"Looks like we're moving to the beautiful North West, then," Max said. He was angry, but not nearly as much as his brother. He traveled so much for work that he wasn't home enough to be very upset. Besides, he hadn't spent time with his cousins in years and he missed them.
He'd never admit it to his father, though. The old man was getting his way, and he didn't need to know Max wasn't upset about it.
"Yeah, I can hardly wait," Dave said sarcastically.
"Have you called Bree and Austin yet?" Max asked.
"No, I called you first and figured we could each take one of the others," he answered.
"Sounds like a plan - I'll call Austin," Max quickly said with laughter in his voice.
"Gee, thanks," Dave replied. He knew the call to his sister, Brianna, was going to be long-winded. His sister was stubborn and independent and didn't like to be told what to do. He smiled, though, when he thought about what she was going to say to their father. George was in for an earful as soon as Bree got off the phone with Dave.
Dave sat back, feeling better after talking to his brother. He and Max had been close in the past and he missed speaking with him. Dave may not have realized it but his father's plan was already working. It had brought the siblings closer, even if it was in uniting them against him.
Jennifer yelled at her computer screen and then looked around with guilt. She hated computers and wished they'd never been invented. They were the worst possible creation and she was ready to chuck hers out the window. She'd taken classes and spent hours on end to learn basic computer skills because it was impossible to have any kind of decent job without knowing how to run one of the blasted machines.
The temp company she worked for had given her the position at the Anderson Corporate Offices and she'd been there for two months. It was a dream-come-true job and she hoped it would turn into a permanent position, because everyone knew employees of the Anderson's were loyal through and through. The Anderson's were great to their employee's, paid better wages than other corporations, offered great benefits, and were exceptionally family friendly.
She remained seated, arguing with her computer, grateful no one came by and heard her because she was sure she sounded like an insane woman. By the time her lunch break came around she was about ready to cry. Her boss had slowly been adding more work, and she was sure it was a test, and if it was - she was failing miserably.
the twenty-fourth so you can still use the daycare center, here," Joseph said.
"Oh, that's wonderful," Jennifer told both men and quickly made her exit.
Jennifer took the elevator down to her floor and slowly walked into her office. She looked around in wonder. She'd gone up there dreading the worst and walked away feeling better than she had in six months.
"Congratulations, Ms. Stellar. I'm happy you received a promotion," her boss approached, sounding sincere.
"Thank you, Mr. Barry."
"I've enjoyed working with you, and we will miss having you as part of our team. If you want to place your possessions in boxes and label them, I can have them delivered to your new office. You don't have to worry about packing them home and back again," he offered.
"That would be great, thank you."
"No problem, when you're finished you can take the rest of the day off. Joseph told me the position is in effect immediately and he's already sent in for a temp," he said before leaving.
Jennifer hadn't brought too many personal items to work and it didn't take long to put her belongings in boxes. She was excited to pick up her niece early. With the beautiful weather, she'd be able to surprise Molly with an afternoon at the park.
Jennifer sat on a bench, watching Molly play on the slide with a couple other kids. Molly had only just started sleeping through the night. Her poor niece had nightmares for months and Jennifer knew it was because she had abandonment issues, as any child would when their parents suddenly disappeared. Molly still had circles under her eyes, but not nearly as bad as they'd been a few months ago.
"Heads up," someone yelled. Just as Jennifer turned in the direction of the voice, she felt a pain in her neck and looked down in amazement at the frisbee lying next to her.
She brought her hand up and was surprised to feel a bit of blood. Whoever had thrown the thing, must have really chucked it.
"I'm sorry about that. Are you okay?" a man asked. She looked up and lost her breath. Holy cow, the guy was stunning. She somehow couldn't get any words past her closed throat. She never had trouble talking with attractive men, and she hadn't had that gut wrenching, stop-you-in-your-tracks response to a man since she was a teenager.
His dark, short hair, was messy around his flushed cheeks. He had beads of sweat dripping off of his forehead and the most piercing blue eyes she'd ever looked into. Her gaze followed a bead of sweat to his naked chest and her heart started beating far too fast. The man had to be a model, with his defined chest, and washboard abs. His arm muscles looked as if he was flexing, though they were completely relaxed. She followed his abs to his low-riding, athletic pants before noticing her eyes had moved to an area she shouldn't be looking at.
She jerked her head back up to look at his face again and watched as a cocky grin spread across his features in a knowing way. He stood by silently as she ogled him. She stiffened her shoulders, irritated she'd been so immediately mesmerized by him. She hated to be another typical female, who thought only looks mattered. He was most likely some really stupid jock, who thought with a different head than the one on top of his shoulders. She realized she'd never answered him.