WELL, BERT WAS right. It definitely wasn’t the reaction I expected, Morgan thought as he fought the urge to smile. It was probably embarrassing enough to Jacqui that her father was laughing at her from behind his hand. Morgan should feel bad, he knew, but Jacqui Karston would learn that he could give as well as he received. What was it his mother always said? If you can’t take it, don’t dish it out. Well, Mrs. Karston was going to learn he could dish it out just as well as she could.
He finished pounding his nail into the wood and then took the beer from Jacqui’s hand. “Thank you.” He raised it in the air toward Bert and the two drank.
“I hope you don’t drink on every job,” Jacqui said, her arms now crossed over her chest.
He shrugged. “Depends on who I have to put up with.” While he tried not to stare, he couldn’t help noticing the way her arms were pushing her breasts up to the opening in her blouse. He doubted she realized the effect, or she wouldn’t have been standing that way.
Bert snorted and then had to wipe his face with the back of his hand. “I’ll buy stock in whatever it is you drink.”
Ignoring her father, Jacqui shot Morgan a look, but he could only chuckle. He slid the hammer down in his hand, so that he was holding it by the claw. “What else can I help out with, Bert? I gave Vince the office today, so I’m at your disposal.”
Sophia chose that moment to lean her head through the sliding glass doors. “Lunch is ready.” She popped back inside before anyone could answer her.
“Well, I guess repairs will have to wait until after lunch.” Morgan tossed his hammer into his tool bucket as he took another sip of his beer.
They all went inside, the food already displayed on the table. Morgan took a peek and noticed only three plates. “Who’s not eating?”
“Sophia will eat in the kitchen.” Jacqui didn’t sound mean. It was just the way it was. Sophia was the help.
Morgan arched an eyebrow at her and then glanced at Bert. “Does she eat in the kitchen when it’s just you and her during the day?”
“Nope. We eat together.”
“Then we should eat together now.” He disappeared into the kitchen and, after washing his hands of the morning’s labor, grabbed Sophia’s plate. The woman’s protests could be heard as she chased Morgan back into the dining room. He was ignoring her as he set the plate and silverware on the table between him and Bert. He was also ignoring Jacqui’s stern gaze.
“You are determined to bring chaos into my life, aren’t you?”
He slid his cloth napkin over his lap as he sat. “Nonsense. I prefer to look at it as bringing order to your chaos. Why would you make this dear, sweet woman eat in the kitchen all alone after she’s spent the last hour in there preparing your food? Seems rude to me. It must to Bert, as well, because he doesn’t make her do it when you’re not around. Life is about the people you surround yourself with and the journey you take together. Relationships are to be relished, not tucked away in some compartment.”
“I happen to like my life the way it is.”
He picked up his hamburger, holding it in both hands. “What you have is not a life. It’s an existence.” He bit into his burger, the flavors exploding in his mouth. He knew he was frustrating her with his lecture, but she needed it. She was wasting her resources as well as her life by living the way she was. He was going to make her see that one way or another. It was a challenge he had given himself to keep him from getting bored, but he was beginning to see it as more of a mission of kindness.
“So, if you’re serious about your offer,” Bert cut in, changing the subject, “I could use some help with a closet door in the back bedroom.”
“No problem. We’ll take a peek after we eat. I have no plans.”
“Shouldn’t you be at work?” Jacqui wiped her chin, slipping her napkin back over her lap, brushing out the wrinkles.
She’s so formal and she doesn’t even realize it. “Not today. That’s the good thing about being the boss.”
“I’m the boss and I do not take days off on a whim.”
“And yet, you’re here with us, having lunch. Perhaps you should take more days off.”
“I did not take the day off. I am having lunch with my father.”
Morgan shrugged. “I don’t see anything wrong with taking some time for yourself or to help out a friend. It’s one of the perks of being in charge. Besides, I moved here and left everyone behind. I need to get out and make some new friends or it’s going to be a long three months.”
“I doubt you would be bored anywhere, Mr. Brewer.”
“Morgan. Mr. Brewer is too stuffy. Besides, we’re in your father’s home, not a board meeting.”
“Most board meetings are merely boring meetings. Put me right to sleep.” Bert wiped his mouth and set his wadded napkin beside his plate as he reached for a potato chip. “And you left everyone? No family came with you?”
“I only have a son and he lives with his mother. I agreed to come solo without my crews, so that Jacqui here would feel better about hiring us. I’m the new kid at school now.”
“That’s got to be lonely.”
“I’ve seen who Mr. Brewer surrounds himself with. I highly doubt he is bored or lonely.”
“You have such a low opinion of me. I’m not sure if I should be insulted or complimented.” He grinned at her. “Still, since I’m here all alone, because you wouldn’t allow me to bring my work buddies, I think you should help me get acclimated to Biloxi. The four of us could go get some dinner tonight. Do you like barbecue?” He knew Jacqui would bristle at his inclusion of Sophia, but with all of her blustering of helping people get ahead in this world, she had a class mindset that he did not like.
“Barbecue? That’s your idea of dinner?”
“Yes, I do, actually,” Bert said, talking over his daughter. “And dinner sounds great. My treat since you’re doing these repairs for me.”
“Then I’ll drive,” Morgan said.
“I didn’t say I was going to dinner with you.”
“I know a great place on the bay that makes the best drinks. Not so many kids there trying to take over the bar.” Bert wiped his mouth again and tossed the napkin down absentmindedly. “I hate when all I hear is that new music crap.”
Morgan nodded. “I can understand. I prefer the older country tunes myself.”
“I am not going to dinner.”
“I knew you had taste,” Bert laughed a little and the two men clinked their beer bottles together and drank.
Morgan could see Jacqui stewing out of the corner of his eye as the two men ignored her protests. “It’s settled then. I’ll swing by about seven?” Bert nodded. “Good. Now, where’s that closet?”
“This way.” Bert wheeled himself away from the table, leaving Jacqui fuming behind them and Sophia staring at her plate.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
She watched the backs of the two men disappear as they rounded the corner and walked down the hallway, her mouth agape at the audacity of Morgan Brewer. They had both completely ignored her. She was used to her father doing it to her, but for someone who worked for her to do it… It was unbelievable.
She would go to dinner, of course. There was no way she was going to allow her father to go with Morgan Brewer without her. She would need to be there to somehow control the evening.
She glanced over at Sophia, whose eyes were glued to the food in front of her. She wanted to yell, scold the woman for what she put Jacqui in the middle of and the embarrassment she had been caused. She let out a deep breath as she reached for her glass of water. She wanted to yell, but she wouldn’t. As much as the situation frustrated her, she couldn’t blame Sophia. Bert was great at badgering people into doing what he wanted and from what Jacqui had seen of Morgan, he was equally talented in that area. Sophia was helpless against the power of both of them.
She could hear the men laughing in her father’s bedroom. What they were laughing over, she couldn’t tell. More than likely it was her and how they had made their dinner plans without acknowledging her protests. Shaking her head, she picked up her water glass and walked back out to the patio, leaving Sophia to do her job without any assistance from her. It was punishment for joining the men against her. Not that Jacqui would have helped anyway. After all, it was why Sophia was hired, at least originally. Over the past year, her duties had grown to include caretaker of Jacqui’s father.
Stepping out onto the patio, she took a deep breath of the afternoon air. She needed to get back to work, but there was no way she was going to leave Morgan alone with her father. Who knew what the two of them would come up with next? No, she would stay until the repairs were done and then return to work. Lily could handle things until she returned. She sent her assistant a text informing her that she was going to be longer than expected as she walked over to the rail that Morgan just repaired. Gripping it, she gave the wood a hard shake. It didn’t budge. At least his handiwork was solid.
But why had he done it? There had to be some motive behind it other than just being nice to her father. First he asks her to dinner and then… Oh my god. That son-of-a-bitch got me to go to dinner with him through my father. The realization dawned on her, adding fuel to her frustration. Morgan had to know that she wouldn’t allow him to go alone with her father. Her father had to know it as well. Morgan tricked her! She let out another breath, but this one didn’t relieve tension as much as blow out steam. That crazy son-of-a-bitch had weaseled his way into a date. She couldn’t believe it. And her own father had helped him.
Glancing back at the wall she knew aligned with her father’s bedroom, she shook her head. It seemed like Fate was determined to get her out of her comfort zone and Morgan Brewer was going to be the instrument it used. A smile spread across her face. There were worse looking instruments.
Life is for the living… Was her father right? Was it time for her to start living again? She swallowed a lump that had formed in her throat. How did she justify that with her feelings of betrayal toward Marc?
You deserve to have fun… Perhaps they were right. She had done quite a bit for others, regardless of how Morgan thought she treated those who worked for her. She had been faithful to her mission, to Marc’s mission. Perhaps it was time for her to have some fun, to venture out just a little. And her father, as well as Sophia, was going to be at dinner with them, so it wasn’t like it was an official date.
She nodded. Tonight might actually be fun, after all.