Chapter One Hundred Thirty-Nine
Xavier
The office phone starts ringing at seven-thirteen in the morning. I know the exact time because I’m already glaring at the payroll spreadsheet Ruby managed every week without losing her mind.
“How the hell did she do this?” I mutter.
The computer freezes again. I jab the mouse harder than necessary.
The phone keeps ringing. Then a second line lights up too. Jesus Christ. I snatch the receiver off the hook. “Cole Construction.”
The guy on the other end hesitates. “…Morning?”
“What?”
Another pause. “Uh. Is Ruby there?”
“No.” The answer comes sharper than I intended.
I scrub a hand down my face. Our customers prefer talking to her, and I’m fucking everything up. “She’s out right now. What do you need?”
By the time I hang up, my coffee is cold, the spreadsheet is still wrong, and I’m pretty sure I accidentally scared a supplier into agreeing to a discount.
The shop door opens and Travis sticks his head inside. “You got the work orders for the Miller job?”
“On the printer.”
He walks over, grabs them, then stops when he sees me glaring at the computer. “You look homicidal.”
“I’m doing payroll.”
He winces. “Ah.”
“The numbers don’t match.”
Travis leans over my shoulder, studies the screen for about three seconds, then points. “You entered the subcontractors twice.”
I turn my head. “How the hell do you know that?”
“Because Ruby fixed the same mistake for you months ago.”
Asshole.
He grabs his paperwork as the phone starts ringing again. I ignore it.
Travis arches his brows and nods toward the offending instrument. “You gonna get that?”
“I’m testing a theory.”
“Which is?”
I pick up the receiver. “Apparently they don’t stop on their own.”
Travis laughs and heads for the shop.
Her sticky notes line the edge of the monitor.
Call supplier before 3.
Invoice due Friday.
DO NOT LET XAVIER TOUCH PAYROLL.
I stare at the last one. That one earned all caps. Unfortunately, I’m proving her right.
By nine-thirty, I’ve ordered the wrong lumber and sent one crew to the wrong address.
My cell phone rings. Travis. I groan under my breath. Perfect. “Yeah?”
“Where the hell are we supposed to be?” Travis asks.
I frown at the work orders spread across the desk. “Miller.”
“We’re at Miller.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
“The foundation crew is also at Miller.”
Shit. I shuffle through the papers until I find the second work order. “They’re supposed to be at the West property.”
“No shit.”
“Tell them to head over there. They can start framing the foundation for the garage.”
A pause. Then Travis says, “Ruby used to do all this while answering phones.”
“Fuck you.”
He laughs. “Just pointing it out.”
The line disconnects. The computer dings. My gaze shifts to the security feed in the corner of the monitor.
Ruby steps into the backyard carrying a feed bucket. Everything else disappears for a second. I watch her cross toward the pigs. She’s bundled up against the cold, moving normally. Safe.
My shoulders loosen. Then I catch myself. I close the feed. Work. I need to work.
Dad walks in a few minutes later carrying another stack of paperwork. He takes one look at my desk and shakes his head.
“You look terrible.”
“Thanks.”
He drops the papers in front of me, then notices the security feed minimized at the bottom of the screen.
His eyes come back to mine. “You’ll figure it out.”
“The office?”
He shakes his head. “You and her. The baby. Everything.”
I lean back in the chair. Figuring it out isn’t the problem anymore. I already know what I want. I just have to show Ruby I mean it.