AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Thanks, Dad.” They shared the downstairs bathroom sink, scrubbing each other’s hands while sneaking a quick kiss. She might have kept her lips on his all afternoon, except Tom’s stomach rumbled, making her laugh. They dried their hands and returned to the kitchen.
Plates with sandwiches and salad sat on the table already, with glasses of water. Wiz smiled at Pete, already sitting. “You don’t have to wait on me. You must be starving.”
Pete mock-frowned. “Now, how many times do I have to tell you, young lady, that we don’t do that in this family? Say your thanks, and then we’ll eat.”
She bowed her head and gave a heartfelt thank you to God for bringing these two men into her life. She was the luckiest woman in the whole world.
They ate while Dad offered ideas to improve her cow herding skills, which she was just learning.
Tom stood and gathered the plates. “I’m guessing you need to work this afternoon on your business, right, Wiz?”
Wiz grabbed the glasses. “Yes. I’m behind, again.” She could never seem to catch up. At least she didn’t have to feel bad about turning down work—she simply didn’t have time to do more.
“But you’ll get it done—you always do.” Tom smiled.
She sighed. “True. But sometimes it’s a struggle. I love the programming. It’s the other stuff that takes time and effort and too much work.”
Pete wiped the table. “You know, Tom’s a smart guy. He could probably do some of that for you. He runs the business side; I just do the grunt work when I want to.”
Wiz closed the dishwasher. Pete was right. Tom was certainly intelligent, and he knew business. If she went over her client processes with him, he could tell her what he was capable of doing.
“That look is scary. I wonder how badly this is going to hurt.” Tom chuckled.
“Oh, it won’t hurt at all. Well, until you’re blinking your eyes at zero-three hundred and wondering where you are, then remembering you’re doing documentation for my security system.” Wiz grinned.
The men laughed. Tom shook his head. “I don’t think I’m up to documenting your technical work, but I’m sure I can help with the business end. Research is something I’m pretty good at, and financials are easy.”
“If you could help me with initial research, that would be a huge help.” Wiz rubbed her chest. The warmth of hope was still unusual, but she loved the feeling. “I’m very particular about my clients, and sometimes it takes a lot of digging to find out if someone’s operating honestly. I don’t take on clients with dirty money, or criminal enterprises, or immoral ones, like trafficking and prostitution. I’m good at what I do, and my work doesn’t require a lot of maintenance other than the automatic updates I do for every client. So, I have to bring on new clients constantly. It’s a contradiction, to some extent. I need new business all the time, but it takes a lot of time and effort to check into some people.” Wiz frowned. “Some are easy. Anyone Erin’s mother refers to me is an automatic no. She’s gotten into a dangerous crowd.”
Pete shook his head. “It’s a shame. Tom followed your advice and moved the majority of our funds into two of the other banks in town.”
“Erin, Deb, and Sam have done the same, which makes me feel a lot better.” Wiz didn’t like speaking ill of local businesses, but the Russians they were dealing with were dangerous, and their methods were brutal. Marcus Bank was playing with fire. She hoped it didn’t blow back and burn the whole town.
Tom grimaced. “I know Sam and Deb were grateful for your warnings. Deb was already looking at moving her banking; Ms. Murphy kept sending investors to her that she didn’t want. I’ve warned other people I know, quietly, too. If doing your research helps you stay out of trouble like that, I’m happy to help. Although I have no idea how you dig into somebody’s background, and I’m not brilliant with computers, or anywhere near as smart as you are, but I’m sure I can learn the basics.” He nodded. “An intellectual challenge would be good for me. And maybe you could work fewer hours.”
“And maybe if you keep him busy, he’ll quit bugging me about switching over to natural raising.” Dad glowered.
They both laughed, and eventually, Dad joined them. Wiz knew he was mostly kidding, but Tom could be a bit like Rusty with a bone, just plain dogged. He needed to back off a bit. So, she could kill two enemies with one round—give Tom something new to work on, and give Dad some time to consider all the factors. “Perfect. So, tomorrow, after our morning ride and lunch, Tom will come work for me for a couple of hours, and Dad, you can do your ‘research’ in peace. You know, the kind with your eyes closed on the couch. It can even be my couch if you want.” Wiz winked at Dad.
Pete guffawed. Tom raised his brows. “Why do I have a feeling that I’m going to regret this?”
“Because you are. I’m a slave driver when I’m working. And I’m not a nice boss either.” She wasn’t kidding; she was more like Rusty driving a fractious herd of spooked young steers.
“Oh, I think I can figure out how to make you be nice to me.” Tom smirked.
Dad cleared his throat. “I don’t need to hear about that. Let’s get going. Tom, I want you doing rope work with Strawberry. I’ve got a possible home for her, but I need to make sure she's not going to throw the girl when she whirls a lasso around.” He strode to the mudroom.
“Sure. Let me get my other gloves. These are too heavy for rope work.” Tom leaned down and gave Wiz a kiss, then trotted upstairs.
Wiz caught up with Pete. “Thanks for the idea. It’s a good solution to all our problems.”
He chuckled. “Provided you don’t kill each other first. You’re both strong-willed and a little stuck in your ways. At first, it will be easy, but once Tom gets the hang of what you’re doing, he’s likely gonna want to change things. And that may or may not be good.”
“We’ll see what happens. Even if I end up firing him, it won’t impact our personal relationship.” Maybe she shouldn’t be so sure about that. “Right?”
Tom slapped his gloves against his thigh. “You’re already talking about firing me? I’m wounded.” He smirked.
She’d been right. “Don’t worry, only from the business side, not my life.”
