With her list in hand, she took a trip down to The Main, walking instead of driving so she could stretch her legs. After spending the last three months hiding in her bedroom, she noticed her body was not taking all this sudden movement well. It felt good to be achy when she got home, though, so she continued trying to move around. It made her feel like a functional human again.
As she was walking by the admin building, she caught a glimpse of Kerrie coming out of The Main building. It wasn't hard to pick Kerrie out of a crowd. Even if one didn't factor in her size, her jovial personality seemed to entrap one's attention. Bette had only been allowed small peeks at it so far. Whatever anxiety coursed through the large woman seemed to bring out panicked anger, whether she knew that or not.
Kerrie greeted her with a dashing smile that sent Bette's pulse racing. She swiped her hand over her forehead. "That damned building is always too warm."
The corners of Bette's lips turned up. "Is that why it's like the North Pole in The Church? I swear I can almost see my breath."
Kerrie chuckled. "What can I say? I'm a big lady. I get hot easily. That's why Wilson has a heater under his desk. He doesn't tell anyone about, so he doesn't look like a wimp."
The mention of her body made Bette's eyes automatically sweep over Kerrie, and the twinkle in Kerrie's eye when she made her way back up made it clear that she had been caught looking. She smiled, sheepishly clearing her throat. "I guess I'll be bringing a heater of my own then. I'm about to go talk to Elaine about supplies. We need some stuff."
Kerrie nodded. "I'm not surprised. If you need help carrying it back up, just use a walkie-talkie and ask if a couple of guys could come help. You'll find none of us mind helping a pretty lady." Kerrie winked at her and started towards The Church.
Bette was left blushing at the compliment, standing at the edge of the parking lot, feeling giddy.
Chapter 13
"I can't work in these conditions," groaned Kerrie, throwing her head back. She knew she was being dramatic, but she never was one to handle heat very well. It didn't take long to reduce her into a whiny grump.
Tyler laughed on the other end of the phone. The man always had a way of poking under her skin.Nudge, nudge. Poke, poke. Tyler's here to annoy the hell out of you."Maintenance will be there soon. I'm sure it's just frozen or something. A simple fix."
Kerrie snorted, rolling her eyes. Nothing at Turtle Grove was an easy fix. "We both know that's probably not the case."
"Well, just try to hang in there the best you can."
She placed the phone back down on the receiver and wiped a layer of sweat from her upper lip. She would look like a swamp monster by the end of the day. This mess was exactly why she kept an emergency tube of deodorant in her desk drawer. She would need to apply another coat before the day was over. The thought of being there in the heat that long made her groan inwardly again.
Knocking sounded on her partially closed door. "Come in."
Robin pushed the door open, and Kerrie saw a few people loitering in the hallway behind him, trying to look inconspicuous. When Robin waved them away discreetly, Kerrie knew she was about to be asked something.
He sat down stiffly, his old body feeling older than it should. "Hey, Ms. Kerrie. How are you?"
She raised an eyebrow at him. "Fine, and you?"
"Well, now that you ask," he said, shifting in his seat. Kerrie chuckled under her breath. "The AC isn't working here at The Church."
She nodded. The air conditioning unit had failed overnight, and the building was growing hotter with every passing minute. Opening the windows did little to help, and the box fans Tyler had sent up were quickly becoming useless in their battle with the thick, southern Tennessee humidity. Wilson had called in, and it was just her and Bette working. "It is warm in here."
"Yes, it is. And, you know, we were talking, you know, and well—"
"What'd they send you in here for, Robin?"
Robin laughed. "Saw right through me, huh? Well, video is our next group, and we were hoping instead of watching it in the conference room, we could take the DVD to Sparrow and watch it there. We've got AC, and 20 men in one tiny hot room isn't comfortable at all."
She should have seen it coming. She couldn't even blame them for wanting to escape. "Can you promise they'll actually watch it?"
He nodded quickly. "We already discussed it with the young ones. Everyone will be in upper Sparrow like we do for the evening group."
"Sure," she sighed. "Why not? If you can get a break from this place, then who am I to stop you? As long as everyone treats it like a normal video session, then I'm cool with it. I may see if Luke will pop in to just make sure that everything is going okay."
Robin grinned broadly and bobbed his head. Like Kerrie, his hair was also graying at the edges as well. "Thanks, Ms. Kerrie. Good luck in this hot box."
Chuckling, Kerrie waved him off. "Thanks. Now go on over to your luxury air conditioning."
When Robin left the office, she could hear the men waiting let out excited whoops that their plan had worked. Rarely did a change in routine happen. It was important to keep to the schedule. However, when clients were sweating bullets and already had to fight against the changes in their bodies from sobering up, topping that off with learning new ways to cope wasn't the best combination.
By noon, Kerrie had unbuttoned her dress shirt, revealing a white undershirt that was sweat-soaked at the collar and had rolled up her sleeves. Sweat rolled down her back as she shifted uncomfortably in her chair. She could hardly focus on notes, her mind wandering. Bette had been holed up in her office for most of the morning, like Kerrie. She was slowlytaking on more and more tasks. Kerrie was surprised that it hadn't bothered her nearly as much as she expected.
