Page 117 of Guarding Grace

Grace

“Who’s my next demo?”I asked Peyton. “I’d like you to check demo one and refresh the water and drinks.”

She sat back down and checked her computer. “Mr. and Mrs. Lim at one. And Mrs. Garcia wants us to look at her house before the demo and advise her on knocking out a wall or two, which will redefine the space she has to work with.”

“Let Marci handle that. Then she and I can do the demo with and without the optional room extension.”

She frowned. “She said she saw the magazine article and wants you. She was adamant.”

“Fine, but who is Mrs. Garcia? I don’t recall the name.”

“New customer. She’s in the small conference room right now with Marci. She read the article about us and has a rush job.”

The article in the Sunday paper a while back had been a turning point in our business, but these rich ladies could be a pain to work with. So I made sure the prices we charged made the effort worthwhile, especially if they were in a hurry. “Fine.”

“Do you want to poke your head in and say hi?” she asked.

“Not the way I feel today. I’ll meet her tomorrow.”

“Good choice. You look like crap.”

I rolled my eyes. “Thanks. You already said that.”

“An excellent assistant,” she argued, “keeps her boss grounded.”

I nodded. “Keep it up and you might even get a raise one day.”

“There’s no time like today.”

Usually I appreciated the banter with Peyton, but not while dealing with a headache. “You don’t want to be pushing this right after forgetting that I asked you to check on the status of demo one.”

“It’s fine. I checked first thing this morning.”

“And refresh the water.”

She sighed and stood. “I like you better without the hangover.”

“Me too,” I answered as she marched off.

Later,my phone rang with an unknown number. “Hello?” I answered wearily, hoping for a new client, but ready for it to be another spam marketing call.

“Gracie?” Elliot’s voice was hoarse.

“Elliot, where are you?”

“I need money to get out of town. If I stay here, they’re going to kill me.” He sounded frantic.

“You need to come to me, so Terry and the guys can keep you safe.”

“No way. He’d just as soon shoot me himself. You can’t tell him. You can’t tell any of them. I hear they’re working with my boss. I’ll end up dead.”

Elliot blew everything out of proportion, like he always did.

“He’s not like that,” I argued. “I promise you.” I knew in my heart that Terry was a good man we could both trust.

“Money. Money to get out of town. That’s the only way this works.”

Typical Elliot drama. It was all about him.