“Look, it’s probably the timber company. I mean it’s always the same one. If one of your employees were skimming, he’d probably do it on every order, not just on BlackTimber’s.”
Unless the person was smart. I truly hoped it was the timber corporation and not anindividual.
“How did Mom miss this? That’s thousands of dollars ofloss!”
“$17,533.”
August blinked atme.
I shrugged. “I’ll print everything out so you can double-check mynumber.”
August stood up straighter. “I trust your calculations, but yeah, print it out so I can showDad.”
I hit control P on various documents, which made the mammoth printer roar to life in thecorner.
August walked over and plucked the papers from the tray before crossing the office, but then he paused in the doorway. “Can you keep this between us? Until I find out what’s goingon?”
“Of course.” I mimicked zipping up mylips.
He stepped out but doubled back. “And congrats again on your license. That’s a heck of amilestone.”
I smiled stupidly athim.
With the hand not clutching all the printouts, he tapped the doorframe. “Don’t leave before I get back,okay?”
I nodded, imagining he’d want to debrief after meeting with Nelson. “I drove here, so I’m totallyindependent.”
A butterfly performed a backflip inside mystomach.
Independent.
How I’d longed for thisday.
35
The sun was setting,and everyone had left, yet August still wasn’t back. I’d been done with my workload for almost an hour and had been poring over the three-dimensional elevations of a luxury lodge. I could almost smell the oiled pine floors and the tall evergreens that had been digitally added beyond the baywindows.
“What do you think?” A warm breath licked up the column of myneck.
I startled, and the 3D printouts scattered on the dusty floor. I slapped a palm across my chest, trying to ease my galloping heart. “August! You scaredme.”
His gaze set on my midriff. “You didn’tfeelme approach? Because I can sense you from milesaway.”
I lowered my palm to my stomach where the phantom thread throbbed, where it had been pulsing for a while, but I’d dismissed it as hunger pangs. “I thought I was just reallyhungry.”
He smiled as he dropped into a crouch to gather the papers. “And? Are youhungry?”
“I don’t know.” August’s proximity confused the heck out of mybody.
He set all the papers back on the desk and nodded to them. “What do youthink?”
“I’d want to livethere.”
“I thought your dream house was a glass cube centered around acourtyard.”
“A glasscube?”
“You sketched it on a paper napkin when we went for ice cream once and made me swear I’d build it for yousomeday.”
