Mr. Blackbourne's Mistake

Chapter 16 - The Danger of Desire

Mr. Blackbourne

"Those stairs have nothing structurally sound left about them," Silas said, pointing to an outside set of stairs leading the balcony of a two-story house.

Mr. Blackbourne nodded as Luke took note of it. "I suspect many of the staircases will be in need of repair, particularly those exposed to the elements." They were finally able to get started on their restoration project, which was good in more ways than one. First, it was pivotal to them becoming respected and ingrained members of the community. Second, it provided a distraction for all of them from their far more important project where none of them knew how to move forward.

Unfortunately, Miss Sorenson—who Mr. Blackbourne couldn't help still thinking of by her maiden name inside his head—was very much not like a restoration project where they could make a solid plan to follow through on. Human emotions and relationships were far more complicated and unpredictable than that. And after Miss Sorenson had been very clear in her refusal to trust him, he was worried he'd done far more emotional damage to her than he ever could have guessed. Clearly, his mind had been far too stuck on not wanting to cause her or the others future regrets than on what damage he might cause by separating everyone and giving them doubt about decisions they had already made.

"The balconies probably aren't going to be in great shape either," Luke said, peering up at the nearest one in a way that worried Mr. Blackbourne he might try to hang from the side in order to test it out. "I wish we had North here for a second opinion."

Mr. Blackbourne pursed his lips. "There's no use in wishing for things like that at this point. We know there is much work to be done, so continue making a list of our top priorities for what should be fixed first, as well as how best to utilize each building for tourism if any thoughts occur to you."

Silas and Luke nodded, moving on toward what looked like a general store Nathan and Gabriel stood outside as Victor stepped inside.

"Excuse me!" a feminine voice called from behind Mr. Blackbourne. He turned to see a dark-haired young woman in a low cut shirt standing nearby. She smiled once she saw she had his attention, sidling up to him as she trailed a hand up on his arm, her eyes following the motion. "I had some time today and wanted to see what help you all might need here."

He stepped back a polite distance, rearranging the tablet in his hand as an excuse for his movement. "I appreciate your offer, but we're not yet sure what we need."

"I'm great at project management," she insisted, stepping closer again.

"I assure you that my team is well qualified on that front. Otherwise, the mayor would not have trusted us with a project so dear to the hearts of Willard residents." And if they were looking for help, they would have brought up a need for volunteers during the town meeting. Not that he was opposed to invested citizens coming to offer their skills, if they had something to offer that would help . . . but he rather suspected wanting to restore these buildings was not this woman's primary interest in coming there. Not in that shirt, anyway.

She pouted. "That doesn't mean I don't have something to offer that no one else on your team does." The way her arms pressed against her chest was likely meant to indicate just what she felt she had to offer that was so different. And which provided proof toward his theory that her presence there was not a deep interest in this old, colonial section of town.

He gave a dismissive nod. "We will keep that in mind should the need of another project manager arise. Good day." Without bothering to look at her, he marched toward their home base, a former visitor's center, to grab a map of the site. He'd meant to bring one earlier and forgot to grab it.