She might not have been a lawyer like her brother Gavyn or a doctor like their sister, but she had successfully operated her business for more than a decade, even if she didn’t look like the CEO of her life to someone she passed on the street. Normally, she sort of got off on being underestimated, but today…she needed as much help as she could get without any snags.
“I completely understand. I’m sorry for your loss.”
And then it hit her. The grief. Because that’s what it was. She was mourning the loss of Bare Natural, and their home, and the happy memories that had been wrapped up in those buildings and the woods surrounding them.
She swallowed hard. “Thank you. So you can help me get back on my feet? We think if we could start relaying foundations immediately and finish the framing before winter we might be able to get some interior construction done during the colder months and be ready to open for a mini-season late next summer.”
“Oh, uhhh…” He didn’t seem to want to ruin their fragile newfound camaraderie. “Ma’am, it could take weeks before we’re even able to schedule an appraisal. We need to get clearance from the local authorities to operate in the area and then we arrange the appointments geographically to be most efficient. You’ll receive notice about a day in advance when the agent is going to be in your area.”
“Weeks?” Kayla calculated how much time was left before the weather would halt construction for the year. And how many working days they could probably squeeze in before even the middle of next season. It wasn’t enough, at least not that she could figure. Maybe the Powertools would have some brilliant ideas she couldn’t conjure up at the moment. Negativity closed in around her, blocking out her ability to see solutions instead of problem after problem after problem. Things were way worse than she’d thought.
“And after that, it could take another one to two months to process the claim.”
“You’re kidding, right?” Kayla glared at the phone. And she’d thought they were on the same page.
“Um, no, ma’am.”
Ma’am again. Fuck that. Kayla growled.
“And…uh…that’s not all.” The guy sounded like he might have crawled beneath his desk to hide from her impeding explosion.
“What else?” She didn’t know if she could even be mad anymore. She was tired. So tired. And they were just getting started.
“Your policy covers the buildings and the grounds. However, in a disaster like this, if FEMA grants are made—which they likely will be for the Westpeak fire—their emergency funding will cover your belongings. So you’ll need to work with them to document all of your possessions and calculate their current replacement value. Then you’ll submit that inventory to them and go through their process in tandem with ours. I think you’ll find our company to be rather speedy compared to the government.”
“Fuck me.” Kayla let her forehead clunk onto the table as she tried not to hyperventilate. “Are you telling me that I need to know the make and model of my refrigerator and rugs and all my underwear and shit?”
If I wore underwear, that is.
“Sorry. But yes.”
Kayla wasn’t the sort to cry easily. She really wasn’t. So she pretended the warm trail of liquid making its way down her cheek and onto her neck was rain or a leak in Devon’s roof or whatever else it might be other than tears that refused to stay put inside her damn face. Twice in two days was entirely too often for her to be bawling.
“Ma’am? Are you still there?”
“Yeah.” She sniffled.
“I can email you the forms you’ll need for both processes so you can get started as soon as possible. Again, I’m very sorry this happened to you. Is there anything else I can help you with?”
He didn’t say it, but she heard it anyway… because if not there are a thousand other people like you I need to break shitty news to today.
“That’s it…unless you have a time machine or a magic wand.”
“We’re fresh out.” At least she’d made him laugh again, if only a small chuckle. “Really, I wish there was more I could do.”
“Not your fault. Unless you were up here smoking on my mountain, in which case you can go fuck yourself.”
The insurance rep actually cracked fully and snorted at that. “I hope you get this sorted out as painlessly as possible. I’m going to email you the documents we discussed. Feel free to shoot me any questions or concerns you have as you’re working through this.”
“Thanks.” Kayla disconnected and sat there, her arms limp at her sides.
They were too heavy to lift and her friends weren’t there to do it for her right then.
So she sat there, staring into space, trying to think of workarounds for her new roadblocks until Dave and the rest of the crew returned some time later.
5
Dave tried not to grit his teeth as Kayla tapped her foot on the floor more furiously than a dog scratching an itch. Instead, he laid his hand on her thigh, awed as always by how her powerful frame still didn’t take up much of his grip.
“Oh. Sorry. Am I bugging you?” She froze, the tension still winding up her body making him afraid she would snap like a stressed-out spring.
“No. Not exactly. I just don’t know how to help and it’s making me feel useless.” Dave leaned in and kissed her cheek, trying to soften his admission.
“Useless. Yeah, that’s exactly how I feel.” Kayla dropped her head on his shoulder and collapsed against him, thankfully sure that he would catch her, which—of course—he did.
From the other side of the counter where he was pouring himself a cup of coffee, James asked, “How much longer did they say it would be before an appraiser could make it out here?”
“Not anytime soon.” She groaned. “They’re going to let me know when this region is next on the list.”
“That means like, what, a day’s notice or something? More than just five minutes, right?” James asked, and Dave immediately knew what he was getting at because he had the same idea.
“Look, if we’re not getting anything done here….” Devon glanced from her guys to Kayla and Dave. “And you’ll have enough warning that we can come back in time for any appointments…why don’t we go to Middletown so we can help Joe and Mike out?”
Devon didn’t say it, but the work Mike and Joe were doing was funding this half of the crew’s time off to come to her aide. While that was incredibly generous, it would be better to contribute while they could now and use those reserves when Kayla needed them to be actively working on the rebuild.
Dave looked at Kayla and shrugged. “It’ll help pass the time, and swinging a hammer is good for venting frustration. You can come on site with us if you want, or hang out with Kate and Morgan. Help them with…whatever it is they’re doing or work on the inventory bullshit you need to do for the government or maybe spend some quality time with Gavyn and Noah. And in the evenings, we can draw up plans for Bare Natural 2.0 with input from the full crew instead of just us.”
He held his breath as he waited for her reaction. These past several days she had been on edge, not at all the calm, unflappable, ultimately happy woman he’d loved pretty much forever. Would she think he was betraying her if he admitted he craved action instead of this never-ending spinning of their wheels?