AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I think I’m both impressed and disturbed by your dedication to the hidden crudeness.”
“You have your art, I have mine,” Deacon said.
I laughed and shook my head. We talked a bit longer, he paid me, and I was on my way.
The conversation I’d had with him, the directness, that was exactly what I needed to do with Tanner. What I’d put off for way too long. I was going to do it—tell Tanner how I felt as soon as this week was over.
Though, did that push Daria out of our lives? What if it pushed Tanner away?
It didn’t matter. Rather, it did, but dragging things out in fear of an answer I didn’t want to hear wasn’t doing any of us any favors.
When I got back to the house, I was surprised to find Daria and Tanner at the kitchen table, crowded in between cushions and smaller furniture, both of them with their laptops up.
Tanner looked up, and grinned. “Grab your sketchpad. We need your help.”
“With what?” I was going to do it anyway, but I was curious.
“I need to take my mind off the fact that I was fired.”
I stared at Daria in disbelief. “I heard you wrong. Something was on fire?”
“You heard me right. My asshole ex-boss decided that he didn’t like me not working on my vacation, and he let me go.”
“He can’t do that.” I didn’t try to hide my anger on her behalf. “You’ve got legal recourse. You could sue his ass off. What kind of an idiot lets a talent like yours go?”
Amusement danced in her eyes, but it clashed with her sadness. “I’ve been thinking about the legal thing pretty much since I got the news. Deciding if I wanted to pursue it or if I want to move on. Both, I suppose. I don’t want to move on from the company, but I do want to cut ties with the asshole who fired me. And I want him to never do something like that to someone else again.”
“Good,” Tanner said. “I could also go punch him, if you want.”
“I do, but don’t do that.” Daria huffed out a short laugh. “But all the lawyers I know are because of the firm, so they can’t help me. Conflict of interest.”
How different would it be to have the kind of business contacts where one could casually sayall the lawyers I know… but that wasn’t the point. “Brooke worked with a great divorce lawyer,” I offered.
Daria frowned and worked her jaw.
“I understand divorce is not employment law, or whatever it’s called, but I bet she can get a name for you. I’ll ask her.”
“Thank you. For everything.” Daria looked between us.
Tanner typed a few things on his laptop and looked up. “Because letting you fix our business plan and Colin calling his sister are such rough tasks.”
“It’s the thought that counts.”
I’d never heard someone say that with so much sincerity. “You’re worth it.”
Daria blushed. “Go get your sketchpad. We need your genius to pull this all together.”
“Done.” I set my portfolio case on the ground, unzipped it, and pulled out the notebook in question, along with my favorite drafting pencil. “What are we doing?”
Tanner toed the chair closest to him toward me. “We need visuals for the remodels you would do to the rec center if you could. Not just the pool, but the classrooms and gym.”
I grinned and set to work. Tanner had mentioned the rest of the building, but his approach was so vague, I hadn’t put much stock in it. Today he had a grander vision, that I suspected Daria had helped him expand on. And I didn’t mind at all.
While I sketched, we also discussed activities for the kids who weren’t swimming, bringing on other instructors, and me offering a lot of feedback on how I thought it should all work.
It was incredible. I could see the project coming to life in a way I hadn’t for a long time.
We worked our way through the Chinese food leftovers, and Daria made cookies while we planned.
