by Mitzi Kelly
There would come a time when she would have to face Greg alone, but at least it wouldn’t be today. She knew a dare when she heard one, and his subtle challenge last night regarding her decision to move forward as friends—without benefits—warned her he wasn’t in agreement. A battle was going to erupt in the near future, and she was confident she wouldn’t win right now. She wasn’t up to it. Not while her body still tingled from the night before.
She put her purse on her desk and headed for the break room. Justin and Greg were sitting at the table, and Steve stood leaning against the cabinets.
“Good morning,” she said brightly, her greeting encompassing them all, but her gaze skipped over Greg.
“Good morning,” Steve replied, reaching for a cup from the cabinet and handing it to her. “You’re cheerful this morning. I can only assume that means you had a great evening last night.”
She almost dropped the coffee cup. Greg coughed as heat rose in her face. Quickly, she turned her back and prepared her coffee. Steve didn’t know just how right he was…
“I hope you stay just as cheerful after we ask you for a favor,” Justin drawled. “Clyde McDaniel is coming by to discuss his job. We have to tie up some loose ends, and he is very easily distracted. In past meetings, we’ve been in deep discussions on the specifics of a job when he’s gotten up to refill his coffee. We get in the break room, and he starts to talk about subjects totally unrelated, and we’ve almost had to physically drag him back into the conference room. So”—his voice took on a pleading tone—“would you mind playing as a sort of hostess for the meeting?”
“Ah,” she said with a grin. “You want me to pop in every so often and fill coffee cups or bring in soda and water, don’t you? Basically make sure Mr. McDaniel doesn’t need to get out of his seat?”
Steve sighed. “Exactly. I’m going to go get an assortment of doughnuts to go with the coffee. Would you mind being the ‘hostess with the mostest’ this morning?”
“I think you guys have been intimidated by the extreme women’s liberation stuff. Of course, I don’t mind.” She was glad she had taken extra care while dressing this morning. Initially, it had been to boost her self-confidence when she had to face Greg, but now the black slacks and deep red blouse would add a sense of professionalism when she greeted Mr. McDaniel. “What time is the meeting?”
“In an hour. Clyde is one of our best clients, and he’s a terrific man. He just has more free time on his hands than we do, and we’ve all got other things to accomplish today.”
She walked toward the door. “No problem. I’m happy to help.” When she reached the doorway, she turned and looked at them. “Besides, if you ever try to fire me, I can blackmail you for having made me do something so demeaning.”
She was halfway to her desk before she finally heard the nervous laughter.
Approximately an hour later, Ginger was under her desk—literally—when she heard the front door open. She was on her hands and knees attempting to plug in a new USB cord to the back of her computer, trying not to get tangled up in the myriad cords lying in a heap on the floor along the wall. How her predecessor had kept from killing herself, she would never know.
“I’ll be right with you,” she called out with a grunt. Finally, the cord slid into the computer slot. She scooted backward until her head cleared the edge of her desk.
Clyde McDaniel was peering over at her, his eyes dancing.
“I’m sorry.” She straightened her blouse. “Usually I’m sitting down when I greet people. How are you, Clyde?”
“I’m well, thank you.” He wore a green polo shirt tucked into jeans, and an amused smile crossed his face.
She couldn’t stop her own smile at having been caught in such an awkward position.
“Do the Tuckers usually have their beautiful assistant work on electrical problems?”
She chuckled and raised a hand to smooth her hair. “No, that was my own initiative. And it wasn’t electrical. It was computer related.”
“But she could fix electrical problems if she wanted to,” Greg said as he entered the reception area and held out his hand. “Believe me, there’s nothing this woman can’t handle.”
Clyde grasped Greg’s hand. “I need to warn you, Greg. I’m going to think of a way to steal this young woman away from Tucker Construction. She’d definitely brighten up my offices.”
“Fat chance.” Greg laughed easily. “We plan to keep Ginger for a very long time. You go find your own superwoman.”
Ginger narrowed her eyes. “You two are full of it. Go on back to the conference room and do something productive. I’ll bring in some coffee. How do you take yours, Clyde?”
Clyde McDaniel burst into laughter. “I see who the real boss is around here. Just black, dear.”
Greg gave Clyde a pat on the back and steered him down the hall. Ginger bit her lip to keep from laughing at Clyde’s bright green tennis shoes. The man was adorable and had a wonderful sense of humor. She already liked him considerably. And for a reason that was impossible to explain, it made her proud the men she worked for were able to form strong friendships with their clients. It spoke of a trust that had been cultivated through business transactions, and proved to her she was working for honorable men.
As the men settled down to work, she moved quietly between them, handing out cups filled with fresh coffee. She placed the tray of doughnuts in the middle of the table with a stack of napkins, careful to avoid the blueprints, contracts, and notepads scattered about. It was a good thing her wrist was back to normal. She could only imagine the men jumping up in pain as hot coffee splashed onto their laps from her not being able to properly manage the coffee pot.
She sat down at her desk, and almost immediately the front door opened. Her mouth dropped open. A delivery man walked toward her, carrying a beautiful blue-green ceramic vase filled with at least two dozen deep red roses.
“Ginger Carmichael?” he asked.
She could only nod as he placed the vase on her desk.
“Sign here, please.”
She did as he asked, not sure if her signature was legible because she couldn’t take her gaze off the roses. Belatedly she said thank you when she heard the door close. The roses were gorgeous, dramatic, and three-quarters of the way open. It was going to kill her to throw these away. Her hand shook as she reached for the card. Todd not only knew where she lived; he also knew where she worked.
BFF!
What in the world…? Then suddenly the message became clear. Her eyes opened wide, and she reached out a trembling hand to one of the roses. Best friends, forever! The roses were from Greg.
She sat quietly for a moment, overwhelmed by the sweet gesture. Once again she had misread Greg. He wasn’t challenging her decision to remain friends. These roses meant he understood her need to not let their friendship develop into anything further. He knew she cared for him—as a friend—and now she knew, without any doubt, he cared for her, too.
He knew her most private secrets, but he would honor her desire to keep them private. She didn’t have to hide anything from him because she could trust him. And trust wasn’t a feeling she was familiar with.
She placed the small card in her purse where she would take it home and put it in the box she kept of her special treasures. If a small part of her mourned that she would never again experience the extraordinary intimacy she’d shared with Greg last night, then she would just have to accept it. His friendship was far too important to jeopardize it by combining it with a sexual relationship.
She would never forget that one special night, though. A sigh escaped her lips as she moved the vase to the corner of her desk. This was not the time or place to be analyzing what was and what could have been.
A couple of hours later, Ginger crossed the final name off the list of city inspectors and engineers she had scheduled to examine the progress on several of their projects. She leaned back in her chair and stretched. It should be time for another round of coffee in the confe
rence room. The last time she had gone in to refill cups and hand out bottled water, she had gotten the impression the meeting was progressing in a productive manner. She stood, and at that moment the conference room door opened. From the smiles and satisfied expressions on all their faces, it appeared everything had indeed gone well.
Clyde was saying something to Justin when he stopped and stared. “Holy moly!” he exclaimed. “Someone must really love you.”
She didn’t dare look at Greg. “No, they’re from a friend.” She tried to smile naturally.
“Some friend,” Steve commented as he walked over and stuck his nose in the roses. “I think you may be reading this guy all wrong. Nobody sends a friend flowers like these.”
Ducking her head, she picked up several file folders from her desk. Unobtrusively she stole a quick glance at Greg and almost dropped the folders. He was leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed, looking at her with a big grin on his face. The skunk was actually enjoying this! He knew she would never admit the roses were from him, and he was having a good time watching her squirm.
She narrowed her eyes slightly, sending a clear message. Payback’s a bitch.
She politely declined an invitation to lunch, stating she had errands she needed to run. Greg was the last one to leave the office, and he leaned back in the doorway and whispered, “Errands, my foot. You’re just a chicken. You’re afraid if you spend too much time with me, you’re going to want to jump my bones again.”
Her mouth fell open as she stared at him. “Of all the—”
But he was already out the door.
Chapter Thirteen
Ginger made a stop at both the grocery store and the home improvement store on her way home that afternoon. She hated to admit she was holding on to a small ray of hope Greg would come by this evening. It would be nice to clarify their friendship, to remove any misunderstandings and uncertainties about what they each expected. Since they would be working together, it would be unbearable to have to second guess every remark and action.
She cast another quick glance at the vase of roses on the passenger seat as she slowed the car and turned onto her street. She couldn’t help but smile every time she thought about Greg’s private joke with the flowers. These she would proudly display in the center of her table so he would see them the next time he came over. There wouldn’t be any doubt as to how much she valued his friendship. If he came back over, that was.
She was almost to her house when she pushed her thoughts aside. A man had just stepped onto the sidewalk at the corner of her property. She could’ve sworn he’d come from her front yard. He was wearing beige shorts, a dark blue polo shirt, and blue walking shoes. She slowed the car and watched him for a moment as he headed down the sidewalk. Then she gave a sigh of relief. It was just her neighbor, Rick Thornton.
She heard Jack’s barking before she even stopped her car. And it wasn’t one of those I’m so happy you’re home kind of barks. It was the kind he used whenever they passed Rick’s house during their walks. Her relief in recognizing him was now turning into misgiving. He hadn’t turned around when she pulled into her driveway, raising even more suspicion.
She shook off her anxiety and got out of the car. Her neighbor might be strange, but that didn’t mean he was Mr. Evil. More than likely he was just shy and insecure, not really comfortable with getting to know people. After all, she’d never seen him outside with any of the other neighbors before. In all fairness, she hadn’t exactly been the best neighbor on the block, either.
Grabbing her purse, she got out of the car. “Rick!” She had to call out twice before he turned. She waved at him before she leaned back in the car for the vase of roses. The groceries and supplies could wait until she came back for them, but not wanting Rick to feel obligated to help her, she closed the car door. Rick’s smile seemed to falter when he saw the roses. Who could blame him? They truly were overwhelming.
“Did you want to see me about something?” she asked when he drew closer. Jack’s incessant barking from inside her house was driving her nuts, but some instinct told her not to stop him. He was her high-tech alarm system, and it wouldn’t hurt to let everyone know it.
“Wow,” he said with a nod toward the flowers. “Beautiful roses. They match your shirt.”
She looked down and then chuckled. “I guess they do. It’s a good thing I didn’t wear black today.”
“Who are they from?”
She blinked. She almost blurted out, “None of your business,” but then realized he couldn’t have meant his words to sound as blunt as they had.
“A friend,” she replied, which was the truth. She could tell he was waiting for her to expound on her statement, but she just smiled.
“Well, it must be a special friend. They’re beautiful.”
“Did you need to see me about something?” she asked again, ignoring his comment. It wasn’t so much the questions over her roses as it was the piercing look in his eyes, even though his smile remained firmly in place.
“No, I was just out for a walk, and I heard your dog barking. I thought something might be wrong, so I knocked on your door.”
“Oh. Well, thank you.” She adjusted her purse strap over her shoulder. “Jack usually doesn’t bark like this. I better go check on him.” She walked over to her mailbox at the curb and retrieved the usual pile of junk mail. “It was nice seeing you.” She gave him a smile over her shoulder and walked to her door.
“Same here,” he replied. “Take care.”
She breathed a sigh of relief, glad Rick hadn’t tried to prolong the conversation. She hated to be rude, but she really didn’t want to start a pattern where she’d have to stop and talk every time they ran into each other. She understood his shyness, and she felt sorry for him, but as much as she tried to explain away his awkwardness, the man was just plain strange.
And Jack seemed to agree because her dog didn’t act this way around anybody else. “Hush, Jack,” she commanded as she struggled to fit her key in the door. If he didn’t calm down, he was going to knock her over when she stepped inside. She started to open the door when something caught her attention. A tingling sensation crawled up her spine as she looked down at the ground. Thanks to the recent rains, the dirt was soft under her living room window, which was why the large footprints stood out so clearly.
She opened her door, placed the roses and the bags on the counter, and then went through the usual ritual with Jack before letting him outside, but her mind was on the footprints below her window. If Rick had become concerned something was wrong at her house, he might have stepped to the window to peek inside. She didn’t like that idea, but it still made sense. And yet something she couldn’t put her finger on bothered her about the footprints.
She walked over to the living room window and looked outside. She always kept her blinds partially open during the days because she much preferred coming home to a house where natural sunlight streamed in instead of a dark, dreary house that had been closed up all day. And she knew it was almost impossible for anybody to see inside when no lights were on. Unless, of course, they walked right up to the window. And then she realized what was bothering her. The footprints weren’t fresh.
Should she call the police? If so, what would she tell them? She wasn’t comfortable with that idea, but she wasn’t comfortable with the idea someone might have tried to peek inside her house, either.
Her next thought was to call Greg. Instinctively, she knew she could trust his advice, and he would know what to do. But that just sounded too pathetic. He would certainly believe she was using the strange footprints as an excuse to get him to come over.
So she compromised. She grabbed one of her construction pencils off the counter and boldly wrote today’s date on one of the sales flyers. She retrieved her phone from her purse, picked up the flyer, and then stepped out front. And just like she’d seen on television, she started snapping pictures of the footprints from all different angles. She then placed the flyer
beside them with the date clearly showing, and snapped a few more.
Feeling very Columbo-ish, she nodded in satisfaction, picked up the flyer, and went back inside. If she ever needed proof of the footprints below her window, the pictures could be pulled off her phone instantly. For now, she could put the incident out of her mind.
She let Jack back inside, fed him a milk bone treat, and made her way to the bedroom to change clothes. Daylight’s a’wastin’!
It only took a few hours for her mood to sour, though. Standing in the kitchen with one hip pressed against the counter, she ate a turkey and cheese sandwich and tried to ignore the deep sighs coming from Jack. He had followed her into the kitchen and plopped down in the corner, his big head resting on his paws. After one more sigh, she glared at him. “It’s not my fault. I wanted Greg to come over tonight, too. You’re going to have to deal with it just like I am.”
But the truth was, she wasn’t dealing with it very well. While working in her living room, she’d held her breath every time she heard a car, waiting to see if it would pull into her driveway, and twice she’d checked her phone to make sure the battery hadn’t gone dead. She was going to have to learn to deal with it much better than she had, because nothing in the rule books for friendship mentioned she had to see her friends every single day.
She poured herself a glass of milk and tried to shrug off the melancholy seeping through her system. It had been a great day—she’d accomplished quite a bit, and there was no way she was going to let the presence—or absence—of another person dictate her happiness.
She’d left that particular weakness in the past, and she wasn’t ever going back there.
She rinsed her glass in the sink and then let Jack out one last time. A quick shower followed by some quality time reading the new novel she’d picked up sounded like a perfect way to end the day. She didn’t need to be surrounded by friends to feel satisfied, she thought defiantly.