The Step Sister (Sister Series, #10)

by Leanne Davis

  She fisted her hands. “I can’t believe he just dumped me on you.”

  Chris shrugged. “Forget it. I’ve driven to job site meetings with him. He pawned me off on anyone from random workers hired by the subs to the freaking architect of the project. He did that because, and I quote, 'we lived close to each other.’ The poor architect was stuck with me most of the day, and at the time, I was barely an unskilled laborer. He was nice enough about it though and since then, he became a good connection. Anyway, my lesson of the day for you is to try not to rely on Lloyd. If anything comes up, he’ll swiftly ditch you to take care of it.”

  Blowing out a breath, it tickled the stray hairs around Julia’s face. She appreciated this giant of a man taking the extra moment to make her feel at ease. She turned towards him, taking in his full height, width, baldness, and vibrant collage of tattoos. His bold, bright blue eyes were a striking contrast. She could have brushed him off as a giant brute, but of all the men she’d encountered so far, he was by far the one who treated her with the most respect and equality.

  She blushed a bit, realizing how easily she’d stereotyped him. He immediately acted the complete opposite of how she would have predicted, based solely on his looks.

  She sure had judged him, whereas he hadn’t judged her. Not like Lloyd had and that stupid man named Beck. She was relieved then that he couldn’t read her mind or realize how easily she pigeonholed him.

  “So the paving subcontractor, Avalanche Paving Company, should be here in fifteen minutes. We don’t have to go in the hole. We’ll be meeting over by the soon-to-be-poured driveway. Come. Listen. Learn something. Remember every part you learn of the building process might help you later with other projects. Take advantage of all the exposure to all of the processes you can get.” He plunked a hard hat back on his head as he spoke and held one out to her. She took it and set it on her head. It fell down over her eyes and he laughed. “We’ll need a smaller one, eh?”

  She smiled in response. “Thank you. Not sure why you’re being so nice to me, but I certainly appreciate it.”

  He shrugged. “We’ve all been new on the job. And inexperienced. Everyone has to start somewhere. And someday, when you’re running the damn business—”

  She scoffed interrupting him.

  He smiled and continued, “Try to remember that and pass along the kindness, help, tutorials and all of your private knowledge.”

  “Pay it forward?” she summarized, drawing her eyebrows up in surprise. The guy just didn’t look the type, yet his personality was turning out to be pretty amazing. Golden, even.

  “I don’t get why people don’t try to make someone feel more comfortable if they can, you know? Seems like such a dick reaction not to help another person who seems confused or out of place. Again, we’ve all been there, right? Imagine if everyone reached out to help people when they noticed that they needed some assistance. Then no one would ever feel inadequate.”

  Julia held the hard hat on her head as she followed him. The real dick, she realized, was herself in her snap judgment of the large man. Bulging muscles and baldness didn’t necessarily mean skinhead and stupid. She listened closely when Chris met with the subcontractor. Questions were asked and answered. The paver sub inspected the site and discussed a plan, which was later agreed upon. She didn’t interrupt anyone or ask questions, but a few times, Chris paused and turned directly toward her, explaining or clarifying what they were discussing. She nodded and smiled as the other man glanced with surprise at her. Did he assume she was there to decorate the space? The astonishment at her inclusion in their interaction seemed evident on the sub’s face. She felt a warming respect and grateful reliance on Chris.

  When they finished, she waited while Chris made a phone call, wrote down some notes, and tidied up the job shack before he locked it and several of the outside boxes that held tools and equipment. He also locked the gate on the chain link fence that surrounded the site. They walked over to his older model blue truck. It was no more than a beater. She opened the door and it moaned a tired squeak.

  “Sorry it’s such a mess.”

  She glanced his way and he flashed a smile, but his eyes didn’t linger on her. No ogling from him.

  “I use this heap strictly for work. So I don’t take care of it. And you saw the muckhole I’ve been swimming around in for the last few weeks…” His voice trailed off. Was he embarrassed? Wasn’t that how any construction worksite truck looked? She tilted her head.

  “I ended up looking and feeling like an overdressed, prissy doll there today. Your truck makes a lot more sense here than my choice of dress.”

  He flashed her a surprising smile. It was subdued, and did not fully engage his cheeks and eyes. His teeth barely showed. Considering his initial demeanor, she wondered if it was a shy smile. Like he was testing it out on her and unsure of how much to show her.

  “You can’t let them know you think that. Guys around here will jump on it and treat you like that asshole who asked you for coffee, or worse. They might consider you a piece of meat they can’t wait to tear into. Know what I mean?”

  “Yeah. Catcalls, wolf-whistles, and all that? Not just a myth about construction workers?”

  “Well, I hate to generalize, but no.”

  She tilted her head. “But somehow, I feel you are not included in that generalization.”

  “Not for making catcalls, no. I’m too busy working. I represent Cartwright General Construction. I don’t forget that for a single moment that I’m on-site. I think our behavior matters and the neighbors’ perceptions of us are also important. If we’re polite, quiet, respectful, and we keep the site and surrounding area clean and secure, most people are more willing to accept us and not impede our progress. You never know when you’ll need a favor, which could be anything from gaining alternate access to the site or even tying into the existing utilities or the landscaping. Never shoot yourself in the foot without a good reason.” He shrugged his big shoulders. “Just a belief I have.”

  “I love your attitude.”

  “And that includes any displays of sexism like what happened to you today or catcalling or wolf-whistling.” He flicked a glance her way. “If I hear it while working on my site, it’s not allowed. So if you run into it again, be sure to let me know.”

  “Do you plan to handle it for me?”

  His eyebrows lifted in surprise. “Sure. If it’s a problem on my site, I should know. I, alone, can punish the workers by docking their pay or even threatening to fire them. You don’t have that authority. I don’t say that because you’re a woman either. I tell that to anyone who has a problem or a concern on my job site. The buck stops with me, and that’s what I firmly believe.”

  “Thank you, Chris. You can’t imagine how I appreciate knowing that.”

  Chris swung his truck into the offices of Cartwright General Construction. It was a single story building, with an extensive glass front. They entered, finding the place empty for the day. Julia walked towards the small office. Chris was standing beside a large bookshelf with different labeled baskets on it. One had his name. “Did they tell you that any work or papers for the sites go into each superintendent’s box? If you’re ever coming out to a job site, be sure to check each super’s box and bring the contents out to them.”

  She shook her head. “No. No one said that to me.”

  Chris held multiple papers in his hand. He sighed and glanced around. “Just… ah… just insist that Lloyd trains you. You’ll have to get in his face to get him to show you what to do, from the simple office correspondence to jobs that are more extensive or skilled. He’s notoriously bad about both, okay? Don’t let him be that way with you.”

  She smiled. “You mean, I should grow a backbone?”

  His lips tilted up. “A real big one and real fast. I know it seems like a lot to learn, but you’ll have to constantly demand it. That’s the nature of this business and a huge fault in Lloyd’s approach.”

  “But not in yours,”
she said, studying him.

  He crossed his arms over his chest. The once white t-shirt, which he wore with an unbuttoned denim shirt over it, had the Cartwright General Construction label on it. His jeans were worn and molded around his powerful legs. She admired the huge, tree-trunk thighs that tapered down into his scuffed, worn, brown leather boots. “I try not to be. Look, I’m a nice guy around anyone who is doing their job. Anyone who is honest. But when it comes to lying, stupidity or idiocy? You won’t recognize me. Stay honest, try your best and do your job, and we’ll never have a problem.”

  “Straight shooter.” She smiled. “A bit like my dad.”

  “Yeah? What’s he do?”

  She pointed across the street and down a bit. “See that office there? That’s his. He services and repairs computers. Also runs the networks for companies. He does Cartwright’s too.”

  “How come you don’t work there?”

  “I don’t like sitting in front of a computer. It’s lost on me. No interest.”

  “Me neither. I need to be moving, using my hands or at least as much as possible. No one can totally avoid computers though.”

  “No. I try to as much as I can, however.” They shared a smile and she suddenly grew aware of how quiet the office was. Computers gently hummed and the occasional traffic filtered in but otherwise, it was seriously quiet. For such a big, burly man, he was startlingly sedate in his presence. He cleared his throat and dropped his arms, his hand fisting the pile of papers. “Well, I’m off. Be seeing you, Julia.”

  “But next time, I won’t be wearing a dress and heels.”

  He stopped at the front door, flashing her a smile. “You’ll be fine. Just don’t—”

  “Get anyone coffee.” He nodded, pleased with her answer. She added. “And grow a huge pair of balls.”

  He laughed at that. “I was going to say backbone, but hell, why not?”

  Waving, he stepped out. She watched him cross the lot. He had a huge stride that equalled his enormous size. Julia had never been so close to a man as big as Chris Vaughn. He reminded her of a heavyweight wrestler or boxer, except he was in better shape. What continued to puzzle her was the personality attached to him. He was kind of great. Julia was glad Chris was the job site supervisor she had to deal with on the first job she had. With such a ridiculous amount to learn, it was obvious to Julia that Lloyd wouldn’t be the coach in all that her job involved. Technically speaking, she was his assistant, but he missed every cue on the basic information she should have been given.

  He told her yesterday to dress business professional because they were meeting with the owner, architect, and the engineer. Naturally, she pictured a professional office space and a conference room, not a rented mobile job shack with tools stacked in one corner and the odor of dirt, dust, and mildew filling her nostrils. If not for Chris Vaughn, she’d have surely made an ass of herself today. From serving the coffee to running out onto the job site in heels. Heels, of all things.

  She dropped down onto the chair next to the front door, which was provided for people to wait in the lobby. She stared down at herself, cringing as she pictured the moment she walked into the dirty, male-staffed job shack. It was a swift and powerful learning curve, but thank God, Chris Vaughn appeared to help her struggling, ridiculous self.

  Tomorrow, she’d do much better. She would perform better. And act more appropriately.

  Grow some balls. And a giant backbone. Lloyd Cartwright never intended to smooth her transition or teach her as he promised. She straightened up and flipped her shoulders back. No. She had to teach herself and annoy many others, perhaps even Chris, who had to answer her questions and therefore, teach her. Train her. Help her. She quickly had to get over being shy, hesitant, and insecure. There was no room for that in this industry. She had a job, and for some reason, which surprised even her, today’s small episodes with chauvinism only made her more determined. She refused to quit or cower; she intended to rise up and succeed. She would surprise them.

  She would not get anyone coffee.

  That was more shocking to her than perhaps anyone else.

  Chapter Three

  OF COURSE, THE FIRST thing she did the next morning was get Lloyd his cup of coffee. Stepping inside the office, she saw he was on the phone and he motioned to her when his gaze caught hers. His office had a large window that overlooked the hallway to the entrance so Lloyd saw and heard most conversations. His door was usually open. She came closer and he held up his empty coffee cup, jiggling it and nodding towards her. Restraining a huge sigh, Julia stepped forward and grabbed the mug before heading towards the small kitchen area of the office. She refilled his cup and delivered it back to him. He flashed her a grateful smile.

  Today, she wore sensible clothes: a blouse and long pants with low-heeled boots. She also brought with her, but left them in her car, a pair of taller barn boots, a raincoat, and a hard hat that fit her head. She spent most of last night going to several different stores to find all the items she needed. From now on, she would bring her gear to any job site.

  But of course, the boss needed more coffee, so her pride and satisfaction at procuring the equipment she deemed so vital to her new job quickly evaporated.

  Julia passed Judy Ann. She glanced at Walter as she passed him. She seriously doubted that he ever retrieved coffee for Lloyd. She shook it off. She knew she was much more than just a coffee fetcher. She was hired to do real work. Once she was trained, she intended to become so indispensable that no one would dare to even think of asking her to retrieve their coffee again.

  When Lloyd hung up the phone, Julia still had no clear-cut ideas as to what to do with herself. She was reliant on Lloyd for his guidance before she could start to work, but she couldn’t read his mind. Since Julia was the Project Assistant to him, Lloyd was the key to her daily activities.

  “Ah, Julia. Come in and sit. I was just discussing a possible future building. It’s a joint project with a commercial real estate developer from Marsdale, someone I’ve worked with before.”

  Julia’s relief was real when Lloyd continued in earnest to explain how they were discussing the possible deal. Showing her a map and the proposed location, he told her the next steps he’d be taking, including a site walk-through, which he scheduled for them to do at three that day.

  “The thing is, all this is free. It’s a service we provide. We bid on stuff or try to negotiate deals so we can give them preliminary budgets. Sometimes nothing happens. Sometimes it ends up in signed contracts. You happened to be hired when we are slammed, that I’m running Chris’s job strictly from a project management point of view. We’ll be mostly involved in that, but added to that challenge is this is the first job Chris has managed as sole superintendent. That means I have to keep a pretty close eye on him, which also means I’ll have to send you out there a lot.”

  Encouraged, Julia was glad to be given an overview of Lloyd’s work and schedule. Later, he started showing her the information he needed to start today’s proposal, so for the next several hours, Julia remained engaged and busy. When he asked her to go with him to the walk-through, she eagerly accepted, but insisted on driving herself because a submittal came in for Chris’s site and she knew it was something he needed quickly. He left a text for her to bring it if she could.

  When she got to the walk-through, the real estate developer was already there. He was dressed like Lloyd, and Julia was glad she chose a more professional but functional outfit as she followed them. She was listening and taking notes, particularly of the things Lloyd said he wanted her to look into. He needed prices on all kinds of services that ranged from the demolition and removal of existing concrete curbing to the developer’s insistence on adding a decorative pond with a fountain in the front. She didn’t follow most of the conversation, but hearing a few key words about the site reminded her of Chris’s tutorial yesterday. Satisfied when Lloyd complimented her for being unobtrusive while taking plenty of notes so he didn’t have to, she felt a warm fl
ush filling her.

  She left and intended to drop in on Chris’s site, planning to hand deliver the submittals from the masonry subcontractor.

  Tugging on her barn boots, she slipped her dark raincoat over her blouse to protect it. Feeling one hundred percent more confident than she did yesterday at this time, she knew it was mostly due to Chris’s tips. He was out again at the mucky hole. Working with an excavator, they repeatedly dug out the muck before filling the waiting oversized dump trucks. He waved at her in acknowledgement. She indicated that she’d be in the job shack. The place was empty. She breathed a sigh of relief and straightened up.

  Even if she were surrounded by twenty workers, it wouldn’t have mattered. She could handle it. She wasn’t the coffee server. She was Lloyd’s assistant, and that carried some clout with it. No one knew about or needed to know that she was hired without any experience or even a resume. It didn’t matter, not if she could manage to figure out how to do the job.

  Chris came inside after a few moments; he slipped the hard hat off and set it down, acknowledging her with a smile. “Hello.”

  It was impossible not to smile back at him. His greeting was so simple and spoken in a soft tone. His gaze skittered off and then came to rest back on her.

  “Hello. There are the submittals you asked about,” she replied.

  Relief flashed over his face. Because he had a task to concentrate on? Or because he’d needed that paperwork? She had the distinct impression he hadn’t been sure how to treat her. The shuffling feet and darting gaze gave him away. Was he shy? It was hard to imagine with his hulking presence. He was soft-spoken, but that didn’t fit with the image she had of a site construction supervisor.

  “Good. Good. Do you know why these work?”

  She stood off to the side and glanced at his face. He was staring down at the paperwork before him, reading the specs that showed the details for each footing to be poured. “No. Of course not.”

  “Of course, Lloyd wouldn’t think to show you. Here, come over here.” He patiently gave her a thorough explanation of how well they fit into what the plans called for.