Page 39 of Fierce-Gabe

“It’s a shortened version,” she said. “Some of those things take a lot of time. And it’s only a start. I know I’ll add to it. I guess I just needed to see how much there was.”

“Is this enough for a full-time person? I know how hard it’s going to be for you to hand things over.”

“That alone could be twenty hours of work,” she said. “I talked to a few others that had work they could hand off easily too. I guess the bigger issue is what we want this position to be. Or what to focus on. Accounting said they could use a few hours but finding someone with that background as well as what I want isn’t going to be easy.”

“Accounting can figure it out or come to us if they need a position. This is about you, not them,” her father said.

She grinned. “I told them the same thing. Wanting five hours is nothing. Their work comes in ebbs and flows.”

“I’m looking at a steady position to take the pressure off of you.” Her father looked at the list some more. “You need someone with people skills and purchasing background. Construction knowledge for sure.”

“That is my thought. I know I can add to this list. If we get someone that has construction knowledge, you and Royce can hand some things over too.”

“I like the way you are thinking. Let me talk to your brother and we’ll give it some thought. Maybe next week we can get an ad posted and start the process of interviewing.”

She wanted to argue that they didn’t need it yet but then told herself it could take time to find the right person.

“That works,” she said.

She stood up to leave and her father asked, “Do you have any plans this weekend?”

“Nothing more than I normally do. Chores and grocery shopping. You know, the life of luxury.”

Her father laughed at her. “You’re too young to be in a rut like that. Maybe you should get out more. Go see a movie or get some dinner. Call a friend.”

She was happy he didn’t say anything about going on a date or finding a man. That was her mother.

Her father just wanted her to be happy and not alone.

“I’ll think about it,” she said.

Elise went back to her office and noticed it was close to three at this point.

She was sick of thinking things to death. It seemed she did it all the time.

She picked her phone up and sent a text to Gabe just saying something simple and stupid.Hi.

It would confuse him as much as she was. It was a start at least and it’d let her know where he was at by how long it took for him to reply.

Not even a minute and he returned her same greeting.

Damn him. He was the talker of the two of them. So much for hoping he’d say something more and get them chatting.

She started to type “Do you have plans tonight?” and then deleted it. “Do you want to get dinner?” Rapid backspace after that. “I’m losing my mind. Why did you leave this up to me?” That was a highlight and delete all at once.

Her phone rang in her hand.

It was Gabe.

She let out a sigh and got up to shut her door. She didn’t need witnesses for this conversation.

“Hello,” she said.

“Having a hard time figuring out what to say?”

She figured he could see her typing and stopping the whole time.

“Yes.”

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