Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 67468 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 337(@200wpm)___ 270(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67468 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 337(@200wpm)___ 270(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
With that, he handed the pizzas off to Silvy, then caught Alice’s arm in his hand before tugging her gently to the side.
Whatever was said, I knew upset her. Outwardly, she appeared calm and all, but the problem was the way her muscles stiffened, as if whatever she’d heard hadn’t been what she was looking forward to.
“That’s okay, Dad.” Alice smiled stiffly. “I’ll make it work. He had no problem with me working like that before. He won’t have one again.”
“I’ll hire someone to pump gas full-time,” he promised. “I’ll make this work.”
I wasn’t sure that he could. Not and have Alice happy.
The thought of her being unhappy shouldn’t alarm me like it did… uh-oh.
CHAPTER 3
I’m trying to stop being mean, but it’s like y’all have to stop being stupid first.
-coffee cup
ALICE
My morning had gone from ‘okay’ to ‘shitshow’ in a matter of hours.
This morning, I’d woken up confident in the idea of working from The Marina ‘just in case’ and then later in the afternoon, going to a job site with Etienne, my new boss, to make sure that everything there was up to snuff with paperwork.
Then, in the middle of my meeting with the mayor of Accident, my sister barges in.
Though not necessarily a surprise, it was a shock to go from a meeting with him talking about upcoming projects for the city of Accident—where three-quarters of Etienne’s jobs would be located for the next year or so—to a blank screen in a matter of seconds.
I’d stormed out of there, ready to pull the ol’ ‘fuck your sister up’ card, when I walked out to a room full of pissed-off customers.
And, no matter how much I wanted my own job, I cared about the community of Blue Ridge, Florida, more than I cared about the job that gave me my first breath of fresh air in what felt like years.
Taking care of everything, I was just settling in to call my dad when Werner had to make himself known.
Silvy, unable to show up today at his regular time, hadn’t been able to intercept Werner. Meaning I’d been forced to close the place down.
All the while, Jaycee had sat in the corner enjoying her drink as if she hadn’t just purposefully fucked up so she didn’t have to do anything the rest of the day.
Needless to say, by the time all the police were gone, and the only person left was that pain in the ass man—though he was fishing down at the end of the dock and nowhere near me—I was mentally and physically exhausted.
I’d just gotten off the phone with Etienne and explained everything that would have to happen now—i.e., me working virtually all over again until a different shift showed up to take over. He was very understanding about it and had no problems with me working virtually however long I needed as long as I could get the work done.
Which I could.
I’d been proving that over the last few months as I’d slowly gotten the hang of what I was doing.
I was even good at it.
I’d already been doing everything business-wise for The Pizzeria and The Marina.
Adding Etienne’s business was a piece of cake, because I already had a full-fledged system to take care of the other two.
The only difference between my family’s and Etienne’s was the need for more phone/leg work. People didn’t pay their bills. And right then, Etienne already had a good half a million out in unpaid contractor labor and materials.
It was my job to call those people and make sure that they paid the bills.
And usually, that wasn’t a problem. But there’d been two so far that had thought that their job being finished meant they didn’t have to pay.
The sad thing was for them that Etienne could put a lien on their property if they didn’t pay.
Which I informed them of in no uncertain terms.
I had to drop off two checks to The Marina—which I’d gotten permission from my dad to do—to settle their accounts.
It would be ‘great’ if they actually showed. At least I could show Etienne that I could accomplish something today seeing as I’d fucked everything else up.
I was so engrossed in watching the man at the end of the dock that I saw exactly when he got a bite.
He steadily started to reel his pole, and I watched the muscles in his back start to pinch and bunch.
He’d taken off his shirt sometime in the last hour.
I heard the click of the pump that I was using to fill a boat with diesel fuel, and I turned, shut it off, and hung the nozzle up before waving off the owner of said boat.
Coran, the boy I was giving a break, made it around the corner and called my name, but my gaze was again on the man across from me.