AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter 8
The good news: the lumber arrived. The bad news: the dipshit who delivered it dropped it off at the side of the driveway. Now I have to haul it—yes, all of it—from the front yard to the side yard. The deck is being extended from the small one on the second floor to the ground floor. That way, Cheryl can walk out of her bedroom via the patio door and then down the stairs to the pool.
I don’t bother going inside when I arrive at the Murphy house. It’s been three days since the swimming-pool kiss, and thanks to the delay of this delivery there was no reason for me to come over any sooner than today.
Boards over my shoulder, I make umpteen trips from driveway to side yard until the stacks have been transported. Could’ve used Tommy’s help, but he’s working on a project at a senior center. If this schedule keeps up—with jobs booking on top of jobs—I’m going to have to hire more guys. As it is, I make do with myself, Daryl, and Tommy, and no assistant.
My phone rings. It’s a client I called yesterday to ask why he didn’t pay me for a job I completed over a month ago. I have no office help—hell, no office—so I make my own collections calls also. I punch the speaker button as I wander back around to the front.
“Jackson Burke,” I answer.
“Hey, Jackson, this is Cecil Douglas…”
I drop the tailgate of my truck and hoist my ass onto it, listening as Cecil tells me a story about how his family vacation was more costly than he expected and his twenty-two-year-old daughter is getting married.
“Congratulations.” I lie back, eyes on the blue sky. It’s gorgeous today. Eighty-four degrees and sunny with an occasional white puffy cloud gliding by on a soft breeze.
“Thank you.” Cecil clears his throat. “My payment will be delayed, Jackson. I’m sure you understand. I will probably be able to give you a partial payment in a month, but then we’ll see what happens.”
Don’t you love how he’s trying to make this my problem? What a crock of shit.
“If you don’t pay me in full, Cecil,” I reply calmly, “I’m going to come to where you work and tear out your new office wall by wall.”
Silence.
“You there?”
“Mr. Burke, listen…” His nice-guy attitude shifts into frustration.
“You’re a lawyer. How long do you let your clients go without paying you?”
No response.
“I understand unexpected bills, but mine is one you expected. You didn’t need your office remodeled. You wanted it to impress your partner and bring on higher-paying clients. Now that I’ve done my part, you owe me for my work. It’s simple. I do the job. You pay me what I’m worth. And in your case, less than what I’m worth, since you talked me down in price a thousand bucks.”
I drop my arm over my eyes as I listen to him rail at me for my “insolent” attitude. What a dick. Finally, he agrees to send me the money tomorrow—in full, but he doesn’t sound happy about it. I don’t care if he’s happy or not.
“Pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Douglas. If you call me for future jobs, I’m going to ask for payment up front.”
“Don’t worry. This is the last time you’ll hear from me.” He clicks off and I sigh audibly.
“Promises, promises,” I say to myself, surprised when I hear a soft feminine voice to my left.
“Harsh.”
I move my arm from my eyes to find Allie leaning on the edge of the bed of my truck.
“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure my parents pay you.”
“They already did.” I sit up and scoot to the edge of the tailgate. “I gave that guy a chance to pay me. He chose not to. I give customers a fair shot but once they show their true colors, I’m done.”
“Once bitten and all that?”
My gaze lingers on her as I consider the weight of that statement where we’re concerned. “Something like that.”
“Well, you did the work you promised and then he broke the promise to pay you. I assume he liked the office you built him?”
“No complaints until the bill arrived.” She looks pretty today. No surprise there. She’s looked pretty every day I’ve seen her. Allie maneuvers around the side of the truck and stands closer. She’s watching me carefully, like there’s a question she wants to ask that has nothing to do with what I do for a living.
