In approximately one hour, Lucinda Holbrook would find out she was about to become a grandmother.
Chapter Six
“This is garbage,” Jake muttered as he crouched down and looked at the uneven subfloor. He scowled up at Quinn. “This isn’t going to pass code,” he said, rising and wiping his hands on the front of his jeans.
Quinn walked around the room shaking his head. “This is brutal. And this is the model suite. We don’t get this done, we can’t launch on time.”
Jake nodded, walking across the small town house unit. His six weeks away from Red River had put him behind. He was head builder for Manning Construction, and with the growth they’d had, building was the last thing he’d been doing. Going to their various sites had taken up most of his time, and now they were in jeopardy of making some huge mistakes that would cost them their reputation and a hell of a lot of money. “We can’t keep using subcontractors. Ella could have done a better job than this. I’m telling you, you need to hire more full-time guys. You have way too many projects going on.”
Quinn was nodding and looking around the small living room. “You’re right. Do what you gotta do. We can’t afford delays on this.”
Jake nodded and looked away. He was going to have to tell Quinn about William. The problem was that he didn’t have everything figured out yet, and he couldn’t exactly ditch his brother without notice.
“We’ve always had trouble finding quality guys out here. I was thinking about seeing if any of William’s guys are looking for extra hours. Maybe weekends. At least to get us back on track.”
Jake’s gut twisted. Now he was going to be outright lying to his brother. “None of his guys are part-time.” He knew that for a fact because he’d spent hours poring over payroll, work orders, time sheets, and employee contracts.
“Suggestions?”
He shrugged and looked out the window. The parking lot below was filled with cars and Manning Construction trucks. In a few weeks, he’d have no ownership over this business. The days he spent working with his brother would be over. But he’d have his own company, one that wouldn’t be associated with their father. “I was thinking we should take on some guys in college. Do an apprenticeship program with the government. Something to get qualified workers. You’re better off training people yourself and having quality trades over random contractors.”
“Okay. I should have listened to you earlier. You were right.” Reasonable, levelheaded Quinn. That made all of this harder. “You’ll be doing all this anyway. So go ahead.You should do the hiring. You have good instincts about people,” Jake said, pulling his iPhone out of his pocket. He glanced down at the screen to avoid Quinn’s stare.
“Really? You’re the one who works with the crew. I’d rather you handled it.”
Jake kept his head down. “Well, I’ll talk to someone in the office about getting in touch with local trade colleges and we’ll see the response. Maybe for now I can pull a crew from the condo project to fill in here to get things back up to speed.”
Quinn nodded. “That sounds good. So, uh, everything okay?”
Jake looked up. “Yeah. Just thought of something. Amanda isn’t still answering phones, is she?”
Quinn laughed. “Nope. You’re safe. How’s Claire?”
He groaned out loud and then picked up a hammer. He needed to get some of his nervous energy out. He’d take out this entire damn floor by himself if it meant not thinking about Claire and Walters construction.
“That bad?”
“Worse,” Jake answered, picking up a pry bar in his other hand. He crouched down, hitting the end of the pry bar with his hammer harder than necessary. “I swear, whenever I think I’m getting through to her, she shuts me out. And I’m the one everyone says runs. Well, she’s running around all over the place. I had to jump into an elevator just to get her to speak to me.” He paused to give his brother time to laugh. “You have any Holly insider info for me?”
“Actually I do. Not that I like gossiping or anything,” Quinn said, looking uncomfortable.
“No, no, of course not. Me neither.” He forced down the pry bar to lift the edge of the plywood up off the joist as far as possible. He tried to concentrate on what he was doing, and told himself that he wasn’t dying to know whatever Quinn knew.
“Apparently Claire had a huge crush on you in high school.”
Jake lost his grip. He cursed and then managed to get the tool back into position and scowled up at Quinn. “That’s all you have for me? I knew that.”