Page 8 of Built to Last

He hadn’t been. “He was… I don’t mind that he asked me to lunch. Look, it’s been pointed out to me that I might have overreacted. I’ll send you some pictures of the renos I’ve done. I’ve been in the business since I was a kid. I can fix pretty much anything. My father didn’t get the son he wanted so he settled for me. Our fun activities included fixing dishwashers and installing toilets and drywall.”

“It sounds like you don’t like it.”

I shake my head because that’s not the case at all. “I do. I like looking at this building people use every day and knowing I made that. But I love the artistic part of renovation and restoration. And I’ve loved Banover Place since I was a kid. It represents something for me. My hopes. My dreams. Getting to work on it, to bring it back to life so there’s a family in it again, it feels like being a part of something special. So I didn’t like the idea that I don’t belong on the team.”

His expression goes soft, and he reaches for my hand, giving it a squeeze. “I am so sorry we made you feel that way, Harper. I don’t have any excuses or explanations. The fact that you felt marginalized is the only thing that matters. I sincerely hope you can forgive us.”

I hate the whole huggy, emotional thing. He’s gotten me to admit what truly bugged me, how vulnerable I felt. Until this moment I thought I was mad.

Mad sometimes is easier than hurt. Mad often masquerades as fear. Fear that I’m not enough. That I’m going to fail.

Maybe I’m getting older and wiser. Maybe Jeremiah is one of those people who brings out the best in the people around him. No matter the reason, saying the truth out loud kind of frees something in me. “Yeah, of course. And I don’t have my crew filled out yet. Most of the guys who work for me prefer the big jobs. They make more. I’ve got a couple of women who know a lot about the time period, but I could use someone with experience.”

“Really?” Jeremiah breathes a big sigh. “You would do that? Lenny’s great.”

This is probably a huge mistake. “He’s got to understand that I’m the boss. Reid can’t try to use him to get around me.”

Jeremiah looks positively giddy. “He won’t. He’s a genuinely lovely man. He’s older and he’s having a hard time finding work. Oh, Harper, thank you so much. I’m sorry it went sideways today. Reid’s upset about it, too, but he takes some time to process. You should probably expect flowers tomorrow. Gifts are how he apologizes.”

I actually feel better. “I prefer cookie bouquets.”

“I’ll let him know,” Jeremiah replies, and there’s something infinitely comfortable about him.

I like him. A lot. It makes me want to give his brother another shot. Not in a “date me” way. In a “we can work together without killing each other” way. “I’ll send you some examples of the work I’ve done. The reno and restoration work. I volunteer with a historical society from time to time and learned from some masters. Last year I restored a spiral staircase in a Brooklyn brownstone dating back to the mid-nineteenth century.”

“I would love to see that,” Jeremiah replies. “I’d send you some of our work, but you’ve probably seen it.”

I wince.

His eyes widen. “Seriously?”

I shrug. “I prefer Real Housewives. But I’ll look it up and watch a couple of episodes.”

“Let me know if you want company for that.” He looks up at the building. “I can tell you all the background stories. Well, I know you have friends over. I’ll let you get back to them.”

For some reason, I get the feeling he’s lonely. And I can put Ani’s fears to rest with one kind gesture. “How do you feel about pizza? Let me warn you, you might have to fight a hungry coder for the meat lovers.”

He offers me his arm like he’s an old-school gentleman. “I think I can handle it.”

We walk up the stairs, and I think I might have made a friend.

Chapter Three

“Oh, a cookie bouquet. Isn’t that cute?” My mom looks down at the recently delivered confection of chocolate chip and sugar and shortbread.

It came with a note.

Apologies.

Nothing more. The man knows how to keep it brief. Anyway, I decided I can ignore him and mostly deal with Jeremiah—who I’ve come to adore in a short time. He sat with us two nights ago and we watched what he called his greatest hits. Four episodes that let me know that Reid has some deeply minimalist tendencies, and Jeremiah likes to make things pretty.

The houses they design are actually nice. They do a good job of marrying form and function, and it seems like they help a lot of people love their homes. The truth is I’ll mostly work with them on camera. It’s not like they’ll be standing over me watching me restore the hardwoods and making the original marble in the foyer shine.

So I’m cautiously optimistic. At least I was until my mom showed up this morning. I wish she showed up alone.

“Are you dating someone? You know when I dated I tended to send flowers.” My cousin Paul. Paul is my father’s brother’s son. “Cookies might send the wrong message.”

I hate Paul. By “send the wrong message” what he means is they could make it sound like the man who sent them to me thinks it’s okay for me to get fat. He’s always on his poor wife to stay in shape. I’ve seen her at family functions while she’s pregnant telling everyone she’s on a diet because she doesn’t want to gain too much baby weight or she might not get another baby.

---