“There you are,” he told me. “I feel like I should bow. What would a knight say?”
“They didn’t drive anything but horses.” But I did say thank you and I also thanked him for giving me a ride when he had gotten his own door open and we were both inside the vehicle.
“No problem. I understand why you didn’t want to be in there with the rats.” We both shuddered.
“How do you go there every day?” I asked. “You guys don’t get paid very well for it.” Ed had explained everything about the team, including their salaries.
“No, but it’s more than I’d get at other jobs.”
“Is it worth it? It’s physically difficult, like you could get injured,” I pointed out. “Badly injured. And it’s physically disgusting, because you have to use a facility full of rodents and dirt.”
“Not if your survey works.”
I shrugged, because I thought that there was only a slim chance that all those comprehensive issues would be addressed. “We’llsee,” I answered noncommittally. “Maybe you won’t be around to find out.”
“You think I’m going to run off somewhere? I might,” he considered. “I could.”
“I meant that you could try out for the real Woodsmen team this summer at their training camp and you might make it,” I corrected him. “Then you would be on the nice side of the building for the preseason and Woodsmen Stadium for the regular season. I don’t know if you’ve been there, but it’s beautiful.”
“Yeah, I’ve seen it. I took a tour when I first moved up here,” Ronan said. “It’s impressive.”
He didn’t sound overly enthusiastic, which I understood. You didn’t want to get yourself keyed up for something that would never happen.
He mentioned something about the weather, how it was getting warmer, and I looked through the side window at the piles of dirty snow on the ground. I’d arrived in northern Michigan in October and shortly after that, the temperature had turned freezing, and then January had dipped into arctic territory. I wasn’t sure how they’d kept playing through it since I’d had a hard time walking from my apartment to my car, and then into Woodsmen Stadium where I worked in the Office of Special Projects.
The three miles passed quickly due to his chatting, and also because he drove very fast. “Thanks for the ride,” I said as we approached the gate. “You don’t have to go in.” I actually wasn’tsure if he was allowed to—I’d had to get a special pass to enter from the security office at the stadium before I came here.
“Sure. Nice to meet you, Cate.”
“You, too,” I answered, and stepped out into the driveway. I waved to the guard in the booth there, and he apparently recognized me so he didn’t tackle me into the snow and mud. I was thinking about returning to my desk, typing up my notes, submitting my milage for a gas reimbursement—
“Want to find out?”
I stopped at the sound of Ronan’s voice. I hadn’t noticed that he hadn’t yet left the driveway, even though the security guard now stood next to his car. “What?” I called. “Find out what?”
“How fun I am at parties,” he answered, as if it was obvious. “That was what you said about me. My friends and I are having one on Saturday night after the last game. What’s your number?”
He and the guard both looked at me, waiting.
I thought for a second and then I gave it to him. He nodded but the security guard shook his head.
“See you Saturday,” Ronan said. He saluted the other guy and then backed out, and I watched him drive away.
Chapter 2
“Sixty-three.” My boss looked up at me. “Sixty-three items.”
“Yes,” I agreed. What did he expect me to say? My report was right there in front of him and he could clearly see it. Mr. Gowan hadn’t mentioned that several of the items were broken down into additional parts, so number two (water damage/mitigation) included A. Skylights, B. Other roof damage, C. Drainage indoors, D. Drainage outdoors (fields), and E. Drainage outdoors (unpaved parking lot). I’d actually listed a lot more than sixty-three problems.
“I feel like…” He stared at his screen and I waited. “I feel like this may be an exaggeration.” He looked over at me, eyebrows raised and smiling slightly.
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “If anything, I don’t think I really captured how big a project it needs to be.”
He looked out of his window, which presented a view of the back of a fence. We were on the first floor, and sometimes people also walked by which really livened things up.
“Hm,” he commented. Now he laced his fingers under his chin and pursed his lips. “I have a sense that you may be stretching things, maybe to aggrandize your job. Could that be true?”
“No,” I repeated. “I’m not stretching or aggrandizing. You could talk to the building manager, Ed, for confirmation or you could go out there and look around. The Woodsmen practice facility where the Junior team plays is about forty-five minutes from here.” He should have been aware of the distance because he had signed my fuel reimbursement request. But in the months that I’d worked in this office, I’d become aware that Mr. Gowan didn’t pay a lot of attention to details. He probably wasn’t aware of what he’d signed.
