Forgotten Awakenings (Awakenings #2) (23 page)

Ivy tore out of the office before she could say more. Elle crumbled into the chair Ivy had just vacated, her tears overpowering her and trickling down her face.

“Oh, my God, honey.” In a heartbeat, Derek was by her side, his arms wrapped around her. “What did she say?”

“She . . . she . . . she asked me to forgive her,” Elle stammered, choking on the words. “I failed her, and she wants me to forgive her!”

“You didn’t fail her,” Derek murmured, trying to soothe away the pain and hurt in Elle’s heart.

“I did.” Elle hiccupped. “But it doesn’t matter anymore.”

“I wish you didn’t put everything on your shoulders like this,” Callum grumbled, falling into the chair next to Elle. Sighing, he looked around the office. “Do you think Sadie’s okay? Should we call?”

“Yes!” Derek and Elle exclaimed, scrambling to their feet and reaching for the phone.

Elle was quicker, however, and had the phone pressed against her ear and half the numbers dialed before Derek could complain. She smirked as she finished dialing the call. Sadie answered after two rings, her breathless “Hello” sending a chill up Elle’s spine.

“Hey,” she murmured. “Hang on, let me put you on speaker. Callum and Derek are about to have a stroke.”

“Okay.” Sadie’s laugh filled the office as Elle pressed the speakerphone button. “Hello, lovers.”

“Hey, is Flora okay?” Callum asked. “Did she burp? How’s her poop?”

“I’m fine, thanks for asking,” Sadie quipped. “And Flora is perfect. Yes, she burped. She definitely prefers be held on the shoulder rather than over my knee after she’s eaten. And her poop is smelly — as I would expect poop to be.” Sadie paused. “I can’t believe I’m actually having a conversation about poop. She’s sleeping right now. Which is a miracle seeing as her four grandmothers haven’t let the girl have a moment of peace.”

“Poor girl,” Elle snickered, settling behind her desk with a groan.

“You okay, honey?” Sadie asked.

“Mmhmm,” she hummed, clearing her throat as her skin warmed. “I’m just a little sore.”

“The good kind of sore? Like from a passionate round love making?” she asked, wistfully.

“Um, yeah, pretty much,” she admitted. “Sorry about that, by the way.”

“What did I tell you about apologizing?” But before Elle could say anything, the sound of Flora’s crying seeped into the phone. “I’ve gotta go. She’s ready to nurse. Again. I love you.”

“Love —”

Sadie ended the call before the three of them could finish their statement.

“Do you think she’s really okay with what happened this morning?” Elle asked, keeping her eyes locked on her desk.

“Why wouldn’t she be?” Derek asked. “It’s not like she hasn’t had sex with us when you couldn’t.”

“She has?” Elle asked, lifting an eyebrow.

“Um, yeah?” he said like a question. “When you were in the hospital.”

“Ah.” Elle nodded and picked up a pen, opening the folder in front of her. “Well, I suppose we should get ready for the staff meeting.”

“Are you okay, honey?” Callum asked.

“Of course,” she assure him with a smile. “I just didn’t think about how your lives moved on while I was hurt.”

“They didn’t,” Callum argued. “Not really.”

“I don’t mean that you three moved on from me, just that the world didn’t stop moving because I almost died. It’s good to know that you were taking care of her when I couldn’t.”

Though both men seemed to want to argue with her, neither did, and Elle wondered when she’d stop saying what was on her mind. All it seemed to do was cause problems.

—FA—

Elle sat nervously behind her desk, tapping her nails. Her eyes kept drifting away from the reports she was writing to the clock on her computer, waiting as each minute dragged on and on. They still had fifteen minutes before their work day was officially over. All Elle wanted was to go home, kiss her wife and snuggle her daughter.

“You three are pathetic,” Samuel laughed, and when they turned to the doorway of their office, they saw him leaning against the doorjamb with a smirk on his face. “All miserable and sad. Having a hard day, huh?”

“No,” the three of them lied.

Samuel laughed. “Oh, okay, if you say so.”

“Did you need something?” Elle asked. “Or are you just here to make fun of us?”

“Mostly just to make fun of you,” he admitted. “But I also wanted to check on how you were holding up.”

“Why wouldn’t we okay?” Callum quipped.

Samuel smiled. “Oh, I don’t know, because your wife just had a baby. The first day after I had to work after you were born, I thought I would go crazy. Of course, it only took a few days alone with you before I was ready to come back. You used to make this whiny, crying, grunting sound every time you pooped.”

“Dad!” Callum’s cheeks turned bright red. “You’re doing that thing again where you share too much.”

“I know. Anyway, I’ll be going now.” He paused and looked at his watch. “It’s after five, by the way.”

The sound of Samuel’s laughter echoed down the hallway as the three of them scrambled to their feet, gathering their phone, keys, and whatnot. Rushing out of their office, they ignored the teasing from their co-workers about their rush to get home, knowing firsthand how dedicated the three of them were to their work.

By the time they arrived back at the house, more than hour later, the three of them were cranky. Traffic had been intense, and more than once, they found themselves at a full stop. It didn’t help that Elle was driving too slow for her husbands, either, and they weren’t hiding their displeasure.

The minute Elle parked in the driveway, Derek and Callum were out of the car and inside the house, leaving her alone. Sighing, she leaned forward, rested her forehead on the steering wheel, and closed her eyes.

The sound of the door opening startled her and when she opened her eyes, she saw her mother sliding into the passenger seat.

“Hey,” Elle murmured, her shoulders tensing as she leaned back and looked out the front window. “How’d it go today?”

“I’m pretty sure we annoyed the heck out of Sadie. She didn’t really need us much, but I enjoyed getting to hold my granddaughter. When I could steal her away from the others, at least. They fight dirty.”

Elle laughed. “Especially Felicia.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that. Claudia may be quiet, but she’s sneaky,” Helina countered with a smiled. “How was work?”

“It was . . .” Elle paused. “It was the longest day of my life. All I could think about was Sadie and Flora, and how she needed our help and we were abandoning her. This mom thing is harder than I thought it would be. I want to spend every minute with her, but at the same time, I love my job too much to quit.”

“It’s perfectly normal to feel like that,” Helina said. “I always found it difficult to be away from you girls. Maybe that’s why we never got along. You didn’t need me to watch over you all the time.”

“Sure I did,” Elle countered. “Just not in the way you thought. I needed you to support my dreams, to tell me I could be, or do, anything I wanted.”

“I wanted to, Elle. More than you’ll ever know, I wanted you to become this world renowned artist. I wanted you to smile and laugh like you did when you were a little girl and I read you fairy tales.”

“But my fairy tale didn’t include some prince rescuing me from a tower, or whisking me away to some ball.” Elle sighed. “I wanted to be the one doing the rescuing, Mom. As goofy as this is going to sound, Sadie’s my Snow White.”

“Does that make Derek and Callum your dwarfs?”

Elle laughed. “Maybe. I don’t know.”

“You know, the more I’m around you four, the more I see how much you love each other.”

“Yeah?”

Helina nodded. “It’s nothing big. The way Derek always calls you beautiful, or how Callum likes to kiss the side of your neck. How Sadie looks at you like you’re everything to her. And then there’s you.”

“Me?” she asked.

“Oh, yeah,” Helina scoffed. “You’re the fighter of the four of you. You’d battle heaven and hell for them.”

“I would,” Elle admitted. “But I don’t shouldn’t have to.”

“No, you shouldn’t.” Helina reached over and brushed Elle’s hair behind her shoulder. “You’d better get inside. Sadie’s been worried about you all day.”

“Why doesn’t that surprise me,” Elle scoffed. Grabbing the handle, she paused and looked at her mother. “Thanks for the talk.”

“You’re welcome. This is what I miss the most about being away from you. Sometimes, I wonder if we should just up and move out here.”

“Yeah, why not,” Elle mumbled, not really meaning it. “What’s not to love?”

The minute Elle stepped into the house, Sadie was placing Flora in her arms. With a yawn, Flora smacked her lips together a few times as her eyes wondered before locking onto Elle.

“Hey, sweet girl,” she whispered, gently swaying from side-to-side. “Were you a good girl for Mommy?”

“She was,” Sadie said, sliding her arm around her waist. “But I think she missed you.”

“Yeah?” Elle asked.

Sadie nodded. “I did, too.”

Placing a kiss on her cheek, Sadie left her alone to cuddle with their daughter, basking in the love that tiny infant gave. With tears filling her eyes, she wondered what it’d be like in eight months when Flora was a big sister.

Twenty-two

“I’d like to do one last walk through before signing off,” Elle said into the telephone and tapping her nails on the desk. “Does three this afternoon work?”

“Sounds great, Elle. See you then,” Tank Asciari replied before ending the call.

Elle placed the phone back on the cradle and picked up the stack of photographs the brothers had sent by messenger that morning. Wes and Amanda Anderson’s house had come together without a hitch, and only a few last minute details needed to be finished. The Asciari Brothers had met every deadline and stayed well-below budget, proving once more that they were an invaluable company. Between their work on the Anderson house and Alvarez Park, Elle knew the brothers would be a valuable asset to the company.

Elle ejected the flash drive from her computer and shifted her attention to Callum. As usual, he was staring out the window. Ever since Flora’s birth, he’d been distracted and unfocused at work. Elle worried, but knew he would tell them if something was bothering him. Or at least, she hoped he would.

“I’ll be back in a few.” As she stood, she expected more than a grunt and wave, but that was all he gave her.

With a sigh, Elle walked out of their office, wishing Derek was there to talk to Callum, but he had been asked by the chair of the Architecture Department at City College of San Francisco to give a lecture. He had been reluctant to accept the offer, saying he wasn’t the man for the job, but the opportunity had been too good to pass up and Elle nearly demanded that he agree.

She stopped outside of Samuel’s office, tightening her grip on her cane and thwacking her knuckles on the door three times.

“It’s open,” Samuel called out, and when she pushed on the door, she found him sitting behind his desk with a pile of papers in front of him. He turned toward her, a smile spreading on his face. “Hey, come on in.”

“Is this a bad time?” she asked, hobbling across the room and sitting in one of the leather chairs in front of his desk. She dropped her hand to her thigh, massaging the sore and tender muscle. It had become an automatic action when she sat; her leg hadn’t hurt any more than normal, or any less for that matter. “I can come back later.”

“No, no, now is fine,” he insisted. “If I have to read through another report, I might stab my eyes out with my scissors. Do they just not teach basic spelling and grammar anymore?”

Elle laughed. “Nope, they outlawed the practice. Said it was too time consuming. Instead, they’re focusing on reading and math skills. Like those are important.”

“Okay, smart-ass,” he chuckled, pushing the stack of reports back. “Not that I mind a visit from one of my favorite two daughters-in-law, but what’s on your mind?”

She smiled. “This morning, the Asciari Brothers sent over the last batch of pictures from the Anderson house. They should be able to wrap up construction by the end of the week. I’m heading over this afternoon to do a final walk through.”

“Wow, they’re what — three weeks ahead of schedule?” he asked.

Elle nodded. “And under budget, as well. The code inspector was out last week, signed off on everything.”

“You know, when you first suggested that we work with them I wasn’t sure they’d live up to their stellar reputation. But after their work on Alvarez Park and now the Anderson house, it’s clear they’ve earned every kind review given to them.”

“I agree, which is why I think you should buy their company and merge it in with your own.”

Samuel lifted an eyebrow. “You do, huh?”

Elle bit the inside of her lip before she said, “Maybe I’m overstepping my bounds, and if I am, I’m sorry, but just hear me out.”

“I’m listening.”

“Alvarez Park is selling faster than projected, right? At least a quarter of the houses have already been closed on, and another third are under contract.”

Elle laid the flash drive on Samuel’s desk. “I’ve done my research on the Brothers. Not only are they considered the top contractors in the state, but their structures are rated higher than any other. They have more accommodations than I could count. They’ve tripled their revenue over the last three quarters, but instead of keeping that money for themselves, they’ve spread it out amongst their crews. Now, I know that for a business to succeed, your ends have to outweigh your means, but it’s also important that you remember the little guys. You know, the ones who bust their asses for twelve hours a day to get a job done right and on schedule. And they do this. They have the lowest turnover rate for employees in the city, and they hire three new employees every three months. And —”

Samuel put his hand up as he leaned forward in his chair. Without a word, he picked up the flash drive and plugged it into his computer. Elle stood to leave, but when Samuel gestured for her to wait, she dropped back into the chair. Had she overstepped her bounds too much?

After several minutes, Samuel leaned back in his chair and turned his attention back to Elle. “Where do you see yourself in ten years?”

“Excuse me?” she blurted out, not expecting the change in topic.

“Ten years — where do you see yourself?” he asked again.

“Oh, um, I don’t know. Guess I haven’t really thought about it,” she told him.

Samuel smiled and looked back at the scene. “If you were making the offer, how much would you propose?”

“Based on the revenue they’ve gained over the last five years, which has increased by two percent each year, you have to go big. I wouldn’t offer anything less than fifteen million,” Elle said.

Samuel whistled under his breath. “That’s a lot.”

“It is,” she agreed. “But they have close to three hundred employees who’ve gotten used to good pay, amazing benefits, and a generous 401K. The Brothers run their business well, and if they accept your offer, we’d be able to almost double their crew with the amount of projects we’re sending out to other contractors. By keeping our projects in-house, we’re going to save money in the long run.”

Samuel smiled. “You’ve really put a lot of thought into this, haven’t you?”

Elle nodded. “I wouldn’t have brought it to you if I wasn’t sure this was a good idea. But like I said, this isn’t my decision.”

“No, no, it’s not,” Samuel murmured, leaning forward and turning back to his computer. “Let me study your proposal. I’ll let you know what I decide.”

“Okay, thanks.” Elle stood up and walked over to the door, pausing as she gripped the doorknob. She turned back to Samuel and asked, “Where do you see yourself in ten years?”

His smile grew as he looked at her. “Surrounded by grandchildren, enjoying an ice cold lemonade on the beach, making love to my wife.”

“Ew,” she snickered.

“Sorry,” he chuckled.

“No, you’re not,” she said. “Thanks for giving my proposal some thought.”

“You’re welcome, Elle.”

She stepped out of Samuel’s office just as the doors to the elevator slid open and Derek stepped off. He looked around the room, smiling when his eyes landed on her.

“Hey, you,” she said, and when he wrapped his arm around her waist, she tilted her head back so she could look up at him. “How’d it go?”

“It was amazing, Elle. I was so nervous, but I spoke from my heart, you know? At the end of the hour, I gave them a chance to ask questions, and immediately almost every hand shot up in the air. We spent an hour just answering questions.”

“I told you it’d be great,” she teased as they started walking toward their office. “But did you listen to me? No.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” he scoffed. “Why were you in Samuel’s office?”

“Oh, the Brothers sent me the last batch of pictures. I was just updating him on the Anderson account,” she explained, unsure why she felt the need to hold back the rest of their discussion. “Anyway, I’m heading out this afternoon to do a final walk through, and then I can sign off on it.”

“That’s great.”

Derek held the door open for her and when she walked in, she was unsurprised to find Callum still turned toward the window. She shared a look with Derek, who returned her worried glance.

“Babe, you okay?” he asked.

Startled, Callum turned toward them, a fake smile on his lips. “I’m fine. Hungry, though. What sounds good for lunch?”

“Um, I don’t know.” Derek looked back at Elle. “Any weird cravings yet?”

“No,” she said, and diverting her eyes away from his. She’d just reached eight weeks, and hadn’t experienced any of the usual symptoms. No morning sickness, no sore boobs, no outlandish cravings. “How about JJ’s?”

“Perfect,” Derek agreed, looking over at Callum, who was staring at his phone. “JJ’s okay with you?”

“Huh?” he asked, looking up. “Oh, yeah, fine.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Derek asked.

“I . . .” Callum trailed off as he glanced at his phone again. “Yeah, I’m fine. Let’s go eat.”

Elle and Derek shared another look, knowing that Callum was anything but fine. As the three of them headed to JJ’s, a small sandwich shop, she worried that their peaceful existence was about to explode.

—FA—

Elle groaned as she climbed out of her car, her body aching from a long day. The walkthrough at the Anderson house had gone smooth, and she had been pleased with how everything had turned out. Another week and they’d be able to close the account, which was both satisfying and bittersweet. Unless Samuel accepted her suggestion and offered the Brother’s a deal for their company, she wasn’t sure when she’d work with them again.

Since the Anderson house was on the other side of the city, she’d made the trip alone and traffic had been a bitch. She spent the last hour trying to get off the freeway at her exit. She was tired, hungry, and pretty sure she smelled.

When she walked into the house, Elle found Callum snuggled with Flora, who was gurgling toward him. The smile on his face could only be described as breathtaking, and Elle couldn’t help but notice the change in his demeanor. At the office, he was moody and grumpy, distance and quiet. Here, with Flora, he smiled and laughed. He was the same man they’d fallen in love with.

“Hey,” Elle said, causing him to look up at her. “Where’s Derek and Sadie?”

“They ran to the market,” he said, cradling Flora in his arms as he stood up. He walked over to Elle, sliding one arm around her waist and placing a kiss on her lips. “How’d it go with the Brothers?”

“Good,” she said, kicking off her heels and pushing them against the wall. “One more week and I should be able to officially mark them as closed.”

“Never thought I’d see the day when the Anderson’s account would be closed,” he laughed, leading her toward the couch and sitting with Flora still nestled in his arms.

“Aren’t you going to let me hold her?” Elle asked, gesturing to the cooing baby.

“Oh, yeah, sorry,” he mumbled, carefully placing their daughter in his arms. He slipped arm around Elle’s shoulder and placed his other hand under the baby. “She smiled for me today.”

“She did, huh?” Elle asked, stroking Flora’s cheek with her finger. “Sure it wasn’t gas?”

“Yes!” Callum scoffed. “When we got home from the office, it was like she could sense me or something. She kind of turned her head toward me and smiled.”

“I’ve been worried about you,” Elle whispered, not daring to look at her husband. “You’re quiet at work, distance. You spend more time looking out the window than working.”

She finally turned her attention to Callum, who was frowning as he looked at their daughter.

“Tell me what’s going on,” she pleaded.

“I . . .” Callum shook his head. “I don’t want you to be disappointed in me, Elle.”

“What are you talking about? I could never be disappointed in you.”

“You say that now,” he muttered, sliding Flora out of her arms and back into his. His lips trembled and his chin wobbled. “I hate my job.”

“You what?” she laughed, but quickly stopped when she saw how serious he was.

“I . . .” Callum shook his head. “I don’t hate it, exactly. I just don’t love it anymore.” Pausing, he shifted his eyes up to Elle. “I want to be a stay-at-home-dad.”

The front door opened and Sadie and Derek shuffled into the house before Elle could respond. 

“Oy, we need some help here,” Derek called out, laughing as he looked at the two of them. However, he sobered up when he noticed the tension between the two of them. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” Callum muttered.

“Apparently he hates his job and wants to stay home with Flora,” Elle said, grabbing hold of her cane as she stood up.

“What?” Sadie asked with a chuckle. “What’s she talking about, Cal?”

“I . . .” He blew out a heavy breath. “I don’t want my mom raising her. I don’t want someone else feeding her every day, teaching her to potty, or to walk, or read. I want to do those things with her. Every morning, I have to drag myself out of the house, tear myself away from her, and it kills me.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Elle asked, sitting back on the couch next to him. “You’ve been distracted for the last three weeks, Cal. Why didn’t you just tell us how you felt?”