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When Erin returns, Sara-Beth leaves the two of us to head to a closing.
Erin gives me a more in-depth overview of the office and computer system.
Graham and Hilton stop by, and my heart rate picks up when I spy Graham coming up from the parking lot.
Get yourself together, Taeli.
Erin notices my loss of focus and follows my attention to the door.
She nudges me with her elbow when Graham walks through the threshold.
“Ouch,” I say, snapping my gaze to her.
“Caught you looking,” she teases.
I shush her as the men stop in front of the desk.
“Hey, gals,” Hilton greets.
“Hi, Mr. T, Graham,” Erin replies.
“Hi,” Graham says to me.
“Hi.”
Hilton watches his son and me stare each other down for a few beats, and then he clears his throat.
“Graham and I were on our way to a construction site and thought we’d drop by to see how your first day was going and ask if you needed anything.”
I look up at him and smile.
“Things are going great,” Erin interjects. “She’s a natural. I think she already has a better handle on the system than I do.”
“That’s wonderful,” Hilton declares.
“Um, Mr. T, one of the campers called in a maintenance order this morning because their water pressure was extremely low. Can you come and take a look at it?” Erin asks.
Hilton follows her over to her desk.
“Sounds like you fit right in around here,” Graham observes.
“Offices are my thing,” I blurt out the absurdity.
He chuckles.
“Where’s Caleb?” he asks.
“With Mom. She’s dragging him to a gem mine. He’s probably going to want to kill me when he gets home.”
“Mining can be fun,” he says.
“Please, mining is a silly tourist trap. He’s going to hate it.”
“Probably, yeah,” he agrees.
“And on top of that, Erin has roped me into some girls’ night out, high school reunion thing tonight. Which means leaving him with my mother for the second night in a row.”
“I’ll let you in on a little secret: children usually enjoy time with their grandmothers,” he whispers.
“Not mine. They barely know each other, and you’ve met my mother.”
“I have. She’s a lot of fun, and I’m sure she is doing her best to spoil Caleb rotten.”
I frown.
“Go have fun with the girls. I’ll check in on Caleb later,” he offers.
“You will?” I ask.
“Yeah, I have to take some measurements of the screened-in porch anyway.”
“Thank you, Graham,” I say as Erin and Hilton rejoin us.
Graham winks at me.
“You ready to head out, son?” Hilton asks.
“Right behind you, Pop.”
They leave, and no sooner do their boots hit the gravel than Erin pulls a chair up beside me.
“What was that all about?” she asks.
“Nothing,” I say as I stand and walk off to the file room.
“It sure didn’t look like nothing to me,” she calls after me.
