My office door swung open and Cane burst through.
“What’s up, Alexander?” I asked blandly.
He shut the door behind him and sat across from me. “What time do you want to go over the bid for tomorrow?”
We always sat down together in the conference room before a bid. We laid all the plans and specifications on the table and evaluated the job from one end to the other, inside and out. In the early days of us running Alexander Industries, I was shocked by Cane’s attention to detail on bids. He was always a run-and-gunner type of guy, shoot from the hip. But when he took over his father’s company after his death, when we were working, we were working. Very little got by him.
“In the morning. Have you been looking at it?”
Cane looked at his watch. “I’ve been going over it at the house. Jada is still sick as fuck and I don’t know what to do. I feel so helpless.”
“She’ll be okay. Pregnant women are supposed to be sick.”
“Thank God I’m a man. I couldn’t do it. She throws up and sleeps. Throws up and sleeps. Can that be normal?”
“Yeah, man. It is.”
I could see the exhaustion in his eyes. “I’ll bring my notes in early. Say, five in the morning? And we can go over it then? The bid is due at noon.”
“Five is good.”
A knock sounded lightly on my door and it opened a sliver. Sam’s eyes peeked around the corner. “Am I interrupting anything?”
Cane didn’t turn around but rolled his eyes at the sound of her voice.
“I think we’re done,” I said, looking at Cane. He rose from his chair and walked past Sam, not saying a word. She entered and closed the door behind her, sitting the spec book, a bag of food, and a drink on my desk.
“There ya go, boss,” she smiled.
I didn’t smile back. “Thanks. Take that spec book to your desk and enter the bid items and quantities in the system. Let me know when you have it done.” I shoved the book towards the end of the desk.
She picked it up but didn’t leave. After a few seconds, I looked to her and raised my eyebrows.
“I think I made Kari mad,” she said softly. She chewed on her bottom lip. Anyone looking in would think she was contrite, but I had seen her play that card with my parents a time or thirteen growing up. She was anything but sorry.
“Rightfully so. What in the hell made ya think it was alright to walk into our house?”
She released her lip from between her teeth. “She wasn’t home and you needed the book. I was just trying to get the job done.”
“How’d ya get in the house, Sam?”
She didn’t respond for a minute. She just watched me warily before opening her mouth. “One of the keys I had made yesterday worked in the lock.”
“I told you yesterday to only copy the blue keys.”
“Apparently the hardware store didn’t listen to my instructions,” she shrugged, exasperation lacing her voice. “Look, I’m sorry. I was only trying to do what was right. You are so stressed out, Maxie. I can see it all over your face. You need someone to help you and that’s what I was trying to do.”
I leaned back in my chair, my arms crossed in front of me. “You knew where my office was and you had no reason to be in our bedroom. I don’t find this amusing inthe least.”
She pouted again. “I’m sorry. I really am. Your little puppy took off up there and I followed him. Oh my God he’s so cute!” Her face lit up. “He took the tip of his nose and rolled his little ball towards me. I tossed it across the room and he ran to chase it and fell head over heels. He’s adorable!”
“Yeah, he is.” I gauged her mannerisms, trying to decipher her intent. She seemed nervous, her blue eyes wide. “I’m gonna need my keys back, Sam. And you’re gonna need to remember what I said. Just because I’ve known you for practically—”
“I know,” she said, swinging her head side to side, her blonde curls bouncing. “I work for you. End of story. But today’s incident was the puppy’s fault, not mine.” She cast me a huge, silly grin and I couldn’t stay mad at her.
“I’ll be sure to have a talk with Titus when I get home. After,” I groaned, “Kari has a talk with me.”
She gripped the back of one of the seats across from my desk. “Want me to call and apologize to her? I know I scared the crap out of her. I talked to Brielle on the way back here and she told me that Kari’s sister was almost killed by an intruder last year. I’m sure she was shaken up. I just feel so bad. Truly.”
