Page 9 of Somebody's Watching Me
“Suggesting we fund a seafood restaurant specializing in shrimp dishes, does not send the proper message to the public.” Seriously, howdid some of these people rise so high in the ranks? “Give me something else.”
A man raised his hand, slow and timid. He’d hardly been able to make eye contact with her since she arrived. “What if we build a boardwalk area, but have it surround the section of land impacted by the shrimp?” he asked meekly. “We could create a safe space for the species and not lose out on retail opportunities within the development.”
Jamison listened, intrigued by the idea.
“What’s your name?”
“Mike.”
Great.
Blowing out a breath, she turned to the team lead. Yet another man who sat smiling at her as if she were a child. His name she knew. Harold Willingham III was a long-time employee of Fairweather Holdings.
“Is that possible, or is the shrimp’s habitat too big?”
He couldn’t stop himself. Harold gave her a once over as she stood next to him in her too high heels. She’d worn them on purpose. Already tall enough to intimidate weak men like poor Harold here, these particular heels placed her at the six-foot mark, and were perfect to rile those already suffering from little dick syndrome.
“Anything is possible,” he replied. “Why don’t we take time and conduct more research? It’s not like this development is anywhere near ready to begin.”
It was a good thing Samuel wasn’t here to hear this buffoon speak. The project in Georgia had been green lit years ago, but because of pandemics, economic downturns, and every other bit of insanity Mother Nature tried to throw at them—shrimp included—the development had been delayed until recently.
Her brother was ready to leave Florida, having already constructed an impossibly beautiful home for his family to live in while he oversaw the Georgia project. Her sister, Evie, was just as excited to move, as were theirtwo daughters. The last hold-up was the imminent arrival of their third child, and with Evie’s due date looming, everyone was getting antsy.
Yes, her sister was married to her brother. Was it messed up? Absolutely. Had she needed time to process the idea? Undeniably.
The Fairweathers were the true definition of a blended family, except whoever tossed them into the mixer decided to press puree instead of blend.
Samuel was her half-brother on her father’s side, while Evie was her half-sister on her mother’s side. Several years younger than both, Jamison had lost it when she discovered they were secretly in love. For her entire life, neither could stand to be in the same room as the other, but it turned out there was more to the story. One she didn’t get the details on until it was over.
Accepting them together hadn’t been easy, and she pretended to be good with it at first. Granted, when she found out they had been going through hell. It wasn’t until almost a year later, when Evie was ready to pop with baby number one, that Jamison felt herself rolling in her anger all over again. It was embarrassing having to explain, repeating the same script to people every single time.
“Yes, she’s my sister, and he’s my brother. And yes, they’re married.”
When she took her position at Fairweather, that seemed to be all anyone could talk about. People whispered or openly asked the most ridiculous questions. Samuel didn’t care, and neither did Evie. They were so stupidly in love, what the rest of the world said didn’t matter.
But it did to Jamison. Her entire purpose at Fairweather Holdings was to help create an impeccable image for the company. Having the COO married to what was essentially his stepsister was bad for business.
Her father told her to leave it alone. “They’re happy,” he would say, even though he’d secretly had a problem with it in the beginning too. “Who gives a shit what strangers think.”
When it became overwhelming, she thought about distancing herself. Leaving Fairweather and making her own way in the world. As a child, her trust in Evie had been unshakable, and for her to have hidden this monumental thing hurt more than all the gossip and whispers combined.
But then Harper Miranda Fairweather came into the world, and the second Jamison laid eyes on her, she knew she wasn’t about to miss out on being the world’s best aunt.
Harper turned out to be a serious child. Evie and Samuel had recently placed her in a private Pre-K program, and right away the teacher noticed Harper’s high level of intelligence. The school tested her, and as suspected, not only did she look like her dad, but she also had his intellect. With an IQ off the charts, they unenrolled her to seek out a more challenging program.
Harper’s younger sister was the exact opposite. Not that Theodora Jean Fairweather wasn’t as clever as her older sister. She was just… different. A tiny tsunami of energy and sunshine, Theo brought the party wherever she went, and the party was usually at her bestie’s house if he were in town. Benjamin Fairweather wasn’t the type of man to play favorites with his grandchildren, but that look that hit his eyes whenever Theo referred to him as her best friend was priceless.
So, yep. That was her family. A pureed pile of messiness.
Jamison wouldn’t trade them for anything.
“Answer the question,” she snapped at Harold’slet’s do more researchstatement. This was her rodeo now, and he needed to learn his place in it. “Or can you not form a simple yes or no answer?”
“It’s doable,” Mike answered, shuffling through a stack of papers. “I have a mockup. There would need to be a narrow line of foot traffic on the boardwalk, but we could make it one-way to give more space, and it would ensure that guests would pass all shopping and dining venues before exiting.”
Harold blinked stupidly, while Jamison grinned. “I would love to look at those. Everyone else can leave.”
Surprisingly the group listened, filing out in no time with Rowan already halfway out the door as the room cleared. “Do you want me to stay?”
