Chapter Six
Heather entered the information for the last invoice, then hit the print button. Next to her, the laser printer quietly hummed to life as three copies of the single-page document appeared in the tray. She fed in an envelope next, then collected the papers to process them.
It was late in the day, nearly six, and almost everyone had gone home. Jim still worked at his desk, but Flo had left at four-thirty as had most of the service crew outside. There weren’t any night charters and no whine of helicopter rotors broke the quiet of the early evening.
As much as Heather liked coming in early and getting her work done by midafternoon, there was something to be said for the peacefulness after nearly everyone had left for home.
She glanced over at Jim, but he was reading a report and didn’t seem to notice her.
His face was strong, his mouth firm—there wasn’t even a hint of his dimple tonight.
She knew if she said his name, he would look up and smile.
She almost did it just to have him look at her. But that would be silly.
She returned her attention to the stack of invoices in front of her that needed to be filed.
She stretched before getting up. The past couple of nights had been difficult.
Diane hadn’t been sleeping well and Heather couldn’t figure out the reason.
They’d both been up pacing for several hours, and more than ever, Heather had appreciated her flexible hours.
When Diane finally fell asleep at five in the morning, Heather had been able to climb back in bed, too, without having to worry about getting to her job first thing.
“Where’s the book on number twenty-seven?” Jim asked without removing his gaze from the report.
Heather stood up, collected the three-ring binder containing all the service records for that particular helicopter and handed it to him.
“Thanks,” he said.
She returned to her desk, picked up the pile of invoices and walked over to the filing cabinets.
Moving around eased some of the cricks out of her back.
She still wasn’t used to long hours at a computer or being tired all the time.
Even with her flexible schedule, she was at the mercy of a baby who didn’t understand that Mommy was dying for eight uninterrupted hours of sleep.
Heather opened the file drawer and organized the invoices by number. She found it hard to concentrate, and while she wanted to explain the phenomenon away as latent hormones or sleep deprivation, she knew it had a lot more to do with the man sitting at the other end of the office.
Just thinking about him made her stomach flutter. She had to force herself not to make excuses to talk to him during the day, and when they were together, she wanted to beg him to touch her. Nothing wild or sexual, just a little pat on the arm or the shoulder or the rear.
That last image made her grin. She was a bad girl and she had it for him in a bad way. The excuse that it was just hormones was wearing thin. Diane was nearly two months old. Surely Heather’s body was well on the mend and her glands were easing their pregnancy vigil. Maybe it was—
The front door of the office opened and an attractive young couple stepped into the waiting area.
The man was of medium height with black hair and brown eyes, in his mid- to late-twenties.
The woman was petite and shared his warm coloring.
Jim glanced up and grinned. “Rick! What are you doing here?” He rose to his feet and headed over to the couple.
“I wanted to see you,” Rick said as he and his companion stepped through the swinging gate. The two men shook hands warmly, then Rick nodded at the young woman beside him. “You remember Lupe, don’t you?” His smile broadened. “She’s my woman.”
“Rick!” Lupe blushed. “I’m very happy to see you again, Mr. Dyer.”
“Call me Jim,” he said. “It’s good to see you, too.
” His gaze dropped to her left hand. “Nice ring. I see you finally let Rick convince you to take a chance on him. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.
He’s a good man.” He slapped Rick on the back.
“A bit of a slow learner at times, but he finally figured out what was right.”
“Thanks to you,” Lupe said.
Jim shrugged off the compliment. “He did all the hard work. I just showed him a couple of unpleasant alternatives if he kept messing up. But that’s all in the past. Rick, Lupe, I want you to meet my new bookkeeper and very good friend.”
Heather had been filing invoices, and although she was trying not to listen, it was difficult when they were standing only a few feet behind her. Now she turned toward the group.
“Heather, this is Rick Martinez. He worked for me until about six months ago. And this is his fiancée, Lupe.”
“Nice to meet you both,” Heather said.
“Have a seat,” Jim told them. “Tell me what’s going on.”
Heather dropped the last invoice in the filing cabinet. “This is a private conversation,” she said. “I don’t want to interrupt. I’ll just get my stuff and head on home.”
“Don’t go,” Jim insisted, herding her back to his desk. He motioned for Rick to pull up a couple more chairs, then grabbed one for Heather. “We’re all friends here.”
Heather stared at him helplessly. She wasn’t completely comfortable joining people who had obviously known each other a long time, but she also didn’t want to appear rude by leaving. She decided she would stay for a few minutes, then make her excuses and go.
Jim settled into his seat behind his desk. “Tell me how you’re doing, Rick. How’s the new job working out?”
“Great.” Rick moved his chair closer to Lupe, then took her hand and threaded his fingers through hers. “I’m getting advanced training with the helicopters and they’re sending me to a management seminar in the fall. It’s two nights a week and everyone says it’s tough, but I think I’ll be okay.”
He sounded modest, but Heather saw the pride and pleasure glowing in his large, dark eyes.
“If I get through the class and do well, they want to promote me.” He grinned. “I never saw myself as one of the suits.”
Jim motioned to his own casual long-sleeved shirt and khakis. “This is hardly a suit, but I think you’ll do great in management. You have a lot of the traits needed. I’m sure you’ll find the class interesting but not as hard as you think.”
Lupe turned her shy gaze on Jim. “We’re getting married next month.”
“Yeah, man,” Rick said. “How come you didn’t accept the invitation?”
Jim frowned. “I thought I sent my reply.” He dug around in a couple of stacks of paper on his desk, then withdrew an ivory envelope and handed it to Rick. “Here, take it with you and use the postage for something else.”
Rick’s gaze was direct. “You’re really going to come?”
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
Rick glanced at Heather. “You can bring a date if you want.”
“I just might do that.”
Rick turned his full attention on her. “How long have you worked for this guy?” he asked.
Heather’s mind was still on the “bring a date” comment and she wondered who Jim might bring. From what she’d heard, he didn’t have a girlfriend, but maybe there was someone he saw now and then. The thought didn’t set well with her.
“About three weeks,” Heather said after a pause.
Rick nodded. “He’s the best.” He ran his fingers through his dark hair.
“You probably can’t tell to look at me now, but not too long ago, I was a real loser.
I graduated from my technical training, but barely.
I didn’t care much about working. I wanted to party with my friends.
Jim gave me a job, then I gave him hell for months.
” He looked at his former boss. “Remember?”
“You were a real pain in the butt.”
Rick laughed. “I was late. I came to work drunk.” He squeezed Lupe’s hand. His humor faded. “She left me and Jim fired me, all on the same day. About a week later, Jim came to see me and took me on a little field trip.”
“To the county jail,” Jim said softly.
Heather stiffened in her seat. “Why?”
“To show me where I was headed,” Rick answered.
“Guys from the neighborhood had been to jail and they said it was no big deal. They came back with tattoos and stories about how all their friends were there. They made it sound like a party. Jim showed me differently. Then he got me into AA and gave me back my job. Only I always had to work with one of the other guys. I couldn’t even go to the bathroom by myself. ”
“Whatever works,” Jim said.
“I nearly quit a couple of times, but pretty soon I found out that when I got some sleep and didn’t come to work drunk, I liked what I was doing and I was good at it.
Lupe saw the change in me and agreed to give me another chance.
After two years, Jim helped me find the job where I am now.
” He looked at his former boss. “I owe you. Anything I can ever do for you, let me know.”
Jim waved off the offer. “All I want is for you to be happy and successful.”
Conversation continued to flow around her, but Heather only listened.
She was too surprised by all she’d already learned to try to participate.
She knew that Jim liked to help people, but she hadn’t realized how directly he’d been involved in his employees’ lives.
If he hadn’t intervened with Rick, there was no telling where the young man might have ended up.
By all accounts, he’d made a complete turnaround.
Somehow Jim must have known that the young man would respond to his attempts to save him.
She heard a cry from the other room and excused herself. She was in the middle of changing Diane when there was a knock on the open door. Lupe stood there with a shy smile.
“May I see her?” the young woman asked. She was incredibly beautiful, with huge eyes and blue-black hair that hung halfway down her back.