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Nellie stood at the floor to ceiling window, looking out over San Antonio. She sucked in a deep breath and counted to ten then continued to twenty in an effort not to grip her grandfather’s neck and squeeze. “I am not meeting Drew Lawson for dinner and drinks. I spend ten hours a day in the office. I’m sure he can meet me while I’m here—in the office.”
“Sit down. The Lawsons are a very connected family. Dating him wouldn’t be a bad thing.” For Grandfather, the whole world revolved around business and good connections.
Nellie clenched her fists, still standing. “I am way too busy learning from you and doing my job to even think about dating.” She’d worked at the company long enough to know the ins and outs, but buttering up her grandfather might help the conversation go her way.
“You should never be too busy to make good business choices.” He checked the time on his Rolex as if the whole conversation bored him.
Nellie started counting again, backward this time. “When I date, it will not be for business. I am not like my brother. You managed to get Tanner dating for business, but I won’t.”
Grandfather shook his head in that condescending and irritating way. “This company has been in the family a long time. Dating someone to help it succeed isn’t much of sacrifice. Figure out your priorities, Eleanor.” No matter how many times she’d asked, he refused to call her Nellie.
Because you were such a good match. She knew what lines not to cross. Reminding the old man that he had been poor and not a good business connection for her grandmother pushed way past that line.
After a deep breath, Nellie restated her position. “I will only date men of my choosing, not yours.” She needed a break. “By the way, I’m leaving early today and will not be in at all tomorrow.”
“Are you dying? Have a surgery scheduled? Why won’t you be in the office?”
“See you Friday.” She strolled out of the office, feeling for once like she hadn’t lost the battle to him.
In her office, she shut off her computer and gathered papers into neat stacks. Nothing would implode while she enjoyed a day off.
As she walked out through the main lobby, the security guard hurried to push open the door. “Have a great afternoon, Ms. Davis.”
Not all people were like her grandfather, and friendly people reminded her of that.
“Thanks, Bob.” Waving, she walked to her Jeep.
Sitting in the driver’s seat, she took several deep breaths. Work needed to stay at the office. Maintaining her sanity depended on that. As she pulled out of the lot, she tried to decide how to use the extra hours. The Jeep was due for an oil change, so she headed to the same place she’d taken it to before. She liked going to those places in a business suit because they treated her very differently than when she showed up in leggings and a t-shirt.
Seemingly, a hundred other people had the same idea about getting an oil change. Nellie waited anyway. The techs worked at a speedy pace, and Nellie headed home long before she expected to be done.
At home, after a hot bath, she pulled out a frozen dinner and warmed it in the microwave. She wasn’t much for cooking, and she wasn’t very good at it.
She paced as the frozen dinner spun in circles while heating. Boredom didn’t suit her, so she called her mom. “Mom, hey. Busy tomorrow?”
“What’s going on, Nellie? Usually you are at work on Thursdays. Trouble in paradise?” The only daughter of Reginald Hunter, Mom knew all about the paradise of being around Grandfather.
“I didn’t quit. Just took a day off.”
“Which irritated him, I’m sure.” She let out a soft snicker.
“Oh yeah. But I don’t even know what I’m going to do.”
“Leave it to me. We’ll shop, have lunch, and keep your mind off work.”
“Thanks, Mom. I’ll call you in the morning.” Nellie ended the call and carried her food into the den. Curled up at the end of the sofa, she clicked through channels. A sappy, romantic movie might be just what she needed at the end of her long and troublesome day.
***
WAKING UP TO THE SOUND of birds instead of her alarm put a smile on Nellie’s face. She didn’t bother to check her email but scrolled through social media a few minutes before wandering into the kitchen for coffee.
She brewed coffee and added a couple squirts of vanilla syrup to her mug. Taking the day off meant living large.
Eating a yogurt and sipping coffee, she didn’t even bother to sit at the table. When her phone rang, she reached for it, thinking it was Mom. It wasn’t.
Nellie slammed her mug on the counter and groaned. What did Grandfather want?
“Hello.” She hid all sign of her irritation.
He ignored her greeting a few moments, but she could hear him speaking to someone else.
She waited, certain she wouldn’t like the reason for the call.
“Eleanor, Lawson had some time this morning and is coming in to talk about the new project. I think you should be here. Will that be a problem?”
No matter what she said, she’d end up going into the office. She always ended up giving into her grandfather. “No, sir.” She rubbed her temple, hoping her head wouldn’t explode.
“Meeting is at nine.” He ended the call without a goodbye.
“Do this. Do that. You need to be here for a meeting.” She probably looked crazy talking to herself, but she needed to let off steam or she’d strangle the old man. She was tempted to do that a lot. Or quit. She was often tempted to do that, too.
Somewhere deep inside, she loved her grandfather, but working for him made that hard to remember.
After guzzling her coffee, she ran to the bedroom. She pinned her hair up in a twist and walked into her closet. The size of a small bedroom, it was a feature of the house she truly loved. Casual clothes hung on one side, business attire on the other. Casual wouldn’t work for a meeting with Lawson. Her outfit had to reek of authority and control. She headed straight to the suits. Flipping through outfits, she tried to decide which would be best. She yanked her red suit off the hanger and shed her leggings and sweatshirt, leaving them heaped on the floor. In her closet, she allowed herself to be a slob—nowhere else in the house, but it wasn’t like she spent enough time at home to make a big mess.
She pulled on a white camisole and tucked it in before zipping her skirt with one hand and grabbing heels with the other. Amid all the shuffling, she called her mom. “Hi.”
“Hey, Nellie. We should have lunch at that place at the Pearl. The steak and yucca fries there are so good.”
“I have to cancel. I’m sorry.” Nellie had been looking forward to spending the day with her mom.
“He schedule a meeting you just can’t miss?”
“How’d you guess? I wish I’d known my grandmother. It might have made all this easier.”
“It wouldn’t have.” Mom sighed. “We’ll do it another day.”
“Thanks, Mom.” Nellie tossed her phone on the bed and slipped on her heels.
Working in the family business meant adjusting her schedule to fit her grandfather’s whim. Almost thirty, Nellie was the one on the receiving end of his dictates most days. Reginald Hunter, her grandfather and owner of a billion-dollar corporation, expected even the weather to bend to his will.
Nellie put up with it, but only because of the prize for doing so—inheriting the business and with it a couple of billion dollars. Next in line for the corner office, she would someday take over.
Her brother, Tanner, also worked for the company, but Nellie was older, which made her the heir apparent. At least her grandfather didn’t get hung up on gender roles.
She ran out the door, glancing at the clock. She had just enough time to grab coffee from her favorite shop on the way to the office, which she needed. Desperately. A second cup, maybe even a third would be what got her through the day.
Her thoughts on contracts and negotiations, she passed the little shop and had to loop back around the block. This was why Grandfather always used a driver. Time on the road meant time for business.
Nellie parked and ran in.
“What’ll it be today, beautiful?” The barista, who’d been working there as long as she had been frequenting the place, waved as she walked in the door.
“Morning, Ernesto.” Nellie loved their coffee, and the attention wasn’t so bad either. “A vanilla latte. Actually—I’ll take two of them.”
“Two?” He winked and set to work making espressos and frothing milk.
She perched on a barstool, legs crossed, letting her heel dangle off her toe. “Both are for me. I anticipate a rough morning.”
“In that suit, you look ready to take on the world. Glad I’m not the one sitting on the other side of that conference table.” He flashed a smile capable of making a woman melt.
Thankfully, Nellie was immune to that sort of thing. “Yeah, right. I bet you could charm yourself out of anything.”
“Not me. But my cousin—that’s a different story.”
“Maybe I should meet this cousin of yours.” Nellie would make an exception to the too-busy rule for the right guy.
“You ever need a driver, I’ll set you up.” Ernesto handed over two cups.
She paid the bill and dropped a tip in the jar. “Thanks. Always a pleasure.”
Back in the Jeep, she took off down the road, ready to take on the day.
A mile down the road, something in the Jeep felt off. The engine sounded different. Or was that her imagination?
Irritation amped up her heart rate. This was not a good time for car trouble, not that any other time was better. If she didn’t make the meeting, Grandfather would assume she was trying to make a point and would probably reschedule a dinner meeting, just to get back at her. He hated even the hint that his authority wasn’t respected. He had control issues, and recognizing his, Nellie strived to control her own tendencies in that direction.
She spotted a car repair garage and changed lanes. Maybe it was something minor. She’d pull in and have them check it over. It was probably nothing. She tempered her concern with positive thoughts. I take great care of my Jeep. It isn’t that old. What could be wrong with it? It must be minor. Maybe a spark plug or something. She didn’t even know where to find the spark plugs.
Yards from the driveway, a horrible clunk sounded from in the engine—or near the engine. Startled, she shouted words her mother told her not to say and spilled coffee down the front of her white camisole.
The dash lights glowed like a Christmas display, and the engine lost all power. Whatever was wrong wasn’t minor. It was very bad. The whole Jeep smelled burnt. That signaled a huge problem.
Pressing down on the gas, she begged the Jeep to make it to the garage.
Please. I need one thing to go right today.
It barely moved, a repeating thunk pounding the air. Her saving grace was the downhill slope that led straight to the parking lot. She yanked the wheel, turned into the lot, and came to a dead stop in the middle of the driveway, where it flattened out and gravity could no longer assist.
Smoke appeared, and Nellie yanked on her flashers. In a rush to get out, she stretched her pencil skirt too far and heard the heart-sickening sound of fabric tearing—or maybe threads popping. Whatever it was, it added one more item to the list of things that hadn’t gone right.
She slammed the door and ran a few paces before looking back to survey the damage, half expecting her Jeep to be in flames. White smoke billowed out of the tailpipe rather than under the hood. Still not a good sign, but maybe she wouldn’t have to witness a fire and explosion.
Surveying the auto shop, she crossed the parking lot, feeling her skirt, trying to ascertain the damage. A very conservative slit on the back had been expanded to a not-so-conservative slit. She’d have to be careful.
Because it had become Nellie’s very bad day, just as she neared the door, she found what was likely the only hole in the paved lot and stepped in it, scuffing the side of her heel and nearly twisting an ankle. Her day was on a trajectory from bad to worse. With keys in hand, she pushed open the door and found an empty reception area. Uncomfortable-looking chairs hovered around a small coffee table to the right. Magazines cluttered that table and a small one in the corner. A television mounted to the wall was tuned to a 24-hour news station, but thankfully muted.
A sign that read Ring Bell for Service sat on the front counter.
She politely clinked the bell once, but no one came. After a minute—maybe less—she rang the little silver bell more than once with a little more force.
No one came to the counter.
Nellie peered through the windows on the right, scanning the garage for anyone who could help her. She didn’t have time to wait on whoever was supposed to be manning the desk, so Nellie marched past the sign informing customers that they needed to stay out of the garage—worded more politely than that—but she wasn’t a customer ... yet.
Jeans with a pair of work boots at the end stuck out from under a car, so Nellie marched that direction. Watching her feet to avoid spots of grease, she nearly stepped on the man.
“Hello,” she called out, loud enough to be heard.
The guy under the car mumbled something, but she couldn’t make it out.
She gave it another minute before bumping the leg with her foot. “I need help.”
The legs moved, but only a little, and a voice—louder this time—emanated from under the car. “Ma’am—”
The little patience she’d been clinging to up and disappeared. “Don’t ma’am me.” Knowing Grandfather would not be kind if she was late, she needed help and fast. A clock ticked off the seconds inside her head. “Just come out here, so I can talk to you.” Standing right next to the legs, she waited for the rest of him to slide into view.
“Look lady, if I slide out—hmm—you need to step away.”
“I am not stepping away. I’m going to be late for a very important meeting, and I need help. Now.”
His chuckle only fueled her anger. “I’m on my back, looking up. You are in a skirt, based on what I can see from here. If you will just step away from the car, I’ll see what I can do to help you ...without seeing—” Another chuckle ended his explanation.
She kicked the sole of his work boot, just to let him know she found him frustrating. “I’m walking away.” Clicking across the greasy cement floor, she hoped her face didn’t show her embarrassment.
Focused on the floor, she sucked in deep breaths. Footsteps pulled her gaze from the stained grey concrete.
A tall guy with a beard and the most amazing blue eyes sauntered toward her, wiping his hands on a nasty-looking rag. “What can I do to help you?” His gaze was not on her face.
“My eyes are up here.” She had little tolerance for letches.
He bit his tongue, but it didn’t work to conceal his smile. “But your feet are down there and very close to stepping in that pan of oil.”
Nellie spun around, scanning the ground. She took two steps forward, found a slick spot with her heel, and toppled backward.
Hands grabbed her hips, saving her backside from a painful collision with the floor. Even more embarrassed than minutes before, she wriggled free, whirled around, and somehow fell face first toward him.
Strong arms and a broad chest saved her yet again. “Whoa, Nellie.”
“How did you ...” She pushed away and smoothed her skirt, which now had greasy hand prints on it. Remembering the saying and her manners, she inhaled, gathering her composure. “Thank you.”
“How did I what?” His piercing blue eyes made it hard to think.
“Huh?” She couldn’t remember the last time attraction had rendered her nearly mute after only a few minutes interaction, but she didn’t have time for flirting.
“You started to ask me something.” He hit a button and the garage door raised up.
“My name. You said, ‘Whoa, Nellie,’ and I wondered how you knew my name.”
“Hello, Nellie.” He stuck out his hand, looked at it, then pulled it back. “I’m Coop, and my hands are all grimy.”
She eyed him. “Your patch says Logan.”
One side of his mouth curled into a smile. “My parents named me Logan. Logan Cooper. My friends call me Coop.”
“Well, Coop, my Jeep needs help. It made an awful noise and quit. I barely made it out of the street.”
“What sort of a noise?”
“A bad one. I don’t know. I just need you to fix it.” She checked the time on her phone, frustrated with the delay, knowing Grandfather wouldn’t accept any excuse for missing the meeting.
Logan Cooper stepped out of the shop. “Let’s go have a look.”
“Thank you. How quickly do you think you can fix it?”
“I haven’t even looked at it.” He poked his head in the main door. “Cara, are you here?”
A hand poked out of a doorway and waved.
“She’s probably on her phone. Hiring her wasn’t my wisest move.” He shook his head.
Nellie had heard the mantra from her grandfather time and time again: If they aren’t good for business, get rid of them. “Why do you keep her around?”
“She’s my sister.”