Return to Gray Harbor by J.J. Bryant Read Free Book Online Page B

enthusiasm.
    “Yeah, before Dad’s stroke he had started to implement all of these changes to the market. We’re not done yet but it certainly is looking better. With all the tourists we’re getting in Gray Harbor these days, we’re trying to keep up. But frankly, with Dad out we put a halt on all updates till he’s back …” her voice faltered and then trailed off.
    “Makes sense. Do you have time to give me a tour? Then you can tell me where you want me.” He grinned at his sister. She was always good at telling people what to do, kind of like their father.
    She walked him through what was now a small grocery area, which carried local produce, including blueberries — after all, it was Maine. There was another area with some basic staples like pasta sauces and canned goods, including canned anchovies, sardines, and salmon. They then walked through the fish market, which is where Jonah worked, and was once where both Jesse and Michael had worked as teenagers. The selection was huge, and a lot of it was local. Annie explained that they still bought from the local fisheries but now they did it in greater volume. The only problem was they couldn’t always sell as much as they bought. They were still figuring out a system for that. They then walked through another new area of the store, which featured specialty cheeses and an olive bar. The place needed some more work but Michael was impressed; it almost felt like Dean & Deluca in New York. But he did notice that many of the shelves had yet to be filled and that certain areas still looked like they needed organizing.
    “All right, and just before the cashiers and that lovely empty space back there, are the stairs up towards office,” said Annie, as she led him to the steps.
    As they walked up, Michael observed that the stairwell itself also needed considerable work. In many places, there was just sheetrock up on the walls. They walked through a narrow corridor and up a wheelchair ramp. Wheelchair ramp? Then he noticed the elevator.
    “We have an elevator, Annie?”
    “Well, it’s not done, but yeah, Dad was putting it in for when he and Mom are older, so they can get around a little more quickly.”
    Wow, Michael thought. Putting in and maintaining an elevator was going to be expensive. And heating and cooling the market probably wasn’t cheap—It was three times the size it was when he was growing up. He was bracing himself for the inevitable — looking at the books.
    “Why not put an office in that empty space downstairs instead?”
    “I’m not sure what Dad had planned for that space, but that would make sense, wouldn’t it? Okay, here we are, Dad’s office,” Annie said, as she led him into a room strewn with papers.
    “Oh, my GOD, Annie what happened in here?”
    She chuckled and gave him a lopsided grin before saying, “It’s been a long time for you, huh? Dad is the most disorganized person under the sun. He’s a great fishmonger, but a secretary, he is not. I could never make heads or tails of his filing. I don’t know if less three weeks is going to be enough to fix this, but have at it!”
    “Well, what do you want me to do?” Michael asked, slightly afraid.
    “Well, you may have noticed outside of the fish we are a little low on inventory, which is affecting the number of customers coming in. What usually happens is I give Dad my order and he handles the rest. But we’re behind on bills, so see if you can find our checkbook. The corkboard over there has a list of supplier information and our account information. That was my small attempt at getting things organized.”
    “All right, well, I guess I’ll start sorting things out for today and tomorrow, I’ll tackle orders and bills, how does that sound, captain?”
    “Sounds good, skipper, now stop wasting time and get started.” She winked at him and then left.
    This was a bigger mess than he had imagined. Taking care of this office could take weeks alone.  It looked like his