Читать книгу Baby, I'm Yours - Carrie Weaver - Страница 11

RICK CONNECTED to the ball with a vicious swing. It ricocheted off the wall and came back low.

He sprinted a few feet to lob it this time. Wiping the sweat from his eyes, he returned with another lob. The lob wasn’t a strategic play, it was borne from the sheer necessity of playing racquetball by himself.

He’d canceled his court time twice after Gabe’s death. But now, he needed the release of physical exertion. And not the kind that immediately came to mind. Because when he thought of that kind of exertion, he thought of Becca.

His next shot was low and lethal. Dodging left, he barely missed being hit. Half an hour later, he couldn’t catch his breath.

Was he having a heart attack?

Before, he would have brushed off the thought. He was too young, too fit for that to happen. But Gabe had been young and apparently fit and now he was dead.

Exiting the court, he draped a towel around his neck, trying not to look for Gabe. He half expected to turn his head and see his friend standing there, grinning.

“Hey, Jensen.”

Rick turned, but no Gabe. Instead it was a guy he’d seen around the gym.

“Hey.”

“I heard about Gabe. Sorry, man.”

“Thanks.”

Rick couldn’t recall the guy’s name. Rob, Bob, something like that.

“I’m Bill Connors. My partner and I have the next court time.”

“Oh, yeah. See ya around.” Rick turned, unwilling to watch the twosome enjoy a kick-ass game when his partner was six feet under.

“Thing is, I was wondering what you’ll be doing with your court time. Didn’t see you here last week. Me and my buddies wouldn’t mind taking it off your hands.”

Rick slowly turned to face Bill, his hand clenching his racquet handle. It was all he could do to keep from taking the guy’s head off. He had lost his best friend, his business and racquetball partner. He’d be damned if he was going to lose his court time, too.

“I’ve got a new partner starting next week,” Rick lied. “But I’ll keep you in mind if I decide to give it up.”

“I’d appreciate it.”

“No problem.”

Rick exited the parking lot faster than was necessary, anger buzzing through his system. The problem was, he didn’t know why he was so pissed off. Maybe because he had absolutely nobody with whom he wanted to partner up on the racquetball court. Rick was the kind of guy who was content with one close friend. That had been Gabe. No wonder he felt the loss so keenly.

When he reached the rental agency ten minutes later, Rick swung his car into the parking lot and sighed. There was a pickup parked in his space beneath the shade tree.

Finding a spot at the back of the lot, Rick was in a pretty foul mood. First with Bill trying to take his court time, now with David Smith stealing his parking space. It seemed as if the kid had been challenging him a lot lately.

His irritation grew darker as he entered the agency and saw the light on in his office.

He nodded and said a curt good-morning to the Saturday staff.

His suspicions were confirmed when he walked into his office.

“David.” It came out more a challenge than a greeting.

“Hey, Rick.”

“You want to get out of my seat?”

David’s chin came up. “It’s my father’s company, too.”

“Yes, and your father has a desk. I suggest you use it.”

“It’s…weird not to see him there.”

The challenge was gone and all Rick saw was the young boy who had done cannonballs into the pool the first time Rick had been invited to the Smith house for a party.

Even then, he’d envied the way the Smiths had fun together. And how people seemed to flock to their home, where impromptu parties were common.

Rick cleared his throat. “Yeah, it’s kind of weird for me, too. I expect to see your dad walk through the door all the time.”

“Like he’s at lunch or something.”

Rick nodded. He stood behind David, willing him out of his chair and feeling guilty about it. “I bet you can scare up an empty desk somewhere in the office.”

“All right already. I’m moving.”

“Good. Oh, and David? Don’t park in my space again.”

“You’re on a real power trip, huh?”

“You know the rules.”

“Yeah, well, I’m tired of it always being your way. It’s our business as much as it’s yours. It’s time I stepped up to the plate as the man of the family. I’m gonna talk to my mom about me taking over my dad’s job instead of her.”

“I can think of several reasons that wouldn’t be a good idea, the first of which is your age. Twenty may seem mature to you, but believe me there’s a lot to learn. And I can’t imagine your mother would be happy about you quitting college.”

“Probably not. But this is something I need to do. I can’t just stand by and do nothing while my family sinks. If I take over Dad’s position, then my mom can work at the salon full-time and nothing’s changed. We can make it.”

Rick had to wonder about David seeming so well informed about the family finances.

“Your mother and I can discuss increasing your hours if she thinks you can handle it and still carry a full course load.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about and you know it. I’ll quit school. She’ll know that it’s the best way. You’ll see.”

Rick felt a headache forming behind his eyes. He hoped like crazy that David was wrong. But Becca had been acting out of character since Gabe died. Did David know something Rick didn’t?

IT WAS NEARLY three o’clock by the time Becca made it into the agency. She’d done upsweeps for a wedding party, run home, made lunch for the kids, taken sixteen-year-old Maya to dance class, mopped up a mess after ten-year-old Aaron had washed the dog in the upstairs tub, then picked up Maya from dance class.

Then she’d listened to Maya’s sobs about a lost dance solo for the upcoming recital. Becca had to wonder if her daughter’s hysteria was caused more by fallout from Gabe’s death than losing the solo. With teenage girls, it was hard to tell. Emotions swung from one extreme to the other, with barely any advance notice. It was like trying to grab hold of a funnel cloud.

Sighing with relief, Becca was pleased to have the relative peace of the rental agency to look forward to.

She waved to the agents and went into Gabe’s office, where she found David.

“Hi, sweetheart. Isn’t it about time for you to head home?”

“Yeah, but I’m trying to put in more hours. Rick said it was okay.”

Becca suppressed a flash of annoyance. “It would have been nice if he’d talked to me first.”

“I was the one who brought it up. Anyway, I think he was just trying to keep me quiet. I told him I wanted to take over Dad’s job so you wouldn’t have to.”

“You told him what? I thought I made myself clear. School first. Once you have your degree, then we’ll see what we can do.”

“We can’t afford college. My tuition is expensive. I could be contributing to the family finances instead of draining them.”

Becca scraped her bangs off her face. “I’ll work it out somehow. And I’m going to take on your dad’s job. Don’t worry about your tuition or the family finances.”

“Mom, I’ve heard you on the phone to Uncle Royce. I know Dad didn’t have any life insurance. How can I go to school when I know we need the money?”

“We’ll do fine. I’m drawing your father’s salary now.”

“And losing half of your own.”

“Once I get things down here, I might be able to spend more time in the salon.”

“Why? I can help.”

“No, and that’s final. Your father wanted you to have a college education. I want you to have a college education.”

David grumbled, but tidied up his mess. “I won’t be home for dinner.”

Neither will I.

Truth be told, she had enough work to keep her busy till late into the night. But shared dinners were the glue that kept a family together.

“Where will you be?” Becca asked.

“I’m taking Brittany out to dinner. It’s her birthday.”

Becca nodded. “Have fun. And be careful.”

“I always am.”

“I know you are.” Just as she knew he was a normal twenty-year-old kid who occasionally didn’t think things through. She’d always feared a phone call in the middle of the night saying something had happened to one of her children.

Since Gabe’s death, it had become almost a compulsion. She worried until she heard David and Maya come up the stairs and enter their own rooms. Only then would the dread ease.

David kissed her on the cheek before leaving.

She went to Rick’s office, knocking on the door frame as she entered.

He glanced up, his expression inscrutable. “Hi, Becca. I didn’t expect to see you today.”

“Gabe usually worked Saturday afternoons.”

“Yeah, but you have the kids and all their activities.”

Becca shrugged, hoping she didn’t look half as exhausted as she felt. “I’ll do both.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“You look like you haven’t slept for days.”

“Gee, thanks, you really know how to make a woman feel beautiful.”

“You’re always beautiful, Becca.” Rick flushed, as if realizing what he’d said. “But you’re going to burn out if you’re not careful. Gabe would never forgive me if I allowed that to happen.”

“Gabe would understand why I have to do this.”

“I’m not so sure. He’d hate to see how hard you’re pushing yourself.”

“There’s no other way. Now, do you have a few minutes to sit down and go over what I can expect in the next couple weeks as we prepare to return leased vehicles?”

“Pull a chair over. I’ll show you what I have so far. Then you can go with me to the body shop and we can check on repair status.”

“Good.”

For the next hour Rick explained how the system worked. “The factory won’t take back vehicles with extensive repairs or obvious damage,” he told her once he’d run through the procedures.

“So we’re stuck with them?”

“We’ll have to sell them at auction, probably at a loss.” He handed her a computer printout. “These cars should be on the lot today. We’ll thoroughly inspect them and avoid renting them out again if possible.”

“What if we do have to rent them?”

“We’ll want to reinspect them even more closely than usual. Come on, I’ll show you what to look for.”

They went out on the lot.

“I also pulled the repair history on each vehicle, so we can eyeball the repairs. Everything has to be pristine. The new cars will be arriving as these leave, so it’s going to be chaotic.” He grinned.

“Why do I get the feeling you thrive on this?”

“Probably because I do.”

“This process used to kind of stress Gabe out. Not that he complained or anything. He wouldn’t have wanted me to worry. I wonder if he’d still be here if I’d worried more.”

“You can’t second-guess yourself, Becca.”

“How can I not second-guess myself?”

“Focus on what you can do. You’ve got some pretty intense challenges right now.”

They checked the vehicles one by one, a time-consuming job with a midsize fleet. Fortunately, many were rented out at the moment. Becca was amazed at how easily Rick could find a flawed repair or minor damage.

He shook his head. “Roger’s usually not this careless. He’s been at it for so long, he could do bodywork in his sleep.”

“Gabe thought the world of him. Said he was the best in the business and we were very fortunate to have him run our body shop.”

“He’s got a couple kids working with him to help get the cars ready for return. This must’ve got past him. I’ll talk to him about watching the guys more closely.”

“See this fender.” Rick squatted, pointing. “Run your palm over it.”

Becca knelt next to him on the asphalt, glad she’d worn jeans today. She ran her hand over the fender the way she’d seen him do it. “I can feel it’s rougher there. And it looks like the paint is bubbled up.”

“Yep, that’ll need to be sanded and repainted. If we had to send out the repairs, this would be a substantial expense. But since we have our own shop, that keeps costs down.”

Nodding, Becca said, “Yes, one of the women at the salon was rear-ended, a fender bender really, and repairs cost over a thousand dollars.”

“Absolutely.” Glancing at his watch, he said, “I gotta run. I’m meeting Valerie for drinks.”

“You two have the most amicable divorce I’ve ever seen.”

Rick stood, brushing off his hands. Grinning, he said, “Too bad the marriage wasn’t this amicable. We just get together once a month to compare notes on Kayla.”

Becca rose, too, bracing her hand against the car, hoping she didn’t sway.

“Are you okay?” Rick steadied her.

She managed to smile. “Fine. Just stood up too quickly.”

“This dizziness worries me. And you’ve lost weight. Maybe you should see someone about it.”

“I’m really fine.” She smiled brightly. “Besides, I’ve got a checkup next week. I’ll mention it to my doctor then.”

“Be sure you do. After what happened to Gabe, I’m kind of jumpy about my friends not feeling well.”

“I’ll talk to the doctor, I promise. And thanks for caring enough to nag. I’m fortunate to have friends like you.”

Though just this once, she wished Rick were a little less observant.