by Tina Martin
She smiled. “Will do.”
“And one more thing…”
“What’s that?”
“Remember to stay sweet.”
She blushed, smiling harder, watching as he walked to his Range. Then she stepped back inside and locked the door. She leaned against it and sighed. After a busy, successful day at the bakery, she looked forward to working again tomorrow. The simple improvements Ramsey had made proved to be changes for the better and better operations meant more money. More money meant more funds she’d have to pay for Gemma’s medical bills.
Chapter 7
Ramsey dressed in a black suit. Black shirt. Black Italian leather shoes and a burgundy tie. The platinum cuff links that fastened his shirt sleeves along with the Cartier watch on his left wrist was enough for a down payment on a mansion. He didn’t know how long he would have to be in the office today, but he never dressed casually when he had to be there. Work attire meant business. Casual was for play – outside of work – and he took his work too seriously to be stepping up in there with a pair of jeans on.
He took the elevator up to the tenth floor and walked down the hallway toward his office. When he came to his secretary’s office, he ducked his head in and said, “Good morning, Judy.”
“Good morning, Mr. St. Claire. I didn’t know you would be in the office today.”
“If it’s any consolation, I didn’t either. It’s all last minute.”
“Is there anything I can get for you? Coffee? Water?”
“A cup of coffee would be nice. Also, will you let Regal know I’m here?”
“Will do.”
Ramsey continued to his office where he sat at his desk and decided to power on his computer to check emails while he waited for Regal to join him. A few minutes later, Judy was there, placing a cup of coffee on his desk in a tall black mug with the company’s logo on it.
Ramsey picked it up, took a sip and said, “Ah, liquid gold. Thank you, Judy.”
“You’re welcome, Sir. I’ve already informed Regal that you were here.”
Just as she said the words, Regal came walking in along with Romulus and Royal. They were all suited up and rocked serious expressions on their faces.
Ramsey uttered displeasure under his breath. If all three of his brothers were joining him, there was a problem. A big problem. He wasn’t ready to deal with this type of problem. Besides, he wasn’t even supposed to be here. He wanted to be at the bakery. With Gianna.
Judy closed the door as she left the office and the brothers took seats wherever they deemed most comfortable. Regal sat on the black, leather sofa. Royal perched up on the edge of a conference table using one of the chairs as a placeholder for his feet. Romulus sat in a high back chair – one of two that faced Ramsey’s desk.
Biting back frustration, Ramsey asked, “To what do I owe the visit of all three of my brothers?”
Regal spoke up saying, “We need to discuss the new Uptown tower project.”
Ramsey frowned. “Why? We submitted the design and received approval two months ago.”
“Correct. However, the city has come back and said that the tower is only approved to be twenty floors high in the location where we want it.”
“Five blocks south of the Westin,” Ramsey said.
“That’s correct,” Romulus acknowledged.
Regal added, “If you recall, our client, The Davenport Group, had us design the tower to be thirty floors high.”
“Oh, I recall. I did the drawing by hand,” Ramsey said. “And I’m sure the city has notified Davenport of this new twenty-floor nonsense.”
“Yep,” Romulus said. “Dan Davenport requested a meeting with us Friday morning.”
Ramsey clenched his teeth. He didn’t have time for this – not when he was supposed to be off work. But, he also had a duty to satisfy his clients. After all, The Davenport Group had paid him a lot of money to design the tower.
“The way I see it is, we have two options,” Regal said. “We can try to convince Dan to go with the twenty-floor tower if he wants the area near the Westin, or we could keep the thirty floors only if we can find a suitable, comparable location—one that would be approved for a thirty-floor structure.”
“Rom, what are our options as far as available space?” Ramsey asked.
“I found an area located near The View high-rise apartments.”
“Are you sure that location will be approved for thirty floors?”
“Yep. They approved a thirty-five story building there six months ago, but the developers backed out.”
“So, thirty floors shouldn’t be a problem if they were willing to approve thirty-five,” Regal said, talking it through.
Romulus nodded. “That’s what I’m thinking.”
Ramsey steepled his hands, strategizing in his head. “Okay…here’s what I want to happen. Let’s meet Dan and his team Friday afternoon. I’ll have Judy make the arrangements—”
“He requested Friday morning,” Romulus interjected to say.
“Well, he’s not going to get Friday morning,” Ramsey said firmly. “We need some time to look into this problem. Meeting him Friday afternoon will give us Friday morning in addition to all day today to get a handle on this situation. Before the meeting occurs, Romulus, I need you to locate two other properties besides the one you currently have for backup.”
“Already on it,” Romulus responded.
“Regal—I need you to open the blueprint for latest version of the tower, copy it, then revise it to twenty floors and save a copy.”
“Easier said than done, but I’ve already started on it,” Regal told him. “A few more hours and it will be complete.”
“That’s perfect. Send me a copy when you’re done,” Ramsey instructed. “Royal, I need you to do some digging. Find out why the area by the Westin is no longer zoned for thirty floors and look into the new property Romulus found to determine if thirty floors would present a problem there. And I’m curious…find out why the other developers backed out.”
“Got it,” Royal said.
“It goes without saying that this all needs to be done by noon tomorrow.”
“Yep,” Regal said.
“Are we all in accordance?” Ramsey asked.
“We got it,” Royal said.
Romulus nodded, then asked, “So, Ram, what have you been doing with all your free time?”
“Yeah, what have you been doing besides dropping in on Ralph and Gilbert, giving them grief?” Royal asked.
“I wouldn’t have to drop in on them if I felt like the project was being handled appropriately,” Ramsey responded.
“Man, those guys have overseen hundreds of projects for us,” Royal said.
“Yeah, and people tend to get comfortable when they’ve been in a certain position for a long time. I don’t want any workers getting comfortable on the job.”
“They’re hardworking men, Ram,” Royal said. “You can’t blame them if a contractor backs out.”
Ramsey sighed. “You’re right. You’re absolutely right, Royal.” Ramsey leaned back in his chair. Then he said, “I met someone.”
Romulus frowned. “You met someone? That Wedded Bliss crap actually worked?”
“Well, not necessarily. The woman I’m interested in just so happens to be the owner’s best friend.”
Romulus chuckled. “You go straight to the top of the food chain to get yours, huh Ram? I ain’t mad at you, bro.”
Regal smirked.
“What now? Are you going to marry her?” Royal asked.
“Maybe. If everything goes according to plan.”
“I don’t think it’s a good idea, Ram,” Romulus said. “Marrying someone for companionship and not love sounds like a recipe for disaster to me.”
Regal had expressed similar concerns.
“Well, what other options do I have? I’ve lived the single, bachelor lifestyle for over ten years. At some point in life, you have to think about your future—and not just with working
and making money. You think about your personal life. About a family and kids and since my heart is closed to love, this is the best option there is.”
“Wait…didn’t you tell me you haven’t felt this way about a woman since Leandra?” Regal asked.
The brothers stared at him in shock.
Ramsey stroked his mustache. “Yes, but it’s the feeling. That’s all.”
Romulus frowned. “What feeling? Don’t tell me you’re talking about that weird connection crap again.”
“That’s exactly what I’m talking about. You should know it better than anyone, Rom. You and Siderra have been best friends for years. Since college.”
“Yeah,” Romulus said. “Friends.”
“A friend that you have a close connection to. She practically lives at your house, but that’s a discussion for another time. All I’m saying is, something connected me to Gianna the same way it connected me to Leandra. It’s a feeling I’ve only had twice in my life. The first time was with Leandra. I’m experiencing it a second time now.”
“But you still don’t think you can actually fall in love with her?” Regal asked.
“No, but I do feel something. I like being around her.”
“And what if this girl—”
Ramsey cut Romulus off and said, “Not girl. Woman and her name is, Gianna.”
“Okay,” Romulus continued, “What if Gianna falls for you? Then what? You’re going to tell her you’re incapable of falling in love with her? I don’t think that will go over too well with a woman. In fact, I know it won’t go over well. Does she even know about Leandra?”
“She knows a little, and I doubt she’ll fall in love with me. She not looking for love, she’s never been in love and she knows nothing about relationships. That much, I know for sure.”
“Are you even attracted to her?” Regal asked.
“That’s beside the point. You know I’ve never been one for looks.”
“Yet, Leandra was stunning,” Romulus commented.
“Yes, she was,” Ramsey said, reflecting, “But we’re not talking about her.”
“Okay, so what about Gianna, then?” Royal asked. “Is she a looker?”
“Gianna is Gianna. That’s all you need to know. You have some major growing up to do if the only thing you find attractive and appealing about a woman is her looks.”
“Ay,” Royal said, palms up. “All I’m saying is, if I was going to pay for a marriage hookup service, I would at least make sure the woman was a ten. But hey, that’s just me I guess.”
Ramsey envisioned Gianna’s smile and the image of her standing at her front door waving to him last night. The way she wore that hip-hugging dress when she walked in Luce, turning heads on her way to their table, her hair bouncing around her shoulders. He’d let his brothers think what they wanted to think. He knew just how beautiful Gianna was – inside and out. But it was the inside – her heart – that mattered to him the most.
* * *
Later that afternoon, Ramsey walked into the bakery to see that almost all the tables were filled. He glanced at the chalkboard noticing the cupcake of the day was the banana buttercream – and he looked at the display fridge and saw a good supply of milk that would probably be depleted by closing.
When she came walking from the back with her hairnet and apron, she smiled brightly and said, “Look at you…coming up in here in your three-piece suit, turning heads…got these women salivating and whatnot.”
He grinned. “I’m sure it’s those banana buttercreams making them salivate.”
She giggled. “Would you like to try one?”
“Definitely.”
She walked to the display case and removed one, then handed it to him, watching him peel back the liner to take a bite.
After chewing it, he said, “Wow. I think I have a new favorite.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“Yes.” He took another bite. And within the minute, he’d eaten the whole thing. “How many of these did you bake?”
“Ten dozen. I have about two dozen left.”
Walking behind the counter, he asked, “Did you have any catering orders today?”
“Yes. Five. I’m waiting for the last order to be picked up. A woman ordered five dozen vanilla cupcakes with chocolate icing for a party. She said she would be here around four.”
“That’s awesome.”
Gianna walked to the kitchen and removed a dozen carrot cupcakes from the oven. “I made a dozen more carrot cupcakes to last until closing. I think I have enough variety to stop baking for now.”
“Alright. Let me jump in here,” Ramsey said, rubbing his hands together. “What can I do?”
“Ramsey, you’re suited up, and trust me when I say, a black suit like that does not belong around all this flour.”
“I have maybe five more identical to this one. If I destroy it, trust me…I won’t miss it.” He took off his suit jacket, popped off his cuff links, then rolled up his sleeves. “How about I wash some dishes?”
“O-okay. I’m going to go back to the front for a moment.”
Gianna stood behind the counter again and sold a few more cupcakes. Shortly after she did, the woman showed up for her cupcake order.
Slowly, the place cleared out. She had her last customer at 6:45 p.m., and immediately after they left, she locked the door. She tallied up the money in the register while Ramsey swept the front dining area.
She looked up and watched him sweep for a moment before saying, “Hey, I packed up some of the leftover banana buttercreams for you.”
“Good. It’ll be my motivation for working out when I get home.”
“You work out?” she asked, then tried to clean it up by saying, “I mean, it’s obvious you work out…I was just…never mind.” She shook head, baffled at how nerve-racking it was to talk to him.
“Just take your time and ask me what you wanted to ask me.”
“I was trying to ask if you work out at home.”
“I do. I turned one of my sunrooms into a gym.”
“You have more than one sunroom?”
“Yes. I have three, actually, well, four if you consider the floor-to-ceiling wall of windows in my bedroom that faces the lake. One sunroom is a gym, one is a living room type space, and the other is an actual sunroom. They all provide magnificent views of the lake.”
“Sounds nice.”
“It is. You’ll get to see it one day.”
Right…sure I will.
He swept trash in the dust pan. “Hey, when was the last time you saw Jerry?”
“He hasn’t been in here in a while. I hope nothing happened to him.”
Ramsey was thinking about the last time he saw Jerry. They were in the restaurant – at Boardwalk Billy’s – and the man had done a disappearing act on him.
“I have a good amount of cupcakes leftover, so I’ll be going by the shelter tonight. Do you think Harriet would like some?”
“A couple, maybe.” He walked the nearest garbage can and emptied the dust pan. “How’s Gemma?”
“She’s okay. Harriet said she slept a lot today. I hope she’s awake when I get home so I can talk to her for a few minutes.”
“Then why don’t you go ahead and go,” he told her. “I’ll lock up here.”
“There’s no way I’m going to let you lock up alone. You’ve seriously done enough for me, Ramsey.”
“Then let’s move faster so we leave together.”
“Okay.”
* * *
They left the bakery fifteen minutes later, and he followed her to the shelter, then home. She knew what the outcome would be if she told him that following her home was unnecessary, so she didn’t bother. One thing she knew about Ramsey was, he was going to do what he wanted to do.
At home, Gianna found Gemma sitting at the kitchen table with Harriet. She rushed over to her, leaned down and wrapped her arms around her, pressing her lips to Gemma’s cheek.
“Somebody’s happy to see me,” Gemma te
ased.
“I am happy to see you,” Gianna said, excited, full of love. “When I got home yesterday, you were asleep. I didn’t get to talk to you. How do you feel?”
Gemma grinned. “Sleepy.”
“Well, besides that.”
“I’ve been sick for so long, I don’t know how I feel anymore.”
Gianna glanced at Harriet.
“She ate pretty good,” Harriet said. “And we watched a little TV.”
“Good.” Gianna handed Harriet a small box as she stood straight up again. “I brought you some cupcakes, Harriet.”
“Oh. Thank you, darling,” Harriet said, looking at the sweet treats.
“They’re banana buttercream,” Ramsey said, stepping inside the kitchen after ending a phone call with Romulus.
“I can’t wait to try them,” Harriet said.
“Don’t do it,” Gemma told her. “Once you do, you’re hooked.”
Gianna giggled.
“Is that so?” Harriet asked.
“Yes. That’s so,” Ramsey said. “She’s already got me hooked.” Got me hooked on more than just her cupcakes. He glanced at Gianna and smiled. If only she knew what he was thinking.
“Well, I’m going to get on the road so I can get a good night’s rest and be back here bright and early tomorrow,” Harriet said.
“Harriet, where do you live?” Gianna asked.
“In the Northlake Mall area.”
“Oh, so you’re not all that far away.”
“Not at all.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Mrs. Harriet,” Gemma said.
“Yes. Get your rest, sweetie. We’re going to have a lil’ fun tomorrow.”
“Okay. Rest is what I do best,” Gemma replied, unenthused.
“Thanks again, Harriet,” Gianna said.
“You’re welcome, dear.”
“I’ll walk you out, Harriet,” Ramsey offered. He was a gentleman like that, but it would also give him time to get an update on Gemma. Standing by Harriet’s car, he asked, “So, how is she?”
Harriet sighed, relieving the weight of taking care of an ill, young woman who had her whole life ahead of her – the world at her fingertips – but cancer put her life on hold. There was nothing fair about these circumstances. Nothing at all. Gemma deserved so much more than the hand she’d been dealt. Shaking her head, Harriet said, “She’s not doing all that good. And I don’t know why the doctor gave her those pills, Ramsey. They don’t seem to be doing a darn thing to help her. The only time she smiles is when we talk about Gianna.” Harriet sighed heavily again. “She’s such a sweet young lady. It’s so hard to watch her go through this.”