Breath of Scandal(98)
"Why? You found me in jail. You don't know how I work. I don't have my own business."
"I decided while I was in California that I didn't want a company. An individual is less intimidating than a large company. "
"I still don't get it," Dillon said.
"We want TexTile to belong to the community of Palmetto. Using local construction workers and regionally based subcontractors would be a move in the right direction. I shared this idea with Mr. Seffrin, and he agrees. The fact that you don't have your own labor force is actually a plus And," she added, emphasizing her Southern drawl, "you speak their language. You don't sound like an interloper, and we're trying to avoid appearing as such."
"And this Sefffin fellow-"
"Trusts my instincts, although I must tell you that during this interim, we've been looking elsewhere. You're still my first choice, so I'm very pleased to see you here. Now, tell me how you work." She clasped her hands on top of her desk and assumed a listening expression.
"Essentially, I've done a little bit of everything relating to building, but what I like most is putting the whole thing together. "
"Before I knew he was an outright crook, the first thing that turned me off Matthias was his hands, " she said.
"They were soft. He manages from behind a desk. I need someone who supervises every aspect of the construction, who works one to one with the subs and the laborers."
"No problem there. That's the way I like to do it."
I 'Good. This job also requires someone who is committed to the project. From the time we break ground until completion, you can count on it taking at least two years."
"I've got nothing better to do."
"Relocating in Palmetto won't be a problem for you?" "Absolutely none. As you guessed, I grew up in the South and got my degree from Georgia Tech."
"Is there anything else you'd like to discuss before I have the contracts department draw up our work agreement?" "What about the subs?"
"What about them?"
"I'll get no fewer than three bids for every job," he said. -Am I obligated to award the job to the lowest bidder?" "Not if you don't feel comfortable about it." "Sometimes the lowest bid turns out to be the most ex-
pensive in the long run-if the work has to be redone." "I think we understand each other, Mr. Burke. Now, if I can see your references, we'll be all set."
He shifted uncomfortably in his chair. He had been dreading this part. "I can't provide you with references." "Oh? Why not?"
"For the last several years, I've moved around a lot. Burned bridges. I'd get in a fight, or get drunk, or get fed up with the boss's incompetence and never go back." He shrugged. "References weren't a priority. Anyway, I don't have any."
"How do I know that you won't get in a fight, get drunk, and walk out on me?"
"You don't. You'll just have to take my word for it." Dillon held his breath. Since he had come this far, he wasn't certain he could bear the disappointment if she rejected him now. He wanted this job. It was essential to him. It meant the difference between starting to live again and merely continuing to exist.
She stood up again and moved around the desk. "You'll
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need to be in Palmetto by May first. I've scheduled a town meeting during which I will announce our plans, and you should be there."
"You mean I'm hired?"
"You're hired. Between now and May first, almost every minute of your workday will revolve around meetings with Seffrin, the architect, the designer, and me. You've got your work cut out for you, Mr. Burke. I'll try and scare up an empty office for you to use."
He was hired! He was too stunned to react. She extended her hand. "Do we have a deal?"
Dillon stood up and enclosed her hand. There was a vast difference between shaking hands with Jade Sperry and shaking hands with another man. Her hand was small, for one thing, and cool and dry and soft. It didn't seem to fit into such a masculine gesture, yet the feel of it left at) impression long after he had released it.
"Excuse me. I won't be long."
She left him alone in her office. He moved to the window and gazed out over the city. It was still hard for him to believe that this was happening. The night she had taken him to dinner, he had thrown up a dozen barriers to her and her proposal. Afterward, however, he couldn't stop thinking about it.
Finally he had relented and picked up the prospectus she had left with him. After he'd read it a dozen times, GSS's TexTile plant became as much an obsession as his grief was.
For seven years he had been outrunning his guilt. The coroner's report stated that Debra and Charlie had died accidentally, but Dillon knew he was responsible. After the ambulances had taken away their bodies, while he was raging through the house, demented with grief, he had discovered the list of chores he hadn't got around to the preceding weekend. The last item on the list was, "Check furnace. "
After leaving Tallahassee, he had ain-dessly wandered about, with his guilt in tow. He had taken it with him te