by Nicole Ellis
The couple spent the next half hour assessing the site. Finally, Steve nodded in approval. “I like it.”
Natalie beamed and grabbed his arm. “I told you it was perfect.”
“You were right.” He patted his wife’s arm and looked at Gretchen. “I think we’re ready to make an offer. I believe my wife has picked out a floor plan for this site?”
She grinned, unable to completely hide her excitement. Yes! She’d hoped today would be the day. How fortunate that Parker wasn’t able to be present. She glanced down the hill toward the half-built house where she’d last seen Parker. He wasn’t there anymore.
“Looking for someone?”
She spun around and her grin faded.
“Hello, Parker,” Natalie said. “I’m glad you were here so I could introduce my husband to you.”
She turned to her husband. “Steve, this is Parker, the one I’ve told you so much about. He has so many ideas for the exterior of our new house.”
“Ah yes, Parker. It’s nice to meet you. My wife has spoken of you often. I assume you’ll be a part of our team as we build?”
Parker shot Gretchen a cat-got-the-canary grin.
“Of course. I’ll be with you every step of the way.”
She turned away for a moment, pretending to check something on her phone. Inside, she fumed. Where had he come from, and how had he known she was there? He shouldn’t have been able to see them from the house he’d been at with his client. Losing this commission would hurt. She turned back to the group.
“Of course he’ll be part of the team.” Gretchen smiled at Natalie and Steve. “We’re all one big family here, right Parker?” He nodded, and smiled with his lips pressed tightly together.
She brushed her hands together. “Now, let’s get back to the sales office and write up that contract.”
“Sounds good.” Steve grabbed his wife’s hand and smiled tenderly at her before nudging her to get her attention. He whispered to her, “We’re going to get our dream house, honey.” Natalie gazed up at him and grinned.
Gretchen turned away from the intimate moment and quickened her pace to allow them some privacy. This was obviously something the couple had wanted for a while. They’d probably been through a lot before getting to the stage of buying a million-dollar home on the ocean together. She wondered if she’d ever have the chance to experience the glances of love that they exchanged.
As if on cue, Parker bumped against her. At this point, they were out of earshot of their customers. “So how are we going to split this commission?” he asked.
“What do you mean? I was helping Natalie on the day she made the offer, so the commission is mine. That’s what we’d discussed previously.”
“That’s what we talked about when I was under the assumption that we were friends. We need to split the commission.” His eyes shot daggers at her.
“Fine, we’ll split it fifty-fifty.” She put her hands on her hips.
“No. I want seventy percent.”
She stopped and stared at him. “What are you talking about? Fifty percent to each of us is fair. We both put work into this sale.”
“They came here for me,” he said. “You heard Natalie. I’ve been working with her on their home’s design elements.”
“But I met her first. You stole her from me.”
“I didn’t steal the client. By her account, you couldn’t even find a floor plan to show her. She wanted someone who could actually be helpful.” He crossed his arms across his chest.
Gretchen reeled backwards. She didn’t like the new Parker. On the other hand, it made it easier to not fantasize about what his arms had felt like when he’d held her tightly against his chest.“No, this is my client. Fifty-fifty is how we’re going to split it.”
“Is something wrong?” Natalie frowned at them. They’d been stopped for so long that their customers had caught up to them.
“Nothing’s wrong.” Parker relaxed his stance. “We were discussing some of the construction details for another project.”
“Good, now let’s get started on our house,” Steve said. They walked in silence back to the sales office. He held the door open for his wife and followed her inside. Gretchen stopped to remove a rock from her sandal.
Parker hesitated at the door. “Gretchen, are you coming?” His tone was purely professional, holding none of the warmth that he used to exhibit toward her.
18
September
“Well, if it isn’t my two favorite sales agents,” Martin’s voice boomed from the doorway of the model home. A draft from the open door ruffled the floor plans on the kitchen counter.
Parker met him near the entrance. “Martin, hey. Nice to see you.” He clapped him on the shoulder.
His boss hadn’t been in for a while, which Parker hoped meant he was pleased with the work they were doing. Since their break-up on the fourth of July, he and Gretchen had spoken no more than absolutely necessary. It hurt him to see her acting that way, but she’d made it clear that she didn’t trust him and there would never be anything romantic between them. He’d decided that it was time to move on and focus on his career like he’d intended to do. His dedication showed. In the last few months, he’d sold more houses than he’d ever thought possible.
“Hi Martin,” Gretchen said, coming up to him to shake his hand. “What’s going on? Did you see your house? It’s almost finished. It’ll be gorgeous when it’s done.”
“I did,” he said. “My wife is coming out here next week to pick out the finishing touches. She’s so excited and truth be told, so am I. I may even decide to slow down a bit so we can enjoy the beach house together.”
“You deserve it.” She smiled at him.
“Did you get the sales numbers I sent you?” Parker asked.
“I did. Congratulations, you two. I knew I’d picked a winning team when I chose both of you to helm the ship. The development is selling out faster than my predictions. At this rate, we’ll be done by winter.” He eyed them. “In fact, that’s why I’m here. I thought I’d provide an incentive to sell out by December.”
Parker’s ears perked up at the mention of an incentive. The sales job had been profitable, but the start-up costs for a new real estate firm would be significant. Every little bit helped.
“So, to sweeten the deal, whichever of you sells the most houses by December, or whenever the development is fully sold, will earn a bonus equal to your average commission.” Martin beamed at them. “Does that sound good to you?”
Parker recovered first. “Yes, that sounds great. Thank you, Martin.”
Gretchen nodded. “It’s more than generous. We won’t disappoint you. Thank you.”
Martin left, leaving the two of them to stare at each other.
“May the best man win.” Parker crossed his arms and leaned against the counter.
“Or woman,” she corrected. She balled her fists and turned haughtily around to retreat to her desk.
Game on, he thought.
October
Reilly’s barks woke Gretchen from a deep sleep. She opened one eye. He was sitting on the bed next to her, holding his leash in his mouth. She opened the other eye and rubbed the sleep from the corners of her eyelids. He dropped the leash and licked her face.
Ugh. She sat up and a wave of dizziness swept over her. She flopped back down on the pillow and Reilly barked again. What time was it anyways? And why was she still wearing yesterday’s clothes?
She looked at her alarm clock. Almost nine o’clock? No wonder her dog was so anxious to get outside. She’d felt rotten the night before and had crashed on her bed as soon as she’d returned home from work. She must have forgotten to set the alarm.
Shoot! Work! She’d be late to work. Her head swam. Where was she supposed to be today? What day was it? She glanced at the calendar across the room. It was Thursday and she was due at Candle Beach Real Estate in twenty minutes.
She sat up again and this time was able to put her feet on the
floor. Her throat felt like someone had scraped the inside with industrial-grade sandpaper. When she stood, every muscle in her body protested. This was not going to be a fun day at work.
She opened the door and Reilly trotted over to it.
“Sorry buddy, no long walk today.” She shooed him out to the yard and threw on some clothes from her clean laundry basket.
Her reflection in the mirror showed dark bags under her eyes, raw skin under her nose and an overall pallor. Yeah, this was going to go over great with her clients. There was nothing she could do though. To make her dream of moving to Seattle a reality, she couldn’t afford to miss any work. She needed every bit of money she could earn.
She herded Reilly back to her apartment and grabbed her keys. Ordinarily, she’d walk into Candle Beach for work, but with the way she felt, she may not even make it halfway down the hill, much less back up the hill to her house after work. She held tightly to the railing of the carriage house’s outer stairs and picked her way down to the alley. Reilly trotted after her, excited to be leaving the confines of the small apartment to go to doggy daycare.
“Hey, Gretchen.” Charlotte glanced up from where she was kneeling on a foam pad in the garden. She held a small gardening shovel in her hand. “How’s it going?” She looked closer at Gretchen. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” she lied. “Just didn’t get enough sleep.”
Charlotte stood and brushed the dirt off her frayed jeans. “You’re staggering.” She eyed her friend. “And you look like a truck ran over you.”
“I feel like a whole fleet of Mack trucks ran over me,” she admitted. “But I can’t go back to bed.”
Charlotte walked over and put her hand on Gretchen’s shoulder. “You can’t keep burning the midnight oil.” She pushed her back toward the carriage house.
“Where are you supposed to be today?” Charlotte asked.
“Candle Beach Real Estate.”
“I’ll call and let them know you aren’t going to be in today.”
“But I have to,” she protested weakly as she let Charlotte guide her up the stairs.
Gretchen unlocked the door and Reilly shot past her to get inside, bouncing around under his leash hanging by the door. She used her legs to push him back inside, but even that effort exhausted her. She collapsed on the small loveseat.
“Do you want some tea?” Charlotte asked.
“Don’t you have to get to work?”
“Eh.” She shrugged. “That’s the benefit of owning my own business. I only have myself to answer to. Besides, it’s after Labor Day and weekdays aren’t very busy.” She busied herself with the teakettle on the stove. “What kind of tea do you want?”
“Chamomile. Thanks.” Gretchen bundled herself up on the couch with an afghan. Reilly jumped up on her feet and laid his head on her knees.
“You need a bigger couch,” Charlotte said.
She smiled faintly. “This is big enough for me and Reilly.” Charlotte handed her the mug of hot water and she dunked the chamomile tea bag into it. “Thanks for the tea, but I’m fine, really. You can go.”
“Okay, but I’m coming by at lunch to check on you.”
Charlotte closed the door behind her, leaving Gretchen alone.
She looked around. The carriage house apartment felt claustrophobic. She wasn’t there very often during the day and usually didn’t notice how small it was. She hoped her future apartment in Seattle would be larger.
A little after noon, Charlotte came back with a to-go container of soup from the Bluebonnet Café.
“Maggie recommended the chicken noodle.” She set the soup on the coffee table in front of Gretchen. “She said she’d come check on you tomorrow. Oh, and your mom said not to worry about missing work today.”
“I’d better be feeling a lot better by tomorrow. I can’t miss my shift at Oceanview Estates.” She and Parker were neck and neck in sales and she wasn’t going to let him win the bonus commission.
“I’m sure it would be fine if you did. I can call Parker to cover if necessary.”
“No!” Gretchen shouted. She kicked off the afghan and tried to stand. Her legs gave out from under her and she flopped back on the couch.
Charlotte touched her forehead. “You’re burning up. Where’s your thermometer?”
Gretchen told her where it was and Charlotte gave it to her to use.
“102.5,” Gretchen said, handing the thermometer back.
“Yeah, you’re not going anywhere tomorrow.”
Gretchen glared at her, folded her arms over her chest and went back to watching the small TV attached to a metal arm sticking out from the wall. Charlotte sighed and left.
The next day, Gretchen awoke feeling just as bad as the day before. I’ve got to get to work though, otherwise Parker will have an edge on me, she thought. Reilly looked at her hopefully, but she couldn’t do any more than let him outside for a few minutes. If she took him to doggy daycare, she’d never have enough energy to make it into work. At lunchtime, she’d come home to let him out again. She forced herself to dress in something reasonably professional and descended the stairs as fast as she dared. If she could make it to her car in time, she could avoid another confrontation with Charlotte.
She was backing her car into the alley when Charlotte appeared at the back door of the big house. She tipped her head to the side as if trying to assess Gretchen’s health through the car windshield. She scrambled down the steps and jogged toward the car. Gretchen waved and drove off before she could reach her. In the rearview mirror, she saw her standing in the alley, frowning, with her hands on her hips. She’d deal with the wrath of her friend when she returned. The important thing was, she was going to make it in to work today, sick or not.
She parked in her usual space around the corner from the sales office. So many houses had been built or were under construction that it no longer looked like a sales office in the middle of an empty parking lot. Instead, it looked like what it actually was—a model home in the middle of a residential development.
When she walked in the door and trudged over to her desk, Parker stared at her in surprise.
“Charlotte said you were at death’s door. I didn’t expect to see you in here today.”
“I have a job to do.” She coughed. Her throat tickled and she started coughing uncontrollably.
“Would you like a glass of water?” He nodded toward the kitchen. Before she could answer, he pushed back his chair and stood.
She glared at him. “I can get it myself.” She walked over to the kitchen and retrieved a glass from the cupboard. As she ran water into the glass, she had to prop herself up on the edge of the sink. In truth, it had taken all the energy she had to get to work and walk into the building.
“Okay. Sorry I asked.” Parker returned to his desk, but she could feel his eyes on her.
She almost hoped that there wouldn’t be much business that day. But luck was not on her side. A potential customer came into the sales office while Parker was on the phone with one of his clients. She waved at the man and he came over to her desk and sat down across from her.
She introduced herself and asked a few questions to find out what he was looking for. After determining he was looking for a smaller three-bedroom house, she showed him some plans.
“Here you go. I think you’ll like the Oceanscape plan.”
The man took the paper from her and reviewed it. She watched him and felt a sneeze coming on. She tried to hold it back, but that only made it worse. The sneeze erupted from her, spraying the entire desk, including the floor plan in front of him.
Her eyes widened.
“I’m so sorry,” she said to the man. He appeared at a loss for words. She quickly gathered up all the papers and swept them into the recycling bin underneath her desk. The effort caused another coughing fit. The man looked at her in horror, thanked her for her time and scurried out of the building.
She put her head down on the desk. What she wouldn’t give a
t the moment for a soft pillow and her own bed. Footsteps echoed on the floor next to her.
“You’ve got to go home. You aren’t in any shape to be here.” Parker’s face was contorted with concern.
“No, I’ve got to be here,” she mumbled. She couldn’t bring herself to remove her head from the desk.
“You’re scaring away potential clients.”
Parker was right. She shouldn’t be there. A tear slipped out of her eye, followed by a torrent of tears.
He pulled up a chair. “Gretch, it’s okay. Everyone gets sick. You need to go home and rest.”
She lifted her head and tried to focus on his face. His expression was much kinder than she’d expected.
“But I have to make this work,” she blubbered.
“One day...” Parker assessed her and amended his statement, “or maybe a few days, at home won’t derail your career.” He handed her a tissue from her desk. “C’mon. I’ll take you home. You’re in no shape to be driving.”
“But you can’t leave the sales office with no one here.”
“It’ll only take thirty minutes to drop you off at home and come back. No big deal. Let’s go.” He gently pulled her up, grabbed her purse from below the desk and nudged her out the door to his car. “When you’re feeling better, I’ll have Charlotte drive you here to get your car.”
“Okay.” As soon as she said that, she felt much better. He made a quick phone call and drove her home.
When they arrived at her house, Charlotte ran out to meet the car. “I told you not to go anywhere,” she chided.
Gretchen was too tired to argue. “I just want to go to bed.”
Charlotte waved goodbye to Parker and helped her up the stairs. She made a beeline for her bed and Reilly jumped up on the mattress next to her, ready to serve his mistress. She laid her hand on his rough fur coat and sank into the embrace of her comfy bed.
“I’ll leave you to get some sleep,” Charlotte said. “But I’ll be back later to check on you.”
