Page 92 of Bound Hearts

Olivia turns sharply to Celeste. “Well, with this confirmation, I’m sure work will continue as normal.” Her warning comes with a practiced poised face.

Celeste adjusts in her chair. “Of course.”

“I’m sure everything is fair,” I tell everyone to balance the energy between them.

“We should have a look at your workload.”

Olivia almost smacks the table. “Great. I’m sure you two will be a great team. I’ll let you be. I want to chat with the team across the hall about some vacation days.” She uses her feet to push back and rise, giving Celeste a pointed look before walking away. She pauses at the door. “Contact me if you have any last-minute questions about the leave… either of you.” She smiles.

My attention diverts back to Celeste who has already buried her focus in her laptop. I open my own and skim my inbox for our email exchange.

“Contracts on the to-do list. Let’s see…” she announces cheerily and even seems authentic as she slides her laptop away. “You seem to be spitting them out at record speed.”

“Staying on top of everything is how I run things,” I remind her. “I have it planned so everything will be done and dusted before I leave.”

“I’m sure. With Adam back and us taking on an extra in-house lawyer, I’m sure we will be fine.”

I twitch a smile because I don’t enjoy the thought of somebody filling my role, even if temporarily. Another jab hits me within, and a chill comes to me. Okay, now the little guy is not cooperating. For ten minutes, I need to be focused.

Swallowing, I do my best to continue the conversation. “Article 19 of the Tucks contract that they want us to sign was missing key verbiage, and I sent the points over yesterday. I’m assuming they will consult their own legal before coming back to us at the end of the week. They need Haven Crossroads to start with their logistics in two months. Time isn’t on their side.”

“I trust you. When it’s ready to sign, let me know.” She shifts in her seat and observes me strangely. “I’m going to be honest. You look a little pale. Do you want a drink or something?” She sounds genuinely concerned.

Forcing myself to shake my head, I attempt my uneasy smile, but the pain that comes to me is a struggle to work through. It’s a cramp.

“If you say so. How about we go over the Dibbson contract real quick? Can you check with Hayes about it? You’re really good with that fine print.”

Nodding, I manage to make it through the next five minutes of conversation, surprised even by a few of her compliments. But then the pain happens again, and this time I can’t hide it.

My hand instinctively goes to hold my belly, and I gasp.

Celeste stands up, and her face fills with worry. “What’s wrong?”

Standing up, as the pain stays consistent but a little lighter, I notice something right away. A few drops of wetness between my legs, I can feel it through my leggings under my sweater dress.

“Fuck,” I curse to myself as the magnitude of where I am disappears.

“Sutton?”

Blowing out a breath to gather my bearings, my mind catches up, and I try to push panic to the side. “It’s the baby. I think he’s coming,” I admit, and instantly wonder why this keeps happening to me.

Life taking detours.

28

FOSTER

“I’m completely ready to cut the cord with our software supplier for container tracking. Leniency on their continued shipment delays is about to lose us a client who brings in a hefty cash flow for Haven Crossroads,” I rant to Hayes and Easton as we sit around a conference table. I’m heated because we shouldn’t be paying their fees if they can’t deliver.

They both listen to me with the same look on their faces, grasping the repercussions should the software updates not be delivered on time as they promised. Hayes started the meeting with the news that Sutton is in the clear, and my worries vanished. She was still with HR, so I couldn’t go to her, but the news ignited my concentration and ruthlessness again.

“You want redistributed budgets for more innovative projects, then have someone fix this damn mess. Even better, find an innovative way to ensure this doesn’t happen again,” I say, raising my voice.

Hayes presses a button on his computer to bring up another sheet of numbers. “Well, that’s what the extra cash flow would be used for,” he replies dryly.

With Julian away in California to nab us another client, the rest of the leadership has been left to deal with the issue. I love the rush of a business crisis some minutes and would rather throw something during the other minutes. Still, I’ve managed to keep my head in the game and clicked through various documents when a question would arise.

Easton is already snickering and shaking his head. “If I hear it needs to be allocated to tech one more time, I’m going to lose it. Throw me some form of bone to increase visibility of our brand.”