Chapter 3
Three
When Jack walked into the well-appointed offices of Harrington Booth Associates for the first time in fourteen months, he was hit with a familiar surge of pride.
He and Jamie started HBA after learning everything they could from Neil Booth during their seven years with him.
Neil had been disappointed when they declined his offer to take over his firm as he contemplated retirement.
They’d longed for something simpler than the fast-paced, high-profile positions they held in Neil’s firm.
Over time, though, HBA had grown a reputation to rival even Neil’s.
Spotting the framed silver dollar under the company’s name on the inside wall, Jack smiled at the memory of flipping it with Jamie to determine which one of them would come first in the company name. Only when Jack won for the third time did Jamie concede defeat.
Before Clare’s accident, Jack wouldn’t have dreamed of taking more than a week of vacation at a time. Proves no one is indispensable, he thought with a small smile as several of his employees welcomed him back.
His longtime assistant, Quinn Jeffries, greeted him with a fierce hug. Hired as his secretary more than twelve years earlier, she’d long since become his right hand and close friend.
“So good to see you here,” she said as she released him from her warm embrace.
“It’s good to be back.” His corner office boasted two full glass walls with an exquisite view of the beach and rocky shore. Jamie’s office occupied the other corner on the same side with a shared bathroom in the middle.
“Come in,” Jack said to Quinn.
He dropped his leather bag on his desktop where the lack of clutter was a stark reminder of how long he’d been gone. “So bring me up to speed,” he said when he’d recovered his bearings. “What’s going on?”
“Jamie said you’ll be heading up the next phase of the Infinity project.”
“That’s right.”
“You’ve got a conference call with their team at eleven to get acquainted and set the schedule for the next few months.” She rattled off the list of HBA staff members Jamie had assigned to work with Jack on the hotel.
“What’s everyone else got going?”
“Four houses, a shopping center, a new auto dealership, and the sailing museum renovations.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah, everyone’s pretty stretched. You and Jamie may need to talk about hiring a few more people.”
Jack loved that Quinn didn’t hold back opinions that were usually astute and right on the mark.
“Did Jamie tell you he’s been asked to consult on a job in Tokyo?” she asked.
“No, but I’m sure he’ll tell me about it when he gets a chance.”
“Here are the preliminary files on the hotel. You can look them over before the call. Oh, and Jamie called a staff meeting at ten.”
“Sounds good. I have a standing dinner date at six with the girls every night from now on. I’ll probably need your help getting out of here on time. ”
“You got it.”
“Thanks for everything, Quinn. I know you managed a lot more than your own job over the last year. I appreciate everything you did to help Jamie.”
“We’re just glad to have you back.” She left him with a smile and closed the door.
He turned in his chair to inspect the shore as it emerged from morning fog to the kind of glorious early summer day Clare had loved.
The beach was alive with joggers, dogs on leashes, and lifeguards meandering out to their posts.
It was all so normal, a scene he’d witnessed many times before, and yet nothing was normal anymore because Clare wouldn’t be waiting for him at the end of the day.
Since the day on the bluffs with the girls, emotions that had lain dormant for so many months of numbness were once again raw.
Thinking of Clare and all they’d lost brought tears to his eyes.
He’d been a regular waterworks lately, as if all the feelings he’d fought so hard to suppress during the long year since the accident were suddenly trying to get out.
But then he remembered promising the girls he would get their lives back on track.
He wiped his eyes on the sleeve of his shirt and turned to the files Quinn had left.
“I can do this,” he whispered. “I will do this.”
By ten o’clock, he’d caught up on the project that would take over his life for the next year and a half. Stopping to grab a fresh cup of coffee, he headed into the conference room for the meeting.
“Surprise!” The entire staff greeted him, and a huge banner hung on the back wall that said Welcome Home, Jack. They offered hugs as he absorbed the emotional outpouring from his coworkers.
“Wow,” he said once the uproar had died down. “You really surprised me. Thanks for the warm welcome. It’s great to be back.”
“Speech!” someone called.
Cornered, Jack had no idea what to say. “I…ah… Thank you for the overwhelming support this past year and for all you did to help Jamie.” He paused to collect himself.
“It was comforting to know you were taking care of HBA so I could take care of my family. I guess today is the first day of the rest of my life. I’m glad to be spending it here. ”
His coworkers’ applause embarrassed him.
“Welcome back, bud.” Jamie grinned and clapped Jack on the back.
“Thanks.” The animated group dug into the coffee and bagels on the conference room table. “I’d forgotten how much fun it is to be here.”
“I need to remind you of all the fun you used to have.”
Jack raised an eyebrow. “Speaking of fun, what’s this I hear about you and Tokyo?”
“Word travels fast. It’s an office being modeled after one of my dad’s buildings in New York. They asked him to consult, but since he’d rather be playing golf, he sent them to me.”
“Are you interested?”
“Sort of. I’ve never been to Japan, so that part intrigues me. But I wasn’t sure the time was right to take on something overseas.”
“Quinn thinks we need to hire some more hands. Then maybe you could do it.”
“Even with the hotel?”
“I don’t see why not. What if we made Quinn our very first vice president and gave her responsibility for managing the office? She’s more or less doing it now. We could make it official and get it off my plate.”
“That would allow me to be gone for a week or two every now and then if I need to be in Tokyo.” Jamie rubbed his chin and mulled it over. “How much more should we pay her?”
“Twenty-five thousand?”
“Done.”
“Great, I’ll tell her today. Let’s hit up the Crimson for a couple of new grads,” Jack said, referring to their alma mater.
“I’ll take care of that,” Jamie said as they wandered over to join the party. “I’ll let you know what unfolds with Tokyo. I was waiting until you came back to decide.”
The rest of the day flew by as Jack consulted on a variety of ongoing projects, participated in the conference call with the Infinity Group’s Chicago headquarters team, and began preliminary planning for the next phase of the hotel project.
Infinity had chosen HBA’s design over seven other New England firms. In designing the one-hundred-and-fifty-room resort, the challenge had been to create an old-fashioned New England beach “cottage” with all the modern amenities.
As part of the first phase of building the hotel, Jack would work with the interior design team to ensure their décor choices brought HBA’s design to life.
He stood, stretched, and checked the beach, which was almost deserted. Fog hung off the coast, waiting for the sun to give up for the day and reminding him of the dinner date with the girls. He buzzed Quinn and asked her to come in.
She came through the door a minute later and laughed at the scene on his desk. “I love what you’ve done with the place.” His messiness and her obsessive neatness was a running joke between them. “How’s it going?”
“I got more done today than I thought I would. I made a list of ideas for the interior designers’ research trip for the last week in August. Do you mind taking it from here and setting up accommodations?”
“No problem.”
“None of them have ever been here before, so we’ll send them to Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket, and Boston the first week, plus they’ll do a second full week in Newport.
Let’s go the bed-and-breakfast route, since we’re aiming for an inn feel with the Newport hotel.
Get tickets for a Red Sox game, too. They can’t be in Boston and not go to Fenway. ”
“Them or you?”
“Them, of course,” he said, smiling.
“I’ll get on it in the morning.” She scanned his list. “You’re not taking them to Block Island?”
“Not this time. Nantucket will take care of the ‘resort island’ theme.” After the emotional trip with the girls, he wasn’t ready to go back to Block Island just yet.
She checked her watch. “You’d better think about wrapping it up. You don’t want to keep your ladies waiting.”
“There’s one other thing before I go.”
“What’s that?”
“Jamie and I would like to offer you a promotion.”
Her brows knitted with confusion. “What kind of promotion?”
“How about vice president, in charge of running the office. Are you interested?”
“That’s always been your thing.”
“I need to focus on the hotel, and Jamie’s got the Tokyo job brewing.”
“I’d love to do it, and I appreciate the new title.”
“Great. Thank you.”
“I should probably mention that I’m getting married.”
Startled, Jack said, “Is that so?”
Her warm, green eyes danced with amusement. “You have been gone a while, Jack. Things have happened.”
“Who’s the lucky guy?”
“Brian. You met him a long time ago.”
“Ah, our friend from Down Under?”
She smiled. “That’s him. We’re planning a small wedding this fall.”
He stood to give her a congratulatory hug. “I’m very happy for you. And I’m sure you’ll both be glad to hear your promotion comes with a twenty-five-thousand-dollar raise.”
She gasped. “Are you serious?”
Laughing at her reaction, he said, “You’re extremely valuable to us, and you’ve shown us again how much you’re capable of during this past year. We appreciate it, and we want to reward you for it.”
She flung her arms around him. “Thank you, Jack! I love working for you guys, and I appreciate your vote of confidence.”
“We couldn’t run this place without you,” he said as another thought occurred to him. “If you want Haven Hill for the wedding, it’s all yours.”
“Oh my God! That’d be fantastic!”
“It’s nothing.” Jack shrugged. “Just let me know the date, and I’ll tell the family it’s yours that weekend.”
“I can’t wait to tell Brian about all of this. I’m so glad you’re back. It just wasn’t the same without you.”
“Get out of here. I’ll see you in the morning.”
She hurried away as Jamie came in through the door that connected their offices.
“Who lit a fire under her?”
Jack dropped files into his briefcase and turned off his computer. “I told her about the promotion and the raise. Did you know she’s getting married?”
“I’ve heard some talk about that. Brian’s a nice guy. They’ve been out on the boat a few times.”
“It’s funny how life went on without me. I feel like everything stopped fourteen months ago.” He paused and shook it off, not wanting the negative thoughts to intrude on the best day he’d had in longer than he could remember. “I offered her Haven Hill for the wedding.”
“That’s really nice of you.”
“So I had a really interesting chat with Infinity’s chief designer today. Andrea Walsh?”
“She goes by Andi,” Jamie said. “Wait ’til you meet her. Amazingly talented.”
“She seemed really sharp on the phone. She’s got some great ideas. They’re looking forward to the visit.”
“You’re sure you’re up to handling so much right out of the gate?”
“It’ll be good to think about something other than my own problems for a change.”
“How’re things going with the girls?”
“Much better. They seem to have accepted that their old man is in charge and paying attention. I’ll tell you, though. Their social lives exhaust me. I need a color-coded spreadsheet to track their comings and goings. I have no idea how Clare managed to make it look so easy.”
“She was one hell of a mother,” Jamie said.
“That she was, and now they have me. The sorry substitute.”
“When they’re all grown up with kids of their own, they’ll remember what you did for them, and they’ll appreciate it.”
Jack eyed him skeptically as they walked to the parking lot together. “You sure about that, oh wise one?”
“Positive.”
“Day one went better than I thought it would. Thanks again for the party.”
“We’re glad to have you back. Say hi to the girls for me.”
“Will do. See ya.”
Jack unlocked his silver BMW convertible, got in, and sat for a long time before he could make himself move. Clare won’t be there. “But the girls will be,” he said as he started the car and drove home to them.