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Swiveling on her heel, she muttered something under her breath that I didn’t catch. I tilted my head back to look up at James, but he just shrugged and placed his hand on my lower back to guide me as we followed the forewoman and inspector through what felt like the longest site inspection in the history of the world.
I knew from the years that I’d handled Landon’s paperwork that safety inspectors always found something that needed to be remedied before we could move forward. I’d been prepared for a list of repairs that needed to be addressed. What I hadn’t expected was for him to find so many serious issues—from the electrical wiring to improper grading—that the entire project was at risk.
Handing James the list that was longer than any I’d seen before, the inspector warned, “You have one week to make serious progress on these.”
James looked unbothered as he nodded. “Understood.”
“Heath Construction is dedicated to following all building codes and safety requirements in every project we do.” I flashed a confident smile at the inspector even though it was the opposite of how I felt. “I have no doubt that we will be able to alleviate your concerns before your next site visit.”
A muscle jumped in James’s jaw as he waited for the door to shut behind the inspector. Then he turned to glare at the forewoman. “What the hell was that?”
Cheryl crossed her arms over her chest and suggested, “Maybe you should ask Samantha since she’s here in Landon’s place and he usually handles this kind of thing.”
James’s eyes narrowed. “Samantha and I will have our own discussion after you explain to me how you could have botched this project so badly.”
“I know the list was longer than expected, but I’m sure if we put our heads together over the next week, we’ll be able to take care of each issue in no time at all.” She beamed a smile at him. “I’ve never failed at a project, and this one won’t be my first. I would never let you down like that.”
I practically had to bite my tongue from correcting her in front of James since her leadership on this job had already proven to be more than inadequate. The site inspection had been a disaster, and the buck stopped with her. If she truly believed there wouldn’t be serious repercussions for her failure, I had a feeling she was in for a rude awakening after I talked to Landon. My brother hadn’t built one of the most well-respected construction companies in the country by keeping on employees who couldn’t do their jobs. Especially not the few he trusted to lead his teams in his absence. Taking jobs away from home had been hard for my control-freak brother to come to terms with, so his circle of trust was small.
“If you don’t want to let me down, get your team to work on the smaller items on the list. Knock those out while I figure out how I want to handle the more serious infractions.” James turned to me. “As long as that’s okay with you?”
I didn’t miss how Cheryl rolled her eyes at the question, something my brother was going to hear about soon. But she pasted a smile on her face after I nodded and James returned his attention to her. “Yes, sir. I’ll get right on it. You can count on me.”
James looked as dubious as I felt as we watched the forewoman walk away.
“I get that you must have some serious questions, but I need to call my brother first to give him an update on what just went down.” I heaved a deep sigh and shook my head. “Hopefully, he’ll have answers for you because I don’t understand how things could have gone so wrong. This isn’t how Heath Construction operates.”
“I know, which is why I’ve been a little more hands off on this project than I normally would be.” James took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’ve worked with your brother often enough to trust that his team knows what they’re doing. Until now.”
Although the issues the inspector found weren’t my fault, I felt awful about the situation. “I’m so sorry.”
James surprised me when he put his glasses back on and shrugged his shoulders with a smile. “I’ve had things go to shit on projects before, and I’m sure this won’t be the last time. On the plus side, now you’ll have to extend your time in Chicago, and we can get to know each other better.”
“I guess it’s a good thing I overpacked, so I won’t run out of clean clothes anytime soon.” I quirked a brow. “And I can always wash them at your place, assuming you’re not planning to drop me off at the hotel after this fiasco.”
“Definitely not,” he confirmed with a chuckle.
“Then I guess I’d better call Landon and let him know not to expect me back in the office tomorrow morning.”
Pulling my phone out of my purse, I did just that…and he reacted exactly how I expected. “You wanted more responsibility, so now’s your chance to show me you have what it takes to get the job done. Fire Cheryl and hold down the fort while I figure out who I can pull from another project to send down there. If you can manage that, we’ll talk about a promotion when you get back. If she wants to complain about some nepotism bullshit after she’s no longer employed here, she can kiss my ass. Wisconsin and Illinois are both at-will employment states, so even without her failing to do her job properly, she wouldn’t have a leg to stand on.”
“You want me to fire her right now?”
“The morning is soon enough.” Some of the tension eased from my body at his reply. “She’ll probably bust ass trying to make up for the mess she created, and that’ll give me time to confirm who I’m sending to take her place so we’ll have a plan set before you let her go.”
It would also give me the night to prepare for my first firing. “Sounds good to me.”
“Extend your hotel reservation for a couple of days for now. You might need to stay a little longer than that, but I won’t know until tonight at the earliest.”
“Ahh, yeah…about that.” My head jerked up, and I looked at James with wide eyes. “I stopped by the JB Capital offices before heading to the hotel yesterday, and James insisted that I stay with him instead.”
“I guess that makes sense since his condo is so close to the office and project site.”
“Condo?” I echoed, my brows drawing together as I tilted my head to the side.
“Now I’m confused, sis. I thought you said you were staying with James at his place?”
“Yeah, but he took me to his house in Winnetka.” I narrowed my eyes at James. “I didn’t even know he had a condo nearby.”
