by Natalie Ann
And let’s not forget how easily he noticed her embarrassment around him and the crew, leading him to believe she was pretty socially inept.
He thought back to his conversation with Brynn earlier, after he’d left Jordyn’s.
“You met Jordyn, right?” he asked his sister.
“Obviously,” she said back, snickering at him.
“What did you think of her?”
Brynn shrugged. “I don’t know. She seemed nice enough. Shy, quiet, almost timid, but she knows what she wants, and had a clear outline of how she wanted it done and how she wants it to look. Since everything seems to be going along her timeline, I guess she is pretty on top of things.”
“Like sees like. That’s why you’re saying that. She told me she only wanted one room done at a time because she has to have things organized.”
Brynn shoved at his shoulder. “Are you calling me OCD?”
“Don’t I always?” he said back to her.
“So why the question? What did you think of her?”
“Just curious,” he said, shrugging like she did earlier. “She seems kind of lonely, I guess.”
“You got all of that from one meeting?”
“No. She all but said she didn’t get out much. Anyway, she works from home and has computers set up in the front room. I told her I was surprised she hadn’t been having electrical problems already and she admitted she had.”
“So that’s why you want a bigger electrical panel and the generator.”
“Yeah. That was her request since we were already doing the work. She seemed fine with it, knowing that it had to be done.” Even though he couldn’t get over the distressed look on her face when he said the whole house had to be rewired. “Hey, you were talking about doing a new website for Harper’s, right?”
“I was a few months ago. It kind of got put on the back burner after Grace was born. Why? You looking to change careers?”
“No.” He pulled the business card out of his pocket and tossed it on the desk. “Jordyn said she does web design. For fun,” he added, wiggling his eyebrows, unable to hold back the snort.
“For fun. Who sits at a computer longer than necessary for fun?” Brynn joked right back.
“Obviously no one we know. Or not too many people we know.” Drew turned when Sean walked into Brynn’s office. “Well, there is one we know right now,” he said grinning.
“What is it with you? Ever since you moved here,” Sean said to Drew, “I’ve got twice as many people busting my balls. Maybe I should have never brought Brynn in for that interview in the first place. Then I’d only have Alec and Phil to deal with.”
Brynn tilted her head to the side. “You love it, Sean. And if it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t be living in happy matrimony right now.”
“You would be right, so I guess I can thank you for that. And remember, if it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t be married and going home to your daughter tonight either.”
“All right you two, enough. You both have each other to thank; let’s move on.”
Drew supposed deep down he had Sean to thank for his new life, too. It all started with Sean interviewing Brynn. Actually, it all started with Carly, Brynn’s best friend and now Sean’s wife, sending Brynn the job ad, but still, back then he wasn’t so thankful.
He hadn’t wanted his sister to move away. It had been hard enough when their mother died years ago when Brynn and he were still in college. He didn’t want the family to break up any more than it had. Her moving cut him deep, though he’d never let on and never would.
Sean handed the paper to Brynn. “Here’s the quote for the Montgomery house for the electrical and generator.”
Drew reached out and snagged it first, glanced at it and let out a low whistle. “That’s a little steep.”
Sean raised his eyebrow. “You aren’t cheap,” he pointed out.
Shifting his weight and leaning on the door, Drew replied, “True, but this added to what she’s paying for everything else is a huge amount. Don’t you guys offer discounts or something?” He had no idea; he didn’t work up the prices on things. That was between Brynn and Sean.
“Drew,” Brynn said, eying him, “she knew going in there could be the risk of electrical issues. Jordyn and I talked about it, and if she brought up the generator she knows what they cost. Why are you so bothered by this?”
“I don’t know. Do you ever barter services with people?”
“Like what?” Sean asked suspiciously.
Drew reached for the business card and handed it to Sean. “Jordyn does web design. Why not work something out with her? A discount maybe, I don’t know what those things cost either. That way she isn’t hit so hard with this additional expense. Right now she can’t move forward until the electrical is done. If she doesn’t have the money, one of the projects might come off the list. This is kind of a win-win, right?”
He watched Sean and Brynn eye each other, and then Brynn spoke up. “It could be. I’ll talk to her in the morning and see if she has any references. You said she just started the business, so we don’t know how good she is or what her fees are. I guess it doesn’t hurt to look into it. What do you think, Sean? You hold the purse strings here,” Brynn said, nodding.
Sean snorted. “We know who holds the purse strings and it’s not me, but we also know Phil and Alec defer to us in things like this. Let me do some research on web design costs before you call her tomorrow. We’ll go from there.”
“That seems fair,” Drew said.
***
Jordyn stared at her phone after ending the call. She didn’t know what to think about the offer Brynn made her. Part of her was thrilled that she was being given the opportunity…well, maybe.
Brynn still wanted to see what Jordyn could do and was coming over for Jordyn to give her examples of her work. In the meantime, she was going to send over the links to three sites she’d done in the last few years when she was experimenting with some of her software clients.
If she got the Harper job it would be huge. Not monetarily, though the money she would be saving from her construction cost was nice, but for her business.
She’d done her research before she contacted Harper’s and knew they were well known, well established, and came highly recommended. She was thrilled to get the quote and have them be able to do the work so fast, as it was. But getting their business in this town could be a big stepping stone for her business.
She was surprised Drew thought to do that. She knew it came from him. How else would Brynn have known Jordyn did web design?
She wondered why he thought to recommend her. It was definitely considerate and totally out of left field. Not something she’d ever experienced before—someone giving her a hand, especially someone she’d just met.
When she saw him again, she’d have to thank him, even if she didn’t get the job. The fact that he suggested her was enough.
Swiveling over to her laptop, she pulled up her email and started to compose her quote and references for Brynn.
Brynn had said she was off tomorrow since she was only working part time, but she had some errands to run and she could stop over to see some more work, as long as Jordyn was fine with Brynn bringing her daughter along. Of course Jordyn was fine with it.
Her mind was racing a mile a minute on the things she needed to do by then.
No time to worry if the house was clean—it wasn’t. There was construction dust everywhere, but since she really spent most of her time in her office and bedroom, the rest of the house still looked like it did when she unpacked. Neat, but pretty much un-lived-in.
Time to get to work. She really needed this job. Not for the money, but for the link to Harpers. With their backing, her reputation would only build.
Thought Of Me
The next morning Jordyn was downstairs at the computer bright and early, hours before Brynn was scheduled to show. A few hours before the contractors came to work on her electrical problem, too.
Br
ynn had received her email yesterday morning and responded back a few hours later stating that she was impressed with the work Jordyn had sent her.
This morning, Jordyn was going to show her some projects she was working on that weren’t finalized yet, things she was designing as samples.
Lying in bed last night, she had a slew of ideas banging in her head and ended up waking before her normal time full of excitement.
She jumped out of bed, showered, threw on leggings and a sweatshirt, slid her feet into flip-flops and dashed back to her computers.
Two hours later she was so engrossed in her ideas she’d completely lost track of time and heard knocking at the door. Glancing at the clock, she realized it was the contractors.
Saving her work first, she made her way to the front door and let them in. No sign of Drew. She’d thought for sure he would have been over today, but guessed not. Probably a good thing considering she had a hard time holding onto to any single thought while looking at him.
“We’re going to start cutting into the walls and pulling wire through today. Is there anywhere you want us to start first, or I should say, do last?”
She knew they were going to do that today, but completely forgot.
“Can you do my office last? I’ve got a client coming in today.” She crossed her fingers, hoping that Harper’s was going to be a client.
“Sure. Just let us know when we can come in. The rest of the house is going to take time, so no rush. We might not even get to it until Monday.”
She walked back into her office and closed the door to shut out the noise they would be making. Looking at the clock, she still had two hours before Brynn showed up—plenty of time to finish up a few more designs she had, then run up and change her clothes.
Unfortunately, the best laid plans always failed, she realized when she saw Brynn’s SUV pull into her driveway.
“Hi, Brynn,” Jordyn said. She’d rushed forward knowing that Brynn would have her hands full with the baby, trying to hide the embarrassment that she’d lost track of time and forgot to change her clothes.
“It’s good to see you again. The boys aren’t disturbing your work too much, are they?”
“No. They’ve been great. I shut my doors and turn the music on. I get so lost in my work half the time I don’t hear anything anyway. And I apologize for my dress. I meant to change but lost track of time until I saw you pull in the driveway.” She looked at the baby sleeping in the carrier that Brynn was holding. “You can set her anywhere. I hope the noise doesn’t bother her.”
Waving her hand, Brynn said, “Don’t worry about how you’re dressed; you’re in a construction zone. I’m no better right now either.”
Jordyn looked at Brynn’s jeans and knee-high boots and decided Brynn looked a lot more presentable than she did.
Brynn set the carrier down and pulled the blanket back that was tucked around the baby. She unzipped her little fleece hooded jacket and unbuckled the straps, but didn’t remove them.
“She sleeps through anything just like her father. I guess that’s a good thing. It’s a little warm in here, but I’m afraid taking her jacket off will wake her.”
Jordyn flushed. “Sorry, I’m still not used to the colder weather.”
She’d overheard the guys complaining about the heat when they were outside of her office one day. She’d turned the thermostat down for them, but forgot with her door shut and all the computers running that her office still got toasty warm. She loved it.
“No worries. You’ll get used to it after your first winter.”
Jordyn nodded and stared at the baby some more. She was so tiny, her skin like porcelain, looking even lighter against her black hair.
“What’s her name?” She hadn’t been around babies much and though she was a bit nervous, she couldn’t tear her eyes away either.
“Colleen Grace, but we call her Grace.”
“That’s a pretty name.”
“Thanks. Colleen was my mother’s name and I wanted to honor her, but when Grace was born, she didn’t look like a Colleen to us, you know? My father said she looked like a Grace to him. We liked the name, so we changed her middle name and decided to call her that instead.”
Jordyn didn’t know what it was like to know if a baby looked like their name or not. She’d figured people picked a name and that was it, end of story. Guess not.
“Well, I don’t want to keep you too long. Why don’t I show you what else I’ve been working on?”
“That would be awesome. I was impressed with the links you sent me already. I can’t wait to see what else you’ve got.”
Jordyn gave one more sidelong glance at Grace and moved to her computer, then pulled out the other chair for Brynn. “You sure she’s okay there on the floor? It won’t bother her?”
“You haven’t been around babies much, I take it?” Brynn said, trying to smother a grin but failing.
Jordyn noticed Brynn’s lips twitching. “Is it that obvious?” Jordyn asked, wincing slightly over her lack of baby knowledge.
Brynn chuckled. “Yeah, but don’t worry. She’s fine. She just ate, so she should be good for an hour or so. When they’re sleeping you let them go.”
Jordyn nodded. “Okay, let me show you what I’ve got.”
“Where’s my niece?” Drew asked thirty minutes later.
Jordyn swung her head around to see Drew in the doorway. She hadn’t even heard him open the door between the construction noise and the radio she’d forgotten to turn down.
“She’s sleeping,” Brynn said quickly, but it didn’t matter, because Drew ignored her, walked over to the carrier, bent down, and quickly had the sleeping baby in his arms.
It didn’t take long before little whimpers were heard. “It’s okay, Gracie, Uncle Drew has you. You don’t cry for Uncle Drew, do you?”
Darned if the baby didn’t stop the cry you could see she had forming and just stared at Drew.
Then suddenly her little lips lifted and she was smiling right at him. He leaned down and rubbed his nose on hers and her little feet started to wiggle.
Jordyn couldn’t stop her jaw from dropping even if she wanted to. He didn’t seem to be the type to cuddle with a baby. Then again, how would she know? Her life experiences didn’t lean toward time spent around men and babies.
“I can’t believe you woke her up. You’re lucky she isn’t crying right now,” Brynn said, narrowing her eyes at him.
“She doesn’t cry. Who are you kidding?” Drew asked, turning his head and winking at Jordyn. “She is too much of a doll for that.”
Jordyn’s eyes bounced back and forth between Drew cuddling his niece and Brynn scowling at her brother for waking a sleeping baby.
“Come over at midnight and deal with her if you don’t think she cries,” Brynn replied back with a snort.
“You don’t have the magical touch like I do.”
Jordyn watched the baby scrunch her face up tight, make a grunting sound, then another until the room was filled with a horrendous odor. Okay, maybe babies weren’t so cute all the time.
Just as quickly Drew laughed and said, “You want Mommy now, don’t you, Gracie?” He thrust the baby back to her mother. “I need to get to work. I’ll talk to you later.”
“One of these day, Drew, you’re going to get stuck with a dirty diaper and not only the smiles.”
“Maybe,” he said, grinning and walking out of the room.
“I’m sorry about that,” Brynn said, turning back to Jordyn. “But now I should probably go.”
“Don’t you need to change her?” Jordyn tried to breathe through her mouth. How could something so horrible come out of that little baby?
“Yep. I’ll do that quickly in your bathroom. No reason to stink your office up anymore. I might throw the dirty diaper in Drew’s truck. Now wouldn’t that be a good payback?”
Jordyn thought that would be pretty funny, but figured she better not respond in agreement. “I don’t think he’d like that.”
“No, he wouldn’t, that’s the point. Anyway, thanks for taking the time. I’m going to bring back your proposal and talk to Sean, Alec, and Phil, but I’m sure we will definitely work something out. I really like what you’ve shown me, so it will now come down to the details.”
Jordyn shook her hand. “Thank you so much for the opportunity.”
“You’re welcome. But thank you, because I think it’s going to be an awesome partnership. It’s a win for both of us.”
***
Drew turned his head when he heard the sound of flip-flops coming down the hall. He was in the laundry room at the back of the house where the new panel was going to be placed rather than in the basement.
“You sure you don’t want your laundry room moved to your master bath when we get to that?”
“We?” she said.
“I do construction too. There isn’t always electrical work that needs to be done, so I float where they need me when there is nothing lined up for the day specifically for me. Since this is a big electrical project, I’ll be here until that is done, then maybe for part of the construction too.”
“I didn’t know it worked that way.”
“What worked what way?” he asked confused.
“That electricians did construction too.”
“Most don’t to the extent that I do. I started in construction, then got my electrician’s license.”
His eyes stared at her flip-flops, purple ones today, and traveled over her black leggings, again to her baggy gray sweatshirt, over her makeup-free face and the brown hair pulled back in a ponytail.
“I’m a pretty handy guy to have around,” he said, smirking at her.
She blushed and looked so innocent to him. He didn’t know her age, but he figured mid to late twenties.
There was a sweet wholesome quality to her mixed in with the bashfulness he’d seen before. He wouldn’t call her timid, but she was definitely reserved, with a touch of naiveté.
He was starting to enjoy the flirting he did with her just to see how fast she blushed. He’d been around enough women in his life to know when one flirted back, and Jordyn definitely tried to the other day. He wouldn’t insult her by saying she was unsuccessful; it was the effort that counted in his mind.
