Chapter 19
Tate went home with a heavy heart, and into Briar’s waiting arms. She saw the shadows in his eyes, but didn’t ask.
When he went into the bedroom to change clothes and shower, she followed him in beneath the spray, took the washcloth and soap away from him, and washed away the residue of his day, then took him to bed.
They made love on their quilt until the sun was gone.
They were still lying in each other’s arms, riding out the last frissons of a climax.
“I needed every bit of what you just gave me,” Tate said. “From the cleansing to the healing, you always know.”
“You once told me that when I breathe, you exhale, and I told you, when you hurt, I cry. That’s how we roll. Also, I am officially hungry.”
He laughed. “Officially? That sounds serious. How about DoorDashing some gumbo and hush puppies?”
“Yes, please,” she said, and when it came, they ate until their bellies were full.
The ensuing days continued to stay busy for Tate, while Briar was on hold.
* * *
A week passed, and Tate knew Briar was getting impatient. He’d already given her a star, and if he could, he would give her a moon to go with it.
But the next morning everything changed. Tate was scrolling through messages when Briar came running into his office.
“Can you talk?” Briar asked.
“Always, honey. What’s up?”
“I have an interview at noon with David Gregory, the CEO of a shipping company located down on the docks. Wish me luck!”
He got up and hugged her. “Luck and all my love to go with it. Why don’t you go get your nails done? It’s early. You have time. Make yourself feel pretty. It will make the time pass faster.”
“That’s a good idea! I’ll call around right now to see who will take walk-ins,” she said, and ran out of the room.
He smiled at her enthusiasm. He already knew she would get the job, but he wasn’t going to tell her. She needed to hear it for herself, celebrate the offer, and come home to tell him the news.
* * *
Briar arrived on time for her interview, confident in her abilities and appearance.
All she needed was the opportunity. But when she walked into the outer office, there was no one to greet her, a massive pile of mail was on the desk, and the door to the inner office was ajar.
She could hear a man talking on the phone, and he was clearly bothered by something.
As soon as she heard him end the call, she spoke out.
“Hello! Mr. Gregory?”
A middle-aged man with a shock of gray hair, a square jaw, and a nose that had clearly been broken at least twice appeared in the doorway, clearly confused as to who she was or why she was there.
“I’m Briar Lowe. We had an appointment? You need an assistant?”
He groaned, then waved at the desk. “Yes, yes, my apologies. My assistant quit three days ago without notice. I’m drowning in paperwork. Come in. Come in.”
“Then consider me the life preserver you need,” she said, and followed him into the office.
He picked up her résumé again, scanning it as he began to talk. “So, you’re from Missouri?” he asked.
“I grew up there. I just graduated from Tulane, summa cum laude with a degree in business administration.”
He was scanning through the résumé when he blinked, then looked up at her again. “You were a contractor for the remodel of a house at the age of seventeen?”
“Our whole town was hit by a tornado. My parents were separated and neither of them were home when it happened. My dad ran the only insurance agency in town. He was overwhelmed by the applications pouring in for damage assistance, so as they say, I pulled up my big girl panties, and I found the companies and crews I needed, made all the orders, and scheduled deliveries.”
David Gregory was staring, and he knew it, but she was an interesting young woman. “I would assume the men gave you a hard time?”
She shook her head. “I’m a ‘take no prisoners’ kind of woman. I don’t suffer fools, and in small towns, everybody knows everybody and their business. They knew better than to challenge me, not that I ever thought they would. I ran the show, and they did the work. We got it done.”
“You had an amazing SAT score. You’ve never received a grade below an A in your entire educational process. Summa cum laude at graduation and you want to work on the docks?” he asked.
“I want to work in a busy office. Life is not about where you live or work, it’s about how you conduct the life you’ve been given.
I don’t know anything about shipping, but I’m a quick study.
Give me a day to get your routine in my head and take the paperwork load off your shoulders. You won’t be sorry.”
David’s phone was ringing again. He rolled his eyes and let the call go to voicemail. “If you can do the impossible in this office and start right now, I’ll up the offer to fifty-seven hundred a month. That’s just shy of seventy thousand yearly.”
Briar’s eyes narrowed. “Put that in writing, and where do I sign?”
He rolled his eyes. “Somewhere in that outer office will be a file called employee contracts. If you can find it, then fill it out with the numbers I just gave you and bring it to me to sign. Are you married?”
“Not yet.”
“When you do take that path, I want to meet the man you choose. He would have to be something special.”
The phone rang again. Briar stood. “You take your call. I’ll be in the outer office.” She walked out.
David took a deep breath. “Please God, let her be the miracle worker I need,” he muttered, and picked up the call.
Briar moved the mail aside, put her purse on a chair, and began to search, starting with the computer, and the password written on a sticky note affixed to the screen.
“Good lord. Talk about a lack of security,” she said, and logged on.
Typed in “hiring contracts.” A copy appeared on screen.
She typed in the particulars, including the pay he’d named, then her name and David Gregory’s name beneath the lines to sign, and printed it out.
She reread it again, then signed her name, carried it back to his office, and laid it on his desk.
He looked up. Glanced at the clock, then back at her again. “In less than ten minutes?”
She nodded. “Do you prefer your mail sorted by company name, and your name? And if so, do I open the mail addressed to the company only, and put the rest on your desk, or—”
“I don’t have a freakin’ secret in the world. I don’t cheat on my wife. We’re not shipping forbidden cargo. We have nothing to hide. You open it all, make notations, and then give them to me. We’ll figure the rest out as we go.”
She pointed at the contract. “You sign there, sir. I’ll make a copy for myself. The original will go in the office files. Since this is a rather large shipping company, am I to assume you have a financial division that does payments and payroll?”
He nodded.
“Then who do I notify about a new employee?”
“Send a copy of your contract to the finance office. There should be a link on your computer. Oh…I guess I need to give you the password for that.”
Briar frowned. “Umm, no, sir. Whoever it was that quit left the password taped to the front of her screen.”
David’s eyes widened. “For the love of all that’s holy! What in the—”
“It’s okay. I memorized it and shredded the note. I do need to notify my people that I was hired and am already at work. We don’t want them turning loose bloodhounds to come find me.” She walked out.
David sighed. When he went to church this Sunday, he needed to light a candle for the angel who’d sent her his way.
Briar sat back down at her desk and sent Tate a text, then dug through the company records to notify the finance department about the new employee. She didn’t want to miss her first payday because someone forgot to dot an i or cross a t.
* * *
Tate heard his phone ding and stopped in the middle of what he was typing to read it.
I have a job! The office is a wreck. He hired me on the spot. I’m already at work. Funniest thing. I had to find and fill out my own contract and take it to him to sign. I’ve got this! I love you madly! See you this evening. Fifty-seven hundred dollars a month…before taxes.
Love, me.
He read it with so much joy and pride. She rocked, and that was a fact.
I am so proud of you, darlin’. Never once doubted how brilliant you are. See you later. Love you more.
When Briar left work that evening and headed toward her car, she wasn’t thinking about anything but getting home. But as she was nearing where she’d parked, a trio of dock workers were also going home for the evening, and when one whistled at her, the others laughed.
She paused, staring them down as she fired back. “Now that’s a blast from the past. Did your daddy teach you to do that, or did you see it in some old movie?”
They looked startled. They didn’t expect sass. They laughed again, took their hats off, and bowed at the waist.
“Much better,” she said, and kept walking. She heard the chatter behind her, but they didn’t feel scary anymore. They’d challenged her and were met with sass they hadn’t expected. Now she had their regard.
* * *
The weeks flew by.
Briar was the valuable asset she knew she could be, and David Gregory patted himself on the back daily for taking such a random chance, unaware that his life was going to take a frightening turn.
Summer was long over. Schools and colleges were all back in session and the season was nearing Halloween.
* * *
On this day, David was up early. He’d already showered and dressed for work. His wife, Greta, had just gone upstairs to wake their ten-year-old daughter, Mandy, when he heard an ear-splitting scream, then the sound of Greta running down the stairs, shouting his name.
“David! David! Mandy’s gone! The window by her bed is open. Her covers are a jumble.”
His heart skipped. “She can’t be gone. Maybe she’s hiding,” David said, and ran back up the stairs, looking under beds, in closets, even in the attic, but there wasn’t a sign of where she’d gone. He ran back downstairs to join Greta in searching there.