Only You (3 page)

Holly didn't remember their grandmother falling to pieces after the tragedy. Her only memories were of Grandma Barb's strength and compassion—the nights she rocked Holly for hours when she woke up crying for her parents. Dealing with the responsibilities of two young, rambunctious girls couldn't have been easy for a woman in her fifties, especially after losing her own children, but she'd welcomed the girls with open arms and a heart full of love. Grandma Barb's house was small, and they'd financially scraped by most of their lives, but Holly had always felt loved.

Melanie had felt equally secure in their little family, but when Grandma Barb was diagnosed with dementia, Melanie couldn't handle it. Always the more practical of the two, Melanie had started shirking responsibilities over the last year, quitting her job at an insurance agency and becoming a bartender at a local bar. Holly knew she was acting out, but it left most of the responsibilities of Grandma Barb's care on Holly's shoulders, as well as most of the household bills. And while Holly understood this was Melanie's way of dealing with another tragic loss, it didn't make things any easier.

“I know, Mel. But she's fading fast. I think you'll regret it if you don't see her.” Holly felt a twinge of hope when her cousin remained silent. “Tomorrow's your day off. We could go together after I get off work.

Melanie pushed out a long breath. “I'll go, I promise. Just not tomorrow. But I noticed how you changed this from being about you to me. If I have to go see Grandma, when are you going to agree to consider having a real relationship?”

“I have enough to keep me busy,” Holly said. “I don't need a man.”

“No woman
needs
a man,” Melanie teased, “but they have some very nice fringe benefits. Speaking of fringe benefits, I'm going out with Darren tomorrow night.”

Melanie was probably using her date as her excuse not to go see their grandmother, but Holly knew better. Still, she was too tired to call her on it. “What is this? The fifth date?”

“Sixth.” Holly heard the grin in her voice. “But who's counting?”

But Holly heard the hopeful tone in her cousin's voice. Melanie was falling for the guy, and hard. She didn't understand how Melanie could fall for someone so quickly, although she'd seen it happen to several friends after high school.

Maybe it was because Holly had never fallen for a guy at all. Not for lack of trying. She'd dated back in college, but no one had ever clicked. She'd spent a year with a guy in her degree program at the local community college, but she'd finally broken up with him after he'd confessed he loved her and she couldn't reciprocate.

She'd psychoanalyzed the crap out of herself, so she knew there was some merit to her cousin's statement. Holly had attachment issues that had been caused by her parents' death, but the truth was, she remembered little of her parents—which made her feel guilty as hell. Living with Mel and Grandma Barb in this house was pretty much all she'd ever known. And while she'd love to find a man to have a family with, she wouldn't settle, either. What few memories she had of her parents were of them happy and in love.

She wouldn't settle for anything less.

K
evin wasn't sure what to expect when he showed up at the job site of Osborn Construction at eight o'clock the next morning. The unfinished outdoor shopping area was a multiblock strip mall with concrete exterior walls and metal studs inside. Several of the workers were milling around, while a guy was arguing with the driver of a flat-bed trailer loaded with supplies. Kevin felt completely out of his element.

Granted, he was a bit off center anyway. Between the shock of his new house and the woman who'd shown up on his doorstep, he hadn't found the peace he'd hoped being back home would bring. But last night he'd told himself he just needed to start his new job, then he'd find his center and it would all work out.

“Kevin!”

He turned to see his lifelong friend striding across the lot toward him. “Matt.”

When Matt reached him, he pulled Kevin into an embrace, thumping his back. “Good to see you, man.”

“Good to see you, too.”

Kevin looked around at the activity, then turned back to his friend. “I think I should remind you that I don't know the first thing about running a construction company.”

“Like I told you, you don't need to know construction. You just need to keep us organized and sort out the financials. Since Dad died the day-to-day running of the business has all gone to shit.”

Matt smiled when he said this, but Kevin could see the pain in his friend's eyes. “Where do you need me first?”

“You sure you don't mind starting today?” Matt asked. “You can wait until Monday, so you can, you know…get settled.”

Kevin laughed. “Believe it or not, I'll be more settled here.”

“Then let's go to the office.” Matt waved to a small trailer. They walked the short distance, passing the truck driver, who was now unloading his cargo. Matt opened the door and motioned for Kevin to climb the two steps up. He stopped short when he saw the mess. While Matt had warned him that the office was unorganized, he hadn't expected
this
.

Kevin didn't do unorganized.

But he reminded himself that was why he was there.

After his initial shock, he noticed a young woman sitting at a desk with a phone pressed to her ear. Her free hand tugged on her long auburn ponytail, the color a sharp contrast to her black tank top.

“That's Carly,” Matt said, walking in behind him and closing the door. “She's the receptionist, bookkeeper, and the token woman in the crew.”

She covered the mouthpiece and grinned up at Matt as she mouthed. “Watch it.”

“Carly, this is Captain Kevin Vandemeer. Our new CFO.”

Then she turned to Kevin and her smile widened. “Well,
hello
, Captain. Vandemeer. Are you a pirate? You can pillage me any day of the week.”

Kevin laughed and gave her a nonflirtatious smile—he hoped. Two months ago, he would have reacted much differently. But he was surprised how quickly he'd gotten used to ignoring women's attention—with the exception of the sexy blonde on his doorstep last night. He'd chalked that up to a momentary lapse brought on from the shock over the state of his house. He chose to ignore the fact that he'd thought about her all evening after Megan left. Or that he'd thought about putting the rest of the lasagna onto a paper plate and returning the empty casserole dish so he could see her again.

But now Carly was watching him like he was the cherry on a hot fudge sundae, and he needed to make it clear he was unavailable. Especially since they would be working together. “Just Kevin,” he said, trying to maintain a bit of distance in his voice. “I ditched the
captain
when I left the marines.”

“No dating the employees, Carly,” Matt said, narrowing his eyes. “You know the rules. We don't want our new employee filing a sexual harassment complaint on the first day.”

She leaned forward, her hand still over the mouthpiece. “If he's telling me what to do, that technically makes him my boss. You never said I couldn't date the boss.”

“Yeah, because I knew you had your eyes set on that new electrician and you were never interested in me. But hands off Kevin. He's here to get this place organized. The mess is enough to scare him away. We don't want you adding the final straw.”

She rolled her eyes, then turned her attention to the phone. “Yes, I'm still here.” Then she started talking about a shipment of sheet metal.

Matt leaned into Kevin's ear. “She's a bit headstrong, but she's better than the last bookkeeper. She just up and left us, for no reason at all.”

Kevin was wondering if he should give that option serious consideration himself. The small trailer was piled with stack upon stack of papers. There were even stacks on the floor. “What did you have in mind?” Kevin asked. “You have someplace you want me to start?”

Matt grabbed a laptop off a second desk, which was piled with even more papers, and handed him the computer. “I've had Carly set you up with an employee e-mail and grant you access to all the programs. Look everything over and see if you can get it under control.”

“Have you considered a bonfire?” Kevin asked, lifting an eyebrow.

His friend laughed, but he looked pained. “Dad ran it all, and you know how territorial he was. While he officially made me a partner five years ago, he never shared his organizational system, which meant I didn't know shit when he died. Right now, I'm splitting my time between running the site and the administrative part, and it's just not working. Both sides are falling apart.” He turned his back to Carly and lowered his voice. “I can run the crew as long as I'm out there.” He pointed his thumb toward the door. “I need someone to run the business.”

“No offense, Matt, but don't you just need an office manager?”

“No. I need a CFO—someone to fill Dad's shoes. I know you haven't been around to see it, but we've had incredible growth over the last ten years. Dad built this company into a multi-million-dollar corporation. And while he may not have taught me how to run it, the truth was I wasn't much interested in the money part. I'm more of a hands-on guy.”

“And you're running your multi-million-dollar corporation out of a trailer?”

Matt shrugged. “We have an actual office, but right now it's easier for me to run everything on the job site.”

“I have to warn you, I may have double-majored in accounting and finance, but I didn't use it all that much in the Afghan mountains. I'm not sure I'm the salvation you're hoping for.”

Matt clamped his hand on Kevin's shoulder. “I know you, Kev. You don't do anything half-assed. You're exactly who I need.”

He shook his head, taking in the fire hazard Matt called his on-site office. “I'll give it a try.”

“There you go! That's the spirit.” Matt squeezed his shoulder, then dropped his hand. “I need to get out there. I'll check on you later. Do you have plans after work?”

“No,” Kevin said hesitantly. “Why?”

Matt laughed. “I don't plan on taking you to the circus. Don't look so scared.”

Matt knew how much Kevin hated the circus—especially clowns—but the circus comment was a little too close to home after what had happened with his last girlfriend. He couldn't stop his cringe.

Pointing his finger in Kevin's face, Matt laughed. “There's a story behind that look that I'm dying to hear. But it can keep until tonight with burgers and beers. Tyler's coming. You in?”

“Tyler?” He hadn't seen their other best friend in several years. “Yeah. Hanging out with you guys is half the reason I moved back.”

Matt opened the door and had started down the steps before he turned back. “You have no idea how happy I am that you're back. And not just for this.”

Kevin felt the same way, even with the daunting task. He knew it was going to take days or weeks to make sense of the books, and he knew it should have scared him, but he felt energized. He loved staring into the face of a daunting task and conquering it. Which he was ready to do with Matt's business.

He was still warming up to his house.

He'd barely gotten started when his cell phone rang. While he was expecting an apology call from his sister, he was surprised to receive it minutes before nine a.m. He'd have bet money she would wait until after lunch. Then he looked at the caller ID and groaned.

“Hello.” There was no avoiding this call.

“Is this how you greet the woman who gave you life?”

“Hello, Mom.”

“You were supposed to call me last night, Kevin. I want to see this secret house of yours.”

He sat back, the old metal office chair creaking. “Well…things came up.” He'd expected this call, too, but there was no amount of preparation that could get him ready to deal with his mother.

“I haven't seen you since Christmas, Kevin. What could be more important than seeing your mother?”

“It was a long drive from San Diego, Mom. I wanted to be fresh when I saw you.”

“Fresh? I saw you covered in slime when you came from my body. How could anything be less fresh than that?”

“
Mom.
That definitely falls under TMI.” He was going to be traumatized by that mental image for weeks to come.

“Surely you're fresh now, so why haven't you called me yet?”

Fresh while living in his house? Not likely. At least he had hot running water. “I'm at work. I started my job today.”

“Oh…” Her voice faltered. “I thought you started next week.”

“Matt said everything was a mess, and I was eager to start getting things under control.”

He knew she would suggest coming over tonight. He had to nip that in the bud before it came up or he'd be even deeper in the
bad son
hole. “How about we meet for coffee this afternoon?”

She hesitated. “Why can't I come over to your house?”

He considered telling her that he had plans with his friends, but that would never fly. “My air-conditioning is out. I don't want you over in my stuffy house.” Partially true. The air-conditioning would work when he had it installed.

“We're supposed to have a heat wave next week. Maybe you should stay with us until it's fixed.”

“How about we discuss it at coffee? We can meet at Starbucks. What time works for you?”

“Um…” He could tell she was trying to decide whether to concede the battle for the sake of winning the war. No one ever accused his mother of being faint of heart. “I can get away at four,” she said. “But it's your first day. Will you be able to leave?”

“I'm not even supposed to be here today. I'm sure Matt won't mind.”

“Then I guess I'll see you at four.”

Which meant he had seven hours to prepare himself.

He spent the rest of the morning digging through Osborn Construction's QuickBooks and bank accounts. He'd only glanced through the past two months, but, thankfully, the electronic files seemed to be in better shape than the physical paperwork. The stacks seemed to be more of a filing issue. Still, he was concerned about what he'd found so far.

At noon a food truck pulled up to the lot and everyone took a break, Kevin and Carly included. After her flirtatious beginning, she had settled into business mode, showing him the way they handled things and how to get into files and accounts. He'd thought the trailer was stifling with its meager window air conditioner cranking out semi-cool air, but he realized how good he had it when he stepped out into the ninety-degree heat.

“How's it going?” Matt asked, walking over to the line already forming at the authentic Mexican food truck. “You still have all your hair, so I take it as a good sign you haven't pulled it out.”

Kevin grinned, wiping the sweat from his brow. “It's slow going, but so far, it's nothing I can't handle.” He nodded to construction workers lined up in front of him. “How many guys do you have on the job site?”

“Right now, we're running about twenty. We're waiting on the city inspector to look over some electrical work before we move on to the rest of the wiring and let the masons finish some of their brick- and stonework. The other guys are spread out over three other smaller jobs.” He looked out onto the shopping mall and pride filled his eyes. “The shopping center doesn't look like much now, but I promise it will when we're done.”

“I trust your vision.” Matt had sent him photos and links to some of the work he and his dad had done, and every bit of it looked high-end. Kevin had no doubt he could pull off the execution. It was the finances he was worried about. “You think you and I could sit down next week and go over everything I find?”

Matt gave him a blank look. “That bad, huh?”

Kevin shook his head, kicking himself for even mentioning it. “No. It just seems smart for me to go through it all with you and tell you what I find. After that, we can decide where to go from here.”

Matt pushed out a sigh of relief. “Whew. For a moment I thought you were going to tell me we were in trouble.”

Kevin forced himself to remain expressionless. From what he'd seen, he was worried it might actually be true. “Do you mind if I look at the historical financial records? Older, completed projects? The ones your dad ran so I can get a feel for how he handled everything.” When Matt looked worried, Kevin gave him a smile. “No sense reinventing the wheel, right? It sounds like it worked for your dad for years. I'll just figure out what he did and duplicate it.”

“Yeah…sure. They should all be in the main office. I'll warn you, though, it's all on paper. Dad didn't believe in computers. Having everything digital is fairly recent, and only because Dad's accountant put his foot down and insisted.”

“Maybe I can look at it tomorrow.” They moved closer to the window and Kevin studied the handwritten menu board while he asked, “Do you mind if I take off a little early today? My mom's having a coronary that I haven't seen her yet, so I suggested we meet this afternoon for coffee.”