“We’re fine,” Sophie said.

Haley had stepped away and was already on the phone.

“But as you can see we have a real mess on our hands.” Aiden looked at Sophie, his eyes piercing hers. “I’d like to call Brandon and see if he can come down. Is that all right with you?”

She started to remind him of her financial situation, but he spoke before she could verbalize it. “Let’s see if he’ll work with us. It can’t hurt to have him take a look, can it?”

“Brandon Hooper?” Dave said. “He’ll get that roof fixed right up. He’s well connected too. He and his dad know every tradesman in town.”

“He built the extension on our deli,” Anna added. “And he came in on time and under budget.”

Sophie gave a hopeless smile. The Morrisons had no idea her budget was nonexistent.

“Sophie?” Aiden said.

She honestly didn’t know how anyone would be able to fix this mess in time. The bookcases had to go in tomorrow if they were going to open on time, and the main room of her shop had no ceiling.

But the hope in Aiden’s eyes was her undoing. She sighed. “All right. I’ll give him a call and see what he says.”

Haley joined them in the corner. “My dad and brother are coming down with a chainsaw.”

“We can help too,” Dave said. “And you can use our Dumpster for the debris.”

“Thanks, guys.” Sophie looked at him and Anna, tears welling in her eyes again. She didn’t know if Brandon would come through, but just knowing she was part of a caring community made her want to hug every neck in the room.

chapter thirty

The next nine hours passed in a whirl of activity and noise. Sophie called her insurance company while they waited for Brandon to arrive. Since she was on a deadline and her agent was out of town, his assistant advised her to take plenty of pictures before they began cleanup.

Haley’s dad and brother arrived after Sophie finished snapping photos. They went to work with the chainsaw, and by the time they started hauling out branches, others had shown up to help. People she hadn’t even met.

When Brandon arrived with his two-man crew, they were well on their way to having the tree cleaned up. Sophie gestured to Brandon to follow her out front where they could talk.

He already knew about her deadline, so when he said they could have the roof reframed and sheeted by nightfall and the shingles replaced tomorrow, Sophie stopped him.