Seven Cottages Before September

Bellwether Court has ten weeks to prove it can survive before a sale becomes very hard to stop.

Benedict Strong has been hired to decide whether the seven lakeside cottages are worth saving. The numbers are bad, repairs have been deferred for years, and far too much of the place depends on one man.

That man is Gus Boothe.

Gus is Bellwether's maintenance man, carpenter, boat restorer, emergency contact, and the person everyone turns to when something goes wrong. He knows the property better than anyone, and he has little patience for a consultant who wants to put a price on work Gus has spent years simply doing.

They argue about repairs, labor, old agreements, and what Bellwether can realistically afford. Then the arguments start lasting through breakfast. Coffee becomes routine. Benedict begins spending more time in Gus's boat shop, and leaving at the end of the summer stops feeling quite as simple as it did when he arrived.

With September approaching, Bellwether needs more than another temporary fix. So do the two men trying to save it.