Page 5 of V is for Valentine
Her mouth opened, then snapped shut again. That wasn’t the point she wanted to argue.
“Besides,” Danny continued, “it seemed possible that you knew. He quit last week.”
“Last week?” Then yes, she should have known, since her dad had had ample time to fill in his family before, during, or after the wedding, which he had not done.
Did he have someone else lined up to start work sometime this week? A question to ask, but what if he didn’t? What if these piles of drywall sheets were hers to deal with alone?
“I need to talk to him,” she said, automatically zipping her coat a little higher in preparation for stepping out into the February weather. “Maybe he has someone else lined up.”
“Maybe,” Danny agreed, but it wasn’t in a voice that inspired confidence.
“What do you know?”
“I know that the independent contractors, even the handymen, are booked.”
“What a time for a building boom,” Felicity said darkly. Inside her stomach was twisting.
She pulled in a breath, pressing her lips together as she studied the floor near Danny’s canvas Converse low tops. Who wore those in the winter?
“I wanted to catch up with you and didn’t take time to change,” he explained, effectively reading her thoughts. She didn’t much like that. One of her most effective professional traits was maintaining the stoneface when needed.
Felicity squeezed her forehead with one hand, giving up all pretense of impassivity. Danny could read her, just as she could read him, so why bother? She was freaking inside and pretending she wasn’t wouldn’t help the situation one bit.
“This contract is important to Dad.”
“I know,” Danny said solemnly. “If it turns out he doesn’t have help, and I don’t think he does, given the fact that no one is here, I’ll help. All you have to do is ask.”
“Why would you help?” The question fired out like a bullet and then Felicity swallowed. She was usually much better at keeping her cool and playing her hand.
Danny took a slow step forward as he surveyed the half-finished work area as he said, “Your dad hired me once, at a time when I really needed a job during college. I was desperate and he took me even though he had a full crew.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“My summer internship fell through at the last minute, and I was left with nothing. I didn’t want to take out a loan from my parents, who were strapped at the time. Your dad hired me at the union rate, so I actually made more than I would have in the internship, and he kept me on doing weekend work for another semester.” Danny gave a considering nod. “I think he overpaid me to help me out.”
“I didn’t know.”
“He was busy back then. Running two crews on two projects. It was before the Boise building boom hit hard and the competition became so fierce.”
“I must have been doing my internship in Portland.” Which had led to her landing her dream job there…not that she wanted to think about that. If she recalled, she’d been so busy that year that it’d been Christmas before she’d shown her face in Holly.
“Right.”
A heavy silence fell, then Felicity gave him a quick look. “How is it that you have time to help?”As in, don’t you have a job to go to?
“Let’s just say that I do.”
Why?
It was so difficult to keep from asking, but his job wasn’t key here. Getting assistance withthisjob was. He’d said that all she had to do was ask, and it was clear from the way he was studying her that he wanted her to say the words.
Desperation made it easier than she might have imagined.
“Will you help me?”
“Yes.”
Relief rushed through her. “For my dad.” For some reason she needed verification of that small fact.
