The Merger

by Bernadette Marie

  Her chest tightened. “I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed already,” she said as she shut the door to the car.

  “You won’t when you meet them.”

  “And why would I meet them? Are they all involved in the business,” she asked as she skirted the front of the car.

  “No. But if you’re with me, you’ll meet them.”

  He started toward the sales trailer, but she fell back a step.

  What exactly did he mean by if you’re with me?

  Spencer opened the door to the sales center and a very familiar face smiled up at them.

  “Hey guys!” Tiffany stood from behind the desk. Though she worked on a construction site, she was dressed to impress.

  Her deep blue dress fit the lovely curves of her body and the top of the dress nicely V’d right to the swells of her breasts.

  Julie caught herself looking and she was sure Spencer’s gaze was stuck there too. But when she looked at him she noticed he’d picked up a stack of mail and was thumbing through it.

  “First day and he has you out here in his sandbox, huh?” Tiffany leaned a hip against her desk.

  “Yeah, he wanted me to see it.”

  “He’s pretty proud of all this. Come here, I’ll show you what it will look like.”

  Tiffany moved from behind the desk and walked toward a display in the center of the room which had the development mapped out and tiny pins sporadically around the map.

  “This is what the development will look like,” she said leaning over the display.

  Julie noted just how tall she was and then noticed her footwear.

  “I like your shoes,” she complimented.

  “I got a bonus last quarter. Splurged.”

  “Aren’t you worried they’ll get ruined out here?”

  Tiffany looked at Julie’s athletic clad feet. “I have a pair just like that under my desk. Most people understand when I switch them out to go look at lots.”

  Julie didn’t want to, but she smiled. “So what are the pins?” she asked directing her attention back to the display.

  “Those are the lots we’ve sold already.”

  “So the first houses to go up?”

  “You got it. You want to see the designs?”

  Julie nodded enthusiastically and Tiffany walked her to the other end of the trailer where large posters lined the walls.

  “It’ll have everything from the ranch style homes with two bedrooms, perfect for your retired couple, to six bedroom homes for big families.”

  “That has to be immense.”

  “They are all roomy and beautiful.” Tiffany lowered her head toward Julie. “Nothing in my taste mind you. I like efficient and small. Easier to clean.”

  Julie let her eyes wander over the designs. They seemed to focus on the four bedrooms, three and a half bath, with the master suite on the main floor. She walked closer to it.

  Beneath the poster were design options for everything from the trim around the house, the shingles on the roof of the house, and the floor in the kitchen.

  “People can choose all of this?”

  “Yep. Custom home really, but with the options we give you.”

  “Perfect for your new families with the park right in the middle of the development.”

  Tiffany nodded. “That’s what Spencer had in mind. Ed designed the park.”

  Julie looked around and noticed Spencer wasn’t there. She wasn’t sure when he’d snuck out, but it had to be between her mentally driving the streets on the display and picking out countertops looking at the design posters.

  “So you work here? With Spencer?” Julie swallowed hard waiting for her answer.

  “Temporary job. Well, until the development is done. I’m a jewelry designer, but it’s more of a hobby.” She tucked those red curls that swayed at her shoulders behind her ears to flash a set of ornate hoops encrusted with what looked like small sapphires.

  “You made those?”

  “I did. Not a cheap hobby,” she said running her fingers through her hair to bring it back to place.

  “I thought you meant wire and beads.”

  Tiffany laughed. “Why bother then? If you’re going to do it, go for the real good stuff.” She too looked around. “Where did he go?”

  Julie shrugged. “Didn’t see him leave.”

  “Typical. He’s like some superhero who can disappear through walls. C’mon, I’ll introduce you to Chuck and show you where you’ll be working.”

  Tiffany headed toward the back door of the trailer to a small path between the two mobile offices.

  “Aren’t you going to change your shoes?” Julie asked.

  “Chuck likes it when I wear these. Watch him fall all over himself.”

  “That’s sexist isn’t it?”

  “Man has been married for twenty-five years. Wife is a gem. He has four kids, but he’s still a man. He will be tongue tied for about ninety seconds. Maybe a whole two minutes when he sees you too.”

  “I don’t know if I want to work around a man like that.”

  Tiffany slowed and turned toward her. “You do. He appreciates the look of a woman, but he is a solid man, in a solid relationship. He’ll have your back, but he’ll never touch you or say a word to you that isn’t strictly polite. Of course, the words not said to you are all curse words,” she said on a laugh.

  Tiffany gently walked up the two wooden steps to the door of the trailer on her toes and yanked it open.

  Julie watched the man standing next to Spencer take a sweeping look at Tiffany from head to toe and back again.

  “Hey, Chuck,” she said in an airy voice. “Brought your work companion to meet you.”

  Julie watched as he gave her the same head to toe glance and his mouth opened slightly.

  Julie waited for him to say something, anything, but Tiffany had been right. He’d been rendered speechless.

  She shifted her gaze to Spencer and was surprised to find his eyes meet hers. The corner of his mouth lifted in a grin.

  Quickly, Julie pushed her shoulders back and approached the dumbstricken Chuck. “Hello. I’m Julie Jacobson.”

  Chuck’s hand reached for hers, but it still took a few more seconds before he could say, “Nice to meet you. Chuck.”

  Spencer cleared his throat. “C’mon, Chuck. Let’s go look at these walls. Tiff, get her settled in,” he said as he picked up a clipboard and slid his sunglasses off his head and onto his face, then walked out with Chuck in tow.

  When the door closed behind them Tiffany burst into laughter. “I told you.”

  “How am I supposed to work in here with that man?”

  “He’ll get used to you. Wait until he cusses and then backtracks to make it go away. You’ll enjoy him.”

  Julie wasn’t sure what she’d gotten herself into, but she was glad that she’d finally gotten past her insecurity around Tiffany. Hadn’t Spencer told her they weren’t an item? They were casual friends. Well, she was a casual friend too. They’d both kissed him, though she was very sure Tiffany had done quite a bit of that with him and more.

  So why was it that she wasn’t jealous?

  Chapter Ten

  Tiffany had set Julie up in the construction trailer, on the side of a mobile wall. It would give her as much privacy as possible. And there had been an open invitation that when she needed some more comforting space she could visit the sales trailer if no one was house shopping.

  In a few weeks the model, which was still bare, would be ready for them to move their offices into. At that time, she’d work in the house with Tiffany and Chuck could have his space back.

  Spencer had promised to come back for Julie and give her a ride back to the office. He had an offsite meeting first. Now that she was comfortable in her surroundings it didn’t matter if he picked her up or not. She was sure either Tiffany or Chuck would have given her a ride into town to pick up her car. Though she wasn’t sure that Chuck wouldn’t have a heart attack doing so.

  The thought mad
e her laugh when her phone buzzed on her desk and it was Spencer.

  I’ll be a little after five-thirty. But don’t leave. Need help on a design.

  She absolutely had no idea what that meant, but she’d wait for him. She had the urge to dig deeper into his relationship with Tiffany now that she’d spent most the day with the woman in the custom made jewelry.

  Chuck had said his goodbyes nearly an hour earlier and now as it inched toward six-fifteen Julie was getting worried about Spencer.

  Tiffany had brought her a set of keys and had offered to drive her home, but Julie told her about Spencer’s text.

  “That man,” she’d said as she took her phone out of her purse and pushed a button. “Where the hell are you? You can’t leave her sitting here all night.” She paused. “Fine. I’m calling her in ten minutes and if you’re not here, I’m turning around and coming for her.”

  Tiffany put her phone in her purse. “He’s just down the road.”

  “What does he want help with?”

  Tiffany shrugged, turned the camera on her phone to face her, and fixed her lipstick. “This will only be late night number one. You’re in for a million of these. The man’s head doesn’t work nine to five.”

  She tucked her phone back into her purse.

  “I’ve spent many nights working late with him. When he gets something in his head, he wants to talk about it until he’s satisfied with it.”

  Tiffany nodded. “I guess his moods aren’t new to you.”

  No, they certainly weren’t.

  “Will you be okay here until he gets here?” Tiffany asked.

  “Yeah. I’m almost sorted out with everything. A few more minutes would be good.”

  Tiffany looked around the little space she’d set up for Julie. “You are very organized aren’t you?”

  “As a lawyer you have to be detail oriented.”

  Tiffany nodded. “Remind me to never invite you over to my place. You’d have an aneurism.”

  Julie laughed. “I doubt that.”

  Tiffany only grunted. “Okay, I’m out of here. Lock the door.”

  Julie nodded, but when Tiffany opened the door, she saw Spencer drive up.

  “About time,” Tiffany’s voice faded away as the door closed.

  Curious, Julie moved to the window to watch them.

  Spencer climbed out of his car on the gravel patch and gave her a long, lingering hug. Then giving her an arm to balance against, he walked her to her car behind the other trailer.

  Julie moved to another window to watch.

  Spencer opened the door for her and she leaned in and pressed a kiss to his lips then gave his cheek a playful slap.

  Julie let out a breath as he started back toward her. She sat down at her desk and flipped open a book full of countertop colors.

  She wanted it to seem as though she was perfectly normal in her surroundings.

  The kiss played in her mind as she heard his steps on the gravel. It wasn’t intimate.

  Spencer pulled open the door. He didn’t see Julie immediately, but he heard the sounds from behind the little wall.

  She was sitting at her neatly organized desk looking at a design book. Eleven hours after he’d seen her the first time that day, she still looked fresh and nice as she had when he’d opened his eyes from his little nap.

  “Studying?” He asked as he walked toward her.

  “I suppose. I think this will be fun. I can’t believe how simple some of these clients are and how fussy others are in their taste. I mean one of the files I put together today had a thirty thousand dollar kitchen,” her voice rose as she said the figure aloud. “The next one had your run of the mill, basic kitchen for ten thousand. It’s fascinating to think they will be next door neighbors.”

  He loved her enthusiasm. He wasn’t sure that she had anything like that buried down under that lawyer skin.

  “Now, I particularly like Mr. and Mrs. Svenson’s choices on their flooring. Look at this,” she said as she opened the file to their build. “That is going to be one marvelous entry way, don’t you think?”

  “I do,” he said smiling and wondering why she’d ever taken up law. It didn’t fit her now that he’d seen this side to her. “So do you know anything about kitchen cabinets or countertops?”

  “Only what I’ve been looking at in books today.”

  “Sky’s the limit. What would you choose?”

  She was studying him now with those rich, dark eyes. Critical of giving him an answer, he thought.

  Spencer pulled out the chair across from her and sat down. “Go on. Show me.”

  She waited a moment and pulled out a book which had a sticky note attached to it. She opened it and laid it in front of him, facing him.

  “You do have good taste,” he said looking at the dark granite countertops and cherry cabinets. “Stainless steel appliances?”

  Her lips puckered as she thought. “Yes, but the brushed kind that don’t take fingerprints.”

  “Flooring?”

  “I was going for wood, but I changed my mind.” She pulled out another book with another sticky note. “With the dark cherry and the granite I think a stone floor.” She pointed to the tiles that had warm tones and nothing too dominant in color.

  His gaze moved from the book and up into her eyes that were wide with the wonder of it all. “This is fun, isn’t it?”

  “I suppose if I were paying for it, it would be a different story. Laminate counters, light cabinets, subway tile backsplash.” She grimaced.

  Spencer stood and took a set of keys from his pocket. “C’mon, I want to show you something.”

  He moved toward the door as she slowly walked around the wall. “It’s getting late. I should be getting back to my car.”

  He stopped with his hand on the doorknob. “It’s only six-thirty.”

  “I realize that. When do you go home? You don’t work twelve hours a day every day do you?”

  He considered for a moment then rubbed his hand over the back of his neck. “Yes.”

  “That’s not healthy. Do you take off on weekends?”

  He ran his fingers through his hair. “Sometimes.”

  “I thought being a lawyer was bad,” she said moving toward the door. “That was why I chose to work internally in a big company. I didn’t want to be in court. Of course, the merger took a lot of time, but…” She stopped as she neared him. “What?”

  “You’re being chatty.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “For being chatty? Why?”

  “I thought it was bothering you.”

  He shook his head. “No. It means you’re warming up to me. I’d prefer that,” he said opening the door and letting her walk through.

  “Where are we going?” she asked as he locked the door behind him.

  “Just over to the model house. I want you to see it.”

  She looked across the street where the house under construction stood. “And that’s where I’ll be working?”

  “In a few weeks. The garage is made into offices.”

  “What do you do when the community is done?”

  He started across the street with her next to him. “We convert the offices into garages and sell the house.”

  “Someone will live here?”

  He slid the key into the door where the offices would be and unlocked the lock.

  “Yep. Some family will make their home here, but first you and Tiffany will work here. You’ll probably have a few more people join you in the office when it’s done.”

  She nodded as she stepped through the door.

  “Seems odd that this will be done in a few weeks,” she said looking around at the bare walls with wires and pipes running through them. “Is it safe to walk around?”

  He walked over to a worktable and picked up two hard hats. He handed her one. “Safer with this.”

  “This will do wonders for my hair.” She placed the hat on her head as he retrieved a flashlight from the table.

/>   “It gets shady in the evening.”

  He held out his hand to her and she studied it for a moment and then looked up at him.

  “I’m not making a pass at you. I know my way around here.”

  “There is still enough light,” she countered.

  He withdrew his hand. “Fine. I want to show you the kitchen.”

  He walked up a small set of three steps and into a mudroom. Through the next door, it opened up to an open entry. To the right was a vaulted ceiling entry and front door, which opened to the staircase to the second level. An office was to the left and a family room right in front of them. On the back side of the staircase, hidden from view, or would be, was the kitchen.

  Spencer led her through the room and to the framed out kitchen. “There will be an island here,” he demonstrated with his hands. “Sink under the window. Stove. Fridge. Dishwasher,” he said all while pointing to areas that were bare.

  “Spacious.”

  “Families like their space.”

  “I suppose they would,” she said softly and it reminded him of how lonely she seemed.

  “I want you to design it. Fill it with whatever you want.”

  She turned to look at him fully. “Me? You want me to pick what goes in here?”

  “Sky’s the limit.”

  “Oh, no. No. No. I’m not cut out for this. This isn’t what I’m doing.”

  “You’re the assistant on the job. That’s what I need assistance in.”

  “I’m the woman who filed all the paperwork for all the other builds. I’m the woman who will follow up with the clients when Tiffany can’t. I’m not the one to pick and choose things and spend other people’s money.”

  “It’s my money.”

  “That’s worse. I’ve cost you too much money as it is.”

  He could see the skin on her neck grow red. Usually that was a sign of anxiety. He hadn’t meant to do that to her.

  “Fine, I’ll…”

  “Wood floors. What kind of woodwork in the house?” She scrubbed the thought with her hands. “Doesn’t matter. Don’t paint the wood. Keep it stained. Floor darker.”

  Spencer smiled as she walked into the kitchen.

  “Do that glass tile on the backsplash. Cabinets a shade lighter than the floor. Very neutral, but warm.” She walked around the island that had already been framed. “Dark granite,” she said shaking her head. “I’ll have to look again. Not black, but,” she sighed. “Brown?”