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I close my laptop and stick it in its case.
“Anyway”—Karlene stands—“this is for the best. You can just keep him at a distance, communicate by email . . .” She freezes. “Oh. My. God. Ada-berry . . .”
Why I told her about my youngest sister’s nickname for me, I’ll never know.
“The site visit,” she says, her eyes wide. “It’s this weekend, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” I say sullenly. Then I make a quick escape, tucking my computer under my arm and grabbing a pen on my way out. I can still hear Karlene’s laughter following me out of my office. Frankly, I don’t think it’s all that funny. Two full days with Hayden at his facility.
Site visits can be an inconvenience, but I was actually looking forward to this one. It’s only an hour away from one of my favorite small towns, Skaneateles, a place my family used to go for vacations growing up. I booked a night at a gorgeous resort for the Saturday after the site visit, and I was looking forward to some downtime after weeks of playing catch-up on this case.
Now, I’m dreading the site visit. Two days of being withhim.
It won’t be easy, but I’m determined to get through it. After the visit, we can simply communicate through email, like Karlene suggested. There’s really no need for any in-person meetings. I can put Hayden Tanner out of my mind and concentrate on more important things.
My promotion.
Going home soon, seeing my family.
I just need to get through one little weekend.
16
Hayden
Thankfully, Henry is already outside waiting for me. It’s raining hard. I’m already halfway to the car before he attempts to get out. Opening the door with one hand and navigating my umbrella closed with the other, I hear the privacy screen lowering.
“Sir?”
“Hayden.”
“Sir,” Henry corrects, ignoring me. “I could have opened the door.”
Taking off my rain-splattered suit coat, I toss it on the seat.
“I’m well aware,” I say, my tone as flat as my stare, as Henry peers back through the rearview mirror. “You are a stubborn goat.”
“I could say the exact same about you.”
Gliding out of his parking spot, Henry begins to navigate us back toward the city, away from Secaucus.
“How’s traffic?”
“Light,” he says with a final look as the screen raises. If he wants to be insulted that I saved him from getting soaked, so be it.
I take out my phone, flick through it, and then toss that onto the seat too. Exhausted, I rest my head back and close my eyes. I really must be getting old. Not long ago, I could stay out virtually seven nights a week, no problem. I had a few beers last night with a buddy and a spot of day drinking on Sunday, and I’m wiped.
Enzo, of course, is still in the lab. The guy lives there when he’s not in the office. Me? I’m up to speed enough to talk to the review team this weekend during the visit.
With Ada.
Sorry. Doctor Flemming.
She was only Ada the other day. And thanks to me, she’s back to being our RPM and nothing more. Go Hayden.
Doing the right thing sucks big-time.
I considered telling Enzo about our lunch and my totally responsible texting, but he’s already worried about the site visit. I don’t want to make it worse. And yeah, I’ve been staring at my phone a bit harder than usual for the last two days, but Iamwaiting for Dr. Flemming to get in touch to arrange a meeting time for Thursday morning.
