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“At first, I figured I’d buy the owners a home warranty. But before I do that, I’m gonna rip out some of the drywall and take a look at the studs, the electrical work and the plumbing. I’m hoping I don’t find anything wrong, but my gut tells me that if it’s going on in one house, it’s happened in other ones.”

Don leaned back in his chair. “Probably cheaper to just get the warranties than redo all that work.”

“Yeah, that was my initial thought. But it’s killing me to think that I’m selling houses with huge defects in them. I’m not going to rip up every house under construction. But I might randomly pick a few and take them apart. I’ll feel better if I don’t find anything.”

“Of course you would,” Don said. “And it’s going to bug you forever if you don’t look. You want some help ripping things out?”

Cam shook his head. “Thanks for offering, but I’m gonna do this by myself. I’ll try to do as little damage as possible, so the repairs won’t be so expensive. But I gotta check.”

Don sighed. Shook his head. “Yeah, soon as I heard there was a problem, I knew you’d be digging into those walls. Hope you don’t find anything.”

“Me, too.” He sat up and stared at Don. “You keep track of which workmen are assigned to each house, right?”

“Yeah, I have files on all the skilled laborers. Which houses they worked on. Any problems with the houses. Yada, yada.”

“Great. Can you pull those files tonight? I want to take them home and go through them. It’ll be helpful to know who worked on which house if I find any more issues. See if there’s a pattern, you know? If the same people worked on houses that have problems.”

“Yeah, I can do that. Which tradesmen do you want to start with?”

Cam thought for a moment. “Let’s start with the carpenters. Since I started out as a carpenter, I’ll know what to look for.”

“You got it, Cam. I’ll pull them before I leave tonight.”

“I hope it’s not too much work,” Cam said.

“Not at all,” Don said with a smile. “You know me. I’m organized. I can put my hands on anything in a matter of a few minutes.”

“Great.” Cam slapped his hand on Don’s desk. “I need to get home, but I’ll take those files with me. I’ll look them over after Fiona’s in bed.”

“How’s my favorite niece doing?”Don asked with a smile.

“She’s good.” He pushed away from the desk. “But I have to get going. I don’t like getting home late. Makes it harder for my parents. And I miss Fiona.”

“Yeah, get out of here,” Don said. “I’ll pull those files while you’re getting your stuff together.”

“Thanks, Don. I appreciate it.”

“No problem. Won’t take me long.”

Feeling lighter, Cam punched Don’s shoulder lightly. “I’m sure as hell glad that you approached me about buying into the company. Saying yes was the best business decision I ever made,” he said as he turned and exited Don’s office.

Chapter 6

Jo waved to Cam through the storm door, smiled, then closed the heavy inner door. As she hung her jacket in the closet, her mom called from the living room.

“Jo? Is that you?”

She bit back the urge to ask ‘who else would it be’ and closed her eyes. She could indulge her mom. She’d be here for less than a week. Taking a deep breath, she called, “Yeah, Mom. It’s me,” as she walked into the living room.

Her mom, sitting in the recliner she’d had for more than twenty years, smiled at her. “Sit down and tell me how your date with Cam went.”

Jo tensed. Opened her mouth to deny that it was a date. But her mom was so happy. So pleased, that instead of snapping at her, Jo flopped onto the couch. Her mom wanted her to get married, and she saw Cam as a prime husband candidate.

Drawing a deep breath to steady herself, so she wouldn’t snap at her mom, Jo said, “It wasn’t a date, Mom.” She tried to smile, to soften the blow, but was pretty sure she hadn’t succeeded. “It was a business meeting. We went to Francesca’s Mio Modo in Geneva, and the food was delicious. I’ll take you there one evening before I leave.”

But her mother wasn’t sidetracked by the prospect of going out to eat. “I always liked Cam Pierce,” she said. “He was so polite. And he was a good friend to you.” She giggled, and Jo was shocked to hear that girlish sound from her mother. “I always thought he had a crush on you.” Her eyes twinkled at Jo. “And I’m pretty sure it was reciprocated.”

Jo resisted rolling her eyes, but it was hard. “He was my best friend,” she said. “In most of my classes. And he spent a lot of time at our house.” She’d always assumed it was to escape Donnie and the chaos that swirled around him. But now Donnie was his business partner, and Cam sure acted as if he was happy with the arrangement.