Chapter Eight
Thenextmorning,Ileft Hank with Tyler while I headed to Steele Lumber to meet Blake Steele about the job in his offices. I’d worked in marketing in the city, but I was willing to start anywhere. I just wanted money coming in so I could keep building my savings. I’d need to buy my own house eventually. When Kara and Tyler didn’t need two extra bodies at their house, taking up space.
Kara had presented me moving in with them as me helping her with the twins and Tyler, but Tyler was doing so much better. And Kara was the strongest person I knew. She never needed anything. I suspected her framing it as me helping them was a ploy, but on the off chance that she did need my help, I was going to be there.
Saving for the future had been an obsession of mine since I was a kid, so free housing or not, I needed a job. It didn’t matter if it wasn’t in my field. I had my doubts about whether I’d ever find something local in my field. That was okay, though. I could eventually work virtually and make things happen through old connections. Everything would be fine.
Steele Lumber was a huge place on the side of town opposite Isaac’s ranch. A big dirt lot acted as parking, and beyond that, there were all kinds of buildings and things that I didn’t recognize. There was a constant drone of what I guessed was a saw, or saws, and the scent of wood hung pleasantly in the air. In front of everything stood a small house that had a Steele Lumber sign hanging in front of it.
Assuming that was where I needed to go, I let myself in and found myself in a hectic office. A teenager was in the middle of a pile of papers, her eyes wide as she spotted me. Her blue hair was standing on end and she had trouble getting her hands up to her earbuds to take them out.
“Hey!”
I smiled and waved. “Hey. I’m here for an interview with Blake.”
She sank into her pile, relief clear on her face. “Oh, thank god. I thought you were going to need something from me.”
I laughed and shook my head. “Are you okay? You need some help getting up? Or…climbing out?”
“Um. Actually. I’m just going to stay down here for now. I don’t like that desk. It’s got bad vibes from the other lady who works here. She’s gone for now, but that desk is haunted, I’m pretty sure.”
I nodded. “Got it. Haunted desk.”
“Hannah! James Ranier said he’s been trying to get through on the office line for two hours. Did you take the phone off the hook again?”
I turned to see who was coming out of the office and froze. Isaac. Frowning, I moved closer to him. “Hey! What are you doing here?”
His brow unfurrowed as he looked me over and a smile stretched his lips. “Working?”
“She’s here to interview for Vicki’s job. Please hire her and get rid of Vicki for good!”
Isaac sent an exasperated look at the teenager. “Hannah!”
“What? I mean it.”
“Come on, let’s go to my office.” He pointed me into the room he just came from. “Hannah, put the phone back on the hook.”
I stopped just inside the door and watched as he pulled it closed and turned to face me. I stepped into his chest, unable to stay away from him. Rubbing his chest, I breathed him in. Something was different. He smelled like cedar and leather. I looked his face over and frowned. “You cut your hair.”
His hands rested on my hips, and he shook his head. He opened his mouth to speak when I realized his lips were unscarred. There was also a spot of brown marring his right eye. He wasn’t Isaac.
“Oh, god!” I jerked away from him and held out my hands. “I am so sorry. You’re not Isaac. I thought you were. I’m so, so sorry.”
He laughed easily and rubbed his beard. He really was the spitting image of Isaac and Julian. The third triplet. His hair was shorter than Isaac’s, but they really were almost identical. “Hey, you didn’t hurt my feelings any. Blake.”
I was going to kill Kara. She’d known she was sending me into Isaac’s brother and hadn’t warned me. I’d just practically rubbed myself all over the man. “Mallory. Again, I am so sorry.”
He gestured to the chair across from his and sat down himself. “I take it you know my brother.”
I felt my cheeks flame and nodded. “Um, yes. I…I’m sorry. Can we just start over? This might go down in history as the most mortifying job interview ever and I just want to pretend it happened to someone else.”
Laughing easily, Blake nodded. “Sure. It’s nice to meet you, Mallory. Kara’s little sister. She said you worked in marketing.”
I nodded jerkily. “I did. For the past ten years.”
“You just recently got into town, yeah?”
I nodded. “I did.”