“Hey boss lady,” said Mike, one of her best electricians, looking up from the wire he was fishing between the metal studs. “Did you bring us donuts?”
“Hell no. Did you bring me donuts?” she said with a laugh.
“Naw, but the old lady made tamales. You can have some at lunch if you want. My bag was so heavy when I left the house this morning; I think she sent enough to feed the whole crew.”
“God bless her.” Mike’s wife’s tamales were the stuff of legend. “You be sure to be good to that woman.”
Mike grinned a little sheepishly. “I will. She’s pregnant again.”
Mike and his wife had been together for over five years and were so in love that watching them together was almost painful. It was impossible to stay a cynic in the face of that kind of love and even harder not to want something like it for herself. They already had a little boy, a dark haired cutie who looked like his mother and was supposed to start kindergarten in the fall. Mike looked so happy Claire gave his shoulder a quick squeeze.
“Congratulations, daddy!”
“Tell me he’s not talking about the kid again,” said Pete, making his way in from what would become the hallway. “It’s not even as big as my thumbnail and already it’s all he can talk about.”
Claire laughed. “I bet you were just the same with your kids.”
“I can’t remember,” said Pete, grinning. “That was a hundred years ago.”
“We’ll just have to tease you when the grandkids start to appear. You guys did a great job while I was gone. Thank you.”
“Good enough for donuts tomorrow?” asked Mike.
“Yeah okay,” said Claire with mock resignation. “Good enough for donuts. Pete, do you have a couple of minutes to go over the plans for six?”
“Sure, I think the framers might actually finish this floor today or tomorrow. I’ve never seen a crew like that before,” he said, concern coloring his voice.
“Is it something more than laziness?” she asked, leading the way up the bare concrete steps to the next floor. If she knew what was going on she could let Luke know. Sparks had never been happy with the choice, but Matthews’s normal framing crew was tied up. The crew working this job was one of Samson’s subs. After meeting the creepy man in New York City it wasn’t hard to understand why his subs were the worst on the job.
Pete got quiet and thought for a minute. He’d been with English Electrical since the early days, and Claire trusted him almost as much as she trusted anyone else.
“Nothing that I can put my finger on. It’s probably nothing. Just impatience to get our part of the job done.”
She pulled open the fire door and walked on to the empty concrete deck. The floor waited for windows to be fitted into the openings in the structure, but that didn’t need to stop her crew or the framers from beginning the rough in. No one had started carrying materials up yet so there was nothing on the floor but debris from the initial construction.
Claire held the plans out in front of her, folding back the part with the unit layout, making it easier to hold. She and Pete traced the runs with their fingers, noting the few minor variations from the floor below.
“I’ve got it,” said Pete. “I’ll start carrying up the wire, and as soon as the framers are ready to start, we’ll be right behind them.”
“Great,” she said, turning back to the fire door pausing when she heard Pete clear his throat. “Everything okay?”
“Listen,” he said, shifting his hard hat around on his head. “I’ve known you since you were a girl so I’m just going to say something that’s none of my business. There’s a rumor going around that you’ve been spending time with Luke Masters.”
Claire sucked in a breath, and the electrician, almost old enough to be her father, laid a steadying hand on her arm.
“It’s okay. You know them. They gossip like old ladies, but no one is saying anything bad. They don’t think any less of you. They’re just curious. And maybe a little jealous.” He gave her a wink. “At the risk of sounding like a chick, we all just want the best for you. You’re too good a woman to get tied up with some rich playboy who doesn’t appreciate what he’s got. That’s it.” He shoved his hands in his pockets and rocked on the balls of his feet. “I’m not saying anything else, but your dad and I were tight. I want to look out for you like he would if he could.”
Claire blinked furiously at the tears threatening to fall. She did not want to cry in front of the older man. She’d worked too hard to earn his respect, but the fact that he was willing to risk making her angry to look out for her touched her.
“He’s not a bad guy,” she said. “But don’t worry, I won’t let him take advantage of me.”
“I know you won’t. You’re a smart woman.” Pete followed behind her, and with every step, she prayed she was as smart as he thought she was.
