Chapter 12
Sebastian
I EXPECTED TO FIND Ruby in her office.
Instead, I spotted Dave at the front, slowing his truck out of the parking space while barking through the driver’s window at a younger crew member to hurry up.
Recognition flickered across his face when he noticed me approaching. “You’re the engineer friend, right? Spoke to my guy the day she hired us. Sullivan?”
“Sebastian.” I extended my hand.
“She sent you?” he asked, shaking it through his car’s window.
“No. I wanted to take a look. Saw some pictures and wanted to check in on the calculations for this one.” I pointed my chin toward the house behind him.
Dave looked exasperated, resting his elbow on the rolled-down window. “I sent her the plan.”
I bunched my mouth to the side in a you’ll have to do better. “That sketch didn’t sit right.”
He opened his mouth to argue, then looked past me and went quiet.
I didn’t have to turn. I felt Ruby before I saw her.
She stormed across the gravel like a woman who’d had it. With the day. With Dave. With everything.
“Sebastian,” she said when she reached us, breath slightly quick, eyes locking with mine as I turned toward her. “Hi.”
“Hi.” I gave her a half smile.
Dave looked between us. “So what is this, exactly? You bringing in a second opinion now?”
“I’m just here to take a look,” I said, still looking at Ruby.
“I asked him to,” she said instantly, without taking her eyes off me.
I turned back to Dave. “Walk me through what you’ve done.”
He finally hauled himself out, leaving the engine running. He started explaining, and I let him speak for exactly as long as it took to hear what wasn’t being said. Then I started pointing out the red flags.
I kept my tone even, but my jaw was tight. This wasn’t just about some bad fasteners and lazy math. Ruby had trusted this guy—on my recommendation. That part was on me.
Dave tried to defend the setup twice, but after ten minutes of detailed questions, he stopped talking, then nodded stiffly and stepped back. “I’ll see if I can get my guy to come talk to you.”
When he drove off, I turned to Ruby. “You can afford a better plan if you cut the external engineer’s fee and let me do it.”
Her eyes narrowed slightly. “Sebastian ...”
“I won’t invoice you.” I smiled. “Call it a volunteer sabbatical. You get me for free, and I get to stop grinding my teeth when I look at these plans.”
She let out a half-sigh, half-laugh. “You know that’s not sustainable, right?”
“It can be. Do you have a quiet place I can work from?”
“You can use my office.”
“Won’t you need it tomorrow?”
She looked confused.
“If I take this on,” I added, “I’m staying. On-site. Making sure Dave doesn’t improvise again.”
She looked dumbfounded, but the look in her eyes said everything. This was exactly why I’d packed my bag and booked the ticket before I even texted back.
Because she needed someone in her corner.
And I was done pretending I didn’t want to be there.