Page 34 of Fierce-Gabe

“You don’t need to tell me twice. Jim,” she yelled. “The kids are sending us on vacation next week. You’ve got twenty minutes to tell me where you want to go or they are just booking it.”

“Mom,” he said. “That’s a lie.”

“I know how to get your father to agree. Thanks, Gabe. I know this was your doing. You’re a good kid.”

“Iama good kid,” he agreed.

He hung up after and felt like it was a good day’s work.

Maybe even the start to a good year.

11

PLAYING MATCHMAKER

“Is Royce available?” Gabe asked two weeks later when he walked into Kennedy Construction. His parents left for Hawaii a few days ago and then his father sent him an email last night saying he forgot to drop off plans at Kennedy’s before they started work. He’d promised them this week and it slipped his mind.

He knew what his father was doing. Playing matchmaker.

But since he was okay with it, he gladly accepted the errand hoping to get a glimpse at Elise.

They’d called it a truce yet hadn’t had any contact since.

“Sorry, he and Richard just ran out. I’m not sure when they will be back,” the woman at the front desk said.

“How about Elise?” he asked suddenly.

The shocked look on the woman’s face made him wonder if she knew who he was and if Elise had said negative things about him.

“You want to see Elise?” the woman asked.

He found the woman’s eyes on the tube he was holding with the plans. That must be the reason. She wouldn’t get those things.

“Yep,” he said. “She’s part owner on this. She can hand it off to her brother or father.”

“Oh. She’s on the phone, if you’d like to take a seat. Can I get your name?”

“How about I just walk down and drop it on her desk?” he said with a big grin. He pointed to the name on his jacket pocket saying where he was from and it worked like it always did. He hated to charm his way around women, but at times you just used what you had.

The woman nodded her head and he moved past her down the hall. He had no idea which office was Elise’s, but he’d been down here before and knew where Royce’s and Richard’s were. They were side by side. He took a guess that Elise would be closer to the front.

He got two doors down and heard her voice on the phone, stopped in her doorway and sent her a little wave when she looked up.

She stopped talking mid-sentence.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I got distracted by someone stopping in my office. Yes, we can make that change. Let me call and find out the cost and if it’s available or not for when we need it. I’ll get back to you soon.”

“Sorry,” he said. “Didn’t mean to interrupt. Your brother and father just stepped out. I went to the first commercial building and didn’t see their vehicles in the lot. I figured I’d catch at least one of them there.”

“No,” she said. “They went to meet a client for a new home build. They are on the property with them talking about the layout of the house.” Her eyes dropped to his hand and what he was holding. “You can put that on one of their desks if you want. You know where their offices are, right?”

“I do,” he said. “I was going to drop it off with you.”

“You can, but I’ll just walk it over to their office.”

He stepped into her office and handed it over with a grin. She stood up and grabbed it, then walked past him.

He held his laugh in. He’d wanted to get a good view of her ass and did in her jeans.

---