Chapter 16: Business and Construction

Elspeth spent all of Monday talking to Dr. Richards’ ladies. In addition to more usual subjects, Elspeth asked the ladies for events and people Dr. Richards had mentioned from her early life, and also things which the ladies had personally observed. While Elspeth did not yet intend to do a biography, the concept seemed to be in the air. In hindsight, she would recall that day as the launch of her literary career.

Tuesday went sideways rather abruptly. Dr. Richards called and said that she and Sarah were cutting the visit short. The story of getting lost was enough to tie Elspeth’s stomach in knots, but it didn’t last. After all, Dr. Richards was back again, safe. Instead, Elspeth made a note to get a GPS device. It would make an excellent Christmas gift, which cheered Elspeth considerably. Dr. Richards’ gift was always difficult to buy.

Even with the extra day, their time together was short. Wednesday, after showing Elspeth where the SUV and boat would be housed, Dr. Richards went back to Boston by way of the Residence. Once she was on the road, Elspeth contacted her ladies and soon had a young man to take her across the river for her own fresh look at Cloudrest.

It was the same nephew who had edited the videos several weeks before, Trip Lusk. As they motored across the Merrimack River, Elspeth was surprised to find that his company was not objectionable. Trip reminded her of Ro Willingham, nerdy, competent, opinionated, with not a trace of a verbal filter, but also without a trace of arrogance.

It all came into focus when Trip deferred to Elspeth’s knowledge of the lay of the land. That put him on a very short list of men in Elspeth’s acquaintance. Many would assume Elspeth had no knowledge to add. Others would be too self-conscious to accept advice from a woman. Trip acted as if asking directions was the most normal thing in the world. On the way across the river, Elspeth toyed with the possibility that Trip might be part of her future. It was with a surprising degree of reluctance that Elspeth concluded that they would probably never see each other again.

It was just as well because Elspeth’s plate was quickly becoming very full. While Dr. Richards spent a great deal of time shuttling between Concord and Boston, ideas for cable shows were becoming a reality. Elspeth was approving significant changes. For example, a crew trimmed up the little boat dock the scouts had constructed, while an engineer named James Maneeson showed her the plans for full-scale, permanent docks. Several of the shows had contracted to pay a portion of the dock construction costs as part of their overhead.

Already camera crews were setting up to record construction of a big rip saw needed to cut trees into structural beams. Another crew―from a different channel―was preparing for a lumberjack competition. Several of the trees were marked for felling and one had been stripped of branches. Races would occur climbing the tree and cutting sections once it was felled. Still another program would show the shaping of the logs into a log building, which all the shows could use to house their electronic equipment.