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Chapter

Four

By seven-thirty the next morning, Sam pulled into the office parking lot, his right hand wrapped around a still half-full coffee mug. A cheerful voice from the radio told him that it was going to be partly cloudy today with a chance of rain. From the look of the gray sky, they were probably right.

In a way, it was poetic, as he had, in the last four days, upset several people while making even more of them very happy. But he wasn’t going to be held back by the few in the office who couldn’t see the forest for the trees. They were far more interested in protecting their little kingdoms than worrying about what was best for the long-term health of the firm.

That was Sam’s job.

But he knew he was ruffling some feathers. In an unprecedented move, Leigh had shown up at Tate’s to talk to him about it all. In all the years he’d known her, she’d never been there.

She said she was on board with the changes, but she’d also said he needed to slow down a bit and let everyone catch their breath.

He was breathing fine, but the conversation played through his head over and over. It wasn’t like Leigh to seek him out for a conversation after working hours. She’d had a worried expression, although she hadn’t been pushy or rude in the slightest. She’d asked to speak to him, and he’d, of course, said yes. The others at the table had given him questioning looks, but he’d led her to a semi-quiet corner to hear her out. If she’d come here, it had to be important.

“You’re moving too fast, Sam. You need to slow down a little bit.”

“Things are changing, Leigh, and I can’t get things done waiting for people to adjust.”

“People are scared, and not just the fossils like Rick and Henry. The support staff, too. You’re making them nervous.”

This wasn’t about the majority of the employees. If anything, morale had improved because the old man wasn’t there, being an absolute asshole.

“Are you firing them? Rick and Henry?”

There it was. The question he’d been expecting. Leigh wasn’t a fan of Rick and Henry. Hell, far from it. So what was she so worried about? Rick and Henry were like sharks and cockroaches. They’d survive no matter what.

He had thought about lying, or at least dodging the question, but Leigh didn’t deserve either.

“If they keep their heads down and shut the hell up, I’ll keep them on. Special projects, maybe. Out of sight, out of everyone’s hair, where they can’t do any more damage.”

“Joel won’t stand for it. You know what he does to people who cross him. Or even threaten to,” she said with a shake of her head. “When he gets back to the office, he’ll make your life a misery. He’ll torture you for the rest of his days.”

Joel Winslow had already done that in spades. He was the reason that his children were half-dysfunctional when it came to relationships.

“Joel’s not coming back,” Sam finally said with no emotion in his tone. He’d come to terms with the news, although he wasn’t sure his father had heard it yet. “If he does, and the chances are slim to none, he’ll never be what he was. He won’t be mean and scary and formidable. He’ll just be some frail old man shaking his fist at clouds. He can’t even walk the hallways of the hospital, let alone run a company.”

She took the information in, letting the silence stretch.

“Fine,” she said. “I can see why you’re not advertising that fact. But you’ll need allies. You can’t do it all alone. Not for long.”

“Funny, when a person does the right thing for the right reasons, they don’t need people to applaud and cheer to make them feel good about themselves. They just need to do the work. Either people will follow or leave. I can live with both.”

Sam pushed the conversation out of his mind. He had to keep his head in the game. There was so much to do, and right now, he had the momentum.

But he would find Leigh before anything else this morning. He wasn’t going to apologize, but he wanted her to know he’d heard her. She was one of the only people in that building who actually gave a damn about how things ran, not just how they looked. He liked her, he respected her, and he didn’t want her to think he’d simply blown off her opinion. He could tread lightly in certain areas if it made the nervous ones feel better for a little while.

Frankly, he’d been thinking about it far too much, and not because of Leigh. It had been those eyes that had captured his imagination.

Whiskey-colored eyes with a gold ring around the iris and a thick fringe of sooty lashes.

Long auburn hair that had him wondering if the strands were as silky as they looked.

She’d barely reached his shoulder, but her scent had still teased his nostrils. She smelled fresh and clean like the first rain in spring.

How did a human smell so good? Was it her body wash? A perfume? From the vast selection at the perfume counter in the local department store, a person could probably smell pretty much any way they wanted to.

Stop. Just stop. Get your head back in the game.