“You’re very kind. It’s nice to know my efforts aren’t going unnoticed, especially since I haven’t been here. And I want to thank you again for partnering with the construction company.”
“How is that going, by the way? I haven’t had anyone drop in on that project lately. That Foreman Duke of yours is a spitfire,” she said.
“It’s going really well. We expanded into some other areas and hired a few more people to help. Things are stabilizing and the company’s bringing in the kind of money I figured it would. Duke’s keeping up on his payments to you, right?”
“I actually toggled things a bit on that when you were gone,” she said. “Instead of making payments back for the money we funneled in to get you set up in another city, we’re helping to fund all the building of the homes, trailers, and tiny houses your company enjoys giving away. Funding those projects fully opened up the revenue to pay the other hires. Or so Duke told me.”
“Well, if Duke says it’s so, then it’s probably so. I’m headed there after the meeting for him to brief me on things, but it sounds like things are going well,” I said.
“I wanted to talk with you about this new hire. Anna?” she asked.
“What about her?”
“I wanted to talk about expanding the scope of her program.”
“Program or project?” I asked.
“No, no. She’s taking over her project this summer to see if it’ll work, the free legal counsel thing she’s doing. But, if it’s successful, I want to know what it’s going to take to make that project a part of her program. The board loves what she’s doing and isn’t sure why we didn’t come up with it sooner.”
“I could run some numbers tomorrow and come up with a couple coordination tactics to keep things nice and tidy.”
“I would appreciate that. Any way you could get it to me to pass to them by Friday?” she asked.
“Consider it done,” I said.
I walked out of my meeting with Ellen and tried to center myself for where I was headed next. I didn't want anyone to register anything on my face except excitement. I needed to talk with Foreman Duke about the new changes that had taken place within the company, but I also needed to stop by the site where the house was being built. If I had it my way, I would have built this thing with my own two hands. I would have directed every aspect of the construction and checked every nail before it was driven into the wood. But I had the foundation job to worry about, I’d had the European tour I went on with Hailey, and now I had a baby on the way.
So, I had to put my trust in the hands of one of the guys I had trained during my time at the construction company.
“Bryan!”
“Foreman Jack. Just the man I wanted to see.”
“Coming to check up on the house?” he asked.
“The pictures you sent while I was away didn’t do it justice. This house is massive,” I said.
“With all the room you wanted and the views you specified, it needed to be,” he said.
“How’s it coming along?” I asked.
“Well, the outside’s completely done. We’re putting the finishing touches on everything on the inside. Should only take a couple more weeks. You got that wallpaper for me yet?”
“Not yet. Hailey just got done painting the wall of that room.”
“She’s going to be so pissed at you for keeping this from her,” he said.
“I was concerned about that too. But I think it’ll all be okay in the end. I’ve been trying to match the decoration in the house as best as I can while still leaving room for her to put her own details on it. And her painting isn’t going to waste. Not completely.”
“Whatever you say, boss,” he said, grinning.
“You said a couple of weeks?” I asked.
“Yep. You just worry about getting me that wallpaper. Once we’re a couple of days from finishing, I’ll let you know so you can furniture shop.”
“Sounds good to me. Thanks, Jack. I really appreciate it.”
“You headed to see Duke soon?” he asked.