The Fix (The Carolina Connections, #1)(15)
“Okay, okay, let’s get up and leave Uncle Gavin to himself.” I urged Rocco out of bed.
“What time is it anyway?” Gavin asked.
“It’s only ten after seven. I had to get up early because I have something to do before work.” I walked toward his door.
“Crap. Too early,” he muttered, but I suddenly had an idea.
“Hey, since you’re already awake, would you mind getting Rocco ready and giving him some breakfast? What time do you leave for work?”
“I’m working at the site up the street this morning. I don’t need to be there till eight. I was going to take advantage and sleep in,” he said pointedly. “Why do you need me to take care of Rock? Where are you going?”
Hmm, how should I handle this one? I didn’t really want to tell Gavin that I was going to help some neighbors give his new company a hard time, but I didn’t want to lie either. “Remember that lady who came by the other day with her kid? She wanted me to help her out with something this morning. I’ll be back in plenty of time for you to make it to work.” Vague, let’s stick with that.
“Okay, I guess. Just give me ten more minutes of snooze time, Rock, and I’ll get you some breakfast.” Gavin laid his head back on his pillow and covered his eyes with his arm.
Knowing that Rocco can’t tell time and Gavin, like me, possesses no internal alarm clock, I set a buzzer for ten minutes and turned the TV on to cartoons. “When that buzzer goes off, go get Uncle Gavin and tell him it’s time to wake up. If he doesn’t get up tell him that I will erase all his college women’s volleyball recordings from the DVR,” I told Rocco as he settled in on the couch. I may as well have been talking to myself. I paused the show and tried to block his view. “Tell him your clothes are lying on my bed, okay? I just need to run up the street for a few minutes but I’ll be back in time to take you to school.” I got a nod but his eyes never left the TV. I un-paused it and hoped for the best.
Wanting to stay in Charlotte’s good graces but get this over with as soon as possible, I grabbed my cellphone and slipped out the side door, heading quickly toward the sidewalk. As I approached the end of our block where it intersected with Old Oak Ridge Road, I spotted Charlotte and Aiden with a couple I didn’t recognize and a toddler girl who appeared to belong to them. The man also held a sleeping baby in his arms, wrapped in a pink blanket. Aiden was poking at the ground with what I hoped was a plastic knife, and he had what appeared to be an arsenal of various other knives tucked into some kind of utility belt looped around his pants.
Behind the group I spied two yellow construction vehicles—don’t ask me what they were called—and a flatbed truck loaded with two more. The truck’s signage read “Built by Murphy” and there were three men huddled in conversation to the side of the large vehicle—the tallest of whom held a cellphone to his ear with one hand, the other hand gripping the back of his neck as he alternately barked into the phone and to the men beside him. Tense much?
Charlotte spotted me immediately. “Hey, Laney! So glad you made it!” She waved excitedly.
I couldn’t help but respond to her friendliness with a smile. “Morning, Charlotte!”
“This is Darcy and Glen. They live across the street from me, and this is their daughter Haley and this cute little bundle is Mackenzie.” She gestured enthusiastically to each person in turn. “This is Laney. She just moved into Missy Greene’s old place. She has a son who’s only a year younger than Aiden.”
After introductions were made and pleasantries exchanged, Charlotte got down to business and pointed discreetly to the group of men by the truck. The one who had been on the phone a moment ago was now scowling and gesturing angrily at a clipboard held by one of the other men. “Okay, so from what I know, I think one of those guys is the owner of the construction company. I figured he’d be the one to talk to.” She looked back down the street toward our houses. “I was hopin’ we’d have a few more people, but it looks like it’s just us for now.”
Little Mackenzie chose that moment to awaken and start fussing. Glen began bobbing up and down doing the crying-baby-dance in what seemed to be a well-practiced routine. Charlotte looked at me. “Laney, you mind comin’ over there with me?”
No, Charlotte, actually I think I’ll just hang here with the baby and these people I don’t know—you go on ahead—you see, my brother just started working for this company last week and it’s the first real job he’s ever had since he ruined his baseball career by being an idiot, and I kind of don’t want to mess it up for him. But I’ll be right here cheering you on. Go team!
“Sure.”
There was absolutely no reason for these guys to think I even knew Gavin. I’d just keep my mouth shut and let Charlotte do all the talking. Piece of cake.
I followed Charlotte as she waved her hand in the air and walked toward the men, her auburn hair swinging and her hips sashaying in workout pants and a bright yellow fitted t-shirt. “Yoo-hoo. Gentlemen!” she called. I didn’t know there were actual people who used the expression “yoo-hoo.” I was loving this chick.
All three men turned in unison to the Southern firecracker that was Charlotte. The man on the left held the clipboard to his forehead in order to shield his eyes from the sun, and his handsome face broke into a wide grin at the sight of my neighbor.