He nodded and followed her in.
Trevor and Caleb were standing by the coffeemaker in the lobby. They looked up and smiled when Annie and Trent entered. After a round of greetings, Caleb motioned toward Trevor’s office. “We’ll have our meeting in there,” he told Trent. “Get yourself a cup of coffee and come on in. Annie, when you’re ready to work in there just kick us out.”
“Feel free to have some coffee yourself, Annie,” Trevor added. “Or there are soft drinks in the fridge, if you prefer.”
“Thank you, but I’m fine. I’ll just get to work.”
Trevor took a small step closer to her, studying her face with a perceptiveness that made her self-conscious. “Are you feeling well, Annie? Forgive me, but you look tired.”
Aware of Trent’s somber gaze on her, she made an effort to smile. “Thank you for asking, but I’m fine. Really.”
“You should take it easy this weekend,” Caleb advised, his tone kindly paternal. “Get some rest.”
She turned her smile on him. “I will,” she promised, though her weekend was already heavily scheduled.
Nodding in satisfaction, Caleb preceded his sons into Trevor’s office. Trevor followed; Trent lingered for a moment in the lobby, still frowning at Annie. “You look like hell. Are you trying to work yourself into the hospital?” he growled.
She straightened defensively, her chin lifting. “I’m quite capable of taking care of myself, thank you.”
“Yeah? You wouldn’t know it from looking at you.”
She hadn’t left her father and Preston only to allow another man to boss her around. “Go to your meeting, Trent. I have a job to do.”
Far from satisfied, he spun on one heel and stalked into his brother’s office. Feeling as if she’d held her own with him at least this once, she busied herself with her work.
The meeting broke up just before Annie finished cleaning the rest of the offices and bathrooms. Caleb and Trevor told her good-night as they left. Trent followed them out in stony silence. Only then, allowing her shoulders to sag a bit, did Annie clean Trevor’s office and call it a day. She gathered her things and headed out to the parking lot, just wanting to get home, find something to eat, then crash.
A hand fell on her shoulder just as she reached the back of her car. She started and almost dropped her gear. “Darn it, Trent, you nearly gave me a heart attack,” she complained, recognizing him with a mixture of relief and consternation.
“We aren’t finished with our talk.”
Annoyed that he was still growling at her—just who did he think he was, anyway?—she opened the trunk of her car and hefted her things inside. “Maybe you aren’t finished, but I am. I have things to do.”
“Another house to clean? A couple of piano lessons to give?”
“I might even give my car a lube job and rotate the tires when I’m finished.”
“Cute.”
“Thank you.” She opened her car door without looking at him. “Good night, Trent.”
He reached out to take her arm, holding her in place. “Damn it, Annie, wait a minute.”
“Why? So you can tell me again that I’m working too hard? Kiss me one minute and yell at me the next? I don’t think so.”
“Will you just calm down? All I’m saying is—”
Stress and weariness combined to make her reckless. “Maybe I don’t want to calm down. Stop telling me what to do.”
“Now you’re being completely unreasonable. I’m trying to convince you that if you don’t slow down, you’re going to collapse. How much work will you get done then?”
“Maybe it is unreasonable,” she agreed stubbornly, “but it’s my choice to work as long and as hard as I want. I am perfectly capable of setting my own hours and gauging my own endurance. I don’t need you or my father or anyone planning my life or my hours or my future or—”
His face was very close to hers now. As her voice rose, his had grown softer. “Just because I care whether you work yourself into an early grave—”
“And don’t say I should listen to you because you know what’s best for me. If you knew how many times I’ve heard that—”
“Fine,” he snapped. “Go ahead and kill yourself. I don’t know why I bothered to worry about you.”