by Louise Clark
Ava raised her brows. “Nothing. Except that I’m having difficulty accepting that a young man who gets himself stuck in an office window would be of any benefit to NIT.”
“Are you questioning my judgment, Ava?” Cody demanded. He sounded cool. His raised brows suggested that this was a mild disagreement between colleagues. The flash of fire in his eyes said otherwise.
Ava must have read the anger in his eyes as clearly as Faith had, but she wasn’t backing down. “Had you taken the time to clear this through me—as you are supposed to!—you wouldn’t have placed yourself in this position, Cody.”
He crossed his arms over his t-shirt covered chest. “And what position is that, Ava?”
“You’ve exposed your very poor management skills,” Ava said, with surprising heat.
“No!” Faith said. “It’s not—”
“Hell and Devil confound it!” Andrew said, popping out of the window like a cork out of a champagne bottle.
“You see,” Ava said dryly, to no one in particular.
Andrew brushed himself off, then sauntered over to Ava, his mouth curved in a disarmingly rueful smile. “I fear I have not created the best impression.”
Ava shot him a glance that said he’d got that right.
Andrew replied with a direct look, his eyelids slightly lowered. The faint smile slowly widened as he took Ava’s hand, held it for a moment, then raised it at the same time as he bowed over it.
Ava blushed and looked away, clearly rattled.
“I trust,” Andrew said in a low voice that was as smooth forty-year-old scotch and just about as lethal, “that I will have the opportunity to redeem myself in your eyes.”
Ava collected herself. She drew her hand from Andrew’s slowly, as if she really didn’t want to, but knew she had to. “I am sure you are a very fine young man. But NIT has no need of another computer programmer—”
“I’ve asked him to work with Faith, to make sure that the software problems we’ve had over the last few weeks don’t reoccur,” Cody said, interjecting quickly.
“How nice for you, Faith. Your own computer jock.” Ava shot Cody a frigid look. “I still do not think that an intern is necessary and I would have said so if I had been asked.” She smiled sweetly at Andrew. “It has been interesting meeting you, Andrew. Please remember. Redemption is not easy to achieve.”
She walked out of the office, annoyance in every tense muscle in her body. Andrew followed her, poked his head out the opening to make sure she was out of range, then quietly shut the door. “That one,” he said, “is dangerous to know.”
Chapter 20
“Do you not long for daylight and the open when you are trapped in this building all day?” Andrew said as he followed Faith into the NIT suite. It was Wednesday morning and office life had begun an inevitable slide from fascination into routine.
Faith tilted her head to one side, considering the question as they walked through the bullpen to her office. As she dumped her purse into her bottom drawer, she said, “No.”
Andrew wandered over to the window where he’d presented himself to Ava Taylor so spectacularly two days before and gazed out, longingly. The sun was shining. The temperature was a balmy seventy-two degrees and there was a freshness about the day that always seemed to come first thing in the morning. “I should be tending my fields to ensure my plantings are healthy and free of pests and weeds.”
Faith heard the wistfulness in Andrew’s voice and rejoiced. Though they’d agreed he would stay in her time only until the weekend, she knew Andrew. If he wanted to stay longer he’d work on her until she agreed it would be okay. On Monday and most of yesterday he’d been intrigued by the gadgets and comforts of her time. She had begun to fear that she would have to work very hard to convince him that he had to go back to his own.
What she needed to do now was push the wistfulness into frustration and that into determination and action. As she locked her desk drawer, she said, “Fields take care of themselves, don’t they? All you have to do is throw in a few seeds and poof! You have plants that grow and grow until they’re big enough to harvest.”
“Ha!” Andrew turned away from the window. His eyes were sparkling with the enthusiasm of the expert. “I fear you would make a poor farmer with an attitude such as that, Faith. The earth needs sustenance, just as you and I need it. I practice crop rotation to enrich the soil, though many of my neighbors do not. It is a process that requires thought and study, but I believe my acres yield far more than those of other farmers. That is why I am able to sell my excess to the merchants in Boston town and to employ hired men to assist me in my endeavors.”
Faith settled down in her chair and logged-on to her computer. “Sounds like you work smart, Uncle Andrew. That’s the hallmark of a good manager.” While the machine was powering through its start-up rotation, she added, “A pity you couldn’t be as effective in this time period.”
He frowned. Propping his jean-clad hip on the edge of her desk, he crossed his arms over the black t-shirt he wore. “I would appreciate an explanation of that comment, if you please.”
Faith opened her e-mail program. “Umm? What was that, Andrew?” she said, pretending to be focused on work and not their conversation. As he opened his mouth to explain, she said brightly, “Oh, right, not effective.” He nodded. His frown had deepened to a thundercloud. Faith almost laughed. “Well, I guess what I was trying to say was that in the past you are an expert and successful. You understand your business and you make excellent decisions. Here you have just begun to learn and you would have to work through a long process just to achieve the success you have in your own time.”
She opened e-mails and dashed out replies while Andrew considered that.
Finally he said, “Here I am not likely to be set upon by the henchmen of Mary Elizabeth’s father because my politics do not match his and he resents me courting his daughter.”
Faith abandoned her e-mail. She swiveled her chair so she could face him. “If you were not forced to stay close to me, you would probably find that there are plenty of men like Mary Elizabeth’s father around. Behaviors don’t change just because the year has.”
Andrew considered what she’d said. Then he laughed. “You’re telling me that I need to go back and face George Strand, are you not?”
Faith grinned back at him. “I am asking you to think about it.” She pointed to her doorway. “Now, I need to get some work done and you need to look busy and effective. Go fiddle with the spare computer station out in the bullpen.”
Andrew looked out the door. His expression was glum. “Computers are tedious.”
“For some of us, not others.” She pointed to the door again as she said firmly, “Now, go.”
He went.
The morning sped by with few interruptions. The bullpen was quiet, with only the normal low buzz. No computers needed health care. Andrew successfully entertained himself without entertaining her staff at the same time. When the phone rang just after noon, Faith stretched and let her focus slip away from budget figures before she answered.
It was Cody. “Hi. I’ve reached a frustration point and need a break. Want to go for a walk?”
“How about eating instead.”
There was a moment of silence, possibly while Cody consulted his watch or looked at his computer clock. “Oh yeah. It’s noon. Time for lunch. Now you mention it, I am kind of hungry.”
Faith could hear the surprise in his voice and her heart warmed. When Cody was deep into a project he lost track of everything. His ferocious ability to concentrate was one of the fascinating things about him.
“I’ll be down in ten minutes.”
“I’ll let June know I’m leaving and I’ll organize Andrew.”
Cody sighed. “Yeah, Andrew. Okay. I guess.” His voice lowered, became husky. “Though I’d rather have you all to myself.”
Faith laughed. “And when does that ever happen around here? I’ll see you in ten.”
Cody agreed,
rather wistfully, and hung up. Humming to herself, Faith walked out of her office.
And froze.
Andrew was on the Internet. On a site about the history of Boston and its regions.
That was bad enough, but standing behind him, looking over his shoulder at the screen was Ava Taylor. Judging from the set of her shoulders, she was not pleased.
“Andrew. I’m going to lunch in ten minutes. When I get back I’d like you to create a spreadsheet that contains the specifics of each computer in this area, including the model, operating system, RAM, ROM, and any other details—”
“Like the number of times each computer has gone down since Sue Green’s accident,” Ava said, nodding approvingly. There was considerable enthusiasm in her voice.
Andrew looked up with a frown. “I believe that promises to be a dreary task.”
Faith shrugged. “Assembling data often is, although it is absolutely necessary if you want to come to a balanced decision.” She looked down at the computer screen and added, “If you want to research American history on the net, do it on your own time.”
“I completely concur,” Ava said with relish.
Faith headed back to her office to get her bag, leaving Andrew to log off the Internet and prepare for lunch. She had just unlocked her drawer when Ava marched into her office. Glancing up, she saw Ava close the door. Warning bells went off in her head.
“Does Andrew always slack off like that?” Ava said without preamble. She advanced to the center of the room, invading Faith’s space, dominating the small area.
Faith slung her purse over her shoulder. One hand resting on the bag, the other crossed at her waist and holding on to the strap, she prepared to defend herself. “There isn’t much for him to do.”
“My thought exactly,” Ava said with considerable relish. “What I saw this morning confirmed my belief that an intern is neither necessary nor useful. I did like the way you handled him, though. You must let me know how well he responds to your direction.”
“Of course,” Faith said. She glanced at her watch before she added, “Is there anything else you’d like to discuss, Ava?”
“I think I heard you say that you have a lunch engagement?”
Faith nodded.
“I won’t keep you, then. Is it with Cody Simpson?”
Faith nodded. “And with Andrew.”
Ava contemplated this, the expression on her sweet, rather doll-like features considering. Then she said seriously, “I know you’re close to Cody, Faith, but, girl-to-girl, he’s not reliable, you know.” Faith didn’t reply. Ava retreated to the door where she paused, her hand on the knob. “Not only does he refuse to work as a member of the NIT team, but he clearly is willing to manipulate other employees to further his own agenda. I do hope you will bear that in mind when interacting with him.”
“I think you’re wrong about Cody. I trust him and I know he would never do anything to harm anyone who works for NIT, or the company itself.”
Ava pursed her lips as if she was about to say something, then the door opened and she had to jump away. She glared at Cody, as he stood revealed in the doorway. “Cody. We were just talking about you.” She looked over at Faith. “Remember what I said. We’ll talk later.” She swept out of the office.
Cody raised his brows. “What was that all about?”
Faith sighed. “Ava being Ava. Shall we go?”
They discussed the incident over lunch. Andrew grumbled about the data digging, but Cody and Faith were both adamant that he needed to appear to be doing something useful. Ava, they agreed, would jump at any opportunity to criticize Andrew’s performance. It they weren’t careful she might even be able to get him fired before the week was out. Andrew grumbled some more, but finally accepted his fate.
Faith watched him pick up a fry, then dip it in ketchup, before he ate it. Andrew had ordered fries with his lunch every day this week. He was fascinated by them, the crisp outside covering the soft inside, the faint taste of oil, the sugar sweetness of the ketchup that turned an ordinary vegetable into a candy. He loved everything about fries, including wiping his greasy fingers on a napkin made of paper. Faith had the uneasy feeling that he’d be instructing his cook on the basics of deep frying potatoes the moment he returned to 1772.
Cody was watching Andrew eat his fries too, but he wasn’t paying much attention, since he didn’t know that fries were a special treat. There was an abstracted expression in his eyes that told Faith he was deep in some puzzle-solving universe of his own. She went back to worrying about changing history and Uncle Andrew’s cholesterol count.
“Weird woman,” Cody said suddenly. Faith looked at him, a question in her eyes. “Ava Taylor, I mean.”
Andrew laughed. “Aye, that she is.” He worked the paper napkin over his fingernails, fastidiously cleaning the edges. “She puts me in mind of a snake, always slithering around where no one can see her until she is ready to strike.”
Faith shivered.
Cody nodded. “Interesting. She doesn’t slither around me, though. She’s right there, in my face. She has this crazy idea that employees need structure and a predictable environment. When I first started she tried to get me into a routine that included office hours and meetings—dozens of meetings on stupid things like the cost of paperclips. I told her—politely, I might add—that meetings for the sake of meeting were a waste of my time and I wasn’t going to participate. I don’t think she believed me. When I missed the first one, she sent me an e-mail telling me I was expected at the next and then a reminder of the date and time.” He shot Faith a rueful smile. Andrew might not even have been there. “I managed to lose that message somehow.” His smile grew into a grin. “In fact, when Ava suggested I’d ignored it, I told her it had probably gotten lost in transit. So she checked the server and, you know, there was no record of it at all.”
Faith’s eyes widened. “Cody are you saying what I think you’re saying? You went into the server and you trashed her message?”
He nodded, still smiling. “Yup and every shadow of it. No record of that e-mail existed, except in her out basket. It simply disappeared into the ether. She was livid.”
Beside her, Andrew was chuckling softly, but Faith didn’t know whether to be amused or terrified for Cody. “So what happened?”
He shrugged and laughed. “She took to phoning me to remind me about meetings. Since I don’t always answer my phone when I’m working on a project and I collect my voicemail only off and on, I’ve managed to miss most of them. She hasn’t given up, though. The woman is stubborn.”
Faith began to laugh. “Focused, Cody. You should be able to relate. Ava is as focused on her path as you are on yours.”
“Could be.” He shook his head, bemused by a person he couldn’t understand. “Enough of my issues with Ava. Andrew, any problems come up this morning? Do you need any tips to make you look good through the rest of the day?”
As office politics went, the battle Ava was waging with Cody over meeting attendance was pretty minor. As long as Cody did the creative work he’d been hired to do, Faith was pretty sure Ralph wouldn’t care if Cody avoided meetings related to office organization. Ava would continue to be infuriated by his absence, but how much harm could she do with Ralph on Cody’s side?
Bringing in an intern into the company under false pretenses was a very different matter, though. If Ava found out that Andrew was not what he was supposed to be she wouldn’t hesitate to use the information. How far she would go, Faith didn’t know, but at the very least she could damage Cody’s position, and his reputation.
Because of her, Cody might lose his job.
“Hey.” Cody stroked the back of Faith’s hand to get her attention. “Time to go.” He smiled at her. “We’ve already been out of the office for an hour. Ava’s going to be furious.”
Faith stared at him, loving his quiet confidence, worried about the danger she might have put him into. “And you don’t care.”
“Not a bit,” he
said cheerfully.
Feeling as if his voice was caressing her, she smiled at him, but inside part of her wondered if he was underestimating the damage Ave could do. “Andrew’s right, she is like a snake, slithering around in the background. I want you to be careful, Cody. I think she’s capable of being vindictive.”
He tipped her chin up. His eyes were dark, their expression amused. “You’ve got that one right. She’s probably added luring you into bad company and corrupting you into chronic tardiness to my list of sins.”
Faith laughed. Put that way, Ava didn’t sound quite so intimidating.
Cody bent toward her. He might have kissed her then, but Andrew cleared his throat, reminding them both that they were in a very public place. Cody smiled that sexy little half-smile and took her hand. There was no reason they couldn’t walk back to the office, together, as a couple.
With Uncle Andrew as their chaperone.
Chapter 21
Faith opened her fridge door and contemplated the contents. With Andrew visiting it was fuller than usual. The meat drawer contained a package of chicken breasts and one of steak. There was asparagus, broccoli, and green beans for vegetables to be cooked and served with the meal, plus three kinds of lettuce, tomatoes, and yellow peppers for a salad. She’d discovered that Andrew was an eager-eater. He devoured an immense amount of food, but never seemed to gain a pound. She figured he must have a metabolism that burned energy with the same abandon as a jet airplane.
Since Faith couldn’t bring herself to view food with the kind of lusty enthusiasm Andrew did, she chose the low fat chicken breasts. Deciding she would stuff them, she also pulled out a package of deli cheese slices.
Andrew wandered into the kitchen from her little project room where he’d been doing his typing exercises at the computer. He found the package of chicken breasts in its disposable hard foam tray and picked it up. As he had yesterday and the day before that, he ran his finger over the plastic wrap with a kind of amazement. “Is this for our dinner, then, Faith?”