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Apparently fifteen days was her limit, and she wasn’t going to let another hour pass without seeing him and telling him everything she’d learned in the past couple of hours.
“I know I can’t park here,” she said. “But I just need ten minutes to find my boyfriend and talk to him.”
“This is private parking,” the man said.
“Yes,” Gerty replied. “I know. Is there any way I can get up to see Michael Hammond?”
The man’s eyebrows went up. “You know Mister Hammond?”
Gerty cocked her head. “Is this the parking for HMC?” She started scanning the little of the lot she could see, but she couldn’t find Mike’s truck.
“Yes,” the man said. “The executive parking.”
“So Mike is in his office?” Gerty swung her attention back to this man, her eyes dropping to his name tag. “Kevin, can you help me do something to surprise him? He’s my boyfriend, you see, and I haven’t seen him in fifteen days….”
30
Mike had just pulled a microwavable pizza made on French bread out of the oven when the phone in the condo shrilled out a ring.
Surprised, he dropped the food, and the pepperoni and sauce splatted on the floor while the tray clattered against the wall. Cursing, he turned away from the mess to find the phone.
He’d never even heard it ring before, though Hunter had told him if it did, it would be important. If he had to deal with another transportation issue, he didn’t know what he’d say or do. It wouldn’t be good, he knew that.
He missed his cabin in a way he couldn’t describe and hadn’t anticipated. He’d never minded the city, because it had a life force all its own. He liked how it never seemed to sleep, but now, all it did when he hadn’t been sleeping was remind him how exhausting it was to be awake all the time.
He finally located the phone on the dining table for two and snatched it from the cradle. “Michael Hammond,” he said, not really sure how to answer this phone. His secretary buzzed into his office all the time, and she simply said, “Mister Hammond?” and he’d answer to let her know he was there and listening.
“Mister Hammond,” a man said. “It’s Kevin in the parking garage. There’s been an issue down here. Could you come down?”
Mike turned toward the kitchen, where he no longer had dinner waiting for him. Even when he had, it hadn’t been exactly appetizing.
He rubbed his hand along his forehead, wishing he’d showered at the cabin, pulled on a pair of jeans, grabbed his cowboy hat, and gone to Gerty’s.
He missed her so much, but she hadn’t even responded to his text from earlier that day. She was probably mad he was staying in the city yet again, and he wanted to rage at her to join the club.
In that moment, Mike wondered if he could really be the CEO and keep Gerty in his life. The business trip, the endless work afterward, the transition that had started with Hunter moving files from his cabinets to Mike’s….
It was all overwhelming in single pieces, and he’d been dealing with them all at the same time.
“Do I really need to?” Mike asked. “What happened?” It waswayafter hours, and surely he didn’t need to go attend to something in the parking garage. Did CEOs even do that?
“There’s been a break-in,” Kevin said. “Your personal vehicle was one of the cars broken into, and we want to make sure nothing is missing.”
Mike’s heartbeat accelerated with every word he said. “I’ll be right down.” He plunked the phone back into the cradle and turned to get on his shoes. He wasn’t sure if he should get re-dressed in his suit and tie, and he decided against it. This wasn’t an HMC issue; this was a personal issue.
He grabbed his phone as he left the apartment and he called Hunter while he waited for the elevator. “There’s been a break-in in the parking garage,” he said as he got on the car. “Is this normal?”
“Not at all,” Hunter said, the frown in his voice surely mirroring the one on his face. “You’re staying in the city again tonight? Or they just called you? Because you can tell them to handle things like that on their own.”
“I’m here.” Mike sighed as he leaned against the wall. He realized he hadn’t pushed a button, so he wasn’t going anywhere, and he jabbed at the button to get him to the executive parking level.
“I thought you were going home to Gerty.”
“One,” Mike said. “Gerty and I don’t have a home together.” His tongue felt too thick in his mouth, because he’d told his cousin too much about his feelings for Gerty. “Two, Diamond Transportation is being impossible. I was on the phone with them—with their corporate executive team, Hunt. A whole team—for over two hours tonight.”
The truth was, Mike had been too tired to make the drive on dark, country roads back to the farm. He didn’t have to spell that out for Hunter.
Hunt still sighed. “You haven’t seen her for weeks.”
