Love In Secrets (Love Distilled #3) - Scarlett Cole Page 0,61
stood between his knees. “Hi.” He kissed her gently.
“Hi. Is it too late for us to go on a picnic?”
Jake shook his head. “Nope. We’ve got all the time in the world.” He grabbed the picnic basket he’d borrowed from Liv in one hand and held Cassie’s hand in the other.
Once they were underway, he glanced over at Cassie. “What’s with all the New York stuff?”
Cassie twisted in the seat to face him. “Brandon called. He’s made a mess of The Grosvenor. I told Elijah it was too big a job for him, but he has a gaping blind spot when it comes to his nephew’s capabilities. Brandon does an incredible job of spinning the delays as someone else’s fault. There were some changes to the design implemented after I left due to an unexpected pipe they’d found the last day I was on the site, but Brandon never updated the workplans and now things are out of synch. I left The Grosvenor on schedule, and now he’s totally out of his depth.”
“Didn’t Elijah effectively fire you for not going into work when he refused your leave of absence?” Jake sure as hell wouldn’t be doing the guy any favors if he’d been treated so shiftily.
“He did. But I figured if I helped Brandon out, Elijah might be more gracious about giving me my job back when I head home.”
“You really want to keep that particular job?”
Cassie nodded. “I know it’s not perfect, but it’s one of the biggest construction firms on the East Coast. And urban redevelopment is totally my jam. I figured if I worked my way up there, at some point I could break out on my own with enough experience to gain investors. You can’t do that kind of construction with an overdraft.”
“It bothers me, the way he treated you. The guy had zero compassion.”
“It’s the way of the industry. You know, like you watch shows involving chefs and see them yelling all the time. You’d not stand for it if it happened in a Walmart, but somehow screaming chefs is the norm. Same in construction. It’s an eat-or-be-eaten kind of industry. So, I figured if I showed Elijah I’m still there for the company, it might help grease the wheels for another job when I get back.”
“Makes sense,” he muttered. “I don’t know if I’d be a big enough person to suck up to someone who screwed me over.”
“You’re right. It’s shitty. But I’m going to send Elijah an email to let him know how I helped Brandon out, because Lord knows Brandon won’t tell him.”
Jake took a deep breath and tried to shake off the gloom. They had the rest of the day together. Connor’s friend, Charles, had made them an amazing picnic of cold noodle salads and hoisin duck wraps. Jake had added cheeses and crackers and other things for them to snack on. The sauvignon blanc he’d wrapped in an ice pack and put in the picnic basket would work perfectly.
He pulled into the Big Soda Lake Beach picnic area. It was still busy with families and paddle boarders soaking up the late afternoon sunshine, but it would quiet down closer to dinner. Jake placed his hand on her knee. “You know, can we not talk about work or New York anymore today?”
She placed her hand over his. “Of course. Do you have a spot in mind?”
“I figured we’d walk down the boardwalk for a while, see if we can find somewhere close to the lake but quieter.”
They grabbed the things he’d packed—the basket, a large blanket, and their hoodies for when it dropped a little cooler later—and then did as he’d suggested until they found the perfect spot. Jake set up the blanket beneath a tree whose leaves offered dappled shade and threw everything else on the ground around them.
Cassie sat and kicked off her sandals, Jake did the same with his sneakers and leaned back on his elbows. A gentle breeze blew, carrying the squeals of kids from the beach.
“You ever think about having kids, Cassie?”
She rolled on her front and tugged his hoodie over to lie on. “Yeah. I worry about it. I’m not ready. But I don’t want to age out. It’s one of the things that bothers me most about being a woman. You see all these ancient male actors in their seventies popping out kids, but women have a ticking clock.”
“I think Liv’ll be the first of us to have kids, even though she’s the youngest.”