Dream

Chapter 17

Zebadiah watched as Lucy left the room, giving her a moment to get down the stairs, while Thomas turned his attention to Zebadiah. After a moment, when he realized that Zebadiah wasn't going to start the conversation, he took a long look around the room noting all of the damage with a grimace.

"I'm sorry about this, I obviously chose the wrong man to take over the job while I was away. I'll be in first thing in the morning to get this all cleaned up and get the job back on track," Thomas assured him.

Zebadiah noticed his uneasiness, and he didn't want to be the cause of more stress than he probably already had with a newborn at home.

"Look Thomas, I would rather this job take a few months longer to complete than I had anticipated then have it done incorrectly or have corners cut. Which is obviously a message that Steve didn't receive." Zebadiah took a long look around the room and the chaos that surrounded them.

"How long were you planning on taking until you returned?" Zebadiah stood up from where he had been leaning on the desk and walked towards the window, taking the time to assess the damage In the ceiling above it. He didn't see Thomas wince as he noticed a slice in the wall plaster that looked like the jigsaw had slipped.

"I was going to return the week after next, but I don't think that I would feel comfortable taking the time now." Thomas looked away as Zebadiah glanced over at him.

"Let's tag team it then," Zebadiah suggested. "I will be around next week, you come for an hour in the morning and an hour at the end of the day and I'll be here the rest of the time. Perhaps my presence will deter bad decisions by your crew."

Thomas looked at Zebadiah, his shock at the offer easy to read.

"I'm happy to keep an eye on things if it will help," Zebadiah assured him. "Congratulations on you daughter by the way."

"Thanks on both counts, and that schedule would work," Thomas agreed quickly, not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"However, Steve must go, I wouldn't trust him to complete any job he started, and it would be a waste of our time to have him here. I know I would always be following behind him to make sure he was doing his job." Zebadiah looked at the hole in the ceiling once more. "Wasn't the HVAC crew supposed to do this?"

"No, I was going to have a guy I know that specializes in plaster come and cut the holes next week when he does the other plaster work. I wanted him to be able to repair as he went because the plaster is old and likely to crumble."

"Just as it did here." Zebadiah nodded his approval at his plan.

"I can only guess that Steve's idea was that he would get your HVAC installed sooner and that would make you think he was capable," Thomas said. "What I don't understand is why Lucy didn't call me and tell me what was going on before all of the happened, or at least try to stop them."

"She did try to stop them, and Steve suggested that she keep her opinions to herself," Zebadiah regarded Thomas as he wondered how far he wanted to take the conversation. "Can you really not guess why she didn't call you to let you know?"

Thomas gave a self-mocking smile. "I can guess," he said. An answer which neither confirmed nor denied a relationship with Lucy, and he decided not to push for an answer.

"Do you want me to take care of Steve for you?" Zebadiah asked.

"No, it's my mess, I'll clean it up. I'll have the crew here to clean up this mess tomorrow, but it will probably take them the rest of the week to sort it all out.

"And get the power turned back on," Zebadiah added.

Thomas looked around realizing it was out for the first time. "I'll see to that before I leave," he assured him.

"If the house will let you, according to Lucy it's not a given that she will," Zebadiah stated with a completely serious face, and he could tell that Thomas was trying to figure out how he had taken Lucy's comment.

"Thanks for your help with Etta's birthday cake. I never did thank you." Thomas continued to watch Zebadiah closely.

"You're welcome, I enjoyed meeting her, she is a delightfully outspoken woman." This time Zebadiah did give a small smile at the thought of the little woman who looked so much like Lucy. "And she makes a very good jambalaya."

"She makes the best. You had dinner with them then?" he asked casually.

Zebadiah looked up at Thomas from where he had been studying the cut in the wall. "Yes," was all he said, and he could tell that Thomas was dying to ask him more, so Zebadiah patiently waited for him to do that very thing. Perhaps the questions Thomas asked would let know what was between him and Lucy. He didn't have to wait long.

"I saw that she attended the Abbott Gala with you."

"She did," Zebadiah confirmed, still not giving anything away.

"Are you bothered that people call her a witch?" Thomas asked, it was not a question that he had expected, and his surprise must have shown. "I'm sorry if I offended you, but I'm curious."

"I asked her if she was a witch and she denied it." It was a remark that he was sure Lucy would have found amusing, but Thomas took the statement seriously as he nodded in response.

"You believed her?" he asked, wanting a definitive answer.

"Yes, it made total sense when she explained that if she was a witch her life would be, 'a hell of a lot easier', was I believe how she put it." Zebadiah moved around the desk to stand across from Thomas.

"She said that, that doesn't sound like her," Thomas said thoughtfully.

Zebadiah didn't think it was a good time to mention that she had just been grazed by a bullet when she said it.

"She does have a gift though," Thomas supplied, and Zebadiah felt as if it was a test.

"I'm beginning to notice that," Zebadiah leaned against the desk once more in a casual manner, inviting his confidence.

"I don't understand it fully, and neither does she, but she can see the future but only sometimes."

Zebadiah nodded having gotten one of the answers he wanted, but he was starting to feel uncomfortable talking about Lucy behind her back. "That explains a few things," he said, ending the conversation by starting a new one.

"Why don't you go see about the electric and I'll hunt down a broom and a dustpan?" Zebadiah suggested.

"What, about Lucy?" Thomas asked, wanting to continue the conversation and wanting to know what it explained.

"What about her, I'm sure she's left for the day," Zebadiah said, deliberately misunderstanding the question as he started towards the door.

Thomas was forced to follow him down the stairs where they found Lucy packing up her stuff for the day.

"Did you two get it all sorted?" she asked, looking up from her task.

"We did," Zebadiah assured her, "and we both agreed that you can keep your job. Now, if you wouldn't mind having a little one on one discussion with the house while Thomas tries to get the power turned back on, I would appreciate it."

Lucy's eyes narrowed as she looked at him.

"Where is a broom and dustpan?" he asked, changing the subject.

"I last saw one on the veranda." Lucy supplied, looking between the two men.

Zebadiah couldn't help but think that she looked kind of cute when she was riled, and he could tell his comment had riled her.

"Lucy, why don't you come with me to the breaker box in the kitchen?" Thomas suggested, seeing the same angry sparks in her that Zebadiah did.

"Fine, but then I'm going home. I'm not staying to help clean up the mess upstairs," she insisted, stomping off towards the kitchen as Zebadiah walked in the opposite direction.

He couldn't help but think that he had missed her while he had been away, and that he was glad he would be around the following week.