Page 1 of Cole's Joy
CHAPTER 1
Cole Mercury answeredthe ringing phone in a gruff voice, wondering who was calling him at the ass crack of dawn. Hell, it wasn’t even dawn yet, and the phone was ringing off the hook. He waited to answer until he filled his coffee cup, then picked up the receiver.
“Double A,” he barked into the phone, then held it out from his face when there wasn’t an answer. “Hello? Is anyone there?” He was about to hang up when someone spoke.
“Cole?”
“Yeah, who’s this calling me at the ass crack of dawn.” He didn’t know whether he liked the laugh that came over the other end of the line or not.
“It’s Erin. Erin Riceman.”
“Oh, shit, sorry, Ma’am, I didn’t recognize your voice. How are you this morning?”
“Good, you?”
“Good, now enough of the pleasantries, what’s on your mind?”
Erin laughed, and he could picture her sitting in her office shaking her head at him. “That’s why I like you, Cole, gruff and to the point. I called this early because I’m inviting you, Clem,and Ducky to the cabins tonight. I have two people staying with me this week, and I want them to meet everyone.” When she paused, Cole only sipped his coffee, contemplating how to reject the offer of him attending. He didn’t have a choice after her next words. “It’s mandatory.”
“Why? No offense, Ma’am, but there should be no reason for me to attend the dinner for one of your clients. The Double A, excuse me, New Double has nothing to do with what you do over at The Broken Wheel.”
“I know that, and please call me Erin. These guests aren’t here as clients for Broken.”
“No?” Cole didn’t know what else to say, so he remained silent.
“No, there’s a woman and her grandmother. Lorissa is the woman I’m interviewing. I’ve showed her everything so far, and tonight is her last night here. I thought it would be nice to have a BBQ at the cabins to introduce her to everyone. Not that this matters, but Lorissa’s mother was here a few weeks back as a potential client for Broken. Lorissa came with her grandmother, because well, if I offer the job to the younger woman, her grandmother will be moving here too. I’m not one hundred percent certain yet, but I might have a job to offer Lois.”
“Who’s Lois? I thought you said her name was Lorissa.”
“Okay, I’ll break it down for you. If I hire Lorissa, then she comes with her mother, Laurie, who will be a client for Broken, and I don’t know at this time if I’ll have a job to offer her when she completes the program. Then there is Lois, Laurie’s mother, and Lorissa’s grandmother. I will be offering her a job.”
“Doing what?”
“Back home she apparently ran a nursery. The type that grew flowers and such, with greenhouses. If you don’t know the place yet, talk to Ducky about The Old Atherton Place, that’s where Lorissa, her mother, and her grandmother will be staying.”
Cole stood there sipping his coffee and scowling so hard his eyebrows actually hurt. “You’re not going to tell me what this Lorissa does, are you?”
“Only if you ask.” He heard Erin’s laugh on the other end of the phone and it was infectious enough to relax his facial features. Not a smile, but relaxed features.
“I’ll bite.” Cole grinned when Clem and Ducky walked into the kitchen and poured themselves a cup of coffee. He only held out his cup, and Clem filled it. He took a sip, then resumed his conversation. Since he was on the phone that was attached to the wall, he couldn’t move around much, he made a mental note to see if he couldn’t get a longer cord for the phone. Hell, he didn’t know if they even made parts for wall phones any longer, but he’d look into it the next time he went to town. It might have to be something to order on-line.
“Cole, are you still there?”
“Yeah, sorry, what does this Lorissa do, and why do you want the three of us to come over to the cabins for a BBQ tonight.” He spoke loud enough for the other two men to hear and he actually smiled when Ducky gave a fist bump in the air as he went to the freezer and started getting out packages of meat. Then he went to the cupboards to see what he could make as their dish to pass.
“She’s double certified.”
“Really, in what?” Cole had no clue what Erin was going to say, and when he learned he swore in excitement.
“Are you fucking kidding me?”
“Nope, see, that’s why I want you and Clem there tonight. I thought the two of you could pick her brain.”
“You run her past Manchester in the background check?”
“No, only because Duane is dating her mother, but I did contact Jake Cogburn over at Brotherhood Protectors. I trust Duane, but with him dating the mother, I want to make sure he’s not being partial toward Lorissa or Lois.”
“Ah, smart move. Okay, I’ll tell Clem and Ducky about tonight. Six?”
