Page 28 of The Contractor & the Entrepreneur

Annabeth looked a little chagrined. “Well, you have been quite the conversation piece up here.”

Even the generous Annabeth was bad-mouthing her. The sweater suddenly grew too warm.

“You’ll have to forgive us, dear. You see …” Annabeth twisted her hands together. “We were under the impression you were a man.”

“Oh.” Her name or her deep voice? “Rhett thought the same thing.”

“Rhett Coleville?” Annabeth raised her eyebrows. “You’ve had the privilege of meeting that hunk a bunk of burning manliness?”

Sloan laughed out loud. “Did you really just …” She shook her head, not certain what to say to that.

Annabeth grinned and winked. “Don’t rat me out now, but when that man looks at me with his blue, blue eyes, from under that cowboy hat, and I catch a glimpse of all those lovely muscles of his …” She fanned her face. “I find myself wishing I was twenty-five again and unattached.”

Sloan was twenty-five and unattached, and she knew exactly what Annabeth was talking about with those blue eyes, the entire cowboy look, and the muscles. “What would your husband say to that?” she tried to tease her new friend.

“Ah, he’d laugh and laugh. My Jed is the happiest guy around.” She winked. “’Course he is; look at who he got blessed to marry.” She gestured to herself and laughed even harder. “All right, dear, you just sit on down and I’ll see who can meet with you first. They’re all busy, busy all the time, but I’ll make ‘em fit you in. When they find out you’re not a man… Whew. I think it was that deep voice of yours, maybe the name. We don’t get any women developers, you know? Anyway, Rhett Coleville might have some competition when my guys meet you.”

“Rhett and I are not … I hardly know him …” Sloan didn’t even know how to finish, and she did not want any county worker trying to hit on her. She wanted to work with them like a professional.

“Come now, dear. You’re trying to tell me you don’t quake in those high heels when you look at all those muscles, that handsome face, and those blue, blue eyes?” Annabeth arched an eyebrow. “When he smiles … whew!”

“I’ll just sit right here,” Sloan said. No way was she admitting the way Rhett made her feel. New, unfamiliar feelings. Exciting, but almost as scary as facing her dad or cousins again.

“Uh-huh. Gone over our Rhett.” Annabeth laughed to herself. “Get yourself comfortable. Coffee and water in the break room if you need.”

“Thank you.” Sloan sat, her cheeks burning. Annabeth had seen straight through her denial of being ‘gone over Rhett’.

She waited and waited. When Annabeth wasn’t on the phone or clacking on the keyboard, she chatted with Sloan about her grandbabies, her garden, her husband, and her favorite sports teams.

It was noon before Sloan got in to meet with one of the four men she’d emailed or spoken to on the phone. It stung to know they’d all thought she was a man because of her name, her deeper voice, and her profession not being a feminine one.

The first man was forty-something, friendly enough, patient, but so laid-back she knew they weren’t going anywhere fast.

Hours passed of waiting with Annabeth, and a few more meetings that promised nothing but a list of excuses why they couldn’t help her faster. Two of the four county workers were single men, and she could feel their interest in her oozing over the conference table. Subtle flirtations seemed to be a higher priority than electricity lines getting dug and strung to herdevelopment. The weather and the spring conditions were the excuses she heard over and over again.

It was after two and she was in a conference meeting with all four of the men who should be able to help her. She’d cut through all their excuses and was done wasting time. Her new sweater was draped over the back of the chair as she’d finally warmed up. Finally, she stood and planted her hands on the table.

“Look. I know I’m not from around here, and I’m sorry about the spring rains, but I’ve got contractors who need power and you are the only ones who can help me get it to them. I don’t need to tell you that these contractors are local and hard-working and have brought in revenue for the county. If we can get my project going smoothly, you will have even more revenue. I know you all want those impact fees for schools, roads, and important projects. Not to mention property tax increases with multi-million dollar homes down the road.”

They all exchanged loaded glances.

Sloan was in her element. This was familiar. Here, she could make a difference. “What can we do to make this happen?”

A couple hours later, she felt confident knowing she was at the top of the list for digging and dragging power lines from the closest utility spot to her property. The two county workers who were young men and too friendly with her had stayed in the conference room after the meeting.

One of them, Malik, had a cousin who had recently started a material supply company, hoping to capitalize on all the new construction throughout the Kalispell area. Sloan was able to do a video chat with the young man and had a commitment that, rain or shine, he’d start hauling in loads of gravel and road base next week.

She thanked her new friends profusely. Malik asked if she was free for dinner, and she was tempted. Not that she wasinterested, but he’d been kind, was nice-looking, and she didn’t want to be alone with her thoughts of Rhett Coleville. Annabeth hadn’t helped her resolve not to want to see him again.

Thanking Malik, she said maybe another night; she needed to do some shopping and find a condo or room to rent. She said her goodbyes to the men, got a warm hug and a ‘don’t be a stranger’ from Annabeth, and walked back to the hotel in a light rain, wrapped in her warm red sweater.

Her spirits were up. Progress—and not because of anyone but herself.

She could do this, and she could do it on her own.

When she saw her car in the parking lot of the hotel, she stopped in her tracks. It was clean. Had Rhett done that, or was that part of the service when they towed a car around here? She was grateful for his help. Maybe it was because she felt good about her day, but she didn’t prickle at the fact that he’d helped her.

She loaded up in her car and went shopping at Bass Pro Shops. It was a large, nice store, with all kinds of stuffed animals and mounted heads everywhere. What was with this town and displaying dead animals? Stomach grumbling as she’d only had chocolate covered peanuts to eat, she hurried to buy some surprisingly cute work boots, a couple pairs of jeans, T-shirts, a baseball hat to shield her from the rain, and a flannel jacket.

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