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“I had an idea,” Heidi said.
“About boats? The last time you had an idea about boats, we built that monstrosity with the all-pink interior.”
“It sold, didn’t it?”
It had, and others exactly like it, actually. “The Heidi” had been a small, limited-edition boat and they’d sold five in a month. People still asked about them, but Tim wassonot going there again. He was still finding bits of pink upholstery fluff floating around in the factory.
“But, no,” Heidi said dismissively. “This isn’t about boats. This is about you.”
“What about me?”
She closed the door and pulled a chair up closer to the desk. “Do you remember when Petra came into your office shaking and crying because she needed to take some time off for maternity leave?”
“Yeah. That was weird. She thought she wasn’t going to have a job when she got back.”
“Right.Youthought it was weird, but it happens to women enough that it’s a legitimate fear.”
“She’d been here for five years and always did good work. I had no reason to believe she wouldn’t continue to do so.”
“Exactly. And we just picked up the slack for her around here when she was gone because that’s what communities are supposed to do when babies are born. What if you could do the same for Valerie?”
“What are you suggesting? If she were a boat designer, we’d have absolutely no issues. I’d hire her on here and we’d cover her, but she’s an architect. I can’t do anything for her.”
Heidi shook her head. “Follow along, now. I wouldn’t have married you if you didn’t have a decent-enough brain. She doesn’t have much room for compromise in her career trajectory, butyoudo.”
Huh.
Tim rubbed his beard contemplatively. “Okay, I think I see where you’re going.”
“Let’s be doubly sure. If you somehow managed to talk Valerie into marrying you—”
“Heidi,” he warned.
“Hey, I’ve always spoken plainly. Should I continue?”
He sighed.
“Thought so. As I was saying, if you manage to get her down the aisle and she agrees to give you a couple of kids, there’s no reasonshehas to be the one to take all the time off. Unless she wants to, I mean.”
“I agree.”
“I figured you would.”
“But how would that be possible? I’m short one supervisor here and I’m the only one who has a handle on all of the day-to-day operations.”
“We’re talking in hypotheticals about something that wouldn’t happen for a year or more, probably. By then, we couldcertainlyfigure something out, and if push came to shove, you put that baby in my office and go do what you have to do.”
He lowered his chin and gave her a level glare. “Really?”
She shrugged. “Things’ll calm down in a couple of years. I’m convinced of that. Maybe it’s unorthodox.” She laughed. “But, hey. Nothing about Heidi and Tim Dowd is orthodox or has ever been anything close.”
“You’ve got that right.”
“You own the business, and you can do what you want.Youset the rules for the office culture. Got that?”
“I get it.” Him. Valerie. Their kids at work. Heidi pitching in. It’d be a ridiculous situation, but it didn’t matter as long as they were loved. To hell with what anyone had to say about it.
“Well, go gether. What time is her flight in?”
“Two hours.” Tim was already on his feet and reaching for his keys.
It was an easy solution, and apparently, easy was the hardest thing to think of first. If Heidi’s solution didn’t make Valerie stop and think, he didn’t know what else possibly would.
“Better hustle,” Heidi said. “Traffic’s gonna be a bitch.”
