The Wright Boss(45)

And, when she seamlessly integrated into my family for the rest of the afternoon, it was like everything in the whole world was going right.





Eighteen



Heidi


Almost two weeks later, on Friday morning, I was called into a meeting before I even made it to the elevator.

"What for?" I asked Max.

He was one of our lead engineers and the least pleasant of the guys in my department.

"Didn't ask. Just said to do it. I'm grabbing people as they get here."

"All right," I said with a raised eyebrow.

I took the elevator up to our floor with a sense of urgency. The last time we'd had a meeting, we'd found out that Landon was the new boss. I sure hoped that this meant that Landon was getting a new job in a different department … or floor. Because walking past him every day on my way to my desk was starting to turn into the best part of my day, and I wasn't sure how I felt about that.

Not that anything had happened. He had been the perfect gentleman. Maybe too much of a perfect gentleman, considering the energy that had been building between us. I thought he was waiting for my move since I'd rebuffed him so many times. And I couldn't see that I would make it.

I sighed and decided not to worry about it. A decision for another day. I rallied a smile for Landon as I passed his office but was surprised to find it empty.

Huh.

He was usually in the office bright and early on Fridays.

Strange.

I shrugged it off and headed into the conference room. Matt greeted me with a wave. He was in a lime-green plaid shirt with a navy-blue bow tie with polka dots and suspenders today. His outfit choices always made me giggle.

"Hey, Matt," I said, taking the seat next to him.

"We meet again, Heidi," he said with a sideways grin.

"Indeed. You know what this meeting is about?"

"Nope. They never tell us anything before they want to."

"Yeah, that's the truth." I reached out and snagged a doughnut from the table. "At least they got us some breakfast."

"I'm surprised that you eat that kind of thing."

I stared at him in confusion with half of the glazed doughnut stuffed in my mouth. "Huh?" I managed.

"It's all processed flour and high fructose corn syrup. It's horrible for you."

I swallowed and grinned. "Tastes delicious."

"You should take care of your body. You only have one."



       
         
       
        

"Noted," I said, giving him a thumbs-up as I reached for a second doughnut.

Just then the engineering manager, Dennis, moseyed into the room. He was a balding man in his mid-fifties with a round belly and an easy smile. I liked Dennis just fine. He was the one who kept giving me merit raises for doing better than the boys.

"Is everyone here?" Dennis asked. He walked to the front of the room, grabbing a box of doughnuts as he went.

I glanced around and noticed that, no, in fact, not everyone was here. "I think we're missing Jim."

"Right, Jim," Dennis said. "Jim is taking a position at the Austin branch. His son just got into Texas, and he and his wife wanted to make the move to be close to him." He shrugged, as if he thought that was a stupid reason to take a position in Austin.

Family was the most important thing though. It was kind of sweet that Jim wanted to move to where his son was. And, as long as it was a lateral move, I didn't see how it was even a bad thing. Austin was a freaking awesome city. I'd gone to visit Emery a couple of times while she had been getting her PhD. It had more to offer than Lubbock; that was for sure.

"So, with Jim clearing out his desk next week in the middle of the new city contract work, we're going to need to get someone prepped and into his job, pronto." Dennis smacked his lips together.

My eyes lit up. They were looking to promote someone. Oh my God! A lead engineer spot was open, and they wanted someone to drop right into the city contract work Jim had been doing. Might not be most people's dream, but I wasn't most people.

I wanted that position. No, I deserved that position. I'd worked my ass off to get to where I was. I'd spent years in school and training. I had all the certifications. I was up to date on all the proper programs. I even did extra work to prove my worth. This position needed to be mine.

"Company policy says that I have to leave the application up for a minimum of three days. That means you all have until next Wednesday to apply before I close the application entirely. Too much is resting on this project, and we need someone who knows what they're doing right away. So, I'm not going to drag my feet on this. If you don't think you can handle it, then don't waste my time. Understand?"