Blue Heaven (Blue Lake) by Cynthia Harrison Page A

successful man saw a way to exploit her by helping her along the path to success. Dangerous, complicated success.
    “Let me take you to dinner. We can talk about it over one of Eddie’s burgers.” Daniel said.
    “No, I…listen Daniel, I have some work to do. Calls to make. A marketing campaign to write. I appreciate you working the magazine angle, and I’ll help all I can if it pans out, but right now I need to find paying customers.”
    He looked hurt. Part of her melted and part of her steeled herself against giving in. Marcus had been able to manipulate her emotions, but that was the past. This was now. She wouldn’t let Daniel do it, too.
    “But what about my offer of a loan? Please don’t turn me down. This property is too important now to use second rate materials or workers.”
    She shook her head.
    “I’m sorry, Daniel. I’m sure your offer is sincere.” She wasn’t, not quite, but he didn’t have to know that. “It’s just—I have to do this my way. Within my budget.” She always had the 401K to tap into if she needed it.

Chapter Eight
    When the roofer finished shingling the cottages, he told her he had a builder—a great builder, he claimed—to help with the airplane addition. After running the numbers again, Eva cashed out her anemic 401k. It was the only way she could afford to pay all these people and buy materials.
    Eva showed them the fragile blueprints, making sure no one touched them. “I’ll get you a set to work with later.”
    “We can have it boxed in and roofed in two week’s time,” the builder promised. “Then it’s just a matter of finish work.”
    Five weeks until opening. It might just be enough time. And if not, well, that would be fine. Daniel had been right about the cottages being first priority. As soon as these two built a staircase and got the addition buttoned up, she could finish the office and be ready for business, even if the upper floor wasn’t completely finished.
    “Might have to give me one or two more guys off the cottage crew,” Frank said.
    That could be a problem.
    “I need a cottage to live in while the bungalow is roofless, so I’m not sure who Bob can spare.”
    “We’ll work it out,” Frank promised.
    Eva hoped they could. And she hoped Daniel would not get in the way. He’d already talked her into having copies made of the blueprints so that nobody else handled the originals. Even though she wanted to have them framed and put in her office, she was sure he wanted them for his museum.
    She had to drive all the way to Port Huron to get the printing job done, and when she returned, it was after five. Bob gave her some good news.
    “Three of the cottages are just about livable.”
    “Just about?”
    “The interior of Peach is complete.” Peach is where Eva planned to set up headquarters for her publicity campaign. They walked over, Eva soothed and satisfied at the busy construction scene. Men moving with purpose, hammers pounding out a righteous ring, lumber hoisted on responsible shoulders, all coordinated like a testosterone ballet. And Peach! Great bones. She needed to decorate. Set the stage for photos. For her, that was the fun part of doing publicity.
    “The other two are coming along, but need a bit more work,” Bob said. Eva really didn’t care about the other two cottages. Progress was being made, things were moving on schedule, maybe even a little bit ahead of time.
    “Is my wireless going to work out here?” She needed to nail marketing while construction went on around her.
    “No problem.” She noted that a single bed she’d stored in the spare room had been moved into Peach.
    Now she just had to carry the kittens over.
    Bob followed Eva into the house. The builder and roofer had made a rough start in the office on the winding stairway. At least she hoped it was a rough start, because what they had nailed up as steps looked worse than the old ones down at the beach. Maybe it wasn’t the best of ideas to hire a roofer