Chapter Five
Maddox was waiting in Justin’s office when he walked in on Monday morning. “Hey, Madd, how was the vacay?”
“I just had the best week of my life. Em and I really needed that.” Justin could see the love in Maddox’s eyes at the mere mention of Emmanuel.
“I’m guessing that I should leave this weekend open, then.” He grinned.
Maddox nodded, then his face turned serious. “What about you, man?”
Justin let out a sigh. “Well, it wasn’t the best week of my life.” He told him all about the situation with Mrs. Liston.
“Damnit.” Maddox shook his head. “I should have listened to you.” He ran his fingers through his short hair and blew out a heavy breath. “Any idea what we’re out with this job?”
Justin nodded. “Assuming she doesn’t change anything else, this project is going to end up costing us somewhere around twelve thousand dollars. And that’s not even adding the overtime we’re going to have to pay to get this done.”
“Fuck,” Maddox said angrily. The man closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths.
“I went ahead and put a Do Not Service order for her in our files,” Justin told him. “But we’re basically screwed on this job.”
Maddox shrugged. “It is what it is, I guess. It’s not like there’s anything we can do about it.”
“I know.” Justin shook his head. “At least shit like this almost never happens. I do think we need to add a clause to our contract that prevents major changes once construction begins,” Justin offered his opinion.
“That is definitely a great idea.” Maddox nodded. “I’ll get with Isaac later and draft that up. You’re a genius.”
“What can I say?” Justin laughed. “I’m pretty much the best there is.” That caused Maddox to chuckle as well.
A soft knock on the frame of Justin’s open door drew their attention. There stood William. “Sorry to interrupt,” he said.
“Hey, William, come on in,” Maddox greeted. “It’s been a while.”
“Yeah,” William agreed, shaking Maddox’s hand when he stopped next to him. “How have you been?”
“Way better than the last time I saw you.” Justin knew that had been at the funeral for Maddox’s grandfather, and that Maddox had been a wreck that day. “I’d have to say that my life is pretty incredible now. How about you?”
“Hanging in there.” William shrugged. “I just had a quick question for Justin about this invoice.” He laid the paper on Justin’s desk.
“What did you need help with?” Justin kept his voice tight and professional. After Friday, he had no desire to interact with the man. But this was his job.
“I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to add these items separately, or if they were covered under the umbrella of the plumbing package.” Justin noticed that William looked equal parts nervous, uncomfortable, and embarrassed.
Good. He should be after the way he acted. His eyes went to the edge of his desk, but the broken award was gone. Fuck, one of the janitorial staff they employed over the weekend must have thrown it away. He shook his head and focused on the invoice. “Separately,” he told William. “The package only includes the area of the new plumbing. If you look a little farther down, you’ll see that these charges are for upgrades to the original plumbing in a different area.” He handed it back.
William nodded. “Thanks. See you guys later.” Then he was quickly out the door.
Maddox watched him leave before turning back to Justin. “That’s the other thing I wanted to talk to you about. How is this working out for you?”
Justin rolled his eyes. “About as well as you’d expect. He still hates me, and I pretty much can’t stand him.” He shrugged. “Nothing I can’t handle though.”
“You sure, man?” Justin knew Maddox was concerned, but he also knew that there wasn’t anything that his friend could do. Isaac owned half of the company, and it was well within his rights to hire anyone he wanted.
“It’s going to be fine, Madd. I promise.”
Maddox nodded, seeming to accept his answer. “But if things do get bad, I’m going to Isaac this time. It was one thing when we were kids, but we’re grown men now, and he needs to learn that kind of behavior is unacceptable here.”
Justin shrugged. “It will all work itself out. I would prefer that you or Isaac be his main point of contact rather than me though.”
“I can make that happen.”
“It’s all good, then,” Justin said before changing the subject. “So, we have an incredibly busy day ahead of us. Since I had to put Fernandez and his crew on the Liston job, we’re one team down.”
“I guess that means you and I are in for a very long day.” Maddox shook his head. “I was really hoping not to work late on Emmanuel’s first day living with me.”
“Don’t worry, man.” Justin clapped him on the shoulder. “I’ll make sure you get home in time.” He winked.
Justin followed a young man though the halls of Howard High School. It had taken him two weeks and six emails to finally schedule a conference with Evie’s English teacher. Faith Thornton lifted her head as he entered her classroom, rolling her eyes when she saw him. This should be fun, he thought, walking over to where she sat at her desk. “Good morning, Mrs. Thornton.” He took a nearby chair.
“What are you doing here?” she huffed out.
“My sister, Evelyn Sawyer, is in your class. I wanted to talk to you about her performance.” Justin put every bit of professionalism he could muster into his voice. This was for Evie; he couldn’t let this woman get to him.
“That would be a conversation that I have with her parents, not some random sibling.” Faith’s voice was condescending.
“I’m listed as the alternate adult on all of Evie’s paperwork.”
“And?” She shrugged.
“That means our mother has given her consent for me to handle these things,” he patiently tried to explain.
“Be that as it may, I only discuss a student with their legal guardian ,” she said smugly. “So, it seems that you’ve wasted not only your time but more importantly, mine.”
“Fine.” Justin tried to smile through gritted teeth. “When would be a good time for our mother to speak with you?”
“She would need to contact me herself.”
“Why are you being so difficult?” he asked her. “I’m just trying to help my sister. As her teacher, shouldn’t that be your goal as well?”
Faith huffed out a breath, rolling her eyes again. “I’ve already told Ms. Sawyer what she needs to do to improve her grades.” She then gave a cruel smile. “Perhaps her parents should take a more active interest in her education.”
Justin’s hands balled into fists. She was crossing a line, and his anger was rising. He needed to get out of there. “Thank you for your time, Mrs. Thornton,” he said as calmly as he could. “We’ll be in touch.”
Justin walked out of the school to his truck. Behind the wheel, he banged his palm against the dash before covering his face with his hands. Things had been good for ten years. Why had high school suddenly come back to torment him? He took out his phone.
“Hello,” his mother answered.
“Hey, Mom. Listen, I need you to call the school, and make an appointment to speak to Evie’s English teacher.”
“But I thought you did that today.”
“I tried.” Justin blew out an exasperated breath before continuing. “That b…woman won’t talk to me.”
“I don’t understand, you’re listed on all of your sister’s paperwork.”
“I know, Mom. I told her that, and she still refused. She told me that she will only speak to Evie’s legal guardian .”
For the second time in two weeks, Justin walked through the halls of Howard. This time with his mother by his side. She seemed increasingly nervous the closer they got to Faith’s classroom.
“Don’t worry, Mom. I’ll be right next to you,” he told her. She nodded as they entered.
“Well, well, well.” Faith wore a look of mock shock. “I guess at least one of her parents cares.”
His teeth clenched as his mother gasped at Faith’s rudeness. “This is for Evie,” he reminded her. She nodded and Justin sat her in the chair next to the teacher’s desk.
“I want to talk to you about my daughter,” Nora told Faith.
“Look, I’m going to say this one more time, since it’s obvious that none of you are getting it.” Faith rolled her eyes. “Ms. Sawyer needs to apply herself more, pay better attention, and make wiser choices. There is really nothing more to say.”
“Isn’t there something you can recommend that would help her?” his mother asked, sounding confused.
Faith shrugged one shoulder. “Most problems originate in the home,” she said snidely. “I would advise you to start there. Other than that, I’m afraid I can’t help you.”
“Can’t or won’t?” Justin asked.
Faith completely ignored him, instead continuing to speak harshly to his mother. “Perhaps you should consider using some form of discipline at home.”
“Why I’ve never—”
“This meeting is over,” Justin cut his mother off, grabbing her hand to help her to her feet. He led her out of the room and the school, not stopping until they reached his truck.
“The nerve of that woman.” She blew out a harsh breath. “What are we going to do?”
“I’ll think of something, Mom.” He patted her shoulder. “In the meantime, I’ll do my best to help Evie with her assignments.” Fuck, why the hell is this happening?
William sat at the dinner table with his father while his mother brought in the last dish then sat down as well.
“How was your day, Mom?”
“Oh, it was incredible,” she gushed. “ I volunteered at the children’s hospital. One of my favorite little patients, Bren, finally got well enough to go home. We had a big party for her. The best part was when her daddy showed up. He had been deployed for the last six months but was able to take leave for her release date. He said he wanted to be the one who took his princess home. It was so magical to watch. There wasn’t a dry eye in the room.” She smiled broadly. “How about you, darling?”
“Work was great. It’s getting much easier now that I’ve learned all the systems we use.” He had been at S&H for just over a month, and surprisingly, he enjoyed it.
“Speaking of work.” His father focused on him. “What’s going on with you and Justin?”
“What do you mean?” William asked uncomfortably.
“There is an awful lot of tension between the two of you,” Isaac answered. “And I’d really like to know why.”
Damn, I really hoped this would never come up. He blew out a heavy breath. It was time for the truth. “Just know that I’m not proud of what I’m about to tell you.” William felt his face heat. “Justin and I haven’t been friends since the beginning of high school. And the reason for that was…” William blew out another breath and shook his head. “My friends and I bullied him until we graduated.”
“You did what?” his father shouted.
“Oh, William.” The look of disappointment on his mother’s face, which he knew was coming, almost shattered him.
“Can you explain why you thought that to be an appropriate course of action?” Isaac’s tone was a little more controlled. But William saw the expression of extreme disapproval, and he knew he’d let them both down.
“I wish I could give you an answer, but I don’t have one. I know what I did was wrong, but knew it was wrong back then as well.” William hung his head.
“Justin is our best and most trusted employee, as was his father before him. They are friends of not only ours but the Sterling family as well. To know that you purposely hurt him…” His father trailed off, shaking his head.
“I just don’t know what to say.” His mother’s disbelief morphed into what looked like heartbreak as she covered her mouth and shook her head.
“There is nothing to say. I made a huge mistake, and I was an asshole in high school.”
“I thought we raised you better than that.” She sounded near tears. “I thought we taught you to treat others with respect and kindness.”
“You did, Mom. This is all on me. I let myself get influenced by people I shouldn’t have, and I feel a tremendous amount guilt every time I think about the past.”
His father shook his head. “A good man holds himself accountable and takes responsibility for his actions. He does what’s right, not what’s popular. And he always maintains the highest level of integrity, values, and respect for all. I thought you were that man.”
William actually wished they would yell at him. The sad disapproval in their voices was like torture. “I am. Now. But I had to do a lot of work on myself to get back to the way I was raised.”
“You need to make this right with him.” Her tone was firm, and William wasn’t sure she had ever been that sharp with him.
“Believe me, I know, I really do,” William told his parents. “But I honestly have no idea how.”
“Well.” His mother let out a deep breath and shook her head, then her sweet easy smile returned. “I know you’ll think of something. Let’s get on with dinner. I trust you.”