“I’ve been working with my dad part-time for more than two years and full-time since June.”
I’m tempted to add that I started working at Parker Construction after graduating from Duke with my bachelor’s in architecture, but I doubt it would do anything to convince Larry that I deserve this position. Larry smiles as he sits back in his chair and folds his thick hands over his belly.
“I’ve known your dad for quite some time and I know he’s got plenty of other guys more qualified to do this job. Why’d he send you?”
I grit my teeth together as I try to remind myself that I will only be working with this prick for eight weeks. I dealt with the skeptical looks from employees in the Wilmington office for the first year or so, but everyone there knows I worked my ass off to get my degree and help my dad out for nearly three years and they respect me for it. This asshole doesn’t know that and it’s not my job to school him. But one good thing my dad did teach me was that we teach people how to treat us. Larry Cromwell will not treat me like a spoiled dumbass for eight weeks.
“I assure you that I am the most qualified project engineer for this project. I handled the startup on the Camp Lejeune training center project in June and, no disrespect, but this project is a walk in the park compared to that. My father sent me here because I’m the only one he trusts to oversee the dredging.”
He doesn’t look convinced, but this shuts him up. We make it through the meal without any further questions about my qualifications. We talk about the meetings we have scheduled for the week and when the drilling subcontractor is set to start their work. By the time I get into my car I’m annoyed. I don’t want to call Claire when I’m like this, but she asked me to call her on my lunch break.
I pull out of the steakhouse parking lot behind Larry’s new Cadillac and punch Claire’s number. I put her on speakerphone before I set the cellphone into the cup holder.
“Hey, sexy,” she answers.
“Hey, baby. What are you doing?”
“Studying to retake the exam I just failed this morning.”
“Why did you fail? I thought you were studying for that last night.”
She’s quiet for a moment. “I was gone for a while last night. I didn’t get a whole lot of studying done.”
“Were you partying on a Sunday?”
The silence on the other end of the phone puts me even more on edge. She’s hesitating and I can only imagine why.
“Chris was in an accident yesterday so I was at the hospital for a few hours. I didn’t get to study.”
Fuck. I hate that I feel even the slightest bit happy that he was in an accident. That’s fucked up.
“What happened? Is he all right?”
“He’s fine. He just broke his leg and they had to reset his fibula.”
“You went to the hospital to visit him for a few hours when you had a test to study for and all he has is a broken leg?”
“I didn’t know until I got there.”
“But you stayed for a few hours.”
“I was already there.”
I take a deep breath as I attempt to focus on the road. The ten-mile drive back to the base and the conversation with Claire was supposed to calm me before I got back to work.
“Adam?”
“What?”
“You’re mad.”
“How did you even visit him at night if you’re not family? I thought his mom never adopted you.”
“Adam, please.”
“Please, what? I just want to know if you’ve been lying to me.”
“I have not been lying to you. I lied to the hospital staff.”
“What do you mean, you lied to the hospital staff?”
She sucks in a loud breath then lets it out slowly. “It’s not a big deal. I just told them we were family so that I could get in to see him.”
“I don’t fucking get it. Why was it so important to see him if it was just a broken leg?”
“Because I ran into Jackie in the waiting room and she wanted me to see him so I lied to the hospital staff and said we were married. Okay? Are you happy now or are you going to keep grilling me?”
Am I happy now?
I blink my eyes to keep the silvery road in front of me from blurring with rage. They taught us in anger management to take a moment to collect our thoughts. Step away until you can work things out calmly. I’ve had to use the shit I learned in anger management a lot lately.
“I can’t talk about this right now. I have to get back to work. I’ll call you when I get off work.”
“Adam, please don’t shut down. I had to deal with Jackie the best way I could. You have to understand what a tough situation I’m in here. She doesn’t know anything about the baby or us.”