“More or less.”
Max shook his head and leaned back against the counter. “I’ve told you that she’s been through some shit. I’m trying to help her get on her feet and she’s good at her job. She saves me a ton of time entering shit.”
“Good data enterers are an easy find, Max. This whole thing just seems sneaky and I don’t have some soft spot for her like you do. I’m not biased.”
“Ah, Kari. Come on. If she bothers you this much, I’ll have her get another job. I don’t want this causing a problem between us.” He took a step forward, taking off his hat and tossing it on the counter. The color of his eyes deepened as he bent his head down. “I’m trying to do the right thing here for everyone. But if this doesn’t work for you, then it doesn’t work for me, alright?”
My phone rang, cutting through the tension. I picked it up off the counter and pressed the green button without looking at it—I couldn’t take my eyes off of Max. “Hello?”
“Hey, Kari. It’s Sam.”
I shook my head and let out a little laugh. “What can I do for you, Sam?” I asked with an emphasis on her name. Max put his head in his hands.
“I just wanted to apologize for today. I shouldn’t have gone into your home without you being there. I would’ve flipped out if the roles were reversed. I just felt comfortable there, I’ve been there so many times. Either way, I shouldn’t have just gone in. I’m sorry.”
She’s good. I’ll give her that.
“Thank you for apologizing,” I said, circling around the kitchen island while I thought of the best way to respond. “It’s very nice of you.”
“I really didn’t mean to cause any problems between you and Max,” she said sweetly.
“Oh, honey, you didn’t.” My voice oozed condescendingly with a syrupy-sweetness. “Max and I are great. He’s standing here smiling at me right now. At least we all know now not to trust that hardware store, right?” I laughed, waiting on her to respond.
It took a few seconds before she chimed in with a hollow laugh. “Absolutely. I’ll call them tomorrow and let them know they need to be more careful. You guys have a good night.”
“You, too, Samantha.” I clicked the button.
Max peeked up through his fingers. “She apologized?”
“Yeah. She sure did.”
He raised his head. “See? She didn’t mean anything by it.”
“Whatever,” I muttered, grabbing my wine glass again and heading upstairs. Before I got out the door, Max spoke again.
“I told her if it came down to you or her, you’d win every time.”
I took a deep breath, allowing his words to settle on my soul. “I hope so.”
MAX
I looked across the table at Cane at nine o’clock the next morning. He was standing over the plans laid out on the conference room table, his hands gripping the edge of the marble. A wide smile broke out across his face and he stood slowly, nodding his head.
“I think we got it. It’ll depend on the final supplier quotes, but the price you worked out with Grady is going to be the piece that gets us this bid. No one else will have that number, right?” He tossed his pencil on his yellow notepad.
I leaned back in my chair. “I talked to Wade last night and he said he’d add a few grand to everyone they bid to. They don’t need the work.”
“I think this one’s ours. Good job.”
I looked towards the ceiling, exhaustion settling in my bones. Cane and I had been going over numbers, looking at the bid from every possible angle, since before 5 AM. We would have to wait on the last few numbers to come in from routine suppliers right before the bid was due, but we were pretty much done. Our number looked solid.
I’d been up late the night before. Kari had finally calmed down after a long bath. I found her in bed, the look of uncertainty in her eyes that I saw on occasion. She was wrapped in her robe, lying on top of the blankets. It was like she was afraid to get comfortable.
Although I had a million things to do, I stretched out beside her and held her. I learned over time when that look was in her eyes, she wasn’t going to talk. It was a moot point to even try. But holding her seemed to quell whatever was going on . . . and the reason was still, after all this time, beyond me.
I held her until she finally fell asleep and then I crept out of the bedroom and down to my office and worked on the bid until early in the morning. I was running on a couple of hours sleep.
“I don’t wanna jinx us or anything, but I think you’re right. I think we got this one,” I replied.
Cane let out a breath, rolling up his sleeves. “I’m going to grab some more coffee and check on a few things. I’ll be back in here around ten and we can put the final touches on it before we submit.”
“Sounds good.” I rose with Cane and headed to my office. I needed to clear my head. The last couple of hours before a bid submission were stressful, numbers coming in this way and that, and I needed to be able to think. It would all come down to the final minutes and I couldn’t have my head clouded.
As soon as I sat down, Sam appeared. She wore a light blue dress that buttoned all the way up the front and had large hoop earrings in. She looked young and pretty and confident . . . and I wished for a second that her life would’ve played out differently. That she was as confident and unbroken as she let on.
But I fucked that all up for her.
“Hey, Max,” she smiled. “I’ve been collecting the quotes that come across the fax.” She waved a handful of papers in the air. “Do you want them or should I give them to Cane?”
“I’ll take them. Did we get a final quote from Grady?”
She took a few steps and sat them on my desk. “Yup, it’s right there on top,” she said, tapping her fingertips on the top sheet. “I was watching for it because I knew you were waiting on it.” She took a couple of steps back and looked at me curiously. “You okay?”
I ran my fingers through my hair, tugging a bit. “Yeah,” I muttered. “I’ll be better when this bid is over with.”
“You’ve worked so hard on it. That number from Grady is supposed to be your golden ticket, right?”
I laughed. “I sure hope so. We need to get this bid and get back to normal. I’m about at my wit’s end.”
She perched on the edge of the chair across from me. “I know you’re stressed and I’m sorry for yesterday. I didn’t mean to start trouble with Kari, you know.”
“I know. But you really do have to start thinking more, Sam. This isn’t you and me, friends from way back. I have a life now with a woman that I love more than anything. I want to marry that girl, have a family with her.” The look on Sam’s face fell and I could tell there was something she wasn’t saying. “What?”
“Nothing.”
I heaved out a breath, ready for this day to be over with. “Look, if we get this job, I might not be able to justify keeping you around. Cane is letting it slide right now because he knows I’m stressed out. But once the estimating work eases up, it’s gonna be harder for me to explain to him why I need you.”
Her lips upturned, but didn’t reach her eyes. “I understand. I knew this wasn’t a forever thing, so no worries.” She stood up and smoothed out her dress. “Hey, I found some things of Kari’s last night in the attic. I think she’ll want them. Do you want to take them home with you?”
“Like shirts? Files? Pictures? What?”
“Some papers.”
“Just give them to me before I go home.”
MAX
Sam and I stood at the back of the cold, white room, waiting for the bids to be read off by the bald City employee at the front of the room. I scanned the area, taking in the competition. The room was packed, more contractors than we even expected had put a bid in on the project.
The man at the front introduced himself and began opening envelopes. One by one, the bids were read off, each one higher than ours. With every number that was read, my hopes went up.
“Lytrell Constructio
n—$7,659,870.84.” Brian Lytrell smiled widely, knowing he was now the lowest bidder.
“Alexander Industries—$7,590,430.00.”
I released a breath slowly and tried not to get my hopes up. We were the low bidder, but there was one bid left to be read.
I forced a swallow and made eye contact with Brian. He gave me a little nod and I smiled tightly. We both knew it looked good, but you shouldn’t count your chickens before they hatched. Two seconds before, Brian was the low bidder. Now I was. In another two seconds, it could be someone else.
Let’s hope not.
“There’s one more bid left,” the man said, tearing open a manilla envelope. He pulled the papers out and flipped to the back where the final sum was written. “Chalgon Construction—$7,587,000.00.”
What the hell?
My stomach dropped to my knees.
I scanned the crowd, looking for Chalgon’s representatives. They had just started bidding on larger projects and I didn’t know who represented them. Brian caught my attention and gave me an inquisitive look and I shrugged.
I don’t fucking know either, man.
“Chalgon is the lowest bidder. Congrats to them and thank you all for bidding on another project for our city.”
People started standing up and leaving; I sat down, my spirits sinking.
How did this happen? How in the hell did this happen!?
Sam placed her hand on my shoulder and squeezed it. “I’m sorry, Max.”
My shoulders sagged and I scrubbed my hands over my face, too frustrated, too angry, too exhausted to even respond. I blew out a jagged breath and stood, heading for the exit. I needed air.
I popped open the door and held it for Samantha, then headed towards my truck. Sam stayed a few steps behind me, giving me the space she apparently sensed I needed. I held the door open for her and then climbed into the driver’s side and drove towards the office.
The trip was quiet. Sam messed with her phone while I tried to figure out what to do. Our revenue was going to lessen significantly in three months when our current projects started wrapping up. We had to have a job lined up to start around that time to keep the cash flow steady. Without cash flow, everything tightened, and I couldn’t let that happen.
But how did we lose this bid? What did I overlook? What could I have cut?
I slammed my hand against the steering wheel and pulled in the parking lot. Sam smiled sadly and climbed out. I picked up my briefcase and followed her inside, going into my office and closing the door.
I sat down and tried to comprehend what had just happened. There was no way mathematically that Chalgon came in lower than us without the Grady number. But Grady promised me an exclusive bid on the job, so either Grady lied or Chalgon found another way to get it for less.
“It’s just not possible,” I said to the empty room. “There’s no way they came in under us.”
A knock rapped on the door and it swung open. Cane’s face was tight, the vein in his temple, an indicator of his level of pissed-off-ness, throbbing. “What the fuck do we do now?”
I shrugged. “How did they get lower than us? I just can’t figure it out.”
“I called around and Chalgon’s estimator on that project was Dan Collins.”
I froze. “Seriously?”
“That’s what I heard. Does he still have access to our estimating system?”
“No,” I shook my head. “I deleted his user profile the day I let him go.” I stroked my chin. “I just can’t figure this out. They’re just starting to bid on these jobs. It’s not like they should be comfortable enough to get aggressive. If it would’ve been Lytrell, that would’ve been one thing.”
Cane threaded his fingers together and put his hands behind his head, pulling his chin up to the ceiling. “Back to square fucking one.”
“We didn’t miss anything on this one, Cane. There’s no way they got that job without Grady. I’m tellin’ ya—there’s no way.”
He laughed angrily. “Well, unless Wade lied to us, and I’d hate to think he did that, then there is a fucking way because it just happened.”
“If ya think it’d do any good, give him a call and see what he has to say. I’m gonna just press forward and see what else is out there that we can get our hands on.”
Cane nodded and, with a heavy sigh, left. I glanced at the clock and grabbed the pamphlet that advertised all of the public bids in Arizona and started pouring through them. I began compiling a list of plans for Lucy to acquire.
A few hours later, a text popped up on my phone, breaking my concentration.
Cane: Grady says he has no clue.
I didn’t bother responding; there wasn’t anything to say. I didn’t have any answers, although I wished to hell I did.
I had managed to clear my head as best as I could and got some work done. A few hours later, I was ready to just go home and be with Kari. I started putting things in my briefcase when a light knock sounded on the door.
“Yeah?” I asked without looking up.
“Hey,” Sam’s voice said softly. “You okay?”
I nodded, latching my briefcase shut. “Did you give me Kari’s stuff?”
A look flashed across her face before she replied, “You know what? I forgot it at home. I’ll try to remember it tomorrow.”
I sat my briefcase on my desk and put one hand on either side, leaning forward and looking at her. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
“We had a job on the schedule as a possibility for next week. I went ahead and added it into the estimating program in case you wanted to play with it,” she said, her face falling a bit. “And I’m really sorry about today, Max.”
“Yeah, well, shit happens,” I sighed. “Thanks for entering that one. I’ll log in from home tonight and see if it’s worth our time. At this point, we need something big.”
“I hate that you’re working all day here and then all night at home, too. You need to try to rest a little. You’re wearing yourself out.”
She was so right. Every bone, muscle, fiber in my being ached. I didn’t have the energy to even walk to my truck, let alone pour through more projects when I got home.
“The boss doesn’t get to rest until the work’s done,” I smiled halfheartedly. “I’m gonna need you to come in early for the rest of the week if you can. It’s all hands on deck until we get something figured out.”
She grinned. “Of course. No problem.”
I don’t know if it was the light coming in the window or the feeling of knowing she was there to help, but Sam seemed so grown up standing there. She had been in my life for a long time, but I didn’t really know what was going on in hers. “What are you doing tonight? Anything fun?”
She tucked her tongue into her cheek, her eyes glimmering before responding, “I’m going out again with Blaine.”
“Ah, how’s that working for ya? Nice guy?”
She shifted her weight. “He is. He’s a super nice guy. Very cute, very sweet.”
I nodded, happy to see her happy. “That’s good. He has a job and a clean criminal record?”
She rolled her eyes. “Of course. Stop acting like my big brother. This guy is a total catch . . . if I can get him to get past his hang-up on his ex-girlfriend.”
“If anyone can do that, it’s you and your relentlessness,” I laughed.
“You mean it’s not my award-winning personality?”
I pressed my lips together. “Ah, no.”
“Thanks a lot!” she giggled. “No, seriously, he’s really great. We’ve gone out a few times, but he seems kinda skittish. All I know is that some girl put him through the wringer. He’s told me bits and pieces—that they were going to get married and then she wound up pregnant and he wasn’t ready for it. By the time he kind of got his head wrapped around it, he heard she aborted it. It kind of messed him up, I think.”
“Wow,” I said, my mouth dropping. “That would mess with your head. I feel bad for the guy already. Just give him some t
ime to come around. It’ll work out if it’s supposed to.”
Sam bit the inside of her cheek and I knew her head was going a million miles an hour. She dipped her chin and looked at me through her lashes, a mischievous grin on her face.
“What?” I asked, knowing I was going to get talked into something.
“Want to do me a favor and scan him for me?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
She gave me her best innocent smile. “Bring Kari and have dinner with us. Get to know him and see if he’s worth keeping around. I’m a goner for his baby blue eyes and if he isn’t going to be able to get beyond this stuff in his past, maybe you can clue me in. You need a distraction tonight, anyway.”
I lifted my briefcase off the table and returned her smile.
“Come on, Max. What do you say? Help me out.”
“Let me run it by my Kari, but I think it sounds better than sitting around tonight, wallowing in defeat.”
KARI
The ER had been relatively calm all day, allowing me a bit of time to reflect over the past 24 hours. I just couldn’t get my head wrapped around Samantha West. She seemed so sweet and so likable, and then she could come across so sneaky. It just drove me crazy all day.
Am I just jealous? Am I that girl that sees things that aren’t there, that reads into things because I’m afraid?
Dr. Manning noticed my unusual quietness and asked me about it. He and I had forged some sort of friendly relationship; I liked him. He never crossed the professional line, but we had a natural give-or-take between us. It was like I had worked with him, known him, for a long time.
When he asked me what was wrong, I tried to play it off. He flashed me the smirk I’ve come to notice is reserved for me and said he was “waiting on me to stop lying.” Reluctantly, I gave him a rundown of the day before. He said it was his medical opinion that Samantha needed someone to keep an eye on her. I agreed.
But Max knows her better than Connor or me . . .
I had gotten home before Max and washed and dried a load of laundry. I folded it while watching an old episode of Sons of Anarchy and then started to put it away. I held Max’s shirt to my face and inhaled. I loved the smell of him, the scent of musk and cedar mingled together. It made me smile, relax, and ache at the same time. I stuck the shirt on a hanger and hung it in the closet. Out of nowhere, a set of arms wrapped around me.
The Perception Page 14