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It just wasn’t going to happen unless Ed moved into a higher gear.
Fighting the urge to pursue the argument, Matt settled into a creaky desk chair and thumbed through the open file in his lap—a project for someone named Bailey living on Aspen Way, the upscale development at the edge of town. He whistled. Aremodeling job of this size would keep them busy for a good five weeks, easy.
“Heard from these people?” Matt asked, reaching for his coffee mug at the edge of the desk.
Ed shrugged a burly shoulder.
“The date here says you did this estimate four weeks ago. That would have been the Monday after the kids and I moved to Garrett Bluff. I don’t think you ever mentioned this one.”
“Yeah, well, probably doesn’t matter. I think they changed their minds.”
“Did you call them to make sure they got the estimate?”
Ed reached for a battered leather planner on his desk and flipped through the pages. Stopped. Then searched again, more slowly this time.
A dull red flush crept up his neck, and Matt wondered what Ed had been doing in the evenings. Anyone could make a mistake.But if he’d been drinking again...
“It isn’t here in my planner, but I did call.”
Matt scanned the figures on the estimate. “Did you figure in the Durock for the kitchen floor?” He tried to hide his annoyance but failed. “Or the cost of the grout?”
“‘Course I did,” Ed retorted. “It’s there.”
“Guess I just don’t see it. Financial surprises in the middle of a job can sure rile a client.”
“You don’t need to check up on me, little brother.”
Yes, I do.“I thought we weresupposedto be going over future projects,” Matt said mildly as he tossed the file on the desk. “Take a look at these figures before you call them. Maybe you could fax them an amendment and then call in a day or two.” He glanced at his watch for the third time. “What else do you have going?”
“A couple of messages on the machine. Small stuff, mostly, but it could keep us busy till we start that house in June. A screenporch, a rec room in someone’s basement. One call sounded good—the dentist’s son is moving back into town and wants to build on the west side of town. Says he’s still negotiating on the land, but wants to start construction by late summer if he can find the right contractor.”
“Call him yet?”
“He didn’t leave a number. Said he’d get back to us.”
“Might not hurt to give Doc Farnsworth a call, ask a few questions.” Matt stood, grabbed his faded Chicago Cubs jacket and gestured toward the stack of bills they’d just paid. “Do you want me to drop those off at the post office?”
Ed shrugged on his insulated flannel jacket, then picked up his coffee mug and the stack of envelopes. “I’ll tell Nina to mail these, then I’ll meet you out at the Thompson place.”
Matt hesitated, then headed up the stairs, a sense of uneasiness curling through his gut.I should have mailed them myself.
With two kids to support and a new mortgage, he couldn’t afford to let this business fail. But with every passing week, he felt less sure Dawson Brothers Construction would succeed.
Deciding to work with his brother might have been one of the bigger mistakes in his life.
MY TWO-WEEK ANNIVERSARY,Jolie thought with a sense of satisfaction. And things are just...great.
Mostly.
Monday mornings tended to be her busiest time so far. And there werethreepatients in the waiting room. At this rate, she’d soon be able to hire someone to help in the office.
She studied the new patient registration form on the clipboard in her hand. “Bill?”
The wiry, sun-cured cowboy hovering by the entryway glanced up, a startled look in his eye, and appeared ready to bolt. “Ma’am?”
She suppressed a smile. “Want to come back?”
Relief flooded across his weathered face. “I surely can. Mebbe next week.”
