Fran sighed. “It’s that asshole, Jimmy.”
Ah. Sophie mentioned him the other day. I wrote his name down.
“Okay, and what’s happening with Jimmy?”
She slammed her hands down on the table, jolting my pen across the page and surprising the hell out of me. “He’s a goddamn slob. I find his beer cans and cigarette butts all over my garden. I’ve told him a dozen times to keep his mess in his yard, but he never listens.”
I jotted down a couple more notes. “And which houses are you two in?”
“Fourteen and sixteen.”
I wrote that down too. “Okay, we’ll get your yard cleaned up and have a talk with him.”
She snorted, and I looked up from my notepad to her dark eyes. “You’re going to talk to him?”
I sat up straighter. “Yes. Why?”
She rolled her eyes and chuckled. “I’m just glad I got you to promise you’ll talk to Abraham about this.”
I ground my teeth, my hands fisting at my sides. “I’ll handle the issue with Jimmy myself. If for whatever reason I’m ineffective, Abraham will resolve your situation. I promise you that.”
Fran laughed again and climbed to her feet. “Whatever you say, honey.”
I cringed at her pet name. Everyone knew you only used honey like that when you really didn’t mean it. It was probably code for something like dumbass.
I shook out my hands and offered one to her. “Thanks for bringing me your issue.”
She shook my hand for the briefest of moments before she turned to leave. “And thank you for bringing this to Abraham as soon as you realize you’re not cut out for this job.”
She tossed that last remark over her shoulder, almost as an afterthought.
My hands started to shake, and I remembered my calming technique.
In, one.
Out, two.
In, three.
Out, four.
When I finally had enough control over my wolf, I left the conference room and walked back into the kitchen. Fran was just leaving through the sliding glass door and Aubrey was shooting daggers at me with her eyes from across the room.
“Afternoon, Aubrey.”
She didn’t answer, not that I expected her to.
I sat down at one of the tables and pulled out my phone while I waited for the next appointment. Pulling up a mind-numbing game, I thought through Fran’s issue.
If she’d repeatedly asked Jimmy to clean up after himself and he still hadn’t, it was clear there was no miscommunication. Fran called him an asshole, and had to agree.
So, if talking to him wasn’t going to get him to act right, what would?
Then there was the problem of the mess in Fran’s yard. I had a feeling, even without meeting him, that it would be a cold day in hell before Jimmy cleaned up after himself. And it wouldn’t be fair to expect Fran to keep picking up after someone else. Which meant I’d need to get someone else to do it.
A tentative idea formed in my head and I pulled up my messages.
Me: Who takes care of the gardening around here?
I only had to wait a minute for a reply.
Sexiest Man Alive: Austin and George. Why?
Me: I have a job for one of them. Do you know where I can find them?
Sexiest Man Alive: They only work on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so they won’t be around the lodge. You can ask Aubrey. Austin is her brother.
My eyes flicked across the room to the grumpy brunette and I cringed. I really didn’t want to talk to her, but it looked like I needed to. Besides, we couldn’t keep this animosity up forever. Sooner or later, something had to give.
With a sigh, I stood and walked across the kitchen. When I was a few feet away, I cleared my throat. Aubrey froze in place, her shoulders almost touching her ears.
“Hey, Aubrey. I have a question.”
She resumed what she was doing and shot over her shoulder, “What do you want?”
I closed my eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. Leadership was about patience and it looked like I’d need to expend a whole lot of mine in this situation if I was going to get the information I wanted.
“I was wondering if you knew where I could find Austin today.”
She froze again, but this time she slowly rotated until she was facing me. Her eyes narrowed into thin slits. “What do you want with Austin?”
“I have a job for him.”
“What kind of job?”
“It’s something I’d rather discuss with him.”
She folded her arms across her chest. “Then I’m not going to tell you where he is.”
I gritted my teeth and tried again. “I can just go ask Abraham where you live.”
Her eyes widened the smallest amount. “Then do it.”
I shook my head and spun around. “I will.”
I stormed through the kitchen and was just about to hit the hallway when her voice reached me. “It’s nothing bad, right?”
I stopped in my tracks and turned to look at her again. “Of course not. I just have a job I need done, and I figured I’d see if he wanted the extra money.”
“Extra money?”
“Yeah. Obviously I’d be paying him for his time.”
She unfolded her arms and took a couple steps forward. “He’s probably at the house right now.”
“Which house?”
She bit her lip for a moment before rolling her eyes. “Five.”
“Thanks.”
She shrugged and turned around.
Well, that could have gone worse.
Problem was, I was stuck in the lodge. I had another appointment and who knew how long it’d take?
I cleared my throat again and Aubrey paused what she was doing. “Do you think you could text him and ask if he’d come down here for a minute?”
“What? You’re too good to go down to the pack houses?”
I bristled at her comment. “No. In fact, I’ve been down there twice this week. I want him to come up here because I have another appointment and I need this job taken care of immediately.”
She sighed loudly and pulled a phone out of her back pocket. “I’ll text him, but I can’t promise anything.”
A small smile crept across my face. “Thanks, Aubrey. I appreciate it.”
She ignored me, but I was still smiling. At least she wasn’t insulting me, right? It might take baby steps, but we’d get there.
The sliding glass door opened, and Sophie walked in. Her green eyes immediately found mine. “Hey, Ellie!”
I walked over to her and wrapped my arms around her shoulders. “Hey, Sophie! What are you doing here?”
She pulled back and held up her wristwatch. “I’m your two-thirty appointment.”
The first genuine smile in hours spread across my face. “Great! Let’s go in the conference room and talk.”
I led her down the hallway and closed the door behind her. We both took seats, and I slid my notepad in front of me.
“What’s going on?”
She blew out a deep breath and sat forward in her seat. “It’s the farm manager. He’s a total prick.”
“What’s his name?”
“Tom.”
“Okay, so what did Tom do?”
“He’s completely abusing his power as farm manager. He overworks us, makes us cut our breaks short all the time, and worst of all, he lets his stupid girlfriend get away with doing nothing.”
“Who’s his girlfriend?”
“Daisy,” she snarled.
It was so unexpected of a sound, I looked up from my pad. “I’m guessing you’re not a fan.”
She sneered. “Hell, no. She’s a whiny little bitch. Always complaining about how hot she is, how bright the sun is, how dirty her hands are getting. Why she signed up to w
ork on the farm is a goddamn mystery to me because the girl’s never done a day of hard labor in her life.”
“So, she’s not a great fit. What does Tom do regarding Daisy?”
She threw a hand in the air. “She’s allowed to flit from group to group, not really doing anything at all while we all bust our asses. We’re supposed to have a certain number of employees working at a time, so the labor is divided equally. With Daisy doing a whole lot of nothing, we’re all having to work harder. It’s not fair and I’m fed up with it.”
I took a few more notes and looked up at her. “Okay. I’ll talk to Tom.”
She hid it pretty well, but the look of disbelief was still there on her face. “No offense, Ellie, but I’m not sure he’s gonna listen to you.”
I straightened my spine and shot her a smile. “He will if he wants to keep his job.”
She sat forward again, her eyes lighting up. “Ooh, are you gonna fire him?”
I shrugged a shoulder. “If he can’t do his job right, then yes.”
Sophie clapped. “Oh my God, this is so exciting! I knew it was a good idea coming to you!”
The words filled me with the warm glow of pride. I hadn’t even done anything yet, and she was already singing my praises. Now if she could just convince the rest of the pack that I could handle this job, I’d be all set.
“Was that all you have going on?” I asked.
Sophie nodded and jumped up from her seat. “Yep. You fix the Tom and bitch-ass-Daisy problem and I’ll be a happy woman.”
I did my best to stifle my chuckle. “I’ll do my best.”
We walked back out to the kitchen where she threw her arms around me. “Thanks again, Ellie. I’ll see you next week, right?”
I hugged her back. “I’ll be there.”
I watched her leave with a small smile on my face. It felt good to feel appreciated. To not feel like I had to constantly prove myself to everyone.
A throat cleared behind me and I spun around to find Aubrey and a man standing on the other side of the kitchen. He looked so much like Aubrey, it had to be her brother, Austin.
I walked closer and held out my hand to him. “Hi, Austin. I’m Ellie. Thanks so much for coming down.”
He shook my hand, but his shoulders were stiff. If his sister didn’t like me, it was safe to assume he didn’t either. Hopefully I could change that opinion of his.
“I have a job that I’d like you to do. Are you free this afternoon?”
He eyed me curiously for a moment before speaking. “What’s the job?”
“I need someone’s yard cleaned up. From what I hear, there’re beer cans and cigarettes, but there could be more.”
His lips thinned. “I don’t work for free.”
“Of course not,” I jumped in. “However long it takes you, I’ll double the hours and you’ll see it in your next paycheck.”
I wasn’t sure I could do something like that, but it sounded good, so I went with it.
His eyes were still narrowed, but I could tell they were calculating now. “Which house is it?”
I opened my mouth to answer but closed it again when I realized I didn’t know which house Fran’s was and which was Jimmy’s.
“Do you know where Jimmy lives?”
He scoffed. “Everyone knows where Jimmy lives.”
“Okay, so you’re cleaning up the yard next to his.”
“You talkin’ about Fran?”
“Yes. Exactly. You’re cleaning up Fran’s yard.”
He watched me for another few minutes before he shrugged. “Yeah, sure. I make twenty dollars an hour, though.”
“Doesn’t matter. I want that yard cleaned today and I’m willing to pay you double time to do it. Are you in?”
He shrugged again. “Yeah. I’m in. I’ll go get started now.”
My smile beamed across my face. “Great! I’d like an update when you’re done. I should be in the lodge the rest of the day.”
He nodded, gave his sister a look, and left out the back door.
“He probably would have done it for half that,” Aubrey said from her spot across the room.
I shrugged. “Yeah, but no one should have to clean up after a grown man. Besides, it’s not really me who’ll be paying him.”
Aubrey frowned. “Then who is?”
My smile spread across my face again. “That would be Jimmy.”
Aubrey looked confused for a second before her face cleared. It might have been my imagination, but I thought one corner of her mouth might have turned up in a grin for the briefest of seconds. But before I knew it, her stony expression was back.
I barely held back a sigh. Clearly, I had more work to do in the Aubrey department. But it felt like a step in the right direction.
Now, I just had to follow through with all the promises I’d made.
Chapter 16
After Sophie left, I realized I’d have to wait for Austin to finish the task I gave him before I could implement the rest of my plan. Seeing an opportunity for some more studying, I ran upstairs for my textbooks and hauled them back into the kitchen.
I was nose deep in my second book when someone cleared their throat behind me. I spun around to find Austin, a little sweatier and dirtier than the last time I saw him, but still smiling.
“Hey, Ellie. Yard’s all done.”
I looked at the clock hanging on the wall of the kitchen and frowned. “Great, Austin. What was that? About two hours?”
He shrugged and wiped the back of his hand along his forehead. “Yeah, about that. Place was a wreck.”
I shook my head. How long had poor Fran been putting up with that?
I stood up and reached out a hand which Austin immediately shook. “Thanks for getting to that for me so quickly. You’ll see that extra eighty dollars in your next check, okay?”
Austin shrugged, the smile still on his face. “Sounds good. Let me know if you ever need anything else.” He took a step backward before stopping again. “Why don’t you take down my number, so you can contact me directly?”
I smiled and pulled out my phone, programming his number into it and giving him my information. “Thanks, Austin. I’ll keep you in mind.”
He gave me a little wave and turned to leave the lodge. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Aubrey on the other side of the kitchen with an indescribable look on her face.
Maybe she’d expected her brother to hate me like she did. Maybe she was surprised we’d managed to get along. And, just maybe, she’d realize she didn’t need to dislike me as much as she did. That I wasn’t the big, bad monster in this story.
I sighed and gathered my textbooks before walking back upstairs. When they were stowed in our room, I went back downstairs to Evey’s office.
“Come in!” she called after I knocked.
I opened the door and stepped inside. She was sitting across the room at her desk, clicking a ballpoint pen. Her navy dress fit her perfectly and I would bet she had on at least three-inch heels. She always dressed up for work and it almost made me self-conscious in my jean shorts and t-shirt. Then again, I was unemployed, so I was just happy I wasn’t still in my pajamas.
When she looked up, she smiled. “Hey, Ellie!”
“Hey, Evey. You have a minute?”
She tossed her pen onto the desk and leaned back in her chair. “Of course. What’s up?”
I took the seat in front of her and crossed my legs. “Well, I had a couple appointments today, and I made a promise I was hoping you could help me keep.”
She raised a brow. “What kinda promise?”
I folded my hands in front of me to prevent them from fidgeting. Evey managed the whole lodge. She was human resources, accounts receivable, and payroll all rolled into one. If there was anyone who could make this happen, it was Evey.
“Well,
I had one of the groundskeepers do a special job for me and I promised him he’d be paid for it in his next check.”
Evey picked her pen back up and slid a pad in front of her. “Who was the groundskeeper?”
“Austin.”
“And how much extra is he gettin’ paid?”
“Eighty dollars.”
Evey froze in place and raised her head to spear me with a look. “Eighty dollars? That’s quite a bonus.”
I shrugged a shoulder. “It was extenuating circumstances.”
Evey straightened up further and let out a deep breath. “We don’t have the budget to just be givin’ eighty-dollar bonuses, Ellie. I wish you’d come to me before you offered it.”
I cringed but rushed to explain. “Oh, the money is coming from somewhere else. That’s something else I need your help with.”
She sat back, her blue eyes clouding. “Okay, now I’m confused. Why don’t you start at the beginnin’?”
I launched into the story about the mess Jimmy made of Fran’s yard. When I explained that Austin’s bonus would be coming from a fine I was going to issue to Jimmy, her look changed from confusion to disbelief.
“You’re finin’ Jimmy?”
I shrugged a shoulder. “Yeah. Why?”
She chuckled and shook her head as she fired up her computer. “You’ve got balls, Ellie. I’ll say that about you.”
I sat up straighter, a frown tugging at my brows. “Why do you say that?”
She shot me a look before turning back to her computer screen. “Jimmy is an old cranky bastard. Abey’s been tryin’ to rein him in since he joined this pack.”
I shrugged again. “Well, I figured I’d hit him where it hurts the most–his bank account.”
Evey giggled. “He’s not gonna like you messin’ with his money, Ellie.”
“Well, he shouldn’t have acted like a messy child.”
She laughed again, and her printer whirred to life. “Oh, I’m behind you. I just think it’s not gonna go as smooth as you think it is.”
My shoulders hunched the slightest bit. “Any advice?”
Evey grabbed the paper that printed out and turned to me again. “Don’t back down. You go down there with a goal and don’t stop ‘til you get it.”
Rise Page 13
