“You done?” he deadpanned when his friend finally stopped laughing.
“Wait a minute,” Anthony said, and started laughing again. Reid was just about to get up and leave when his friend finally got control of himself. Asshole.
“I’m sorry, man,” he said, wiping tears of mirth from his eyes. “I’m just glad I don’t have to worry about stuff like that anymore. I may have to pick up some flowers for Ciara on the way home, just to show her how much I appreciate that I no longer have to play those games.”
The effort it took not to begrudge his friend’s relationship became more arduous with every mention Anthony made of how sweet life was with his long-time girlfriend. At one time, just the thought of settling down with a single woman made Reid break out in hives. He wasn’t as allergic to the idea as he once was. Between Myron’s recent engagement and constant reminders of Anthony’s relationship, the string of random hook-ups Reid had engaged in over the past few months seemed downright pathetic. Maybe it was time he thought about settling down.
Settling down?
What in the hell was he thinking? A relationship of any kind was the last thing he needed right now. Didn’t the debacle that took place in his apartment prove that?
Desperate to redirect his thoughts away from their current path, Reid shifted on the stool and asked, “So, what’s up? Why’d you want to meet?”
“You know what’s up,” Anthony said, all traces of amusement vanishing. “Why haven’t you talked to the lawyer guy?”
The group watching the baseball game erupted in cheers. Reid started to speak once the hoopla died down, but Anthony spoke up first.
“It’s been nearly two months since you promised to talk to your brother’s law partner about this, Reid.”
“I know,” he said. “And I will.”
“When?” Anthony asked, his tone sharp. He shook his head. “Look, man, you’re either serious about going into business together or you’re not.”
“I told you I’m—”
“Because I’m serious as hell about it,” Anthony said, cutting him off. “I’ve already invested more than twenty grand into having this app developed and will have to finance at least another forty. I’m ready to pull the trigger. You need to decide if you’re in or not.”
“I know,” Reid said. “It’s just…”
He threw his head back and released a frustrated breath.
How could he explain to his friend what was holding him back when Reid wasn’t completely sure how to explain it to himself? He and Anthony had talked on and off over the years about starting their own construction company, but it had always seemed like a pipe dream. How could two knuckleheads who didn’t know shit-all about running a business go into business for themselves?
But about six months ago, Anthony came up with an idea that had lit a fire under his ass unlike any Reid had ever seen. With the help of his techie cousin, his friend developed the concept for a phone app that would allow customers to get help for their small home improvement projects through their phones and computers. According to Anthony, his design went further than similar apps that were currently on the market because it would allow people to video chat directly with a professional. And it was geared toward specific locales, so that if a customer found themselves in over their head, he or she could request emergency, in-person help with the swipe of a finger.
Reid still wasn’t one hundred percent clear on how it would all work, but he liked what he’d heard about it so far. What he didn’t like was the thought of leaving Holmes Construction.
It’s not as if this new venture Anthony was working on would be competition for Alex’s company. The app-based business would cater to residential customers. HCC was now strictly commercial construction.
Yet, the thought of leaving Holmes Construction still made Reid nauseous.
He owed his cousin a lot. Growing up in his brainiac-heavy family hadn’t always been easy. Reid had known by the tenth grade that he didn’t want to step foot on anyone’s college campus. At the time he figured he just wasn’t cut out for it. It wasn’t until years later, when he’d run across an article on learning disorders, that the pieces to the convoluted puzzle that was his brain began to fall into place. By the time he figured out just why he’d always had such a hard time in school, he’d already settled in at Holmes Construction.
At the time, Alex had been the only other member of the Holmes clan who hadn’t gone to college—though he did eventually earn his degree through night school. Alex had seen something in him, recognizing that Reid wasn’t college material, and had taken him under his wing. It felt like the height of disloyalty to just up and leave his cousin now, especially when Alex was on the brink of expanding HCC into a multi-regional operation.
But it was more than just loyalty to Alex that had him hesitating.
Working at Holmes Construction was akin to working with a built-in safety net. Alex had cut him more slack than he should have, especially during those early years. Any other boss would have fired Reid’s ass over a dozen times for some of the stuff he’d pulled.
What if he wasn’t ready to make this kind of move? Owning a business was serious shit. He’d grown a lot in the last few years, but was he this grown?
Yet, Reid knew he couldn’t go on feeling the way he’d been feeling lately. This sense of being in a rut, like a hamster on a wheel, spinning his legs but not going anywhere, had been steadily building over the past six months.
He figured it was his fast-approaching thirtieth birthday. That impending milestone was having a bigger effect on him than he’d ever thought it would.
Reid had just picked up his drink when Anthony said, “Look, I’ve been talking to a couple of buddies I went to trade school with. They both work in Baton Rouge, but they’re willing to move to New Orleans. If you don’t want to do this…”
Reid set the glass down without taking a sip. His jaw literally dropped as he stared at his friend. “You trying to shut me out?”
“No!” Anthony was quick with his reply, but then he shrugged, his expression earnest. “It’s like I said, I’m serious about this. You’re the one I want to go into business with, Reid. We’ve talked about building something of our own for a long time, but you have to either shit or get off the pot. I can’t sit around waiting for you to make up your mind.”
A mixture of panic and anxiety twisted within Reid’s chest. He’d never thought in a million years that Anthony would seek out others to take his place. But, hell, could he blame the guy? Anthony had emptied his savings in order to invest in this company, and so far the only thing he’d asked of Reid was to solicit some legal advice from his brother’s law partner.
He was damn lucky Anthony had put up with his shit for this long. If the shoe were on the other foot, Reid doubted he would have tolerated this waffling back and forth. It was time he stepped up and made a decision.
“I’m in,” Reid said. “One hundred percent.”
The skepticism he saw lurking in his friend’s eyes hit Reid like a gut punch. Anthony didn’t believe him.
“I’m serious.” He pulled out his phone and logged into his banking app. “What’s your email again?”
“Why?”
“Just give me your email,” Reid said.
Anthony rattled off his email address. Reid typed it into the app and hit submit on the money transfer.
“There you go,” he said. “I just sent you five thousand to put toward development.”
Anthony’s eyes bucked. “You serious?” He flipped his phone over on the bar and tapped at the screen.
“It’s in there,” Reid said. “Now, tell me again exactly what I’m supposed to ask Jonathan?”
“I’ll pretend I haven’t told you this a million times already,” Anthony said as he set the phone back on the bar. “We need to know what kind of legal protections we’ll need, against lawsuits and things like that. I’ve done some research online, but I won’t feel okay with it until we’ve gotten some
real talk from someone who knows the law. In the meantime, Gabriela and I will continue developing the app. What she’s done so far is pretty barebones, but these things take time, and she works a full-time job. She’s working on the app in her spare time.”
“Is it possible for her to take an extended vacation?” Reid asked. “Maybe, if she can take a solid two weeks off, we can pay her whatever she would be making at her day job and she can just put everything she has into getting it done.”
“She runs the IT department for one of the largest employers in the city. We can’t afford to pay two weeks of her salary,” Anthony said. “But I’ll ask her.” He held up his phone. “This five grand will help.”
“I’ll give you more as soon as I can. But I want to hold on to some to help with the startup cost for my mom’s foundation.”
Anthony waved that off. “This is good for now. It’s the knowledge from people like your brother and Jonathan that’s worth more than cash. That’s what I need you to focus on.”
“I’m going to get in touch with Jonathan this week. I’m not bullshitting around this time,” Reid said. He slipped off the barstool. “I need to get going. Alex needs me to fill in for him in the morning, and after being late today I damn sure don’t want to be late tomorrow.”
“I hear you,” Anthony said. “I need to get going myself. I promised Ciara I’d bring dinner. I’m thinking burgers.”
They exchanged a half-handshake/half-hug before exiting the bar. Anthony clamped a palm on Reid’s shoulder as they strolled down the sidewalk toward their vehicles.
“Hey, be careful when you get to your apartment. Last time I forgot a chick’s name after sex, she was waiting for me with a knife.” He shook his head. “Forget the burgers, I’m bringing home steaks tonight. My baby deserves it for rescuing me from that lifestyle.”
“Whatever,” Reid said with a laugh.
As he slid behind the wheel of his pickup, he tried to convince himself that Anthony’s warning held no water. Monique—at least he thought her name was Monique—may have been pissed, but she didn’t seem like the stalker type. Then again, how the hell would he know? He wasn’t sure he even knew her name.
For a second, Reid considered driving over to Ezra’s and crashing on his brother’s couch, but he quickly tossed that idea aside. He wasn’t sleeping on anyone’s couch when he had a nice bed in a nice apartment where he paid a nice sum of money for rent each month. Besides, Ezra probably wasn’t home anyway. His brother spent more time at his girlfriend, Mackenna’s, place these days than at his own house.
Reid pulled into one of the parking spots adjacent to his apartment complex and looked around, cursing himself for not being more familiar with the cars his neighbors drove. He didn’t spot anything out of the ordinary as he made his way to his apartment and cautiously opened the door, but he didn’t release his first full breath until he’d searched the entire apartment and was sure it was free of knife-wielding stalker chicks.
Walking back toward the kitchen, Reid nearly jumped out of his skin at the loud clang that rang out, before realizing it was the A/C unit kicking on.
“Son of a bitch,” he cursed, clamping a hand over his chest and collapsing against the wall.
He pulled in several deep breaths in an effort to calm his erratic heartbeat.
“You brought this on yourself,” he said. Pushing away from the wall, he went to the fridge, grabbed a bottle of water and then plopped down on his sofa. He pitched his head back and stared up at the ceiling. Disgust twisted in his gut.
Just like that, he’d reached a breaking point. He would not put himself in this position again, too afraid to walk into his own damn home because he didn’t know if the woman he’d brought in here the night before was stable or some crazed stalker waiting to attack him. No sex—no matter how good—was worth this.
Reid released a bitter laugh as he took a pull on his water bottle.
How was it that he’d painted himself to be the victim in all of this? He was the one who couldn’t even remember the girl’s name, and he had the gall to question if she was unstable? He couldn’t imagine what Monica, or Monique, or whatever Vivian’s granddaughter was feeling right now. She was probably telling all her girlfriends about the asshole who couldn’t be bothered to learn her name.
Yeah, he’d reached a breaking point. He refused to be that guy again. He couldn’t.
The next time Reid brought a woman into his bed, he would make sure he knew way more than just her name.
Chapter Three
Brooklyn reached for her cellphone, preparing to open her Pandora app, but then remembered she only had one more skip this hour. It would be just her luck that Nickelback would come up next and she’d have to suffer through Chad Kroeger’s straining voice for four minutes. She decided it would be better to endure one of her least favorite Green Day songs.
A minute later, she nearly choked on the water she’d just sipped when Nickelback’s “Photograph” came through the phone’s speaker. Brooklyn quickly switched to her Stevie Wonder station. She’d listened to enough alternative rock for today anyway.
Using a set of Command Strips from the stash she’d found in what she’d discerned was the supplies drawer—based on the hodgepodge of ink pens, carpenter pencils, tape and other office supplies crowding it—Brooklyn tacked the small cork board she’d brought from home to the wall. Just a few feet from the cork board hung a series of white boards she’d found mounted to the wall when she came in this morning, courtesy of her new boss. She’d mentioned that she preferred white boards to help keep track of timelines, but never imagined that Alex had actually paid attention to such a tiny detail.
When it came to bosses, Brooklyn knew she’d hit another goldmine. She could already tell that Alex would go out of his way to make her work life as easy as possible. The only thing that could make a boss better was if he were her own flesh and blood, and she’d been lucky enough to have that for eleven years.
The trailer’s door opened and Alex walked in carrying a flat, rectangular box.
“Good morning,” he greeted. He set the box on her desk. “I brought doughnuts. I was supposed to have them for you yesterday, but forgot. A little welcome to the job gift.”
Cue heart melting.
“That’s so sweet,” Brooklyn said as she immediately opened the box. She never said no to a sugar rush. “Wait.” She licked glaze from her knuckle and pointed her doughnut at Alex. “What are you doing here? I thought you were going to the site on the Westbank?”
“So did I.” His expression was the textbook definition of weariness. “But I have to go to my daughter’s school this morning to meet with one of her teachers and the principal.”
“Uh-oh. It’s never good to be called to the principal’s office.”
“It’s even worse when the principal happens to be your wife.” He lifted a jelly doughnut from the box, but then set it back down. “Just my luck, I’d take one bite and get raspberry all over my shirt. It’s not worth it.”
Brooklyn laughed hard enough to choke on her doughnut. “Here, have a regular glazed. It’s safer.”
“Thanks.” He wrapped the doughnut in a napkin, then lifted a leather-bound planner from his desk. “This is the other reason I’m here. Left this yesterday. I’m trying to transition to an all-electronic system, but can’t seem to let this one go.”
Brooklyn nudged her head toward her own desk, where her personalized Erin Condren LifePlanner sat. “Right there with you, boss.”
She and Alex fist bumped over planner love.
“I’m due at the school in twenty minutes and then I’m going straight to the Westbank site,” he said. “If you need anything—”
Brooklyn cut him off with a wave of her hand. “We’re good here. I just ran some projections and with the stretch of good weather the meteorologists are predicting for the week, this build should be back on schedule by Friday. Of course, this is New Orleans, so that good weather can turn bad in an instant, but I
put on my optimist hat today.”
“I hope you have more than one of those hats,” Alex said. He looked at his watch. “I gotta get going.” He started for the door, but stopped as his eyes arrested on the walls. “Wait a minute,” he said. “When did you do all of this?”
“This morning,” Brooklyn said. The blank whiteboards he’d attached to the walls were now lined with color-coded timelines.
Brooklyn gave him a quick rundown of her charting system, which she’d implemented years ago, back when LeBlanc & Sons began to expand. Her dad’s company wasn’t nearly as big as Holmes Construction, but she had no doubt her system would work just fine here.
“It’s all computerized as well, of course. But I find having a visual helps everyone stay on track.”
“I don’t know if we’ve ever been this organized,” Alex said. A smile stretched across his face. “You’re going to work out even better than I first thought.”
As Alex exited the trailer, Brooklyn felt a familiar warmth course through her at his praise. If she’d managed to impress him already, she couldn’t wait to see his face when she really settled in and got down to business. She would have this place running with the agile seamlessness of the U.S. Olympic relay track team in the 400-meter dash. Alex Holmes would wonder how he’d ever got along without her.
Brooklyn ignored the sudden pang that shot through her chest. The sensation tended to arise whenever she acknowledged the value she brought to construction sites. She knew she was good at what she did. She’d been at it for eleven years, working part-time throughout high school and college, and full-time since earning her bachelor’s degree in construction management. She wasn’t just good at it, she was friggin’ fantastic at it. And there was no bigger ego stroke than constantly hearing that you’re indispensable.
But being indispensable came at a cost.
Being indispensable meant giving everything to a job she had zero passion for.
Her dad always told her that it’s better to do one thing really well than to try to do a bunch of other things and just be okay at them. She’d proven time and time again that when it came to this job in particular, she was one of the best out there. But giving 110% to this job meant sacrificing the other thing she held so dear to her heart.
Awaken Me Page 4
