Broken Vows (Domestic Discipline Romance) (31 page)

The young deputy nodded. "Yes, sir, I will call him now."

"Will you take care of getting the stairway fixed," one of the firefighters asked.

"Yes, it has jumped to the top of my list," Kevin said, coming down the ladder.

"Okay, then we are done here."

"Thanks for the quick response," Kevin answered, shaking hands with the men, men he worked with occasionally on his nights of EMT duty.

"Are you sure you won't come back and volunteer for the fire department? You're still pretty damn good at barking orders," one of the firefighters joked.

"Sorry about that," Kevin said. "No, I don't have the time anymore. I can barely swing the EMT shift once every two weeks."

"Give us a call later with an update on her," one of them said with a two-fingered salute.

"Yeah, I will," he promised. Kevin understood because he was one of them. People in rescue services liked to know what happened to their patients.

He followed the firefighters outside, let a frantic Buddy out of his truck, and returned to Mila's house. She was sitting in a kitchen chair while the two EMTs took her blood pressure. Little Kevin was missing from her arms, so Kevin walked to the bassinet to see the baby snuggled inside fast asleep with a vigilant Buddy lying on the floor beside him.

"What's the result?" he asked of his friends and fellow EMTs.

"Scared, bruised, probably a fracture in her hand and maybe a finger," one of the men said.

"Blood pressure," Kevin asked.

"A little elevated, but then she's had one hell of a scare. We can take her to the hospital or you can."

"I will," Kevin said as Mila nodded in agreement.

He walked them to the door where he saw young Deputy Dolan still waiting. The Deputy nodded to him, but Kevin had no idea what the nod meant. He turned and went back inside.

She was no longer in the kitchen and the baby was no longer in the bassinet. He knocked and pushed open her bedroom door, "Mila?"

She was sitting on the bed with Little Kevin lying in the middle of it, and Buddy leaning his head on her knee whining softly.

"I need to change my clothes," she said, waving her wrapped hand. "My fingers won't work. They are all purple and bruised. I had such a death grip on the rail that I broke them." Suddenly she began to heave and cry.

Kevin sat down beside her and pulled her into his arms. "It's okay, honey, let it go. Go ahead and cry. You are okay. Little Kevin is okay. We will catch the bastard who keeps breaking in and messing with us, we will. I don't want you worrying about anything. I'm here and I'm taking care of you."

"I'm a grown woman," Mila sniffed and hiccupped. "I shouldn't need anyone to take care of me,"

"Well, that's just too bad because I am taking care of you both, anyway," Kevin said, tucking her under his chin and holding her tight. "You don't have any say in the matter. I'm doing it."

After Josh's two-hour presentation, Joseph Turner, Bill Whiting, and their team spent another three hours trying to poke holes in the concept, drawings, financials and secondary reports. The men tossed aside their suit coats, loosened their ties, and strove to challenge the assumptions and numbers presented by Peak Designs. The conference table was covered with dog-eared copies of the presentation and electronic devices, along with calculators, pads of paper, pencils, and pens. Soon, everyone was on a first-name basis with Karen Moore. She kept them fueled with coffee and food, fetched whatever supplies they needed, and cleared the room of the constant accumulation of empty cups, cans, bottles and food containers.  She had anticipated their needs five minutes before they knew they needed something.

At the end of a long five-hour session, Bill Whiting looked over at Joe Turner, his partner of thirty years. "What did I tell you?"

Joe turned to the four young men watching intently. "He said '
Give them a chance and I'll bet you will be impressed'.
I am impressed."

"So, what are our chances of getting the contract, realistically," Josh asked.

One of the Turner and Whiting finance men reached down, set a thick briefcase on the table, and began removing thick-bound notebooks from it.

Bill Whiting looked at the tired, but still eager faces of the young men. "Realistically, your designs are not a problem. You presented exactly what we wanted from you. However, you have no idea what you are getting into on a business level. You think you do, but you do not. Now, we help you."

Many additional hours later, nine men shook hands with each other. There were smiles all around except for the finance men—finance men rarely smiled. They set another meeting for mid-January, agreeing to meet again at Peak Designs.

Karen Moore led the Turner and Whiting contingency out and locked the doors behind them. She returned to her desk to retrieve a stack of phone message slips and take them to the conference room.

"Your wives have been calling all afternoon and evening."

"Is Melanie okay?" Bill Gabriel exclaimed jumping to his feet.

"If she weren't, I would have interrupted the meeting," Karen said, handing out the slips of paper.

All four men were talking to their wives in seconds.

Josh disconnected first. "Karen, I apologize," Josh said. "I had no idea we would be here this late. We have been working for ten hours straight."

"The question is was it worth it?" she asked as she dumped coffee cups into a trash bag.

"It was worth every second," Josh exclaimed.

"Definitely," Matt Johnson seconded as he put his phone away. The other two men followed suit and soon all four partners were high-fiving, fist bumping and backslapping each other all the while laughing uproariously.

Karen watched the apparently crazed men. "This is good?"

"Very good," Bill Gabriel exclaimed. "In about a month's time, hopefully, you won't be our only employee. You will probably be our
full-time
Office Manager. We have a hell of a lot of work to do between now and then, though."

"Let's help Karen clear this mess and head home," Brice exclaimed.

"
The
girls
are all still at my house," Bill said.

Karen cocked an eyebrow at the belittling remark towards the women.

"We aren't really sexist," Josh quickly explained to her. "Our wives still call us
the boys,
as well. Most of them have known us since we were little more than boys."

"They still treat us like kids too, sometimes," Matt grumbled as he grabbed the full trash bag and headed towards the back of the building to toss it in the bin.

"Your first official full day, and you are already putting in overtime," said a grinning Brice. "Thanks for sticking it out with us. You made this meeting run smoothly and we thank you sincerely. Whew, we need a little time to process what happened here today. Once we understand, we'll explain it to you."

"Will I see you tomorrow morning?" Karen asked.

"We'll probably be here before you," Josh said.

"Speak for yourself," Bill quipped. "I hope I'm in the hospital having a kid."

* * *

"I'll take the baby," a nurse said to Kevin as he followed Mila into the emergency care area.

"Don't lose him," Kevin said, handing the baby to the nurse. "I'm kind of fond of the little guppy."

"Yours?" the nurse asked with an inquisitive, teasing tone of her voice.

"Might as well be."

Mila whipped around and slammed her foot on the floor to stop the advance of the wheelchair. "Who is that?"

"Relax," Kevin assured her, putting his hand on her shoulder. "This is Annie Hillsdale, one of my many girl cousins. She loves babies. He will be safe until we get you through an examination and x-ray."

Mila looked at the woman cooing to her baby and the nurse smiled. "I'll bring him to you as soon as you are out of x-ray. I have two of my own and another one on the way.

Kevin swung back to her. "Congratulations,
Annie the Panty
."

The nurse smacked him on the shoulder. "Kevin!"

"Hey, is that any way to treat your patients?" Kevin teased.

"You aren't the patient, but if you call me that again, you will be admitted with a boot stuck in your…"

"Okay, okay," Kevin laughed, backing away and following Mila into a curtained cubicle.

As soon as she was in the bed and settled, Mila looked at him. "I like Annie. I can tell she and I will get along fabulously."

Kevin shook his head mournfully. "Do you have any idea how hard it was to be one of only four boys among so many girl cousins?"

"Poor little you," Mila teased.

"It was poor little me all right," Kevin complained.

Other than the scrapes and bruises Mila had already discovered, the examination contributed nothing new. Kevin followed her to the second-floor x-ray facilities, and then back downstairs to emergency.

"What's taking so long?" Mila whined.

"It hasn't been too long. Do you want something to drink? There are vending machines down the hall," Kevin offered.

"A drink sounds good, no caffeine, a V8 type of juice or ice water," Mila agreed. "Find my baby."

"Don't worry. He is basking in the adoration of worshipping nurses."

The vending machine only dispensed caffeinated beverages. He stopped by the nurses' station for a plastic glass of ice water before looking for Little Kevin.

When the curtain parted, Mila expected the doctor. It was Annie Hillsdale returning Little Kevin. Mila took her baby and spoke to the nurse for a few minutes. Then Annie excused herself, stopping outside the curtain to talk with Kevin. They kept their voices low, but Mila could hear them.

"Kev, he needs the work."

"Annie, I'm not making an exception for Stewart. I offered to hire him part-time, but he has not fulfilled the requirements I stipulated."

"He won't do it. He says learning sign language has nothing to do with his skills and shouldn't be part of the job."

"Then I can't help him. It's my shop, my rules," Kevin said firmly.

"We need the money," Annie said quietly.

"Annie, you know I love you, but I won't make an exception. I taught three classes in sign language this year. Stewart wasn't at any of them. He has also made snide remarks about Wayne and Lee, which I won't stand for it. They are the best carpenters in my shop, they are family, and they are my friends. Stewart is your family, not mine. I won't risk losing long-term employees in order to hire your husband who thinks company rules don't apply to him. Honey, I'm sorry you are having a hard time. If Stewart wants to straighten out his act and his attitude, I am willing to help. Otherwise the answer is no. I don't hire people who won't follow the rules. Do you need financial help?"

"Not yet, but I don't see how we will swing Jason's tuition at Ft. Hood," Annie admitted.

"Jason is taking early graduation, isn't he?"

"Yes, and that is part of the problem. If he were graduating in June, maybe we could swing the tuition by then."

"Send Jason to me or Joe. I'll need his birth certificate. He can work four hours a day after school and on Saturdays. He will not touch the big equipment until I say so! Is he willing to learn sign language?"

"I think so," Annie agreed. "Stewart won't like it."

"I don't give a damn what Stewart likes," Kevin growled. "Tell Stewart Miguel's is hiring. They have a big project starting over by Dove Creek."

"Thanks, Kev!"

When the curtain parted again, it was Kevin with a doctor right behind him, pulling a rolling tray.

The doctor slid her x-rays onto a lighted screen to point out her injuries. "You have a fracture, here, and another hairline here. The fingers aren't broken, but this one is sprained. I'm putting your hand in a cast for about three weeks. We will take some new X-rays then and determine if the bones have healed correctly. Do you have help with that one?" He pointed at the baby.

"She does," answered Kevin.

"Good, handling an infant one-handed might be tricky. Let's get this cast on."

* * *

While Mila signed the financial paperwork, Kevin rocked the baby in his combination car seat. He shook his head in amazement marveling at how the car seat seemed capable of morphing into any device a baby could possibly need.

Annie came over to tell him, "Jason said he will be by tomorrow after school. He is excited about working in your shop. He likes you."

Kevin snorted. "He might not like me as a boss. I run a tight ship. If he screws up one time, he's out—no exceptions, no excuses. One slip in our business and you can lose a hand. No one at my shop has lost one yet, and it will not begin with him! Make sure he understands. Everyone in my shop will be watching him and they all have the right to fire him for negligence. He will be low man on the totem pole. There will be no teenage attitude."

Annie nodded. "Jason is a smart kid. I'll warn him, again, but I don't think you will have any problems with him."

Kevin smiled and put his arm around her. "Actually, I don't think I will either, but the shop can be dangerous. Tell him he better like sweeping, vacuuming and cleaning because it is what he will be doing."

Mila came over as Annie went back to the nurses' station. "Are you really such a hard ass at work?"

Kevin shook his head. "No. I simply want to put the fear of God in him. All our dangerous areas are cubicles enclosed in Plexiglas. Are you ready to go home and take a nap?"

"I'm ready to go home," Mila agreed.

As Kevin parked his truck in front of the guesthouse, a woman got out of an SUV and walked over to them. Kevin unhooked the car seat handing it to the woman as Buddy bounded out of the truck to take care of business.

"Mila, do you remember my Mom, Gina?"

"I do," Mila said. "Please don't tell me you called her to babysit me?"

"He did," Gina said with a smile. "I'm happy to be here. Let's get you inside out of the cold."

Kevin walked around his truck to lift Mila out. "Have a fit if you want. You are not staying here alone and you do need help. I have to go back to my project site for a final inspection. Mom and Buddy will stay with you until I get back this evening. Do what the doctor said and rest. I'll talk to you later after I talk to the Sheriff."

"Kevin," Mila touched his arm.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you. Don't call Josh or Jenny," Mila said. "This is his big break. We can make do for a couple of days until they return."

"They will be pissed," he warned.

Mila shrugged. "Please."

"Okay, since you said
we
and not I." He grinned, "If you think I'm hard to shake off, you ain't seen nothing like my mother!"

* * *

Josh and his partners entered Bill Gabriel's house as conquering heroes.

"Let's get this straight," Diane Johnson said after the men tripped over themselves with excited explanations of the ten-hour meeting.

"Tuner and Whiting will act as mentors for the first two years of your association? What do they get out of out of it?" she asked.

"The assurance we won't make major mistakes to cost us our business, which would also cost them in the long run because of our contract," Brice said.

"Think of it as a franchise," Josh said. "Their teams of experts make recommendations and guide us in setting up our company processes,
our
company, not theirs. If we succeed, they succeed."

"Can they ever walk in and take over?" Jenny asked.

"No, we are a standalone company, but we will have access to their experience and know-how," Matt said.

"Of course there are legalities involved," Josh said. "Tyrell is reviewing every single clause in the contract to make sure nothing hidden can be used against us. It's what his firm does best."