by Lexy Timms
“See you then.”
Christine hung up, and Jamie followed suit, setting her phone down on the desk. Things were coming together. And the babies hadn’t started crying again yet. She smiled, and got back to work.
***
“What I’m saying, Alex,” Zander said, looking across the desk at him, “Is that no one can take care of newborn twins and do the amount of work we need a PA to do all on their own. It’s just not humanly possible.” He smiled. “Your wife is a force of nature, but even she should have the opportunity to slow down a bit. So I’ve hired a PA to help out while she’s busy.”
Jamie wasn’t going to like that. Alex, however, was relieved. He was worried about how much weight she was putting on her shoulders. He couldn’t have gone behind her back and hired someone, but this way it was out of his hands. Zander had the right to hire anyone he felt was necessary for the well-being of the company. Explaining that to his wife was not going to be a thrill, but Alex was confident she would come around once she realized how much time it freed up for her to spend with the twins. She needed some time to just relax.
“Well,” Alex said. “I can’t say Jamie will approve, but I’m not going to veto your decision as long as she knows what she’s doing.”
Zander grinned. “Oh, she knows what she’s doing. Miss Eriksson has a very impressive résumé. I’ve got Justin briefing her on company practice and she’ll be syncing her schedule to ours.”
“Sounds like everything is under control, then. Of course, I still have to let Jamie know,” Alex said.
“I don’t envy you that job, to be honest.” Zander stood. “Why don’t you come meet Miss Eriksson?”
He had a million other things to do, but he was going to have to meet her eventually. It might as well be sooner rather than later. Alex got up from his chair and followed Zander out into the waiting area that sat in front of his office, where Justin was standing at the secretary’s desk, his head bent over a phone he was holding in his hands as he talked in a low voice to the woman standing next to him.
Miss Eriksson, as it turned out, was exactly the kind of woman Alex would have hired before Jamie – tall and statuesque, with wide blue eyes and a full mouth under a fall of white-blonde hair.
“An impressive résumé?” Alex asked, amused.
“Very impressive,” Zander answered. “There’s little about her that isn’t.”
Alex shook his head, chuckling. “No. I would say there isn’t. Lucky for you, I don’t have eyes for anyone but Jamie, so Miss Eriksson is all yours if you can manage to convince her of that.”
Zander turned to look at him. “You know that’s exactly the kind of thing that will get you a sexual harassment lawsuit.”
Alex shrugged. “I have no plans on harassing her. What you do is up to you, though I do, of course, encourage a professional relationship between employees.”
“She may be all Justin’s,” Zander said, as Miss Eriksson leaned in closer to the secretary to see something he was pointing out.
This time, when Alex chuckled, so did Zander. “We’ll just have to see where it goes, then, won’t we?”
“Might as well at least approach,” Zander said. “We are their bosses.”
“We are,” Alex agreed, following Zander at a slower pace as the other strode forward to speak to the two at the desk.
He hid the smile that wanted to escape. Ten years ago, he thought as he waited next to the desk for the introduction Zander was giving, he would have been all about the woman smiling politely at both of them. Now, though, he had Jamie, and she and the twins were all that he needed. So he smiled just as politely, and offered Emelie Eriksson his hand to shake. If Zander said she was exceptional, he had no doubt she would be.
Whatever else Zander had planned was up to him, and as long as it didn’t interfere with the daily operation of the office, Alex didn’t care. Knowing his senior advisor, it likely wasn’t anything more unprofessional than the desire for a little eye candy. If that was the case, well, Alex had done worse.
“It’s nice to meet you, Miss Eriksson,” he said, taking a step back. “I look forward to seeing your work.”
“And I look forward to being a part of this business, Mr. Reid. Thank you for hiring me.”
“I’m sure we won’t regret it.”
Introductions dealt with, he went back to his office. There was a lot of work to be done.
Chapter 4
Camille left Saturday night. They’d said goodbye almost awkwardly, standing beside her car in the driveway. After the playful intimacy in the bedroom, it had been strange to watch her drive away with no expectation of ever seeing her again. She’d given him her number, but Mark knew that if he called she wouldn’t come running back. As she’d slipped into her car, she’d told him that this time tomorrow she planned to be in Richmond. Mark had smiled, and wished her well.
Now, he stood outside his brother’s office, lifting a hand to knock and then waiting for the ‘Come in’ that followed. He stepped inside.
Alex looked up from his computer screen, his expectant expression shifting to a smile. “Hey, Mark. How’s it going?”
“I was hoping you’d have a little free time tonight. Come out for a beer with me.”
The smile faded. “I don’t know about that. I’ve got a lot of work to do, and Jamie’s waiting at home.”
“It won’t be long,” Mark promised. “I just want to get a little time to talk to you. We never have any these days, and I get that you’re a new parent and working full time, but I’d like to make sure we occasionally still do… brother stuff, I guess.”
Alex’s head tilted slightly to the side, his eyebrows drawing in toward each other like he was trying to figure out what exactly was going on in Mark’s head, but then his expression relaxed and he nodded.
“Okay.” He glanced down at his screen. “Tell you what. I’ll wrap up here in about an hour and a half, and then we can go grab a beer before I head home.”
Mark smiled. “That sounds great. Just knock on my door when you’re ready.”
“Will do.”
He turned and left the office, heading back to his own. It was a relief, honestly, to have Alex agreeing to go with him. They’d had such a rocky start to their relationship, and sometimes Mark found himself worrying that the new distance necessitated by how busy Alex and Jamie had become would take them back to that place. He didn’t want to lose the close relationship he’d been building with his brother after so many years of fighting and cold shoulders.
Sighing, Mark sank down into his office chair and started going over the financial reports. At least there was something to distract him while he waited.
***
One hour had turned into nearly two by the time Alex knocked on his door. Mark closed down the program he was using and stood, stretching some of the ache from his muscles. Then he crossed the office and stepped outside.
“You ready?” Alex asked as he emerged.
“Been ready this whole time,” Mark answered. “Only waiting on you.”
Alex shook his head, and started toward the elevator. “What’s that supposed to be? Some kind of brotherly teasing?”
“It’s just a statement of fact,” Mark said, following. “You said an hour. It’s now been almost two.”
“You’re going to hang that over my head the whole way there, aren’t you?”
“Probably.” Mark grinned. “It’s what brothers do.”
Alex sighed but he didn’t protest, just walked out to where the car was parked. When he started to take the driver’s seat, Mark stopped him.
“Nope. I’m driving.”
His brother looked at him, eyebrows raised. “Says who?”
“Says me, because I’m the only one who knows where we’re going. Get in the passenger seat.”
There was a moment where he wasn’t sure that Alex wasn’t going to comply without further argument, but after a moment of narrow-eyed staring, his brother got in the car on the othe
r side, and handed over the keys. Mark got in and turned them in the ignition.
“So,” Alex said as they pulled out onto the road. “Where are we going?”
“If I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise.”
“You know, I said that exact same thing to a date once,” Alex said.
Mark glanced over at him, and found him grinning. “What did she say back?”
“That it was cruel and unusual to subject a journalist to a surprise.”
Mark laughed. “You definitely know how to pick them, Alex. It’s a good thing you’ve got Jamie to keep you in line.”
He merged onto the 495, which would take them out through Brooklyn and Queens, and eventually to Long Island. Alex watched the road with an expression that said he wasn’t sure he was going to let Mark get away with it.
“Where are we actually going, Mark?” he asked ten minutes later when Mark showed no sign of turning off. “I told Jamie that I’d be home before too long.”
“I’ll get you home to Jamie,” Mark promised. “I just want to show you something first.”
It was maybe a longer drive than Mark should have taken Alex on with Jamie waiting at home and work in the morning, but he wanted to show him the land that he’d found when he’d gone out looking on Sunday. So he kept driving.
When he pulled into the lot at the golf course, Alex glared at him. “This is not a beer.”
“No,” Mark agreed. He opened his door and slid out of the car, waiting for Alex to follow suit. “It’s the potential site for my country club.”
Alex’s eyebrows lifted. “Is it really?”
“It is,” Mark said, starting toward the first hole. “It’s a really nice property. As you can see, they’ve already got the golf course. We’d just need to add the club house. I’d also like to put in some vines over on the other side of the hill where there’s some open land.”
Alex followed him across the short-trimmed grass, and Mark pointed out the place where he wanted to put the club house, and the areas that he thought needed a little more landscaping. His brother nodded along as he spoke.
“It’s close enough to the city that we can easily get people out from there,” Mark said. “As well as from Brooklyn, Queens, and Long Island. The startup cost is high, of course. There’s the purchase of the land and the building that has to be done. But I think once we have it set up it we’ll more than make our money back.”
“And by ‘our money’,” Alex said. “You mean ‘my money’?”
Mark smiled a little sheepishly. “Yes. I mean your money. If you want to invest.”
“It’s a worthwhile property,” Alex said after a few moments of scanning the property from where they stood. “I can see the potential, and I can see that your plans for it are good. I’m willing to invest. On one condition.”
Mark looked at him expectantly. “And what’s that?”
“I want free golf. For life.”
“You got it, man,” Mark chuckled. “I’ll let you play as much as you want if you help me get this place.”
“Then we’re set,” Alex said, smiling at him. “Now take me back home before my wife starts worrying.”
Chapter 5
Alex was late. Jamie bounced Benton a little on her hip and reached for her phone. He’d promised that he would be home at a reasonable time, and it was already almost seven. If he wasn’t on his way, she was going to have something to say to him about it. But as she unlocked the phone to call, she heard the door open. A sigh of relief escaped her.
“In the nursery,” she called down the hall.
Footsteps answered, and then a moment later Alex was there, stepping in close to wrap his arms around her and press his lips to the top of her head.
“Hey, baby,” he said. “How are you?”
“Busy,” Jamie said. “The twins have been fussing all day. I did get some work done, though. Finally.” If you could call about forty minutes total of going through emails getting work done.
“You really shouldn’t worry so much about that, baby. The twins are more important.”
Jamie’s jaw tightened. Was he really going to tell her that she needed to think about her children more? She thought about almost nothing but them for ninety percent of her day while he was off working in the office.
“You think I don’t know that?”
Alex looked up from Lillianna, whom he’d just taken out of her crib, his expression one of surprise. She could see him running back over what he’d just said, trying to figure out what had upset her.
“That’s not what I meant,” he said an instant later. “I know that you think about them, Jamie. You’re a good mother. I just meant that I don’t want you to put that much stress on yourself when you’ve already got the twins to worry about.”
“We’ve talked about this,” Jamie said. “I’m fine.”
“Well, we’re going to have to talk about it more. And not because of anything you’re doing.” Alex turned fully around to face her, Lillianna making happy little baby noises in his arms. “Zander hired a PA, and she’ll be taking over most of the workload that you used to have until you’re ready to come back to the office.”
“What?”
Alex sighed, and Jamie felt her heart sink a little further. She didn’t want them to get a new PA. They didn’t need to replace her.
“He hired a new PA. It’s really not a big deal, Jamie. I gave him full authority to hire anyone that he felt the company needed, and so he’s hired a new PA. It will give you a chance to get some rest for a while. You’re pushing yourself to a breaking point trying to do both. The twins are a more than full time job by themselves. Add working for Reid Enterprises to that, and it’s just not humanly possible.”
“The company doesn’t need a new PA!” Jamie turned away from Alex, cuddling Benton closer as he started to fuss, probably upset by her own emotions. She bit her lip, and blinked back the burn of tears.
“Jamie…” Alex said, his voice gentle.
She felt him move up behind her, his body pressing against the side of her own. His free hand lifted to caress her hair, and then to rub slow circles against her back. Despite herself, Jamie leaned into it, turning so that she could rest her head against his shoulder.
“I don’t want you to replace me,” she admitted, just loud enough to be heard.
“Whoa.” Alex took a step back, lifting her chin with two fingers. “Look at me, Jamie.”
She looked up.
“We’re not replacing you, baby.” He wrapped his arm around her again, pulling her in close, and she went willingly. “We’re getting some help so that you don’t have so much on your plate. It’s not about thinking you’re not good enough. It’s about knowing that no one could possibly do what you’re trying to do.” He smiled, and she heard the change in his voice. “Zander called you ‘a force of nature’ this afternoon. No one thinks that you’re incapable. As soon as the twins are old enough to give you a little time to yourself, you can start working again.”
“’A force of nature’?” Jamie echoed, not sure whether she should laugh or not. “Really?”
“Really,” Alex confirmed, leaning down to kiss her when she tipped her head up to look at him. “As soon as you’re ready, we’ll be more than glad to have you back. But for now, take the extra time to focus on yourself a little. You deserve it.”
Benton started wiggling, and Jamie pulled back a little to give him some more room, rocking him to settle him down.
Maybe Alex and Zander were right. It wasn’t that she wasn’t good enough. It was just that she had her hands full already. When the twins were a little older, she could have her job back, and until then she would enjoy a little extra time.
“Christine offered to help with the twins,” she said, looking up at Alex. “I thought I might let her. Have her come in during weekdays while I’m home to see how she does with it. That way I can get a little work done in the afternoons.”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?�
� Alex asked.
“That’s why I’m having her come over when I’m here,” Jamie said. “So if she hits a rough spot I’m around to take over. I thought that would be a good way to start. If it doesn’t work out, we just don’t have her babysit.”
Alex still looked dubious.
“She really has improved. It’s not like I’m inviting my mother over to watch them.”
That prompted laughter. “Fine. We’ll let Christine watch them as long as someone else is in the house, and go from there. I’ll make sure Miss Eriksson gets your email address so that you can keep each other up to date on what you’re getting done.”
Miss Eriksson. So that was the new PA. Jamie tucked the name away, and promised herself that she’d get Mark to tell her more about the woman.
She needed to know who she’d be working with, after all.
***
Christine looks better, Jamie thought as she greeted her sister at the door on Thursday morning. She had gained weight since Jamie had seen her last, and there were no dark circles under her eyes. She looked like she'd been sleeping, and eating, and Jamie silently thanked their father. He'd been taking good care of Christine since she moved in with him, that much was clear.
“Hey, Christine,” she said, taking a step back to let her sister come in through the open door. “How are you?”
Christine lifted her still-narrow shoulders in a shrug. “I'm okay. Glad that you decided to let me come, honestly. I know you probably had plenty of reasons not to let me watch your children.”
Jamie shook her head. “I think you'll be great with them, Christine. I'm not going to refuse you contact with your niece and nephew.”
“But you don't trust me enough to watch them on my own.”
For a moment the old Christine snuck through, and there was an edge to the words that was almost sharp. Jamie froze, wondering if she'd made the wrong decision after all, but then Christine shrugged again and smiled at her.