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Noah
“The expansion looks great,” I said to Max.
I surveyed the newly constructed office adjacent to my best friend’s lumberyard and mill complex. He’d expanded recently from logging and milling for wholesale to selling retail lumber and building supplies as well. Despite the additional business, and the baby at home, he looked more relaxed than I’d ever seen him.
“Well, it should since you built it,” he quipped.
“You could’ve had Ray do it for half the price,” I said, rolling my eyes. My dislike for my only major competitor was no secret.
“I could’ve, but I don’t like shit falling apart—gives the customers a bad impression when the roof actually caves in.”
“I don’t think he’s had an entire roof cave in yet. Just some citations for cutting corners on safety regs.”
“That’s definitely the best place to save money—on wiring, plumbing, really anything that could get your customer injured or dead. What a great businessman. Tell me again why he isn’t bankrupt?”
“His low-ass bids. There’s no competition for a lot of people, especially young families starting out, when his bid comes in so much lower than mine for the exact same thing,” I said, frustrated.
“He does shoddy work. It’s not like you to be stressed about this. What’s going on?” Max said.
“I never should’ve encouraged you to get involved with Rachel. Now you’re all observant and caring.”
“Did you like me better when I was a closed off asshole?”
“You were never closed off. At least to me,” I said jokingly.
“Right. So what’s going on?”
“I turned in my bid on the new build for a community center. I cut it to the bone. I’m doing it for nothing but supplies and my crew’s labor. Not a penny of profit and he’ll still undercut me on the damn thing.”
“Are you sure you want to do the build for nothing?”
“This community center means a lot to me. I’ve been trying to get this project off the ground for ten years. It wasn’t until Nicole came in as city planner that anyone took it seriously.”
“Nicole, is it?” he raised an eyebrow.
“Ms. Renner, then. Uptight pain in the ass from Atlanta, you know the one.”
“Yeah, she was at my wedding, Noah. She’s one of Rach’s friends. She kept both kids last Sunday night so we could get some sleep.”
“Really? She doesn’t seem like the warm and fuzzy type. Are you sure she didn’t make the kids march in a straight line and recite their ABC’s?”
“She’s not like that,” Max said, sounding amused.
“What? So she’s cuddly and warm? I don’t think so, bro. I’ve been around her enough to know she gets on my nerves.”
“She gets things done. Do you think it’s easy dealing with the old guard around here? As an outsider and a woman? Take a second to think about how many times a day she gets called ‘honey’ by the mayor and the road commissioner and anybody on the county board.”
“I’m on the county board, Max. I’ve never called her honey in my life and I don’t plan to. She was at the last meeting and requested fifteen minutes—she had a fuckin’ deck of Google slides about expansion and attracting new industry to the region. Google slides, Max. I felt like I was in high school and needed to take goddamn notes for a quiz.”
“Hot for teacher?” Max asked with a grin.
“Not even the least bit funny. I had to submit my bid to her office. Even if I had the low bid, which I know I won’t, there’s no way in hell she’d give me the build.”
“I know they’ve got a firm from Overton bidding on it, too,” Max said. “Guy came in here to ask about materials, wants to source locally. I guess he’s either a responsible consumer or he thought it’d look good if he bought everything he could here in Rockford Falls. Not that it’ll do him any good. Nicole’s going to hire a local. “
“Why do you say that?”
“Because Rach said so, and because it’s the smart thing to do. A local builder is going to use the facility, is going to see his kids grow up going there. More personal investment in the quality of the project, that sort of thing.”
“Well, good news for her. Because Ray Forrester is a hometown boy, and his bid is going to blow her away with how economical it is. She’s always going on about maximizing the budget and only spending on what will make the most impact. Besides, she just moved here a couple years ago. She doesn’t know any better,” I said, a hint of bitterness in my voice.
“Hey, I was an outsider here too, and that turned out fine. She’s a smart woman, Noah. Even if his bid comes in low—which you think it will—she won’t necessarily award the build to the least expensive vendor. I never knew her to go in for low quality, quick and cheap. Rachel’s told me she wears Ferragamo shoes. Those don’t come from the Target in Overton.”
