Chapter 5: His Name on the Door

Nathan called the Mercer Street owners the next morning. He offered to meet them at the house and walk through the estimate again.

They declined.

“We’re going to wait a few weeks,” Mrs. Mercer said. “I hope you understand.”

Nathan did understand. Waiting would cost him a job he had planned into the month’s schedule. He thanked her for letting him know and crossed the work off the board.

Luis saw the empty space. “I can take a couple of days off if it helps.”

“You’re working.”

“Nathan—”

“We have other jobs. I’ll find another one for that week.”

He made calls to two former clients, then spent the afternoon visiting an old row house whose owner wanted damaged window trim repaired. The work would not replace the Mercer job, but it was worth pricing.

Victoria’s text arrived as he was measuring a sill.

Can we talk tonight?

He had not called her after Emma went to bed. He had sat in the kitchen, dialed three digits, and stopped. He wrote back now.

Yes. I’ll come by after dinner.

Emma found him staring at the message when he got home.

“Is Victoria coming over?”

“I’m going to see her.”

Emma put her schoolbag on a chair. “Did the picture do something bad to her too?”

“People at work are asking her questions.”

“That happens to her a lot, doesn’t it?”

“I think it does.”

Emma opened her bag and pulled out the walnut jewelry box. The clasp was fitted now. She had drawn a small pencil star on the lid so she would know where to carve one later.

“Can she still help me finish this?” she asked.

“I don’t know.”

Emma shut the box. “Then you should ask her.”

That evening, Nathan went to Victoria’s office. He had told her he would meet her anywhere she wanted; she had chosen the hotel because she was still working.

Charles Whitmore was coming out of a conference room when Nathan reached her floor.

“Mr. Cole,” Charles said. “I recognized you from the photograph.”

“Nathan is fine.”

Charles glanced at Nathan’s work jacket. “I hear you restore historic buildings.”

“I work on the wood in them.”

“We have a number of older properties. I imagine that’s an interesting market for you.”

“It can be.”

Charles’s expression stayed pleasant. “Victoria’s waiting inside.”

Nathan walked past him into the office. Victoria stood by the window, phone in hand.

“Was that Charles?” she asked.

“He mentioned your properties.”

“He mentions them to everyone.”

“He seemed interested in my work.”

Victoria set down the phone. “I didn’t ask him to speak to you.”

“I didn’t think you had.”

She came around her desk. “How is the Mercer job?”

“They paused it.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I priced another one today.”

“Nathan, you don’t have to give me a progress report to prove you’re managing.”

“I’m trying to tell you what happened.”

“Then tell me.” Her voice rose before she could stop it. “Yesterday you would barely speak to me.”

He sat in the chair opposite her desk. “I was angry about losing work, and I let you carry some of it. I’m sorry.”

Victoria sat across from him rather than behind the desk. “Thank you.”

Nathan rubbed a thumb over the scar on his palm. “I know you didn’t call anyone. I know you had nothing to do with the picture.”

“Then why did it feel like you were blaming me?”

“Because when you offered to fix it, I heard something you weren’t saying.”

“What?”

“That I couldn’t handle it myself.”

“I didn’t mean that.”

“I know. I still heard it.”

Victoria looked at him for a long moment. “I’ve spent years getting people to listen when I say I can solve a problem. You were asking me to stop, and I didn’t listen.”

Nathan nodded. “And I should have told you why.”

“Can we try that now?”

He wanted to say yes. He also knew he could not sit beside her at another public event tomorrow and pretend the photograph had not changed anything.

“I need some time,” he said.

“How much?”

“I don’t know.”

Victoria’s face closed a little. “Are you asking me to wait?”

“No. I’m telling you where I am.”

“I can respect that.” She stood. “But I won’t keep reaching for you if you step away every time someone recognizes me.”

“I wouldn’t ask you to.”

He left the hotel knowing their conversation had been more honest than the one in his workshop. It had also made the distance between them real.

At home, Emma was still awake. Nathan sat on the edge of her bed and told her Victoria would not be visiting for a while.

“Did she say she didn’t want to?”

“No. I asked for time.”

“From her?”

“From everything that came with the photograph.”

Emma pulled her blanket up. “She’s the person who helped me with the box. She’s also in the photograph.”

“I know.”

“You can be upset about what happened. Just don’t tell me she left if you’re the one who asked her to go.”

Nathan had no answer. He stayed until she fell asleep, then went downstairs and opened his laptop.

A public request for proposals had arrived in his work email that afternoon. Bennett Hospitality planned to reopen a ballroom in one of its older downtown properties. The project included a separate package for custom walnut paneling and decorative millwork.

Nathan read the requirements, the submission deadline, and the list of documents bidders had to provide.

He closed the laptop.

Ten minutes later, he opened it again.

The next morning, he called a restoration specialist he trusted and asked whether she would look at the drawings with him. By noon, he had scheduled time with his team to inspect the property during the public bidders’ tour.

Luis saw the plans spread across the workbench.

“Isn’t that one of Victoria’s hotels?”

“Yes.”

“Are we bidding?”

Nathan looked at the photographs of the ballroom’s damaged panels. Someone had patched them years ago with wood that didn’t match. In one corner, an original molding had survived beneath a later covering.

“We’re going to see whether we can do the work,” he said.

“And if we can?”

“Then we submit a bid.”