hand on a wrought iron column and winced as it shifted with very little pressure. He didn’t need to have construction experience to realize what that probably meant. He turned to the trio behind him. “The porch’s foundation is possibly an issue.”
Cassie walked up the few steps and put the key in the lock, taking a deep breath before opening the door. She brought out her phone and turned on the flashlight feature. John mirrored her actions and shone his cell phone’s light on the roof above the porch. Abandoned birds’ nests, as well as cobwebs that spread their silky strands between joists, decorated the corners of the porch.
John hoped that the rest of the house would prove to be a diamond in the rough. They continued their tour. The carpet squished beneath their feet. Cassie bent down and touched the dampness. “Looks like we’ll have plumbing issues, too. A burst pipe, maybe. Or looters stole the copper pipes.” They walked into the kitchen. “And they stole the kitchen cabinets.”
He stared at the exposed pipes and noted the sink was missing, too. What had he gotten himself into? He gave a shrug. “Well, on the bright side, that’s less demolition we have to do.”
“And the more we have to replace with an already limited budget.” She brushed past him.
John stared out the window at the moonlit backyard full of weeds