His success hadn’t taken long, because her brother was extremely good at what he did.
Yeah.They’d always made a good team. She was more grateful for Statler than anyone could ever know. And now? She was also thankful for the six employees who had joined the company in the ensuing years. It was like she’d picked up a half-dozen additional, older siblings; all people whom Statler trusted implicitly, which meant Petula did, too.
It didn’t hurt that they were individuals who’d worked with her brother in the Army Corp of Engineers before coming on board with him. One by one, as they’d each reached the end of their time in service, they’d been eager to help Stat make his dreams come true, while also carving out a comfortable place for themselves.
Now, eight years later, they were the tightest bunch of not only co-workers, but friends who helped each other out with everything. Because of that, Petula had a whole bunch of people who watched over her as if she were their little sister.
“Here she is,” Dizzy cried out happily as Petula walked through the door.
“You’re late,” Stat added, tipping a brown bottle toward her, silently asking if she wanted one.
“Yes, and yes,” Petula told the bunch as she stepped into the melee. “It was a sucky day; loading was wrong, a flat tire, a sneak review coming Monday.” She sighed. “All that, means I’m in need of some serious decompression.”
One by one, every person came up and gave her a commiserating hug. She readily accepted them. It had taken her a while to get comfortable being touched, but each person on her brother’s crew had proven to be not only hard workers and upstanding citizens, but squishy pussycats, just like Statler.
Of course, he wouldn’t have hired them, otherwise.
The gang was certainly all here, tonight. Dizzy, Blue, Hazard, Sherbert, Tonka, and Pipes. Her brother’s besties.
They all had real names that weren’t their old military handles, but those had long ago become hazy in Petula’s mind since nobody ever used them. To her, these peeps were the greatest bunch on earth, and had all earned a special place in her heart.
She didn’t know how much her brother had shared with them about the family past, but she assumed it was enough to bring out all their protective instincts. For that, she was forever appreciative.
“Okay everybody. Let the working stiff sit down,” Blue finally ordered.
Petula found a seat, but gave a smirk, guessing that her comfort wasn’t the priority for Blue.
“Now spill it girl. Tell us about your breakfast date.”
Yup.She’d guessed right. Blue, the only female in the group, was always the nosy one, and hadn’t missed a beat to prod Petula as Statler handed her a beer.
Petula took a long swig, then narrowed her eyes at her audience, unable to stave off the blush as she turned her regard to her brother. “You couldn’t keep your mouth shut, huh?” she asked.
That didn’t begin to wipe the grin off his face. He simply rolled his free hand as if to say, “get on with it.”
Yup.Anything that happened in her life these days was scrutinized, ad nauseum, by all of these busy-bodies. There was no getting around this.
“I had a Danish and coffee,” she prevaricated.
“That’s not an answer, Petti,” Statler chided amusedly. “But I’m guessing by the color of your face, things went well.”
“Yeah. They did,” she informed the peanut gallery while blowing an errant strand of hair off her face that had escaped her ponytail. “Julian is a really nice guy, and very astute, too. Every time he saw that I was even the slightest bit uncomfortable with where the conversation was headed, he changed the subject. He reminds me a lot of you guys in that regard.” She held her bottle high. “Cheers.”
“Cheers,” came the ready response as everyone drank.
“Does that mean you’re going to see him again?” Hazard, the thoughtful one of the bunch asked.
“As a matter of fact, yes. We’re meeting at the Moose and Muffin tomorrow morning at nine.”
Statler’s brows raised. “Wow. Now I know you must really like him to see him two days in a row.”
Clearly her brother was astounded, as well he should be. Not only was this the first time Petula had gone out with someone for a “sort-of” date, it was the first time she’d ever let on, even a little bit, that she might be moving forward with a man.
“I think…” She cleared her throat and started again. “I think I could really end up liking Julian, if he can…handle things with me.”
Statler would know what she was saying, and the crew, if she was correct, probably had an inkling, too.
“Are you kidding?” Blue interjected. “Any guy would be lucky to have you, and don’t youeverthink otherwise. And you know we’ll want to meet him. We can’t have justanybodyattaching themselves to our Petula.”
