Page 16 of An Engagement for Erica

“I am,” he said. “I’m pushing for a fast closing. I don’t think they were ready for it and that is why it took them so long to get back with my offer.”

“Would you push the closing off for them?” his grandfather asked.

“No,” he said. “Mom was right. I can’t stay in that apartment. I need conveniences like a place to work out when I want. I don’t like going to the gym twenty minutes away.”

“Meaning you’re putting one in your house?” his grandfather asked.

“I am,” he said. “The basement is finished. They’ve got a setup there already. I reached out to my realtor this week and asked if they’d be willing to sell it to me to leave there.”

“I’m surprised you’d want to buy something used,” his grandfather said, smirking.

“I’m not like my father. I’m more about efficiency and right now it’s ready to go. I don’t have to shop nor be home for it to be delivered or pay someone to set it up because I barely have time to take a shower.”

“Your father would have said he barely had time to take a piss,” his grandfather said.

“I’m not him and never will be,” he said. “Would you like another drink?”

“Scotch if you’re getting it,” his grandfather said. “Or I can call Michael to take care of it.”

“I don’t need anyone to wait on me,” he said of his grandfather’s assistant. He wanted to use the word butler, but he knew it wasn’t that.

Michael was in his fifties and had lived here for a few years in the guest quarters. He cleaned, drove his grandfather around, shopped and took care of what was asked of him.

Most times it was keeping his grandfather company so no one had to worry he’d taken a fall and they weren’t there to call for help.

And if those words were spoken to his grandfather, you might not have been able to run fast enough before you were caught and told it was nonsense.

“You’ve been saying that since you were a kid,” his grandfather said, letting out a few coughs.

“Are you okay?” he asked. “Do you want water?”

“Nope,” his grandfather said. “I want scotch. I’ve got a tickle in my throat and that will clear it.”

He snorted. His grandfather had always been a tough nut. “You’ve got it.”

Tucker moved off the deck and to his grandfather’s liquor cabinet off the kitchen. There was another in his grandfather’s office.

He wouldn’t say his grandfather drank a lot but more than most. Maybe he was just used to seeing what his father drank for years and no one could keep up with that.

Once a splash was poured into his glass and a bit more into his grandfather’s, he joined him on the deck.

“How was your week other than getting the good news about the house?”

“It was good,” he said. “Or better than it’s been. The consultant is starting on Monday. I like where she is going with her questions. She’s going to sit with two of the senior members of management Monday, then a few more on Wednesday, then again on Friday.”

“There are more than six management,” his grandfather said.

“There are. She is tackling senior first. Then going down the line. We’ll get to the direct laborers last, but every group will have a voice. Everything will be reported back to me anonymously.”

“But you could find out who said what since you’re paying her,” his grandfather said.

“No,” he said. “Unless it’s a threat or illegal, everything stays with her. I want it that way too. I want them to feel as if they can trust me.”

“It’s going to take more than a consultant talking to them for that to happen,” his grandfather said. “But it’s a step.”

“I’m only interested in taking steps for the moment.”

That and maybe spending more time with Erica. Unfortunately, he wouldn’t be doing that as much as he’d like.

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