Page 29

“Just as I thought,” Heather murmured. “It’s all about you, huh?” She laughed, then kissed her daughter’s forehead. “Fine. You can have as much attention as you want. Let’s go back to the office.”

Carrying Diane, she returned to her desk. Brian was still standing beside it. When he saw the baby, he smiled.

“My sister just had a boy. I’m going to teach him how to play baseball.”

“Probably not for a couple of weeks at least,” Heather teased.

Brian blushed. “No, ma’am. He’ll need to be a lot older than he is now. I wasn’t sure about having a baby around, but he’s pretty cool. I go visit him a lot.”

She liked this young man, Heather thought as she glanced out the window and saw Jim heading toward the office. He seemed intelligent and sincere.

The front door opened. Brian spun around, saw Jim and stiffened. “Hello, Mr. Dyer. I don’t know if you remember me. I’m Brian Johnson. I was here last year about a job and you said to wait until I was seventeen.”

Jim looked the teenager over. “When was your birthday?”

“Last week. But I had family commitments until this morning, so this is the soonest I could get here.”

Jim nodded, then gave Heather a wink. “Why don’t you grab your application, Brian? We’ll take a walk around the place while we talk about things.”

Brian turned back to her. “Thank you for listening to me, ma’am.”

“You’re welcome. Good luck.”

But Heather wasn’t sure the young man was going to need it. Jim had that look in his eye. The one that told her he was planning to give a seventeen-year-old kid a chance to make his dreams come true.

“Everything ready for the party?” Jim asked as Brian stepped outside.

“Of course,” Heather said. “You and Flo both worry too much.”

“At least I’m in good company.” He gave her a brief wave, then disappeared outside.

Fifteen minutes later, she had Diane strapped into her baby carrier and was helping Flo set out paper plates and napkins. They were using part of the main hangar for their party. One section at the side of the open space had been walled off and filled with tables and chairs. Jim held his meetings with employees out here. The plain room had been brightened with crepe paper and colorful balloons hanging from the low ceiling and tied to the backs of chairs.

“Harry’s bringing the ice,” Flo said as she pointed to the empty metal container on the floor. It looked big enough to serve as a tub for a Great Dane. “Jim says soft drinks only for this kind of party, and I’ve always agreed with him. Alcohol and helicopters don’t mix.”

As usual, Flo was dressed to inspire. Electric-blue slacks clung to round hips, while a black T-shirt emphasized her impressive bosom.

“Now where are the forks?” Flo searched through the cabinets lining the wall and finally found a large bag filled with plastic forks. “We have plates, napkins, forks, a cutting knife and an ice-cream scoop.” She shuddered. “I’ll let you handle the ice cream. Sodas are on their way along with the ice, so I think that’s everything.”

“Why is Mark leaving?” Heather asked as she checked on her daughter. Diane clutched her small cloth bunny to her chest and occasionally chewed on its ear. “Every time we talked, he seemed very happy with his job.”

“Oh, he is.” Flo pulled out one of the metal folding chairs and plopped down. “But Jim got him a job with a bigger company—one that has room for advancement.”

That sounded familiar, Heather thought. “He did the same thing for Rick Martinez a few months back, didn’t he?”

Flo looked surprised. “How’d you hear about that?”

Heather told her about the young couple’s visit and all that Rick and Lupe had said about Jim.

“Well, it’s all true,” Flo told her. “He’s one of the few businesses in the area that’s willing to hire people directly out of a trade school. It’s the old problem of needing experience to get a job and needing a job to get experience. He gives them experience, then finds them better jobs. Then a whole new batch of graduates comes through and he does the same for them.”

Heather wasn’t sure how she felt about that. “But he has to do a lot of extra work that way,” she said. “All that training of new people. Who can he depend on?”

“A few of the guys stick around despite Jim’s attempts to move them somewhere else. He’s been trying to get rid of me for years, but I haven’t budged.”

None of this made sense to Heather. “I’m still confused. What does he get out of it?”

Flo’s expression was unreadable. “He likes to help people, but I also think…” Her voice trailed off. “Well, it’s just my theory. If you want to know, I guess you’ll have to ask him yourself.”