Burning Flowers Read Online Free Page B

a
couple days to go in and survey the damage so that you don’t get
sick. You’ll need to find a good remediator as well. I wish you the
best of luck.”
    The fire chief walked away, leaving Clarke
standing there, wondering what she was going to do next.

Chapter Six
    Clarke walked around her shop with her arms
crossed, scooting her shoes through piles of ash. Most of the
damage was done to the Easter part of the shop going on into the
wedding stuff. All the flowers that were sitting out at the time
were too damaged to sell because of the smoke and water. The entire
right wall was burned down so that the drywall would need to be
replaced, and the coolers on that side of the room had shorted out.
Plus, whatever had caused the fire needed to be fixed. It was
extremely stressful, especially since she still had clients to see
and needed to keep them coming in. Not to mention she couldn’t
imagine the ridicule and lecturing she’d get if her mother found
out. This had to be fixed quickly.
    A knocking came on the glass at the front,
and Clarke looked up to see a guy in a pair of jeans and a button
down shirt. She assumed it was the guy coming to give her an
estimate of how much it would be to fix her electrical problem, but
why in the world would he wear such nice clothes to look at a half
burned shop?
    Clarke shook the thought from her head and
welcomed him in, holding out her hand to shake. “I’m Clarke
Bennett. You must be Trevor; am I correct?” she asked, looking him
up and down. In order to get this guy there she’d had to call in a
favor with the guy she had slept with a few nights before. He was
an electrical technician at some company, and the guy he sent was
his direct supervisor. Hopefully the guy didn’t know any gory
details about their relationship. It was awkward enough.
    “Yes, that’s right. This looks like a real
doozy,” he commented, looking around. It made her think of her
favorite comedian, Bill Engval, and his skit about stupid people
needing a sign. This guy was one of them; stating the obvious. It
was a fire for goodness sake! Of course it was a “doozy.”
    Clarke rolled her eyes before nodding and
shooting him a friendly smile. She led him over to the worst part
of the damage, and he began to look around at everything, chipping
away at pieces of wall and grabbing wires in his hands to inspect.
He looked more like a cheesy detective than a professional.
    Finally, he stood up straight and came over
to her, pulling a piece of paper out of his pocket along with a
pen. She watched nervously as he seemingly wrote an amount on it
and then signed below. She guessed it was his way of giving her an
estimate.
    He passed the slip to her and began
explaining what happened in technical terms, trying to sound like
he was worth more as a worker than he actually was. Although, that
piece of paper seemed to show that he really did believe he was
worth an awful lot. Clarke scoffed at the ridiculously high number.
“What the hell is this?” she asked sarcastically. “Get the hell
out, buddy. No way are you scamming me like this,” she called out,
ready to shoo him like a bug out the door.
    Trevor put his hands up in surrender and
backed slowly towards the door. “Look, ma’am, that’s how it works
when you’re working with a franchise. I don’t have much control
over that. I can see that you’re looking for a good deal, so I’m
going to offer you some advice. Up to you whether you take it or
not.” She nodded him along. She didn’t have all day, but she
appreciated his honesty about the rip off if nothing else. Plus,
she was desperate for a fast solution to her problems. “I have a
cousin that does all kinds of work. He works for himself, so he’s
real cheap, and I bet he could help you clean up the place too and
do a little remediation. I’ve seen him do it before. The thing is,
though, he has no licenses or certifications. He just does this
stuff, so you’d really have to trust him and be okay