Valerie tried not to scowl. “What have you heard?”
Sami pursed her lips. “I know you’re coming from the Savannah office. And I know Buddy is your uncle and that you’re a childhood friend of the Dixon brothers. That’s about it.”
Valerie looked up at the fluorescent lighting and felt some hidden weight of stress suddenly leave. “I guess the gossip isn’t as bad as I thought. Maybe I’ll relax a little more.”
“You keep saying that. What gossip?”
“I, uh, had an ex-boyfriend who wasn’t a nice man. Since we were both architects with Dixon, I just assumed everyone knew what happened four years ago.”
“Hmmm.” She ran a finger over her bottom lip. “Let me think. Yes, I remember. I knew about it, but I didn’t know names.” She reached over and put a hand on Valerie’s forearm. “I’m so sorry you experienced something like that.”
Memories flashed through her mind’s eye. Shaking her head to bring herself into the present, she smiled. “I am way better these days than I was four years ago. This move was the final step in reclaiming myself. I’m happy to be home.”
Sami grinned and settled herself to face the front as Brooklyn called the class to order. “I’m happy you’re here, too,” she whispered.
Despite the lack of sleep,Brad entered the building whistling, ready to start his future with a new attitude. Something about right now signaled the beginning of the beginning. Usually, he got here before seven. This morning, though, he’d left later than usual and hit heavier traffic than normal, so he came into the lobby at the peak of the morning rush. Several people stopped him to briefly say good morning, to ask a question, or to simply confirm this meeting or that telephone call. By the time he made it to his private elevator, it was nearly eight o’clock.
As he stepped into his office, the overhead LED lights automatically came on. He set his backpack on top of his desk and pulled his laptop out of it. Just as he attached it to the docking station, his door opened and Sami walked in, a cup of coffee in one hand, her tablet in the other. She wore a blue and green flowered silk style dress that fell to her knees. She had her hair pulled up and blue chopsticks sticking out of the bun. She could no longer surprise him with her outfits.
“Good morning. I’m so glad to see you here and healthy. I was about to call you. Or, you know, the hospitals.” She set the coffee in front of him and brought her tablet to the ready. The steam rising from the cup caught the morning light shining through the window behind him.
He smiled. “I slept in, if you can believe it. Late night.”
“Your dad called about twenty minutes ago.”
Brad sipped the coffee and nodded. “He caught me on my cell.”
“And you have the meeting with the design team for the Nashville mall in fifteen minutes.”
“Right. Who’s the interior designer on that?”
Using the tablet, she pulled up the meeting information. “Blank. I’m guessing Owen hasn’t assigned one yet.”
Thinking of Owen Wakefield, the lead architect for this project and his personality and character, he nodded. “Okay. What else?”
“Nothing pressing.” She tapped on her screen then shut the cover on her tablet and turned toward the door but paused and turned back around. “Oh, one thing. How many in your reservation for Calla Jones’ restaurant opening? There’s an email requesting confirmation. Your brothers have all responded separately, so this is just you.”
He started just to say one but changed his mind. He had a few weeks to see what the future held. “Two. Thanks.”
“Two?” Sami smiled. “Got it.” She looked up at the clock on the wall. “Don’t forget the design team. Conference room two. This floor.”
“Thanks, Sami.” As the door shut behind her, he slipped out of his suit jacket, inverted it, and draped it over the back of the chair while he used his cell phone to call the architect. When Owen answered, Brad greeted, “Owen, Brad. Good morning.”
“Morning. What’s up, boss?”
“Have you selected a design architect for the Nashville mall yet?”
“I have. I just haven’t updated the meeting notice yet. Your dad asked me to bring on Flynn, Buddy’s niece, the one who came up from the Savannah office. She did some preliminary consultation on it way back when, so I’ve added her to the team. May I ask why you ask?”
“Nothing. I just noticed the hole and wanted to make sure that the team was complete. Thanks.”
“Sure. I’ll update the documents this morning.”
Brad set his phone on his desk and took another sip of hot coffee. He’d watched Valerie’s work from a distance for the last couple years, but he felt a little excited at the thought of getting to see her work up close, to sit in meetings with her and watch her interact on a professional level.
After fielding a couple time-sensitive emails, he grabbed his tablet and made sure he had the right project pulled up. Leaving his jacket off, he walked out of his office and into Sami’s. She took the empty coffee cup from him and refilled it from the carafe behind her desk. “Thanks,” he said, looking at his watch. “I think I have a lunch meeting today.”
Sami tapped the computer screen with the eraser of her pencil. “Chamber of Commerce. Twelve-fifteen.”
