Boyfriend for Hire

by Gail Chianese

  “Now, I heard what you said about your boyfriend. Honey, if he cheated on you, he’s a fool. You stick around and I’ll introduce you to one of the groomsmen—he’s single and employed. Also, my fiancé said if you need a good lawyer to go after that scum-sucking ex-boss of yours, to give him a call. Y’all just got to wait until we get back from our honeymoon. Now, you go snitch a glass of champagne and I’ll see you during the reception.”

  The sweetest woman Tawny ever met got up and met her future husband at the door and together they walked back down the aisle to the cheers and clapping of their guests. Tawny sat for a few minutes to pull it together and dry her eyes. She wanted to walk out the door and never look back, even though the bride said it was okay. Tawny’s face burned. The pit of acid in her stomach threatened to boil over, and she could feel the weight of her coworkers’—soon-to-be former coworkers’—gazes on her. Phil whispered something to one of them. She couldn’t make out his words, but the tone was clear.

  Standing, she stared straight ahead. “Kerri?”

  The woman came to her. “Are you all right?” she asked, her voice soft and full of concern.

  “Not really, but that isn’t important. I’m so sorry. I can’t apologize enough. My actions are inexcusable. I’ll stay if you need me and I know the bride said what she said, but I think it’s best if I leave.”

  Kerri gave her a quick hug. “I’ll call you later.”

  Tawny walked out the front door and got in her car. Without thinking she drove straight to her parents’ house. Might as well tell the parentals she’d lost another job. In for a penny, in for a pound, as the old saying went. She headed straight to the backyard, following the sound of voices. Upon seeing her mom, Grams, and Cherry, her heart lightened.

  “Mija, what are you doing here? Cherry said you had an event today?” Her mom stood and hugged her, stopping short to study her face. “Are you okay? You look pale.”

  She forced a smile. “No, I’m not, but I will be. Is Daddy home?”

  “No, he’s at the restaurant helping George fix a dishwasher.” Her mom pulled up another chair for her and told her to sit.

  “Did you have to deal with one of those bridezillas, lass?” Grams handed her a glass of something cold.

  Cherry, who had been on the phone, took one look at Tawny and ended the call. She stood in front of her and wrapped her arms around Tawny. “This is my fault. Tell me you don’t hate me,” she murmured against Tawny’s shoulder.

  “I don’t hate you, chica, and it wasn’t your fault. This screwup is completely my own doing.”

  “Will one of you girls tell me what is going on?” Tawny’s mom demanded.

  Tawny shooed Cherry back to her chair, while Tawny dropped into the one her mom had indicated earlier. “I think I just lost another job. Actually, I’m pretty sure when I show up Monday, my stuff will be waiting for me at the front door.”

  She told them the whole sordid story. At first crying, then laughing as she watched the play of reactions on her family’s faces.

  “The bride didn’t?” Cherry asked as Tawny got to the end.

  “She’s probably, now as we speak, looking for me so she can hook me up with groomsman number two or possibly three.”

  “Katia, this calls for something stronger than iced tea. You should go whip up some margaritas for us,” Grams said. “Lass, that’s almost as good as me spilling my sex life to the whole hospital a couple of months ago. Of course, neither of us can come close to our girl here.” She pointed to Cherry. “She spilled her guts on national TV. Hmm, seems to me, Katia, you’re the next one to make a fool of themselves in front of strangers. Like to see you top the three of us.” Grams gave her friend a wicked smirk.

  Katia ignored her friend’s comment and focused on her daughter. “Are you sure you and David are over?”

  “Yes. You don’t have to worry about him anymore.”

  “Hmm,” she responded.

  What the heck did that mean? Usually when her mom gave that look and reply, it meant she didn’t believe her kids. She wished, for once, that her mom was right. In the past few days, Tawny had missed Dave more than she’d ever expected. And it wasn’t like she’d never see him again. On the contrary, she wouldn’t be able to avoid him for long, not unless she was willing to give up her best friend. So not happening.

  “Maybe you can explain to your boss what happened. Tell her you had a nervous breakdown,” Mom said.

  “We could get you checked in to the funny wing at the hospital for the rest of the weekend. Then you’d have proof, and she couldn’t fire you if you were mental,” Grams suggested.

  Right now, an I-love-me jacket sounded like a good idea, especially if it came with a gag. Maybe then she could keep out of trouble.

  Cherry held up her glass. “To us, the sisterhood of the crazy pants.”

  Tawny rolled her eyes and smiled. Why had she ever thought keeping her problems a secret from her mom, Grams, and Cherry was the right answer? This, being with these three women, was the best therapy ever.

  “Seriously, though.” Cherry looked at her over her tea. “What are you going to do? I mean, it doesn’t sound like the bride will complain.”

  “No, I don’t think she will either. However, I’m willing to bet you your honeymoon that Phil has already called Mrs. S and told her the whole wretched story. He’d already cornered me earlier and accused me of cheating on David.”

  “He what?” Cherry squawked at the same time her mom and Grams swore, questioning Phil’s parentage.

  “He’s got a man crush on Farber. Doesn’t matter. I lost it at an event. They’re not going to want me to keep working for them. After all, how will they know I won’t melt down again? I’ll find another job. I might have to move home for a while and swallow my pride and go to work for George, but I’ll land back on my feet.”

  She’d go home, skip the Ben & Jerry’s (thanks to the sisterhood), and make a new list. And maybe cry.

  As Dave and Jason made their way from the top to the bottom of the three-story B&B, checking items off on their list to prepare for Monday’s visit with the building inspector, Dave couldn’t find the thrill he normally experienced at the end of a project.

  “I talked with the owner this morning. She’s ecstatic over our work and that you finished a week before the leaf-peepers arrive.” Jason stood after checking the pipes under the second-floor bathroom sink. “She’s already referred another client our way and specified she wants you on the job. Great work, brother.”

  “Thanks.”

  His friend’s head came up to meet his gaze. Jason squinted his eyes, but looked away before Dave could see what was going on in his head. The drumming fingers gave Jase away. The guys never stayed out of each other’s personal lives. Hell, they’d been friends too long to mind their own business now.

  Dave knew the flat tone of his voice worried his friend. For the past few days, since he’d last seen Tawny, his sour mood made it so he didn’t even want to be around himself, which is when you knew it was bad. The guys had seen it before. They were the reason he made it through his parents’ volatile divorce. The fact that Brody was absent today and Jason didn’t razz him spoke volumes.

  “If you give me the referral’s info, I’ll give them a call Monday. See what they need done and we can go from there on who does what. You’re done with the pastor’s project. Unless you’ve got something booked I’m unaware of, we could do the next one together,” Dave said, trying to invoke something other than patheticness in his voice.

  Jason clamped him on the shoulder. “Aw, you miss me. I’m touched.”

  “I’m crushed,” Brody spoke from the top stair. “Fubar never tells me he misses me.”

  “Yeah, that’s because I’m his favorite,” Jason said.

  “Screw you both.” Dave pushed past Brody on the stairs and headed to the main floor. He didn’t need their crap today. Turning as he hit the last step, he eyed Brody in worn jeans and a T-shirt. For once he looked
like he belonged hanging with him and Jason. “What are you doing here anyway, pretty boy?”

  Brody stood loose and limber on the step above him. “Came by to check on my investment. Got a problem with that, Fubar?”

  Dave turned and walked into the new parlor slash sitting room slash reception. They kept the Victorian feel of the place while adding modern updates like central heat, floors the owner wouldn’t have to wax, and walls that didn’t allow every noise to travel to the next room. They’d also built a secret passageway from the master bedroom on the second floor to the kitchen, as well as one leading from the second-floor sitting room to the library for the guests’ entertainment. He might be missing his usual exuberance over a job well done, but he was damn proud of his crew.

  Dave leaned with his arm resting on the fireplace mantel. “No problem at all, Bro. Next time, I’ll give you a call when we’re digging out the septic tank. Maybe then you can really be more than a silent partner, since you can’t seem to comprehend that role.”

  “Have you ever known me to stay silent?” Brody asked.

  Yeah, he should have known the two of them wouldn’t keep their noses out of his and Tawny’s relationship. Then again, he’d do and had done the same with both of them.

  “Is this the part where you both tell me I’m an idiot?”

  “Don’t we do that every day?” Jason stood guard at the doorway, hands tucked into his back pockets.

  Brody sat in one of the uncomfortable period chairs, legs crossed out in front of him, giving Dave his patient stare that had witnesses on the stand squirming and juries enthralled.

  “Guys, appreciate the intervention. Don’t need it. I’m fine,” he said.

  “What happened with Tawny?” Brody ignored him and pushed.

  He’d effed up everything beyond saving, as always. “Nothing. It’s over. Job’s done and it’s time to move on.”

  “Then why have she and Cherry been on the phone daily, whispering, and when Cherry gets off the phone she curses and looks up to your apartment?”

  Great, he was causing Jason and Cherry problems. “Don’t know. She’s your fiancée, ask her.”

  “I have and she won’t tell me, which tells me it’s not about the wedding. I saw Daniel Ryan last night and both he and Kitty are fine. That leaves Tawny.”

  “So Tawny’s your problem now?” Dave asked, pushing off the mantel to stand in front of Jason. “And she says I have a White Knight problem.”

  Jason stepped up into his face. “She’s a friend, so yes, I’m concerned. But she’s not my main concern. You are. You’re never despondent after a breakup.”

  “May as well spill your guts,” Brody said softly. He’d closed his eyes, and to the unknown he probably looked like he was about to take a nap. Dave knew better. The counselor was about to strike. “Then we can finish up the inspection and go drown your sorrows in beer.”

  Screw it. If he didn’t cave now, they’d nag him to death. Friends. Yeah, he was damn lucky to have them. So he told them about the incident at the bank with the manager and young teller, with Tawny’s mom to witness it all, including his slip with her secret.

  “I knew that guy was scum.” Brody sat up in his chair, his hands laced behind his neck. If Dave had White Knight syndrome, then Brody’s problem stemmed from an Avenging Angel complex. After watching his dad beat his mom for years, Brody couldn’t stand by and let any woman be bullied.

  “She’s pissed because you helped her friend and in the process her mom learned that she’d really quit her job after being physically accosted by her boss. Is that right?” Jason asked, fingers drumming on his thigh. Dave knew from experience the action meant he was trying to find the missing piece to make sense of what happened.

  “That and she got some idea in her head that I messed around with Jody on her.”

  Brody shook his head. “Doesn’t add up. You’d never cheat.”

  “I didn’t, but she thinks I did because Jody and I slipped away during the open house to talk, and she thinks we were doing more.”

  Jason looked to Brody and back to Dave. “Did you explain what you were doing with Jody?”

  “No.”

  “Fubar—”

  “Why is there smoke coming from the garage?” Brody had moved to the side window, facing the detached one-car garage.

  Dave and Jase double-timed it across the room.

  “There’s nothing in there that should be smoking,” Dave said.

  “Power?” Jason asked.

  “Yeah. Breaker’s in the basement.”

  “On it.” Jason took off down the hall to the basement stairs.

  “Extinguisher?” Brody looked around the room.

  “Down the hall, in the kitchen next to the back door. Grab it and I’ll grab the one from my truck, just in case.” Dave ran out the front door, jumped down the steps, and raced to his truck. As soon as he opened the front door, the smell of smoke hit his nose. He wrenched open his truck door, grabbed the extinguisher he always kept for emergencies and the bandana lying on the seat.

  He met Brody a few feet from the outbuilding. Together they felt the door. Warm, but the heat could be from the sun. Dave continued around the corner to where there was a side door and more importantly, a window. “We need Jase to cut the power.”

  “Clear,” Jason yelled as he exited the main house.

  “Opposite corner. Give me a couple of minutes to put it out, then open the doors and the window to clear out the smoke. I might need you to hit any hot spots with yours.” Dave pulled the bandana up and pushed open the small door. The smoke stung his eyes, and even with the cloth barrier smoke streaked down his throat. The inside of his nose burned from the heat.

  He hit the flames with the extinguisher, and after a few minutes they died out. The guys cautiously moved to the entranceways to get air while the smoke cleared out. It didn’t take long with both doors and the window open before they could reenter. Dave and Brody kept their extinguishers ready in case any hot spots flared up. Dave pulled his flashlight out of his pocket with his other hand and shined the light along the burn path.

  The path ran from where the electricity entered the garage and ended at an outlet.

  He didn’t need to look any further. The charred wires, the burn marks around the outlet told him what he needed to know. He’d fucked up. As he ran lists and tasks through his mind, he knew without a doubt the fire was his fault. He’d forgotten all about the garage. It was on his job list for last Thursday. The same job list Tawny had created for him and he’d refused to use after she dumped him.

  “I’m sorry,” he murmured.

  “For what?” Jason and Brody asked in unison.

  He couldn’t face them. He kept staring at the burn marks. “You put me in charge here. Gave me your faith and trust, and I let you down.”

  “Dave—” Jason reached out a hand to him.

  “No, don’t say it. No excuses. This is on me.”

  “I wasn’t going to give an excuse. You’re right. This job was on you. Something goes wrong, whether you caused the problem or one of the crew did, it’s on you. I was going to ask how this happened. You told me you rewired the entire property.”

  “No, I rewired the house. This was scheduled for two days ago and I forgot.” He turned to meet his friends’ gazes. Brody rubbed the back of his neck and Jason drummed out a beat on his thigh. Signs both of his friends were thinking before they spoke. “Say it. Whatever you two are thinking, say it.”

  “Okay, I will.” Brody looked up before continuing. “Yeah, this is your fault. As Jase said, you were the project manager, but it’s also our fault. We pushed you to step up, even when we both know you had a valid reason not to want to be in charge.”

  “What reason is that? I’m a fuckup?”

  “He’s talking about your ADD, Dave,” Jason said, his voice filled with impatience. Nothing new there.

  Dave’s head whipped back and forth between the two. “My ADD? You know?”

 
“Now you’re insulting my intelligence.” Brody punched him in the upper chest. Wouldn’t have done more than stun a fly, but it got his point across.

  “I’ve never said anything. Did my mom?”

  “Little signs over the years. We thought you’d outgrown it or had it under control because you seem to be on top of things. You haven’t missed a beat on any other projects and, well, I’ve stopped by here a few times to check on the progress, and I didn’t see anything amiss,” Jason said.

  Dave’s head jerked back. “You’ve been checking up on me?” He let out a sigh and held up his hand, stopping either from saying anything else. “It’s okay. Obviously, you had reason to, and I did have it under control until last week. Everything was better when she was with me. Not that she was some miracle worker and made the problem disappear. She centered me. She knew about the ADD and didn’t look down on me for it. Actually, she helped, gave me some coping tools. Since she told me to leave, it’s been purgatory.”

  “Yeah, I get it,” Jason said.

  He did too, Dave knew that. Jason and Cherry fought and broke up and he had to wait eight weeks to apologize. Dave had his moments, but he didn’t plan to be that much of an epic screwup.

  “I can’t eat, can’t sleep because every time I close my eyes, I see Ivan kissing her, and I want to go pound his face in.”

  “She’s not with Ivan.” Jason grinned. “Hey, I didn’t get much out of Cherry, but she did admit that much. Guess he bowed out of the running. So what are you going to do?”

  “I’ve got a plan, but I’ll need Cherry’s help.” He’d actually thought of it that morning, before coming to work. He’d have to wait a day or so, until he cleaned up his mess here on the job first.

  “If it makes her friend happy, you can count Cherry in.”

  “Whatever you need from us, say the word.” Brody held out his hand and Dave grabbed it, followed by Jason’s on top in true Musketeer fashion.

  “Now that you mention it. Time to get those hands of yours dirty, councilor, and make you a full fledge partner in Valentine Rehab.” He loved the suspicious look on his friend’s face. “You said it yourself, this little problem is as much yours and Jason’s fault as mine. With the three of us working together we can repair the damage before the inspector comes on Monday.”