Archer plastered on a smile.“Morning.Is Darius around?”
“He’s upstairs,” the redhead—he could not remember her name—said as she approached.“But I can help.”
Archer tried to flip through his memories for a tiny clue, but he couldn’t find one.
“Rebecca,” she said as though reading his mind.“Everyone calls me Becs.”
That’s right.Becs.
“Good morning, Becs,” he said, repeating her name in his head as he looked at her pretty features.
She pointed up to the loft.“Darius is workin’ on something, but he told me what paperwork he needed.It’s waiting for you at your desk.”
“My desk?”He had a desk?Awesome.
“Don’t sound surprised.”She pivoted on her heel and led the way to the back of the barn.“You weren’t planning to sit on the floor, were you?”
“Only if I had to.”He grinned, realizing the entire space had been restructured since he was there yesterday.As in all the desks had been rearranged, and now there seemed to be more room.How that was possible, he wasn’t sure because it looked like they had more stuff.He noticed a few additional screens mounted on the long side wall, a few chairs clustered around a small round table, and a dark blue loveseat tucked under the stairs, ready and available should someone want to sit on it.
The big question was: when did they have time to do this?Last night?This morning?
“This is us,” Becs said, gesturing to a cluster of desks neatly arranged in the back corner.
There were five desks arranged in the shape of an I, with two on each end and one in the middle.
“Slade and Evan sit there,” she explained, pointing to the two desks they were passing before swinging her arm to the other side.“You and Atticus there.And I’m in the middle so I can support all four of you when needed.”
“Support?”
“I’m your research analyst.When you’re out in the field and need things, you’ll contact me.I can get you pretty much any information you need from here.”
He liked the idea since he’d spent most of his career doing the legwork himself.He was sure he still would do a good portion of it, but having support would help tremendously.
“Check it out,” Becs urged.
Because he saw no reason not to, Archer went to the empty desk and pulled out the large ergonomic chair.He eased into it and found it was far more comfortable than it looked.Plus, it was made for him—from the big and tall office supply store, he was sure.
“I don’t see the paperwork,” he told her as he wheeled himself forward, resting his elbows on his desk.
“That’s because it’s right here,” she said, hefting a box from beside her desk.“MacBook Pro.All set up and ready for you.Just log in.”
Amused, Archer opened the box and pulled out the laptop computer and the related accessories.When he flipped the lid up, the screen came on, asking for an email and password.
“It’s in the top drawer,” Becs told him from where she was sitting at her desk.
Within a minute, Archer was logged in and looking at the various applications on his home screen.He clicked the one for email, and there he found more instructions in the form of an email from Rebecca Richter, including details on how to set up a passcode for the door lock.
Glancing around to see that everyone was still working away, Archer decided there was no time like the present to get it taken care of.Half an hour later, he had submitted every required form and was considering going through the case board instructions when the door opened and Brantley and Reese walked in with Tesha in tow.
As though it were routine, Tesha wound her way through, getting attention from everyone while Brantley and Reese said their good mornings, making their way to the back.When Tesha approached his desk, Archer fought the urge to drop onto the floor and cuddle with her, choosing instead to give her head a scratch.He was a dog lover, and he’d already fallen head over heels for her.
“Archer.”
Looking up from Tesha, he said “Brantley” in the same tone.
That earned him a smile.
“They get you all set up?”
