The office was dark and locked up for the night. Jase tracked Callum down at his house and stuttered an apology for interrupting his evening. Like Aisha predicted, however, Callum wasn’t the slightest bit upset that Jase hadn’t come to find him the second he was done work.
“It’s perfect timing. Jo’s out for the night, and I just baked a coffee cake that needs sharing.”
Jase chuckled nervously. Would Callum offer him dessert if he was going to can him?
As soon as Jase sat down, Callum put a huge piece of cake in front of him and launched into what he wanted to discuss.
Ed Masterson, one of Jase’s references that Callum and Jo hadn’t been able to reach (turned out he was snowbirding in Costa Rica) had finally returned Callum’s call. He and Callum had gotten to discussing random things, not just Jase’s work ethic, which Callum said he’d already proven anyway, but also Jase’s construction experience.
“How come you didn’t mention it when you applied for the job?” Callum asked.
Jase had just taken a big mouthful of cake. It was delicious, but it felt wrong to eat when he was having an official work talk. He set his fork down. “Um . . . I guess I figured I’d focus on the skills you were specifically in need of.”
“Is there anything else you didn’t mention that maybe you should have?”
Jase wasn’t playing dumb when he shook his head. “I don’t think so . . .”
“No mistakes that you wouldn’t want to repeat?”
Jase shook his head again—and then it hit him. Shit. “Ed told you about the car incident?”
“Yeah.”
Jase was glad he’d stopped eating. His mouth was suddenly so dry there was no way he’d be able to swallow a crumb. “Why? What was the context?”
Callum shrugged. “We kind of hit it off, I guess. Talked about a lot of stuff.”
“It was a misunderstanding. No one stole his car. Colton and his daughter dreamed up this . . . road trip, then she changed her mind, but he still wanted to go. I thought Colton had cleared everything with Ed, of course, or I never would’ve . . . I can’t believe he even brought it up. When I agreed to return it, he agreed he wouldn’t press charges.”
“When you agreed to return the car that no one had stolen?”
“No, it wasn’t like that. Agreed was the wrong word. When I arranged to return it after I found out he didn’t know we had it.” Shit, it sounded bad. His only crime had been to listen to one of Colton’s crazy schemes and take him at his word that everything was “copacetic,” but still.
Jase glanced away, then forced himself to meet Callum’s eyes. “It was stupid and sounds terrible, but I give you my word. I’m not a thief. And neither is Colton. He never intended to keep the vehicle. He just . . . doesn’t always think things through. And Ed? He said he understood. I worked for him for months after that.”
Callum studied Jase for a long time. “I believe you—and Ed gave you a great reference, by the way. He said the car thing was the only hitch in your relationship and that he’d never regretted giving you the benefit of the doubt. I only brought it up because I think it’s fair for you to be aware Jo and I know about it.”
Jase’s face burned and the one bite of cake was like a stone in his gullet. Here it came. How they had to let him go. . . .
“Since we want to offer you a permanent position, we need to know that any similar . . . road trips will never take place.”
“What? Pardon?”
Callum looked at him quizzically.
“You’re offering me a permanent place . . . here. I’m not fired?”
“Most definitely not fired—and really hoping you want the job.” Callum laughed. “Sorry, should’ve led with that, I guess.”
Jase could only nod with stunned enthusiasm as Callum outlined what the position entailed, finishing with, “There are a few conditions though.”
The first was pretty easy. Callum introduced it by saying that he understood and respected, how, when the job was temporary, Jase wanted to work as much as he could, as many days in a row, to get the job done so he could move on. However, that attitude wouldn’t do from here on out. Now that it was a regular job, not a few months of employment, Callum wanted him taking two full days off every seven. Which days he chose were flexible but restraining himself to a forty-hour work week, max, wasn’t.
“It’s selfishness on my part, man. I don’t want to pay overtime, plus I don’t want you making me seem lazy by comparison.”
Jase nodded seriously and said, “Got it,” which earned him a strange look.
The second condition was trickier because it involved Colton.
“If he wants regular hours, we have them for him until fall—as an assistant to you. That said, we need to nail down something more concrete than him only showing up when he feels like it. We need someone dependable, especially since we’ll be away off and on.”
Jase was torn. He was tempted to answer for Colton, to say he wasn’t interested, that Callum and Jo should look for someone else—or that they should save themselves the cost and bother of another employee altogether and let Jase work by himself. He didn’t care if he had days off or not, and most work he could do on his own. For the odd time a task absolutely demanded two people, there was Aisha—and no better helper could be asked for.
It had been one thing to recommend Colton when they were both planning to move along in a month or two. It was another to suggest he’d make a good regular employee. And it made Jase extra nervous to have his name and reputation linked to Colton when Callum and Jo were planning to leave him in charge of the grounds when they weren’t around.
And yet . . . Colton was his only family. He couldn’t just shaft him.
“So will you contact Colton and let me know what he says, or should I call him?” Callum asked.
“I’ll do it,” Jase promised. “It’ll be good too because it will sort of show the chain of command you suggested or whatever.”