Hearts Under Construction

by Hunt, Diann

“The one we started last week has to be totally reframed,” he said, clearly frustrated.

  Ellie gasped, pulling her hand to her mouth.

  He looked satisfied with her reaction. “Good thing we’re insured. Still, it’s going to put us behind in our deadlines. It will take a lot more effort on our part to get things up to speed.”

  Terrific. He was stressed. She knew what that meant. More changes.

  “I’m sorry, Cole. Is Jax okay?”

  “Oh, sure, Jax is fine. He doesn’t want to deal with this. He—” Cole looked around. Ellie followed his gaze to see sales associates Tim Owens and Chad Brunner listening in. “Come to my office.”

  Ellie grabbed a legal pad, pen and her coffee cup, then followed him to his office. Cole waited for her to step inside. He closed the door behind her. “Sit down, Ellie,” he said, nodding toward the chair.

  She complied.

  Cole walked over behind his desk, sat in his chair and began cracking his knuckles, a sure sign he was upset. She watched him for a moment, waiting for him to say what was on his mind.

  “Look, Ellie, I know you and Jax are good friends. Jax is my best friend, but the truth of the matter is, Jax wants out of this business. We both know that. He doesn’t want to deal with the tough things. That’s why he hired me.” He worked on a knuckle that refused to pop. “To tell you the truth, I don’t know that I want to handle this.”

  Interesting situation, she thought. Here he was pouring out his troubles to her, a mere employee, and he the partner of the firm. She stopped her prideful thoughts. “What do you mean by that, Cole? Are you wanting to quit?”

  His head jerked up. “No, I’m not a quitter,” he said, his voice sounding offended. “But I hadn’t expected Jax to ‘check out’—” he said, using air quotes, “—so soon.”

  “Well, he hasn’t exactly checked out, has he? I mean, he’s still around most of the time.”

  “True, but in body only. He sits in his office and studies for his classes. He leaves the decisions up to me, handling only the phone calls he’s forced to handle.”

  “Well, after all, Cole, you did agree to be his partner.” Her voice sounded a little colder than she had intended. Was she basically saying, “You made your bed, now lie in it”? She knew she should feel ashamed, but there was a teensy bit of “na-na-na-na-boo-boo” going on in the darkest corners of her heart.

  He glared at her. “Thanks for the reminder.”

  Against her better judgment, she went soft. “I’m sorry, I just don’t know why you’re telling me this. I mean, what do you want me to do?” Sounded to her like Cole and Jax needed to talk things over.

  “I don’t know,” he said with a sigh. “I’m not one to give up on a project without seeing it through to completion—”

  She threw him an oh-really look, which he didn’t miss. He held up his hand. “I know I have a reputation for having a commitment problem, but I do see my projects through to completion. I am professional.” His tone was slightly defensive.

  She shrugged, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips. For the life of her, she tried not to enjoy this little moment of having the upper hand, but she couldn’t help herself. He was the partner, but he was asking her for advice. She settled into her seat, sipped from her coffee cup, and decided this particular Monday had definite potential.

  “But I’m a little frustrated by his less-than-enthusiastic contributions to help me. I know he’s anxious to do the school thing, but I feel as if he’s dropped his baby at my doorstep and walked away.”

  “I still don’t know why you’re telling me instead of Jax.”

  He stared at her a full moment. “You’re right. I need to talk to Jax. I guess I just needed to vent to someone else first, and well, you’re the one who came to mind.”

  She smiled, sort of. An uncomfortable feeling settled upon her. After all, Jax was her friend, and Cole, well, she wasn’t sure what he was, but she was sure she didn’t want to get in the middle of something between the two of them.

  “Talk to him, Cole. But don’t worry about the houses, we’ll be all right. We’ll just put the appropriate people in place and get things moving.”

  “Ellie, I don’t think you’re taking this seriously. We have contracts. Due dates on those homes. We have to get them finished. On time. Do you understand that?”

  Okay, now he was getting her dander up. Seems he had a knack for that. He obviously thought she had dismissed the whole matter too easily. “Cole, I think I can understand that. I’ve been in this business awhile, even though you think I’m not capable of handling—”

  “Look, Ellie, this is not about you. This is about—”

  “Who said it was about me?” She rose from her chair, chin lifted a notch.

  “Now hold on. Sit down, Ellie.”

  Just who did he think he was, ordering her around? She swallowed hard. Oh, yeah; he was her supervisor. Reluctantly, she settled back into her chair.

  “I don’t mean to argue with you. I just mean—” he ran fingers through his hair “—I don’t know what I mean.”

  So the mighty partner was stumped. What was the big deal? They were under a time constraint. She had dealt with those before. It wasn’t the end of the world. “We’ll get through it. Don’t worry.” She tried to make her voice gentle and encouraging, but she wanted to bonk him on the head. Men could be so stubborn. She felt a prick to her conscience. Okay, so she could be stubborn, too, but she didn’t want to go there just now.

  She stood to her feet. “Talk to Jax,” she said as she walked across the room. Before closing his office door, she glanced back. Cole stared out the window, his brows drawn together, chin resting in the palm of his hand.

  Her insides went soft. Again.

  Two days later, Ellie noticed Jax in his office. A textbook was opened in front of him on the desk. She decided to stop and say hello; she hadn’t talked to him in a while. “Got a minute?”

  He glanced up, and a smile lit his face, his shoulders relaxed. “Sure. Come in,” he said, stretching back in his chair and yawning.

  “Studying hard, huh?”

  He nodded and thumped forward in his chair. “I’ve forgotten how tough it is to be in school.” He rubbed his eyes then looked at her. “So, how’s it going?” Before she could answer, he continued, “I’m sorry I’ve been kind of scarce these days.”

  She waved off his comment. “No problem. I understand you’re working hard with school and all. I just wanted to see how you were doing.”

  He nodded. “Thanks. It’s going pretty well.” He told her about his classes, discussing the challenges of going back to school.

  After some small talk, she stood to go. “Well, I don’t want to keep you. Just wanted to say hello.” She walked toward the door and turned back to him. “By the way, sorry about the houses, but I don’t think it will be a problem to get them up and going again.”

  “The houses?”

  “Yeah, you know, the ones in Woods Edge that were damaged by the tornado.”

  He looked as though he’d just been doused with cold water. Uh-oh, she hoped she wasn’t out of line. “I’m sorry, Jax. I thought you knew.” She walked back over and sat down.

  Jax blinked his surprise. “No, can’t say that I did. I mean, I knew about the tornado and that it hit that side of town. I just hadn’t considered it hit our houses. Now I understand why Tim and Chad got quiet when I walked in on them talking about it. I just didn’t get it. Wonder why Cole didn’t tell me.”

  She stammered. “Well, he’s been working hard to get the matter taken care of. He probably didn’t want to burden you with it,” she said, meaning it.

  He seemed to consider the information and rubbed his jaw. “How bad are they?”

  She did not like the way this discussion was going at all. She’d assumed Cole had talked to him. Well, maybe Cole would appreciate her softening the blow. Besides, Jax had a right to know. This was his business after all. She explained the extent of damage.
/>
  “I still can’t figure out why Cole hasn’t told me,” he said, clearly perplexed.

  “Look, Jax, he’s been really busy working—”

  “Still.” He rubbed his jaw some more. “I don’t like being kept in the dark about things.”

  “I’m sure he was trying to spare you while you’re busy with school.”

  He looked at her a moment, then his face brightened. “Yeah, you’re probably right. I just don’t want Cole to think I’m not available, and well, I’m not ready for him to take over entirely just yet. I have school bills to pay.”

  “I don’t think he wants to do that.”

  “I’d better go talk to him.”

  She thought a moment. “He was going to the Barnes’ job site, and said he’d be back this afternoon. Besides, you’d better let him come to you. I don’t want him to think I was going over his head or anything. I just assumed he had already talked to you.”

  Jax looked down at the pencil he tapped nervously on his desk. “I’ll give him till tomorrow,” he finally said, looking up.

  Ellie nodded and stood to her feet. “Well, I’d better get back to work,” she said with more calm than she felt.

  “Thanks, Ellie.”

  She smiled, but her stomach felt as if she’d been to an all-you-can-eat burrito buffet. Stepping out of Jax’s office, Ellie turned in the hall, nearly running into Cole. “Oh, hi.” One look at his hardened face and angry eyes told her he wasn’t feeling sociable.

  “You want to tell me what that was all about?” he asked, folding his arms across his chest.

  Had he overheard them? “I don’t know what you mean, Cole,” she answered, mad that her voice was trembling.

  He tugged her arm, edging her farther down the hall, away from Jax’s door. “What did you talk to him about?”

  She felt herself tense. Boy, try to help somebody and all you get is heartache. “Look, Cole, I thought you had told him about the houses—”

  “I didn’t,” he groused.

  “Well, I found that out after—”

  He smacked his forehead. “Great. Just great.” He glared at her. “I don’t believe you! I take you into my confidence, and you go running off to tattle the first chance you get.”

  Her jaw dropped. “I was not tattling! I thought you had told him. Any rational person would have thought the same. I was just assuring him the matter was taken care of.”

  “I don’t need you, Ms. Williams, to back me up. I can stand on my own, thank you very much.”

  “I was trying to help.”

  “Don’t do me any favors.” He looked so deep into her eyes, she thought he’d bore a hole through her head. “Next time, I’ll be more careful in choosing someone to talk with.” He turned to go.

  “Oh, Mr. Preston, about the theater?”

  He turned back around to face her.

  “I won’t be going.”

  Ellie adjusted the earpiece to her cell phone and started her car engine.

  The phone rang twice. “Hello?”

  “Hey, Cheryl, do you have a minute?”

  “Sure, I’m on lunch. What’s up?”

  Ellie could hear Cheryl unwrapping her sandwich. “Tuna salad today?”

  “No. I splurged. Roast beef sub. And before you say anything, I’ve been good for the past two days, so I’ve earned it—and the candy bar.”

  Ellie laughed. “I’m not one to cast stones, believe me. If someone would come up with a chocolate diet, I’d be their poster child.”

  “I hear ya,” Cheryl said as mannerly as possible while chewing her sandwich.

  “Listen, I had to talk to someone. Cole is making me crazy.” Ellie waited for Cheryl to finish chewing. She thought a moment how thankful she was to be able to spend time with her best friend. She could talk to Cheryl about anything. Last year, when Cheryl had decided to attend night classes after her day job as a paralegal, they had hardly seen each other. So when Cheryl had announced school was not for her, though feeling a bit selfish, Ellie was relieved.

  “Him again? What’s up with you two? One minute, you’re friends, the next minute, well—” She stopped and Ellie could hear her take another bite.

  “Oh, I know it.” Ellie turned left at the traffic light. “I messed up big-time today. I didn’t mean to, though.”

  “Uh-oh, doesn’t sound good. Want to meet for coffee tonight?”

  “Could we? I really could use someone to talk to.”

  “You got it.”

  “Will Mark mind?” Ellie asked, though she knew Cheryl’s husband probably wouldn’t.

  Cheryl took a drink of something. “Sorry,” she finally said. “No, he won’t mind. He has a church board meeting.”

  “Oh, great. Meet you at six-thirty, Tasty Grounds?”

  “See you then.”

  Ellie clicked off her phone, thankful for a friend who was always there for her.

  After picking up their coffee, Ellie and Cheryl made their way to the table.

  “Mmm, I love this place,” Ellie said.

  Cheryl smiled. “Yeah, me, too. And to think I didn’t even drink coffee until they started with all the flavored stuff. Now, I’m a caramel latte junkie.”

  “Tell me about it. Who would have thought chocolate and coffee would fit like tea and sugar?” Ellie laughed before taking a sip of her mocha. “I say chocolate plus anything equals a delightful experience.”

  “You should do a commercial. And speaking of delightful experiences, you want to tell me the problem with you and lover boy?” Cheryl’s eyes twinkled.

  “For crying out loud, Cheryl, don’t call him that,” Ellie snapped.

  Cheryl raised an eyebrow. “My, we are a little touchy.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry. The man drives me nuts, and he’s not my lover boy!”

  Cheryl shrugged. “Whatever you say.”

  Ellie looked at her in disbelief. “How can you say that, Cheryl? You know he’s practically fingernails on a chalkboard.”

  “Precisely my point.”

  Ellie stared, saying nothing.

  “Look, Ellie, Mr. Right isn’t going to be perfect. You’re always looking for someone without any flaws. If he was out there, Hollywood would have a reality show about him.”

  “What got us into Mr. Right? We’re talking about Cole Preston making me crazy.”

  “Exactly.”

  Ellie was not enjoying this conversation.

  “I’m sorry, Ellie. It just seems so clear to me that you’re attracted to him and that’s why he drives you crazy.”

  “You can’t mean that.”

  “Think about it. I know his little quirks bother you, but those same things about him make you dig deeper into yourself. It’s like he’s exposing you to yourself, do you know what I mean?”

  Ellie rolled her eyes. “You take one class in psychology and you’ve been analyzing ever since. I need a friend here, Cheryl, not a shrink.” Normally, Ellie could handle Cheryl playing Dr. Phil, but not tonight.

  Cheryl shrugged and took a drink of her latte.

  Ellie leaned into the table. “Look, Cheryl, I’m sorry. I just want to know how to work with the guy without losing my mind. Can you help me with that?”

  Cheryl noticeably softened and nodded. “Just promise me I’ll be a bridesmaid.”

  Ellie groaned.

  Chapter Eight

  The next couple of weeks passed in a blur. Ellie kept busy with new clients, and Cole got the house repairs underway so they would be back on schedule soon. They had apologized to one another over their latest tiff, though they still kept their distance in the office. Ellie finally got a break from Cole’s upheavals and yet she felt strange about it all. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it.

  Maybe Cheryl had been right. Oh, not the attraction part, but maybe Ellie liked the fire that sparked between her and Cole, the challenges he hurled her way. She couldn’t imagine what would make her think such a thing. She hated changes. And change was Coleman Preston’s middle
name.

  “You coming, Ellie?” Her mom and dad stood at the church doors, holding them open for Ellie as she lagged behind. She quickened her pace.

  “Sorry, Mom.”

  Her parents smiled at her, then they walked into the church foyer. They greeted their church family and when Ellie turned to her right, her heart seemed to stop midbeat.

  “Hi, Ellie,” Cole said, standing a short distance away. He fingered his collar and adjusted his tie as she walked toward him.

  “Cole,” she said, ignoring the continuing leap in her pulse. “Nice to have you join us this morning.” She surprised herself by meaning it.

  “Thanks.” He flashed her the blinding grin. “Jax made me come.”

  They both turned to Jax who had just finished talking with someone and turned back to them. “Hey, Ellie. Guess you see who I forced to come this morning,” he said, giving Cole a manly pat on the shoulder.

  “See what I mean,” he said to Ellie. Turning to Jax, he said, “Come on, I’m not that bad. I’ve been to church before.”

  Jax and Ellie stared at him, both of them grinning. “Well, I have. Grandma used to take me and my brother all the time.”

  They laughed out loud. “We believe you, Cole,” Ellie said, feeling kinder toward her supervisor than she had in weeks. The worship team started singing, and Ellie turned to walk with her parents. “Hey, Ellie, why don’t you sit with us?” Cole asked, surprising her.

  “Well—”

  “Come on, sis,” Jax chimed in, using the nickname he used only when away from the office.

  Cole looked at him. “I didn’t know you were related.”

  Jax shrugged. “Well, technically, we’re not. But I’ve taken it upon myself to take care of her. So you’d better behave yourself. Big brother is watching.”

  Cole threw a mock salute toward Jax and the three made their way into the sanctuary. They settled into their seats with Ellie sitting in the middle.

  The first service was more of a contemporary nature, with lively, upbeat music. Jax and Ellie clapped their hands in beat and sang along heartily. Cole shifted uncomfortably from leg to leg, looked around, and shifted some more. Ellie pretended not to notice. She wanted to make him feel comfortable, but he didn’t know the songs, and she didn’t know what to do. After a little while, she saw him mouth the words on the overhead screen and attempt to join the rest.