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“Hey Boss, I wasn’t expecting to see you today,” Jake says as I walk up next to where he’s standing in the house’s kitchen that’s undergoing massive renovations. The owners bought the house but are having the entire thing torn down to the studs and rebuilt before they plan on moving in. I thought that the shipment delay from last week would have really set us back but looking around, it seems Jake has it under control.
“Yeah, well, I wanted to make sure we were on schedule. We can’t afford to get too far behind on this project since I’ve got another one lined up for your team immediately after.”
“You know I’ve got this,” he says.
“I can’t let you have all the fun, can I? Maybe I should start on that bathroom,” I say, eyeing the pallet of expensive tile they’ve parked in the backyard.
“George is going to start on that as soon as he’s back from lunch. I told you I had it under control. Shouldn’t you be back in your office making sure we’re running like a well-oiled machine or something?”
I let out a sigh as Jake goes back to measuring for the countertops. “I hired someone. She’s back at the house right now working on getting that mess organized.”
“She?” I can practically see his ears perk up at the mere mention of a female. Jake may have a way with the ladies but I’ll be damned if he or anyone else that works for me gets anywhere near Violet.
“You don’t need to worry about her,” I practically growl at him.
Instead of warning him off, this seems to spur him onward. There’s a glint of mischief in his eye when he continues with, “I wouldn’t say I’m worried about her. I just think it’s only polite if I go and introduce myself since we’re coworkers and all.”
I know just how he’d like to introduce himself to Violet. “You don’t need to know her, she’ll be working exclusively in the office. Besides, she’s too young for you.”
“She eighteen?”
“Of course,” I snap at him. He just smiles in response and goes back to measuring. I know I should just leave it. The more I talk about her, the more he’ll realize she’s a sensitive subject for me and the more he’ll push my buttons. He’s the kid brother I never had or wanted. “You don’t even know who she is or what she looks like.” I cross my arms over my chest, and I know I look defensive but fuck it, Jake needs to understand that she’s off-limits.
“I’ll know exactly who she is and what she looks like when I go introduce myself. C’mon boss, you know it would be nice to have something to look at besides dirty sweaty dudes all day. You don’t get to keep her cooped up in your house and have her all for yourself.”
“Keep your eyes to yourself, you don’t need to be looking at her. This discussion is over.” He just laughs and I stomp out to the yard where I start carrying in heavy packages of tile so that they’re ready to go.
Just as I’m headed back for the second load, I can feel my phone buzzing in my pocket. I quickly reach in and pull it out, realizing with nervous anticipation that it could be Violet with a problem in the office. Instead, all I see isAmanda Calling. Fucking spectacular.
I’d normally send her call straight to voicemail and go on with my day but I need to find out what she’s up to. What with hiring Violet yesterday I haven’t had time to think about her decision to move to Seattle. Amanda’s always been a decent mother to Bianca. Maybe not as warm and fuzzy as I would want for her but Bianca’s managed to grow into a strong, confident, and talented young woman. I’m not stupid enough to credit myself with all of that. Still, in the four years that Bianca has been living in Seattle she’s never once expressed an interest in moving here.
Amanda has always seemed content living back in South Hill. Her family and all her friends live there and she also has a stable and well-paying job running the office of the most popular OBGYN in town. She says that she wants to move here for Bianca but she’s never been one to be overly attached. I’m worried she has an ulterior motive.
I immediately shake my head at myself in admonishment. That’s not fair to Amanda. Maybe she really does miss Bianca and wants to be here. I know that I’ve been far happier having her in the same city as me than not. I quickly answer the phone before it can roll over to voicemail.
“Hey, Amanda.”
“Hey, yourself. What are you up to?”
“I’m working right now, is there something that I can do for you?”
“Geez, is there anything wrong with me wanting to have a friendly conversation with my ex-husband?”
“There is when we never have friendly conversations and I’m in the middle of a construction site. If there isn’t anything you need, I’m going to have to go.”
“Wait,” she says before I can hang up the phone. “So what do you think of me moving to Seattle? It’s great, right?”
“You know me, as long as Bianca is happy, I’m happy. It sounds like you’ll get to spend a lot of time with her so that’s nice.”
“Of course! I’m really looking forward to it. Maybe the three of us could do some stuff together. You know, like a family.”
“Amanda, we are a family in the loosest sense of the word. If you move here, I’m sure we’ll cross paths but I don’t want you to think that things are going to happen here that won’t.”
She lets out aharrumphand quickly moves on to another topic that I don’t really want to talk about. “Are you sure you don’t have anything that I can rent? That would really help me out. I don’t want to go searching for something and money is a little tight right now...”
Ahhh, so that’s why she wanted to move into one of my properties, so she could stiff me on the rent. She doesn’t think I’ll throw the mother of my child out on the street... and she’s probably right. That makes me doubly grateful that I have nothing for her right now.
“Look, Amanda, I really don’t have anything available right now. Most of my places are filled with long-term tenants and like I told you yesterday, the only place that’s unoccupied right now is being worked on. The girls said that they would keep their eyes out for you, but I just really don’t have anything.”
