Laying a Foundation: Bonus volume: Includes series prequel, The Groundbreaking (The Love Under Construction Series) (54 page)

“Don’t pay me for last evening, boss. I don’t deserve it.”

“No, you were there most of the night, so I’ll pay you. I’ve never asked any employee to do anything I wasn’t willing to pay them to do. But don’t, and I mean don’t, let that happen again. You understand? Next time I might not be so forgiving. You’ve been with me for awhile now, Cal, and you’ve been a good employee. But this is some serious shit. I can’t afford another fuckup like this.” Tony slammed a desk drawer shut and stood. “Now get your ass back to work. I’ve got a million things to do, and now this to clean up.”

“Yes sir, Tony. It won’t happen again.” Cal turned and shuffled out of the office, head down and shoulders slumped. If Tony ever found out . . . Well, he couldn’t. They’d just have to be more careful.

“I’m taking a half-day off. Gonna go sit by the pool. When you get done at the dentist’s office, why don’t you come by and swim?” Tony asked Vic. For reasons nobody could understand, Vic came all the way to Louisville to go to the dentist. If anybody asked why, he said he’d finally found a dentist he wasn’t afraid of, so it was worth the drive. Imagining Vic being afraid of
anyone
was nearly impossible.

Vic smiled. “Yeah, I’ll be there! I could use some down time. Want me to bring anything with me?”

“Beer.” Tony walked out the door with Vic. “That’s your ticket to the Walters swimmin’ hole.”

“Goes without saying. I think I can manage that. Whaddya think, Newcastle?”

“Sounds good. See you in a couple of hours.” Tony waved goodbye to Vic, then called Nikki on his hands-free in the truck. “Hey, baby, whatcha doin’?”

“Going over to the hospital site to take some revised plans to Clayton – just picked them up at the architect’s office. What’s up with you?” she asked as she climbed back into the big blue monster.

“Taking a half-day off, gonna go sit by the pool, do a little swimming, invited Vic over. This GoGreen shit has me completely stressed out. Can you come home?”

“It’ll be a little while, but I’ll be there. I’ve got a couple of things to do at the office, then I’ll be on my way!”
Um-hum – when the boss offers you the afternoon off, you take it,
she chuckled to herself.

When Tony got home, he changed into his trunks, got a little lunch, and opened a beer. He’d made it down and back the length of the pool several times when Nikki walked out the doors onto the patio. “I’m going to put on my suit. Need anything?”

“Nope. Not a thing.” He climbed out and kissed her, slapped her butt as she walked away, then took back his spot on the chaise lounge.

Within a few minutes, Tony heard a car alarm being set. Vic – had to be. He heard the front door open and close and then, a few seconds later, he looked up to see Vic coming out the door onto the patio. Already shirtless, Vic’s jeans were lying on the floor just inside the door. “Hey, buddy, you know . . .” Tony started.

“Give it a rest, cousin boss man. Don’t wanna talk about work. Just let me get into the water and relax for a second, okay?” Vic peeled his boxer briefs off, dropping them where he stood, and slipped head-first into the pool. He swam the length of the pool and started climbing out at the far end just as Nikki stepped out the back door. Rubbing the water out of his eyes, he turned toward the house and opened them, only to find Nikki standing at the other end of the pool, her face a mess of startled confusion as she stared right at him and held his jeans in one hand, his briefs in the other.

Her eyes went wide and her mouth formed an “O.” What she was looking at was beyond her wildest imagination. Even flaccid, Vic had set a new size record for Nikki. She thought only porn stars were hung like that, and she was having trouble pulling air into her lungs from the pure adrenaline surge.

Horrified, all Vic could think to do was jump back in the water, which he did as fast as he could.

Nikki looked at Tony, and he grinned; she grinned back. Vic swam over to where Tony was sitting and snarled, “You could’ve warned me she was here!”

“I tried, but you made it clear you didn’t want me to tell you anything. Besides, in case you forgot, she lives here!” Tony laughed.

“I thought she was at work!”

“Well, she was, but she wanted to come and see you. And she sure did see you!” At that point, Tony was laughing so hard he was having trouble catching his breath.

Vic swam up to where Nikki knelt by the edge of the pool, waiting for him to swim over. He folded his arms onto the edge and looked up at her. Her face was pure mischief. “Sugar, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know you were home,” he moaned, his dark face scarlet.

“Hey, sweetie, you don’t have anything to apologize for; if it doesn’t bother you, it sure as hell doesn’t bother me! Besides, you know what they say: No good deed goes unpunished!” He knew she was talking about the Fourth and the panty incident. When she pinched his cheek and winked at him, he got even redder, then pushed off and started swimming laps. By that time, Tony had tears rolling down his cheeks.

“You gonna go get him a suit?” Nikki asked as she dropped onto the chaise beside Tony to enjoy the view.

“Nah, not yet. I’ll let him stew a bit,” he told her, trying to catch his breath. “I’ll go get him one in a little while. Serves him right, flashing his boy bits at my girl!”

“Boy? That ain’t no boy, darlin’, that’s all grown-ass man. I will tell you this: You need to help that one right there find him a woman. It’s a damn shame that’s going to waste. Ummm, damn shame.” She grinned as she sipped her glass of wine and watched Vic swim.

“Should I be jealous?” Tony asked, giving her a fake concerned look.

“Well, maybe,” she drawled, and his eyes went wide. “Just kidding, baby! But you know, I’m just sayin’.” She fanned herself and groaned, “Have mercy!”

“I
s there any way I can take tomorrow off?” Nikki asked Tony during dinner on Wednesday night.

“Well, sure, I guess. Got a doctor’s appointment or something?” Tony thought it would be odd that she’d have something coming up and not say anything to him.

“No, I just want the day off, that’s all.” She didn’t explain, just pushed her food around on her plate.

“Okay. Not a problem. Got anything that needs to be covered?”

“No. I took care of everything today. It’s all good.”

He tried again. “Well then, okay. Got big plans?” He forked up another bite of her meatloaf – god, it was always good – and waited.

“Nope.” She didn’t offer any more information, and Tony wondered exactly what she was up to.

“Boss, you’ve got a call. It’s José Flores,” Cheryl called into Tony’s office.

“Hey, José, what’s up?” Tony rarely got calls from Nikki’s security detail.

“Tony, I don’t know what Nikki’s up to, but she’s headed out of town.”

“Out of town in which direction?” Tony’s instincts had been right – she was up to something, but he had no idea what.

“She’s on I-65 headed toward Elizabethtown. Do you have any idea where she might be going?”

Tony thought for a minute. Then something passed through his mind. “Hang on a minute, José. I’ve got a hunch.” He brought up his computer and, in his search engine, typed “Randy Wilkes.” Nothing. Then he tried “Randall Wilkes obituary.” He got three results, and one of them was the local paper in Murray. And there it was – date of death, August sixteenth. Six years to the day. “Yeah, José, she’s going to Murray, where she’s from.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“Stay on her. I’ll call in a few favors. Thanks for letting me know. Call you back in a few.”

In forty-five minutes, Tony was at the airport and boarding Frank Simpson’s helicopter for Murray. Frank owed Tony a few favors for extras Tony had added during the building of Frank and Becca’s house, and Frank had reminded Tony over and over that he was owed a favor whenever it was needed. The Walters’ theory of doing right by others and they’d do right by you was paying off.

Tony called José to say he was on his way, then called the only car rental place in Murray and asked for a car to be left at the airport, giving them the address of the cemetery to put into the car’s navigation system. After he’d found Randy’s obit, he’d used the kids’ names to find their obits, which included the burial plans. With all the prep done, he sat back and thought about what he was doing. He was conflicted; she might need some privacy, but she also needed someone there with her. He’d watch her from a distance, then let her know he was there for her if and when she needed him. If she didn’t need him, she’d never have to know he’d been there.

He picked up the car at the tiny airport – truly tiny – and drove straight to the cemetery. His last call to José told him Nikki was still some time out. The town was pretty, a typical small Kentucky town, with some old structures and some new, and a little park here and there. A loop through the cemetery turned up some interesting headstones; one appeared to be a big cat, possibly a leopard or panther. Any other time he might’ve stopped and looked around, but instead, he drove to the very back and waited. He’d stopped at a small grocery on his drive through town and picked up a sandwich and a drink, and he sat in the rental car at the cemetery and ate slowly, wondering when she’d get there.

Had Nikki intended to tell him that evening what she’d done, or would she have made up some story? No, he thought, she wasn’t that devious, and she certainly didn’t lie. She would’ve told him that evening; she was probably just afraid he’d try to stop her, and he had to admit he would’ve. With everything that had been happening, he didn’t think her leaving town alone was a very good idea, but she had to have known one of Steve’s people would follow her.

Almost on cue, his phone rang: José. “You in place?”

“Waiting.”

“We’re headed your way.” Within minutes Tony saw it – the red Volvo SUV. He watched as the big vehicle made its way down the narrow lanes in the cemetery. It finally stopped about halfway back. The door opened, and Nikki stepped out. She crossed the large burial area and stopped, then dropped to her knees. Tony’s heart broke; even at the distance between them, he could see the anguish on her face, as fresh and raw as the day her children had died.

He was about to start the car and drive toward her when he spotted another car, a large blue sedan, coming in the drive. It pulled up past her SUV and stopped. An older couple got out of the car and started toward the gravesite, but when they saw Nikki, they turned and hurried back toward their car. He watched as Nikki stood and called out to them, then ran toward them, but they ignored her. She made it to their car almost as soon as they did, and he saw her reach out and touch the man’s arm.

To Tony’s horror, the man pushed her hard enough that she fell on her backside, then yelled something at her and got in his car. Nikki got up, tried the door handle, beat on the window, and followed the car for about twenty feet until it sped up and drove away. She stood in the drive, watching the car drive away, and the look of misery on her face caused his throat to close.

Her parents – had to be.

Tony was beyond appalled. She’d come five hours to stand at the graves of her dead children, only to have her own parents turn away from her, her father shove her, drive away, treat her like garbage. What kind of people would do that? He watched her drop to her knees in the gravel, double over, then curl up like a dying fern and shrivel before his eyes. And he’d had enough.

He started the car and drove around until he was behind the Volvo, then got out and walked toward her. What he heard made him stop and tore the breath from his lungs – a keening, sharp and agonizing, as she cried out in heart-wrenching anguish. Her wailing was so pitiful, so piercing, that he froze. What could he say, what could he do, that would make this better? How could he console her through a pain so unbearable? What could anyone say to someone who’s been so wounded and left to suffer that way?

When he worked up the courage to walk to her, he simply knelt beside her and laid his hand on her shoulder. She didn’t even look up; she just reached across her body, grabbed his wrist, and continued to heave and sob. He could’ve been anyone, and he realized in that moment that she didn’t care who was touching her; she just needed a tiny little bit of kindness, and it wouldn’t have mattered if it came from a stranger.