Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 55271 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 276(@200wpm)___ 221(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55271 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 276(@200wpm)___ 221(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
“I’m proud of you. Now tell me what Ella did this time.” We spend the remainder of the late morning and early afternoon talking. Heather even does this humming when I tell her the reason why it was the last straw for Ledger when it came to Ella. My guess is that Heather will go work for Sinclair Roofing, regardless of the gray hair she’ll receive.
21
LEDGER
“You’re really firing her?” Chase asks me after we parked next to one another in the makeshift parking lot in the back of the lay-down yard. I’m sure Ella saw us pull through the gates after we went down to the jobsite we’re starting on Monday. I’ve not been this nervous in a long damn time, but this one is fucking with me, has me worried and on the edge of my damn seat.
“Yep, it’s one thing to fuck with me, it’s another to fuck with Tulsa Rose.” The only thing that calmed me down is the woman who’s mine, she’s been put through the damn wringer and still comes out swinging. A flick of her tongue across my lip, and that’s all I could stand. She refused to let it only be about her, so we made it work that we both got ours. As hot as it was, each of us trying to get the other off first, it sucked my attention wasn’t fully on hers the entire time, and vice versa.
“Alright, then, think we should bring another woman in on the mix in case she comes back with something foul?” Chase makes a great point, one I didn’t think about, and I should have. There are only cameras on the outside of the building, pointing toward the yard and building where we stash our supplies for upcoming projects, not inside the office.
“Fuck, only person I can call is Tulsa, and she’s with my mom today.” I pull my phone out, ready to dial. “Let’s go to the warehouse. I’ll make a call, and we can stay away from the crazed lunatic.”
“Good idea.” Chase walks ahead. I unlock my phone with Tulsa’s birthday set as the code. I never set up the facial recognition part after my last phone broke.
“Hey, your mom and I were just talking about you,” Tulsa answers the phone. I’ve yet to talk to my mom, but knowing she gets all her damn information from Mrs. Marble, what was the use? Plus, I’ve been busier than normal, and not all of it was work.
“Shit, if you and Mom are done raking me over the coals, will the two of you meet me at the shop? Chase brought up a valuable point. Two guys telling her she’s canned isn’t a great idea.” The scraping of her chair in the background tells me all I need.
“Yep, we’ll be right there. Also, I told your mom about what’s going on and how Sinclair Roofing might need a new secretary. You’re welcome. See you soon,” she says, then I hear, “Heather, we need to go rescue Ledger, and you’re going to need to give the directions.” After that, there’s a click. She’s hung up without saying goodbye. I put my phone away, shaking my head while grabbing the door handle.
“That’s handled. I suppose we can go through the rest of the projects we’ve got going on, see where the crews are at and if we need to move things around. I’m going to be at the restoration project, be as hands on as I can,” I tell Chase as I walk in.
“Already ahead of you. Grabbed the plans and orders.” He points to the papers he has on the work bench. There’s always something to be done. On the rare occurrences we finish a project early and one of the guys wants to keep earning money being paid hourly, this is where they’ll be, organizing the warehouse, picking up shit that was left behind when we’re all in a rush. It takes another thing off my plate and puts money in their back pocket, a fucking win in my books.
“Did you finish out that other estimate the other day?” I ask Chase. While I’d prefer to keep Sinclair Roofing to business only, we do pick up a few residential clients as well.
“Yep, they’re waiting on a few other estimates and said they’d call us back. Your mom and Tulsa on their way?”
“They are. Pretty sure a speeding ticket would be the only thing that slows them down. Since Tulsa is driving and making her debut back in Orange Blossom, they’d probably give them a damn escort.” Tulsa Rose has a way about her. Hell, so did her brother. It was the Williams. Everyone saw their struggles; all eyes were on them in a small town. They didn’t let all the losses they were handed hold them back or allow people to show them pity. They grieved like anyone else would. Some people would go on benders with drugs and alcohol, but not Tulsa or her brother. Mont threw himself into raising Tulsa, and she did her best not to fall into a bad crowd, kept her head up and her eyes on the prize. I got it. When we first moved her to Orange Blossom, Mom was on her own, and I was the kid without a dad. It wasn’t until Montgomery befriended me that I really started seeing what life would be like living in a community where everyone knows one another.