AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“A couple of weeks. If you had let us know earlier, we would have completed it first.” Irritation filled Mac’s tone.
“Mac—” I said, with a warning tone.
I was worried about the issues with having a child on-site. Would it be safe? Was it a problem with our insurance?
We wandered over to the area in question. It was one small bedroom with a small sitting room, a living area, and a small kitchen. It was meant for one person, not two.
Natalie circled the space. It was just studs at this point. “I think it would be better for me to be on-site. If that’s okay?”
“This is your baby. Your project. We work at your whim.”
I wondered what was going on with Mac. He was usually the levelheaded one. He never let irritated owners get to him, but this one had. And she wasn’t even that bad, compared to the others. It was clear she was stressed about whatever was going on in her personal life and was feeling torn between Colorado and South Carolina.
Natalie’s shoulders relaxed for the first time. “Thank you.”
“Now, back to the floors. We can take a break and work on the owner’s suite until Dad gets back.” I fully intended to ask Mac what he was thinking when the owner was out of earshot. For now, I needed to salvage this conversation.
“That’s what we’ll have to do,” Mac agreed.
There were other options, but no way was I discussing that in front of Natalie. I wasn’t sure where Mac’s head was at.
“I really appreciate you working with me.” Her phone buzzed, and she held up a finger, excusing herself to take it.
“What the hell?” I asked as soon as she stepped outside.
“What?” Mac asked, as if nothing had transpired.
“You did a one-eighty. First, you were against her interference, then you asked her to move in, flipping around our schedule.”
“First of all, there’s an issue with the floors we can’t figure out until Dad’s home, and there’s no way I’m interrupting their first vacation in how many years?”
“I’m on board with that part. But you invited her and her daughter to live here.” I gestured around at the exposed ceilings, the open walls, and the tools and equipment everywhere. “Is this okay with the insurance company? Is Dad going to have a problem with it?”
“She needs to be here so we don’t have this issue again. It’s one thing if she stayed in South Carolina and let us do our job here, but she’s saying we put in the wrong floors. If she’d been here, we would have caught the mistake.”
I understood the gravity of that. Too many disruptions of that magnitude and we’d be bleeding money and time. Our other projects would get pushed back, and we’d have unhappy customers on our hands. “She doesn’t have to live here though.”
I saw how she riled Mac up so easily. It wouldn’t be good to have them fighting on-site. It was important that we presented a united front to our team.
“You saw her. She doesn’t have anywhere else to live, and she needs to get out of her current living situation.”
“Since when is the client’s living arrangements our problem?” I asked him.
But Natalie walked inside, her phone in her hand.
“Everything okay?” Mac asked.
Natalie smiled, more relaxed than when she’d left. “Just my daughter, wondering when I’m coming home.”
“You have family watching her?” Mac asked.
“My ex’s parents.” Her forehead wrinkled. “I need to get back as soon as possible.”
I didn’t know anything about her situation, but it sounded complicated. I understood why Mac wanted to help her, but I’d never seen him moved in this way before.
“I’ll keep you updated on the progress of the owner’s suite while you’re out of town,” Mac offered.
“I’d appreciate that.”
