Loving the Nurse by Piper Sullivan

Teddy

“Teddy this place is too small. There’s hardly any room to breathe in here.” My brother Vincenzo tossed a pen across his big metal desk and groaned. “We need to talk about expanding the offices.”

I shook my head. “Good morning to you too, Vince. Think I can take a seat and drink my coffee before we have this conversation for the millionth time?” It was the same old song and dance with Vincenzo.

“That’s what you say now, but after coffee you’ll have another excuse to put off this conversation. I’m suffocating in here, Teddy.”

I barked out a laugh and dropped down in my seat behind my much smaller, much more accommodating wooden desk. “Suffocating, seriously? Most of the day it’s just you in here, sometimes there’s a supplier, but mostly it’s just you. If you’re suffocating maybe you should spend a day or two out on one of the sites with us, get some fresh air.”

“Teddy, please.”

I wasn’t interested in expanding. “Vince, it’s a waste of money. I know what you’re gonna say: business is good. Yeah, it is, but this is a fickle business and here in Jackson’s Ridge we’re at the mercy of weather, the beef market and the real estate market. It’s a lot of money just to give you a bit more leg room.”

“Leg room?” He choked on the words as his dark eyes filled with outrage. “When the Costello brothers came last week, Mark broke a chair and we could hardly fit another one in here for him. That’s embarrassing.”

“For him,” I shot back with a laugh. “If I say I’ll think about it, can we get started on new business please?”

Vincenzo’s lips pulled into a smile and he leaned back in his chair. “That depends, did you get me a coffee?”

“I wouldn’t call it coffee since there’s more ice, milk and caramel in it than coffee, but yeah I got your imitation coffee drink.” It sat on the far corner of my desk where it would stay until I got confirmation we were moving on.

“Fine,” he growled. “New business.”

I handed him the cup with a smile. “What do we have this week?” Every Monday, Vincenzo and I met to discuss what jobs were on the schedule for the week, along with expenses, budgetary issues and the inevitable problems. He was my older brother, but had happily come to work for me when I opened my construction business.

After an absurdly long sip of his sugar and coffee, Vince smiled. “Busy week. A complete home reno, a mudroom addition, a man cave and a she shed on the same property, a basement expansion, and a small job at the Gibbons’ home.”

“What do the Gibbons need?”

“A wet bar.” It was an easy job that wouldn’t take a lot of resources. “And the best part? Everyone paid half up front, which means the books are looking good. Really good.”

Even though I looked at the company books every week, Vincenzo’s words allowed a little of the tension in my shoulders to relax. It was especially nice because not everyone thought a woman could run a construction business, and many had tried to talk me into another line of work, life at a bakery or café, even a bookstore. “I guess I didn’t need your pretty mug to be the face of the business, after all.”

“Not that it wouldn’t have helped tremendously, but we all knew you could do this Theodora.”

“You guys did, but not everyone.”

Vincenzo shrugged. “Everyone else has shit for brains. Family is what matters, you know that.”

I nodded because I did know that. My Ricci stubbornness was a family trait that, when combined with working my ass off for the past five years, had turned Teddy Brothers Construction into a success. “When you’re right, you’re right. Happy?”

“I’ll be happy when I can move around this office without bumping into someone or something.”

I shook my head and stood. “Don’t you ever get sick of that song? I swear you sing it every week.” He tossed a napkin at me. “I’ll take care of the Gibbons job myself, that way I’ll be free to check in on the other sites throughout the week.” Rob Gibbons had taken up mixology since retiring from the fire department, but he didn’t talk much and he didn’t meddle, unlike his wife Mel.

“Figured you’d say that. I already sent you a list of who’s at what job this week. Rob is expecting a consult at eleven, so you better get going.”

Jackson’s Ridge was a small town and it took about ten minutes to get anywhere, including the two-story colonial where Rob and Mel Gibbons lived.

* * *

“Teddy, what are you doing here?”

I let the question slide off my back because Rob was a good guy, and I knew he didn’t mean anything by it. “I just meant that I wasn’t expecting the owner to show up.”

“How else am I gonna keep my skills sharp? Show me where you’re planning to wow the town with your cocktail making skills.” It took about an hour, because it turned out Rob could be mighty talkative when he wanted to be, and when the topic was his wet bar and mixology, he wanted to be.

“I don’t need anything fancy, just functional.”

“Why not a little of both? This is going to be your stage, after all?” After a lifetime spent running into burning structures, the man deserved a bit of fluff. I thought so anyway.

“I didn’t think about it like that, but I like the way you think Teddy. I’ll give it some thought,” he promised as we headed towards the door. “Beer?”

“Nah, I have lunch plans. Besides, when you make me a drink I want something colorful and cool. I’ll have Vincenzo send you some options for sinks and wood finishes.”

“A lunch date?” I gave Rob a strange look and he let out a loud bark of laughter. “I figured I might get extra points if I had something juicy to report to Mel.”

“Fair enough. It’s just Hannah, but you can tell her I was very vague about it, if it’ll help.”

He laughed again. “I might just do that. Thanks again, Teddy.”

“My pleasure. See you soon.” I jumped back in my truck and made my way towards Cowboy Café to meet my best friend for lunch. Hannah Rutledge was my exact opposite in every way. She was the girly girl to my tomboy, the silky straight blond to my curly brown, the bombshell curves to my beanpole physique that had transformed over the years into lean muscle. We both worked with our hands, though in very different ways.

“Teddy, over here!” Hannah waved me to the back of the café where she commandeered a booth big enough for six.

“Are we expecting company?” The question was a joke, but then I stood a little taller. “You’re not matchmaking too, are you?”

Hannah scoffed. “No way, have a seat. If I was, I wouldn’t ambush you with it. You don’t ruin the best steak joint in town with blind dates.”

“Amen to that.” Cowboy Café specialized in steak and burgers, sourcing local beef from the ranches in and around Jackson’s Ridge. “What’re you getting?”

“Steak pie with beer gravy.” The menu sat under her folded hands and Hannah stared at me with an intense, strange look.

I knew that look very well, and set my menu down. “What is it? What are you about to ask me to do that I don’t want to do?”

“Me? I would never.”

I let out a snort-laugh and pointed. “You forget I’ve known you forever, Hannah. What is it?”

“Nothing like that. In fact, it’s good news. I have a new client for you. It’s a big job with a potentially difficult client, but focus on the big job part of what I said.”

“Those are two words I love to hear, but I also like to hear about this potentially difficult client.” I had a bad feeling. I couldn’t explain it, but I always listened to my gut. And my best friend. “Well?”

“It’s Cal,” she said gravely.

“Nope. No way.”

“Come on, Teddy. He needs you.”

I shook my head, a move that freed a few stray hairs from my bun. “There are two other contractors in town he can hire to work for him, it doesn’t have to be me. And it won’t be.”

“But you’re the best, and you know Cal only works with the best.”

“Don’t try to flatter me into working for your brother, Hannah. It won’t work.”

She pouted and let out a long sigh. “It’s not flattery if it’s a fact. Besides, it’s the whole house Teddy. Don’t act like you’re not dying to get your hands on that big, beautiful masterpiece.”

It was a really great house, with nice old bones. “Maybe, once upon a time. But times change Hannah.” And the moment Cal Rutledge bought the old house, I’d lost interest in it. Mostly.

“Oh I see, you’re the one small business owner who can afford to turn away business. Must be nice.”

“Ass,” I growled at her and picked up the menu, hiding behind it because Hannah was right, it was a big job, a lucrative job and I couldn’t afford to not at least consider it. “I’ll have the steak salad,” I told her with attitude. “I’ll think about Cal’s house.” My guys were already assigned to big projects, which meant I’d be next up once the Gibbons’ job was done.

“That’s all I ask. He’s free on Wednesday for a consult, and I already put you in his schedule.” Hannah flashed a mischievous smile and wiggled her brows.

“Why are we friends again?”

“Because you beat up Jonas Whistler when he called me fat, and I never let you go?” That was the gist of the story, at least from Hannah’s perspective.

“Is that all? You should really get past all that.” My lips twitched with the effort to hold back my laugh because Hannah was the sister I never had but always wanted growing up with five brothers.

“No way, you’re my protector and I’m your conscience when you need it.”

“Except when it comes to punching grabby ex-boyfriends.”

Hannah laughed. “Okay, sometimes I play the role of devil on your shoulder. I’m multi-faceted.”

“Is that what we’re calling it?”

She nodded. “Yep, and no take backs.” Hannah sighed and her smile slowly faded into a serious expression. “I know Cal is a jerk sometimes, but that was a long time ago, Teddy. He’s different now, and maybe after this job, you’ll stop avoiding him.”

“Maybe,” I told her because that was what she wanted to hear, but the truth was Cal was more than a jerk. I was in love with him as a girl and a teenager, and he’d been mean. He’d been a bully of sorts, and worse. He made me believe he returned my feelings only to turn around and devastate me. He treated me like I didn’t matter, like I was nothing. It wasn’t something you just got over to make other people comfortable, even if that other person was your best friend.

I wouldn’t forgive him. I wouldn’t be nice to him.

Nice, no, but I could be civil. Indifferent and civil, for the sake of my business.

And my friendship with Hannah.