Where She Belongs (4 page)

"She
usually is."

"Anything
at the office I need to know about?"

"We've
got it all under control. We can manage without you from time to
time."

"No,
you can't. You're all afraid to admit it."

Gabe
rolled his eyes.

"Don't
forget the custom pieces on the HomeZones' order."

"It's
covered."

"And
shipment from TimberMills is going to be a day late. You'll have to
budget time so we don't get behind on the Lakewoods order."

"I
know. We went over all this yesterday."

Bryce
harrumphed. "Fine. Maybe we should tell Shanna to forget
everything. I guess you don't need anyone."

"You
said you need to relax and rest so you wouldn't have another attack."

"Working
is my rest."

"No,
it's not, and if you don't rest, I will make Rita take you on
vacation."

"You
wouldn't dare suggest it."

"Watch
that I don't."

The
two women bustled into the room, laughing. They stopped when they saw
the looks on the men's faces. "Are you two at it again?"

"At
it? Again?" Shanna asked.

"Gabe
likes to try to tell me how things should be run."

"Bryce
likes to do things the way they've always been done."

“
While
I’m in the office we'll make some progressive changes, won't we
Gabe?" Shanna said.

"You're
staying?" Bryce said.

"Yes,
for two weeks. And only part time. I have to continue my work for
Trenton long distance. He has a temp secretary, but he needs me for
the assistanty stuff, like proofing and research."

The
more likely case was Shanna did most of the guy's job. He merely
glanced at his mentor who grinned from ear to ear.

Gabe
admitted he was smiling as well. He crossed to where she stood next
to her mom still and put his arm around her shoulder. "It won't
be that bad. Think of it as a vacation."

"Yeah,
'cause I always work on my vacations."

"Me,
too. Something we have in common." He kissed her cheek and she
leaned against him. The plan to keep her at arm’s length had
failed already.

"Alright,
alright. I'm staying, you three must very pleased with yourselves."

"I
am," Bryce said.

She
glared at him.

Gabe
squeezed her again. Se felt really nice in his arms, but thinner than
she had a year ago when she saw him.

"You
had better take me to the office and show me around. I need to get
myself reacquainted with the old place."

"Old
place? You should see the upgrades we've put in since you've been
gone," Bryce said.

She
looked at Gabe with raised eyebrows. "This I can't wait to see."

"He
got a new office chair last year," Gabe replied dryly.

Shanna
laughed. She leaned on him for support while she giggled. He joined
in as did Rita and Bryce. When it subsided, he felt lighter. It felt
right, being with them. They were his family, now that his mom
remarried and moved to the city. He kissed her temple, then released
her.

There
was no human he’d talk to more in the last week than Shanna. In
fact, all of his other interactions with people probably didn’t
equal his contact with Shanna. All that contact had been void of the
smell of her hair and the feel of her body. He had a lot of time to
make up for, a lot of hugs he’d missed. Even if her boyfriend
hated Gabe; she either didn’t care or she was good at hiding
it.

A
few months ago he had decided he would stop dating or having sex for
a while. By depriving himself of a good release of stress and
hormones, he had created his own cave of loneliness and sexual
frustration. If only he could bring himself to have meaningless sex.
His interest in women stagnated.

"I'm
serious, I want to see the office this afternoon. See what I've
gotten myself into and how rusty my management skills are."

"I'm
sure you'll have no problem bossing people around," Rita said.
"You were a natural at that from preschool. Drove your teachers
crazy."

"You
had better take her before she changes her mind," Bryce said. "I
promise not to go anywhere."

"Shall
we?" Gabe gestured toward the door.

"Indeed,"
she said, heading for the door. "You can drive me."

"She's
telling me what to do already,” he said over his shoulder.

"Good,
you need someone to do that," Rita said. She and Bryce laughed.

Gabe
looked down at Shanna, not sure what to make of the situation now.

*
* *

It
only took Shanna three tries to guess her dad’s password. A
talk about computer security and passwords was in order.

Gabe
had to run off and take a phone call, so she was left to her own
devices for the present. At random, she clicked the accounting files
on the desktop. There were a lot of numbers and a lot of people to
deal with.

She
preferred her simple assistant job in Toronto. She didn't have to
deal with numbers. That was someone else's job. She helped Trenton
out with his assignments. Nothing that required her to take risks
with real life consequences. Sitting here with an entire company at
her fingertips was scaring the crap out of her.

The
tour with Gabe overwhelmed her. So many people she knew. Many of the
workers had been her classmates in previous years. Most of the rest
were workers who had been in the plant and office for ages. More than
one person referenced her childhood and when she was "this big".

She
took all the comments with good humor and ribbed some of them when it
seemed appropriate. People she could deal with. But being in charge
of the whole company was enough to make her run to the bathroom and
lose her lunch.

"Are
you finding everything?" her father's secretary, Rachel, asked
from the doorway.

"Finding
out Dad needs a better password," she replied. "Mostly I'm
trying to figure out how I got talked into all this."

"Bryce
is a force when he wants something. He's so proud of you, and he
misses you so much."

"I
am fairly certain this is a ploy to get me to move back here and help
run the company."

"Could
be. Do you want some coffee?"

"I
can get my own coffee. Hell, in Toronto, I am the coffee getter. I
don't think I'd be comfortable letting you." See, another thing
that told her she was not suited to this job.

"You'll
get used to it, once you are dealing with the day-to-day reality of
the work."

"I
always thought the CEO delegated tasks to management and watched the
money roll in."

"Maybe
at other companies, not here. Bryce may be a little overly involved
with things, but I think that comes from when he was getting started
and he had to do everything. A lot of his job now is dealing with
relationships with suppliers and dealers. Among other things."

"I
don't know if I'm up for it. There's a lot of money and effort and
people involved with this company. What if I screw up and the whole
place goes to shit?"

"Until
you are feeling sure of yourself, rely on Ga― Mr. Brande."

"I
know you go by first names. I'm not going to demand formality. I
might work for some big city corporation, but this was my first
home."

Rachel
smiled and took a seat. "Rely on Gabe for help. He's been in
training for the job since he came here. He's like a son to your
dad."

"I
know. When Dad fell ill, I was so thankful I knew Gabe was here
taking care of everything. I knew he'd fill the gaps as needed, like
Dad's care and the office stuff."

"That's
Gabe, dependable."

"Boring,
steadfast Gabe," he said from the doorway.

Both
women looked at him. "Speak of the devil," Shanna said, as
he wandered into the room, looking casual.

"Now
I'm the devil. I thought I could feel my ears burning. But I thought
it would be someone talking about how dashing and handsome I am, not
how dependable and predictable I am."

"I'd
rather have the dependability than dash," Shanna said. He had
handsome covered from here to the moon. She remembered how she would
imagine him at night. And her friends would ask to come to the office
just so they could see him and giggle about him. Friends who were
mostly still in town, married and having babies, or working at the
small businesses in town. Friends who had been her closest
confidantes, but after college and moving across the country, she'd
drifted away from them.

"Then
I'm your man." He grinned and leaned on the desk.

She
looked away. Once she would have given almost anything to have him
say that. She felt sad, now.

She
tucked her hair behind her ear and looked back at him. "I was
telling Rachel how glad I was that you were here with Dad and Mom
when all the shit hit the fan."

He
looked at Rachel. "Are you sure you weren't talking about my
charm?.”

"No
one needs to tell you that, you seem assured of the fact already,"
Shanna said.

His
gaze swung to her. His beautiful brown eyes bored into hers, as if
they were trying to discover her truths, her soul. She looked away.
"No harm in telling me again. I think you are beautiful, with
big blue eyes that could convince a man to do anything; pale skin,
and the slightest hint of freckles on your cheeks." He started
to reach toward her, until Rachel cleared her throat.

He
straightened and cleared his throat.

Shanna
leaned back in her chair. For a minute she'd forgotten everything
except Gabe, who looked at her as if he wanted to kiss her. Which of
course he didn't. That would be crazy. He'd never felt anything but
sibling-like, friendly affection for her, and she best not forget
that.

"Well,
I think I have some memos to type or something important. I'll leave
you two alone."

She
watched the secretary leave the room. She tried to recall if Rachel
was the type to gossip or not.

"She'll
keep that to herself. Sorry. I got lost in the moment. Anyway, did
you manage to log on?"

"Yes.
Dad seriously needs to learn how to set a proper password. How was
the phone call?"

"Not
as life-changing as I was brought to believe. But you know how a
hysterical customers can be when they feel as if they aren't being
treated like the kings and queens they see themselves."

"Everyone
wants to be the best, not realizing if everyone is the best, the best
becomes average."

"Exactly.
So you look at anything on there yet?"

"I
don't know if I can. He's running Windows XP, for God's sake. This
cannot go on. This is the same furniture, same layout, same
decorations as when I was a kid. It's amazing most of the equipment
on the floor is state-of-the-art. The man is so resistant to change,
I might shake him. You know, if his heart could stand it."

"I
know." Gabe smirked as he ran his hand along Bryce’s desk.
It had been crafted in the shop. When the company was small, the shop
a fraction of the size.

His
strong, capable hands... She swallowed hard and looked at him and
controlled her voice. "How do you put up with it?"

"A
lot of patience and booze. I dunno, you get used to him. I've been
here for what? Eleven, twelve years now? Bryce, your dad, took me
under his wing. He mentored me, even after he helped pay for my
college. I owe him everything I've achieved."

"Hey,
he merely gave you the means. A lot of people would have squandered
the opportunity. You took it and you worked your ass off, and you
deserve to be proud of everything you've achieved. You deserve to run
this company. Not like me. I was born to the owner, that's the only
thing I have going for me. I have no experience, no training for this
sort of thing."