“This looks like a wedding,” Ezra said.
“Well, I got it from a bridal magazine, but that doesn’t mean we can’t use it for the kickoff party.”
Reid rolled his eyes as he leaned back in his chair and picked at the crumbs littering the snack cake wrapper. His sister had just become engaged last month and now everything was about the wedding. Reid could only take Indina and his future brother-in-law, Griffin, together in small doses. The two of them were so damn sickeningly in love he could barely stomach it.
A frown pulled at the edges of his lips. When had he turned so sour at the thought of people in love? He’d had the same reaction to Myron mooning over getting engaged. He hadn’t always had this cynical outlook, had he?
Shit. Maybe he had.
“What about renting out Snug Harbor?” Ezra asked. “Mama used to love going there to listen to jazz.”
“That’s a good idea,” Harrison said.
“No, it isn’t,” Reid countered, returning his attention to the conversation at hand.
“What’s wrong with Snug Harbor?” Ezra asked.
“It’s been done before. All of this stuff has been done before. Can’t y’all come up with something that hasn’t been done a thousand times already?”
“You have a brain, don’t you?” Harrison asked. He tapped the table. “Lay your plan down.”
Reid ignored his brother’s challenge as he gathered several of the photographs and thumbed through them.
“I don’t know just yet,” he finally admitted. “But I know it’ll be better than this. We need to come up with something that’ll stick out. Something that’s going to get people talking. What’s so special about people in dressy clothes eating tiny food and drinking champagne in a ballroom at the Windsor Court? The same goes for Snug Harbor. Something like that may stand out in another city, but this is New Orleans. There’s nothing special about holding an event at a jazz club. All this stuff has been done to death. Let’s be different.”
“If you think you can come up with a better idea, have at it,” Indina said. She pushed the other photographs toward him and dusted her hands. “You’re in charge of coming up with the theme for the kickoff party.”
“You can’t be serious,” Harrison said.
“Why not?” Willow and Reid asked at the same time. Although Reid’s voice didn’t hold nearly as much conviction as his sister-in-law’s.
“What’s wrong with Reid being in charge of coming up with the kickoff party’s theme?” Willow asked.
“Because he’d have a bunch of strippers jumping out of cakes,” Ezra said. “What kind of party has he planned other than a bachelor party?”
“Don’t be an asshole,” Reid shot at him.
“No, no. This is good,” Indina said. “Actually, it’s perfect timing. I have a huge project coming up at work so I won’t be able to work on this for the next few days. Why don’t you take that time to come up with an idea,” she said.
Panic instantly rose in Reid’s throat, threatening to cut off his air supply. Just a few days ago his sister couldn’t be bothered to even tell him they were planning the kickoff party, and now she was leaving him in charge of coming up with the theme? How in the hell had that happened?
“Um, are you sure about this?” Reid asked.
“Why not?” Indina asked. “You said you want to be involved.”
“I’ll help,” Willow said, her sweet smile easing some of the anxiety that threatened to overwhelm him.
“Nah,” Ezra said. “He says he can do it, let him do it.”
Reid caught the sly smiles Indina and Ezra shared and realized they were just placating him. They didn’t really trust him with this.
Instead of feeling relief over the fact they really didn’t expect him to do this, it pissed him off. What did they think, that he would throw just anything together? Didn’t they realize how important it was to him that his mom’s foundation got off to a good start?
Reid clapped his hands together and rubbed his palms. “Okay, I’ll get started tonight.”
“Come on, Reid. We don’t have time to joke around anymore,” Ezra said.
“No, I’m doing it.” He looked at Indina. “How long do I have to come up with a theme? Should we meet the same time next week?”
His sister leveled a look at him that any other time would have had Reid backtracking. Not today.
“Well?” he asked.
She sat back in her seat and folded her arms across her chest. “You really think you can come up with a viable theme in that time?”
“Yep. And it won’t be something that’s been done a million times already either,” he added.
Indina lifted a shoulder in a casual shrug. “Fine with me.”
“Deenie,” Ezra said.
His sister pointed at Ezra. “I’ve told you not to call me that. And if Reid wants to take this one, I say we let him.”
“Well, I think you’ll do a fabulous job,” Willow said. She rose. “I need to go check on Athens’s homework.” She walked over to where Reid sat and put her hands on his shoulders. “I know you can do this” she said. She leaned forward, kissed his cheek and whispered, “You know I’m here if you need me.”
He. Loved. This. Woman.
“Thanks,” Reid said, blowing her a kiss as she left the kitchen.
“Now that Mr. Party Planner is done flirting with my wife, can we get back to what we’re here to do?” Harrison asked. “We still need to work on the criteria for the scholarship.”
Ezra blew out a breath and shook his head. “Fine,” he said.
As his brothers and sister talked over the qualifications for those vying for the scholarship they’d set up in his mom’s name, Reid tried to calm the panic once again building within his chest. What in the hell had he been thinking, offering to come up with the theme for the kickoff party? Ezra was right. What did he know about party planning, other than beer and strippers?
His dad used to tell him all the time not to write a check that his ass couldn’t cash. Had he done just that?
They’d all put so much into getting this thing off the ground. The Diane Holmes Foundation would be his mother’s legacy. This kickoff party would be its first introduction to the world. It had to be perfect.
And he’d just signed up to come up with the theme?
Shit.
Next time maybe he would just keep his fool mouth shut.
Chapter Four
Brooklyn saved the changes to the database she’d spent the majority of her afternoon updating, then sat back in her chair and released a satisfied sigh. Today marked the end of her first week at Holmes Construction. To say she felt relief was an understatement. Not just relief; she felt happy, lucky even.
The anxiety she’d harbored at the beginning of the week now seemed foolish. She’d allowed her past mistakes to get into her head, heaping unwarranted pressure on herself without fully knowing what the job would entail.
In fact, she felt even less pressure working for Alex than she had working for her dad. Sure, she had a vested interest in making sure every single person on this worksite did a good job, but it didn’t have the same gravity as it had when the success of a job meant food on the table for LeBlanc & Sons workers. Holmes Construction was big enough to handle minor setbacks. Everyone would eat tonight, no matter what happened out there in the field.
Brooklyn logged off her computer, grabbed her hardhat from the peg next to the door and exited the trailer. She’d already fallen into a comfortable routine, ending her day with a cursory walk around the site to make sure everything was running smoothly and that all needs were being met. She’d learned pretty quickly that she would have to be more hands-on with this crew. Despite her pleas that needed supplies be notated on the convenient white boards she’d so graciously provided, she’d twice had to make emergency orders this week from panicked construction workers afraid of falling behind schedule because they were running low on materials.
As she made her w
ay through the job site, the familiar sights and sounds of construction work covered Brooklyn like a warm blanket. It felt like home. The smell of fresh cut lumber was as comforting as the aroma of an apple pie baking in the oven on a crisp autumn day. The whirl of the buzz saw, the methodical puff of the nail guns, the grinding of the gears on the backhoe; it was the soundtrack of her life, going back to those early years when her dad would bring her on renovation jobs. She’d sit there with her coloring book as her dad and her grandpa worked.
Brooklyn stopped for a moment and wrapped her arms around her body, the heat of the day no match for the chill that raced through her at the knowledge that she would never experience the magic of watching her dad work again. She inhaled a deep breath and made a concerted effort to push those sullen thoughts away. She had no problem indulging in them, but this was neither the place nor the time.
She made it to the framed-out rear of the urgent care center, where wheelbarrows of sand were being hauled to elevate the ground. A potential sinkhole had been detected yesterday, so all work in this area had been halted while an outside civil engineering company came in to inspect the zone. It was one of those unforeseen headaches that tended to pop up on construction sites. It would put them behind, but it was better to uncover something like this now than to have it happen later, once the building was done.
She came upon several of the workers from the general labor crew who stood to the side, shovels in hand, waiting for their cue to start packing in the sand.
“Look who’s here! What’s up, Wonder Woman!”
It was the infant with the earring. Jarvis? Jared? She couldn’t remember his name, but she had no problem remembering his cheesy pickup line from the other day.
Are you Netflix? Because I could watch you all day.
Lord, save her. The boy was barely out of his teens.
“Hey, Brooklyn,” Anthony Hernandez called, resting his chin on his shovel’s handle. “I’m surprised you didn’t get this sinkhole fixed overnight. We all know you’ve got magical powers.”
“Ha ha,” she deadpanned. She’d inoculated herself against becoming agitated over good-natured ribbing a long time ago. They joked, but she knew they were all damn grateful for those “magical powers” they liked to tease her about. She’d saved Anthony’s hide just yesterday, driving out to a local home improvement store to buy replacement safety goggles after one of the guys on his crew accidentally crushed a box of them with a steamroller. She’d earned their respect by going above and beyond the call of duty.
Brooklyn caught Reid looking at her and inwardly sighed.
She’d earned the respect of some of them.
When it came to reading this one, she was clueless. Brooklyn doubted he was into cosplay, but if he was she had the perfect costume for him: Jekyll and Hyde. Because the man was like night and day, depending on their surroundings. The Reid who joked around with her in the trailer seemed completely different from the Reid staring her down out here in the field right now. Gone was the light-hearted teasing. He turned into this non-smiling, no-nonsense hard ass whenever they were around the other workers, as if it was a crime to get caught being a pleasant, decent human being in her presence.
Why couldn’t she have a crush on that damn infant with the tired pickup lines? At least she could read that one like Japanese manga.
“Hey, we’re still meeting at Pal’s tonight, right?” one of the other guys asked.
“It’s Friday, ain’t it?” Anthony replied. He playfully nudged Brooklyn with his elbow. “Why don’t you join us?”
“Join you where?”
“Pal’s Lounge. The guys—and some of the girls—hang out there on Fridays. It’s our way of unwinding at the end of the work week.”
Reid, who hadn’t said anything up until this point, chose now to step forward. “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” he said. “It’s for the people who work in the field.”
Anthony’s mouth twisted downward with an incredulous frown. “No, it isn’t. Claude used to join us all the time.”
The look Reid shot Anthony’s way was lethal enough to kill, but Brooklyn was too pissed at his deliberate attempt to cut her out of their Friday night ritual to care. She looked directly at Reid as she spoke to Anthony.
“Count me in,” she said.
Reid ran his hand over his face and heaved out a sigh.
“What?” Brooklyn asked. “I am over twenty-one, you know. I’m allowed in bars.”
He remained silent, but she could sense the frustration radiating from him.
What in the hell is his problem?
Where was the guy who’d walked her to her car these past four evenings? The guy who’d hung out in the trailer and listened to the Another Round podcast with her yesterday, then provided his own comical commentary? Why couldn’t he be that guy all the time?
He didn’t know it, but he was sooooo close to being written off as her workplace crush. She didn’t care how nice his ass looked in a pair of worn jeans. This hot and cold attitude he had toward her overshadowed any warm feelings she’d started to developed.
And it sucked. Because over these past few days, Brooklyn had discovered that she and Reid got along surprisingly well when he wasn’t being such a hard ass.
Maybe she could direct her crush toward Anthony. He was sorta cute, kinda funny and a Black Panther fan. Definitely crush material.
As she continued her survey of the worksite, Brooklyn tried to put the notion of workplace crushes out of her mind, but she couldn’t deny the steady hurt that remained, pinching her chest and turning her usually bright mood dark. Why wouldn’t she be hurt, knowing a fellow co-worker had something against her for no apparent reason? She just did not get it. Not at all.
There was nothing she could do about Reid’s unwarranted attitude against her, but there was something she could do about her attitude toward him. Just because they were co-workers, that didn’t mean they had to be friends. They didn’t even have to be acquaintances. If Reid Holmes could not bear to be her friend when they weren’t alone, he couldn’t be her friend at all.
Brooklyn returned to the trailer and locked it up for the weekend. There would be a skeleton crew here tomorrow, but only because they offered to work on Saturday to make up for the time lost to the sinkhole. Alex had objected to it—not because he didn’t want to pay overtime, but because he thought the guys should spend the weekend with their families. She’d worked in construction for more than a decade, and had never seen a boss so committed to his workers having a life outside of the job.
She exited the gate and, within seconds, Reid appeared alongside her, as he had every day this week.
Brooklyn rolled her eyes. “Are we still doing this?”
He gave his usual answer. “Just walking to my truck.”
“Yeah, okay,” she deadpanned. “Do me a favor. Stop parking near my car.”
“Hey, what’s with the attitude? It’s been a week. You should be used to me by now.”
He had the nerve to ask her about her attitude? Seriously?
“If you really want me to stop, I’ll tell Alex that I don’t think escorting you to your car is necessary,” he added.
Brooklyn refused to acknowledge the twinge of sadness she felt at the thought of their little end of the day strolls coming to an end. Instead, she said, “Yes, please tell Alex that this is unnecessary.”
He was quiet for a moment before he said, “Hey, are you serious about going to Pal’s?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?” she asked. “I was invited.”
“That doesn’t mean you have to go.”
Brooklyn stopped walking and turned to him. She’d been mentally practicing the excuse she would give Anthony on Monday about why she chose to skip their little Friday get-together because, in all honesty, she was beat after this long first week on the job. But the look she saw in Reid’s eyes, as if he was hoping she wouldn’t join them, was enough to make Brooklyn change her mind.
“I’m going
,” she said. “Sorry if my being there makes you uncomfortable.”
“Hey, I didn’t say all that. I’m just looking out for you, okay?”
“So, you not wanting me to hang out with the rest of the crew tonight is for my benefit? That’s the story you’re going with?”
His head flinched slightly. “It’s not a story. It’s the truth. The crowd at Pal’s can get a bit rowdy. Same goes for some of the guys from the crew once they’ve gotten a few beers in them. Once we’re off these grounds, I can’t tell them what to do.”
Ignoring the sincerity in his voice would be the smart thing to do. She’d seen the look on his face when Anthony invited her to join them tonight. She would be a fool to believe that his not wanting her at the bar had anything to do with him looking out for her. Yeah, right.
“You know how we just established that I don’t need you walking me to my car?” Brooklyn asked. “Well, the same goes for Pal’s or anywhere else. I don’t need you looking out for me, Reid.”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “Really? So, if Jarvis gets drunk and tries to grab your ass tonight, how would you handle that?”
Brooklyn mimicked his pose. “I would knee him in the junk and tell him to fuck off.”
His lips twitched with amusement and she could tell she’d shocked him. In a good way. Brooklyn cursed the flutter that skated through her belly. She’d made him laugh. So what.
He held up both hands again in a gesture of surrender. “Okay, fine,” Reid said. “I’ll lay off.”
“Thank you,” she answered with a firm nod.
When she resumed walking, Reid stopped her, catching her by the shoulder and urging her to turn around and face him. The sincerity had returned to his expression.
“But if you find yourself in a situation that makes you uncomfortable tonight, just signal and I’m there, okay?”
Awaken Me Page 7
