Bossman's List

by Ashlee Price

  Marcel sat down next to her. “Okay, what were you thinking about?”

  “I was thinking that I need to pass the company on now. I can’t keep working there, at least not for a time while I am recovering.”

  He tried to stop her. It wasn’t the time. She had just gotten out of surgery and the last thing she should be worried about was the business. “I will take care of it, don’t worry.”

  “Good, that’s what I had in mind. You are going to have to take over for a while, but my assistant will help you out. She knows what and where and who for everything.”

  “Okay mom, really this is something we can talk about later.”

  “Yes, there is something else. Gemma, you too.”

  She moved closer and like Marcel, didn’t like the finality in how she was talking. Elna was talking like a woman that had things on her mind that she wanted settled. “I have been thinking.”

  “Mom, you have only been here for a couple of hours.”

  Elna smiled. “It seemed like longer. I realize now that I don’t want to go without my children settled.”

  Marcel sat back and took in her face, grinning. “Are you really going to use your heart attack to push that again?”

  Her smile broadened. “I will if I have to. It is sad that I have had to go so long without grandchildren. Only Chris is married and I have five other children that I want to see settled. I don’t have forever to wait and this just reminds me that time is short.”

  Marcel was pulled between the moment and the fifty other ones where she had tried unsuccessfully to get him married off. He always told her that he would find the right one, one day, but it didn’t seem a sufficient answer anymore. “I will do my best ma. I am sure that it’s about time.”

  She seemed to accept the answer, relaxing some as she laid back. Gemma didn’t answer the call to comment. Her love life was a mess and there were no prospects on the horizon. The only thing left to do was go out to bars or start online dating. Neither one sounded good to her, so she looked away to avoid her mother’s eyes.

  The four people talked for a little while longer until they were ushered out of there so Elna could get some rest. It was just like her, in the middle of a tragedy, she was trying more than anything to bring everyone together. Marcel worried that without her there, the family would fall apart.

  He wanted to stay, but he had some work to do at the ranch. His brothers would have taken care of most of it, but there was also the fact that they didn’t know what was going on and Marcel didn’t want them to find out from the hurried voice message that he had left earlier. The circumstances were different and their mother wasn’t on the brink as he had feared. She was going to be okay and Marcel just wanted to get home before they got there and heard the message.

  It was almost dark before he got back, but they were still out in the field. Going into the main house, Marcel went to the messenger and erased the blinking message. He went out to the stables and checked on the horses, his own needing food and water. Marcel pulled him out of the barn for a quick run in the fading light, just needing a moment of quiet and freedom that only the vast empty grazing land could offer him.

  Chapter 2

  The family had gathered together, the ones in the area and talked about what was to be done with the business and their mother. Someone would need to be hired to help take care of her while Gemma and Leanna were working and Marcel had to take over the business side of the company.

  Callahan Meats was one of the largest in Texas and even though he had been working for the business his whole life, Marcel had only been in the offices once before. Elna had been an accountant, so she had naturally taken over the business when her husband died. Now it was on Marcel to be that type of person, the business type, the one in the suit and he wasn’t sure that he could be. He would have to try though, there was no one else.

  He tried to tell himself that it would only be for a time, but the fact was that Elna was getting older and she may not come back at all. If she did, it was going to be a while. So he tried to make the best of it, spending his last weekend on the ranch, riding and trying to get everything taken care of.

  There was still the question of if he was going to stay in the city, the commute just too much to do every day. That meant that he would only be home on the weekends, so he had to pack up a few things to take with him as well. It all spelled out to be a long week and by the time it was Monday morning, he was ready to go, having stewed on it all weekend, unable to actually enjoy his last couple of days at home. Conroe had been his home for a long time and he wasn’t looking forward to changing that.

  As he drove into the city, the lanes of traffic got wider and it seemed like everyone started to get in a rush. It was strange to be back there after so long and it was a place that he hadn’t wanted to go to. Following the directions from his GPS, Marcel found the huge ten story building with his family name on the side and moved towards the front entrance.

  The only good thing about never being there before was that no one knew who he was. He was able to move around freely, getting a feel for the place and the people he would be working with. Going up to the top floor, he walked around the hallway and then moved into his mother’s office. It was there that he was finally questioned of his intent to be there.

  “Can I help you Sir? This floor is not for guests.”

  He turned around to the tall, raven-haired beauty that had spoken to him. Marcel had never met someone who had taken his breath away, but she did and he was unable to answer. He just stared back at her aquamarine eyes.

  “Are you okay Sir?”

  Marcel shook his head that he was. He could tell by her expression that he needed to say something and stop being a twit, but it was harder than it sounded.

  “Yes, sorry. I um, am here to take over for Elna.”

  “Are you now? And you are?”

  “Her son, Marcel. Nice to meet you…”

  “Davina.”

  “Nice to meet you, Davina. You are my mother’s assistant?”

  She nodded. “I wasn’t sure who was going to be taking over for her. You are going to have your hands full. She was a very busy lady.”

  “I know. She told me to get with you about all of that, so I guess we are going to be working together.”

  She just looked down and then back up. “I have a schedule for you, let me just print it out and then we can go over the meetings we have planned. If you don’t think you can do something or you have questions, just ask and I will do the best I can to help you out.”

  “Thank you.” It was heart felt. There were many things he had been worried about, but he felt like he was in good hands with Davina. The only problem that he could see, was working with such a beautiful young lady and not being affected.

  “No problem Mr. Callahan. We are all here to help you in whatever way you need.”

  His mind went to somewhere it shouldn’t have and he looked away slightly embarrassed. “I appreciate it. I am more used to cows and horses. This is actually the first time I have worn a suit since my father’s funeral.”

  “Well, if you don’t mind me saying Mr. Callahan, it looks good on you.”

  ***

  Davina wasn’t expecting Marcel. She was expecting a middle-aged man that was a little soggy in the middle like the rest of the men in upper management. She had known Elna for years, knew that she had many sons, but not one like him.

  He was soft spoken for such a large man and even though he was out of his element, it appeared that he had it all under control. It was admirable the way he had acted in the board meeting. They had tried to take advantage of his newness, but he didn’t give them an inch. He had his own mother’s plans and Marcel was not going to let anyone deter him from her plans to expand. The board wanted to wait and since Elna was out of the loop for a while, they were hoping that her replacement would go along with what they wanted.

  They hadn’t been expecting him either. By mid-day, he had already pissed off
as many people as Elna could manage and Davina was gaining more respect for her new boss. She invited him out for lunch and they talked a little bit about Elna. The two women were really close and she hadn’t been able to get down to the hospital and see her.

  “I was hoping to go this weekend, but then something came up and I was forced to stay in town.”

  “Well, she would love some company, I am sure of it. She will be at the hospital until tomorrow and then she will be sent home.”

  “Who is going to stay with her in the condo?”

  He shook his head. “No, she is going home to our ranch in Conroe. My sister and sister-in-law will help out and I am sure we will hire a nurse for the rest of the time. It is a good place to heal, quiet, relaxing, not like this place.”

  Marcel looked out the window of the small sandwich shop down from the company. It was not hard to see the difference when the fast paced city life was on the other side of the glass. The people were all together, herding like cows, yet with less of an inclination of where they were going or what their purpose was.

  “I will try to get down there this evening.”

  “You can go see her now or tomorrow morning if you want. As long as I have that schedule of yours, I am sure I will be okay. I have never seen someone so precise on details.”

  “Well, you know how your mother is.”

  He nodded and took a look at the rest of his afternoon. He was not looking forward to anymore meetings, but he had one more before the day was out. Marcel had one more boring meeting to sit through while numbers and projections were the main reason for everyone being there. He wondered if any of them had ever seen a cow that wasn’t packaged for their consumption and he bet that they hadn’t.

  “Yes, so go see her and let her know that the family business is fine.”

  “I will, if you are serious. It is strange not to have Elna around. I have been working with her for several years now.”

  “You barely look old enough to be out of school.”

  “Well I am twenty-five, so plenty old enough Sir.”

  “How long are you going to call me Sir? Call me Marcel, please.”

  “Okay Marcel. We need to get back to the office though. The man you are meeting, Mr. Johnson is always twenty minutes early and expects you to be there.”

  Marcel nodded and motioned to the server for the check. He was already ready for the slow life where he had more than twenty minutes to have lunch. There was always another meeting and when he looked at the rest of the week, it was more of the same. The man was already ready for the weekend where he could go back to the ranch and ride his horse.

  “Oh, I was going to ask you if you knew where my mom kept her keys to the condo?”

  “Um, I think I have a spare set when I would bring things to her. It’s at my house, but I can bring it in later if you want. Take you over there and show you around.”

  “Thank you Davina. You have been a godsend.

  Chapter 3

  “It is so good to see you Elna. The office is not the same without you.”

  The older woman smiled. “It’s good to see you. So you have to tell me what is going on at work.”

  Davina shook her head. “I am not going to talk shop with you. Your replacement is doing well, even pushed down Boris on the board when he wanted to sideline the expansion project. I would have never thought that he was a rancher until last week.”

  Elna sat up in her hospital bed. She was still hooked up to an I.V. and on several monitors, but she was out of ICU and doing much better. Davina had brought her lunch, knowing that she was going to be in misery over the bland hospital food. When she saw her sandwich from Jerry’s, she perked right up.

  “Thank you Davina. I haven’t been able to find someone to make a few bucks and bring me something. You would think there would be more with an entrepreneurial spirit.”

  She took a bite and closed her eyes. “This is the best. I haven’t had sugar, fat or salt in days and now I can die in peace. I am really starting to think that they are either trying to get you out of here with the food or simply give you no reason to live.”

  Davina sat back, pushing her hair to the side before she sat back on it. “I see you are finding ways to stay busy.”

  “If complaining was a hobby, I would be good. So what is this about Boris and halting the project?” Elna had enough real food in her to go on with the conversation, having devoured half of her roast beef sandwich in minutes.

  “He was trying to pass a motion to be voted on, that since you were in hospital, they would stop the Houston project.”

  Elna got angry. It was hard not to see how mad she was. Boris was the bane of her existent most days, but she couldn’t get rid of him. She missed the days before the company had went public, when she could make whatever decision she wanted on a whim and there was no one there to say anything about it. Now it felt like she had to ask permission to make changed in her own company. It was just too much to be born and she liked to hear that Marcel stopped him in his tracks.

  “I knew Marcel would be the right one for the job. He was always the best negotiator. My eldest son is the main reason our profit percentage is so high. Marcel always gets the best prices. He is a great negotiator. But how is he doing with the rest of it? Did he come in with cowboy hat and boots on?”

  Davina laughed, “No, he is wearing a suit. All nice and tidy, cleans up quite nice.”

  Elna noticed the changed in the young woman’s expression and the way she looked away and got pink-cheeked with the mere mention of him. “I see.”

  Davina didn’t give her any more to go off of, refusing to play her games. “I’m just saying, you don’t have to worry, your son definitely looks the part.”

  “He is single you know.”

  “And your son. And my boss.”

  “Yes, well love has a way of easing complications.”

  Davina sat up and checked what was going into her IV. “What are you doing Davina?”

  “Just seeing what it is they got you on that has you talking so crazy.”

  “Only fluids. I’m just saying, if you are so inclined, you have my blessing.”

  ***

  The seed had been planted by the wise woman and when Davina went back to work later that afternoon after her visit with her, she couldn’t stop thinking about it. It had been Elna’s purpose and she had done a good job of finishing what Marcel had started. Now that she knew he was single, there was no way to look at him the same way.

  “Hey, Davina?”

  She looked up, not hearing him walk up to her doorway. He was looking at her in such a way when she finally met his gaze, that it stopped her for a moment. “Yes?”

  “How was mom?”

  Her mind went to their conversation and the woman’s blessing. “She is good. Looks like she is ready to get out of there and cause trouble.”

  Marcel grinned. “Yeah, she was on me not even a half an hour after surgery. That is when I knew that she was going to be okay.”

  Davina could tell that he cared and that he was worried about her. It was sweet that he cared so much and she liked that he was so open with his feelings, his face so readable.

  “So did you have those keys?”

  She looked at him questioningly, not knowing what he was talking about. “Oh right, the keys. Sorry, I guess I am still out of it. Did you want me to take you down there?”

  “I don’t want to keep you. I am sure you have something better to do.”

  “No, I don’t actually.”

  “Good, yes I would love for you to show me around. I will make you dinner if you do.”

  “Sounds like a date.” Her words came back to her and she turned red almost immediately, “I mean, sounds good. Of course it is not a date.”

  Marcel just looked at her, waiting for her to change her mind again. He liked the idea of a date and there was no one else that he wanted to spend his evening with, so to him, it didn’t matter what it was named. “Well whatever it
is, I thank you for being so welcoming. I feel a little out of place here.”

  “Don’t. You are doing great. The first day is over and I am sure it is going to get better from here.”

  “How did you get so positive?”

  Davina shrugged. ”There isn’t much of an alternative, so I do what I can.”

  Marcel walked off and looked back once into her small office. There was something about that woman that he couldn’t put his finger on, it wasn’t tangible, but it was there nonetheless. When he called his mom to make sure that she didn’t need anything before he went to the condo, she asked about Davina and if she was going to go with him. Marcel could see her guise, but it was one time that he didn’t mind his meddling mom. There was something about Davina that made him think that maybe it was time to move on. Elna was right, it was time.

  “Well Marcel, just keep an open mind when you are in the city. You might find something there that you hadn’t been able to find in Conroe.”

  He knew that she meant Davina for some reason, but he didn’t push the conversation. He didn’t want to get her hopes up, especially if it was all for naught. Davina may not even feel the same way. Marcel was quite a bit older and he worked outside, sweating for a living. As soon as Elna was better, he would be back on the ranch full time and where would that leave the two of them. He couldn’t see her wanting to live out in the country.

  Chapter 4

  Marcel followed Davina to Elna’s condo where he would be staying throughout the week. Davina’s car was much like herself, small with denied style. Elna’s words went through his head as he made his way through the traffic that seemed to defy reason. Davina drove fairly fast and he was having trouble keeping up. He had a feeling it wouldn’t be the last time he felt that way around her.

  When they finally stopped, he breathed a sigh of relief for getting there in one piece. While he had forgone the driver that morning, Marcel had decided on the way that he would not make that mistake again. He didn’t know how they all did it every day and he didn’t plan to do it again.