“Really!” Alex shouted, then looked out over the floor to see a few eyes on her.
It just wasn’t her day. No matter what she did, something was sticking in her embroidery machine and now she was behind schedule. All she needed was this to break down and either put her behind or make her shell out more money she didn’t have. She went in and cleaned the needle out again, then set it to test on a cheap sheet before she loaded the blankets in. “Please let this work. I can’t afford to have this machine down right now.”
“Are you talking to yourself again?”
Alex turned to see Ralph standing there. He’d been employed by her parents and now worked for her. The only one to really stick it out over the years. She’d thought for sure he’d balk at the new technology she brought in, but he embraced it and was now her floor manager, keeping everything and everyone on schedule, herself included. She’d be lost without him and his support, especially when so many bailed when she explained the changes she was making.
“This stupid machine isn’t playing nice today. I’ve cleaned the needle three times.”
“That order is going to be picked up first thing in the morning,” he reminded her.
“I know, I know. I shouldn’t have taken it knowing I’ve got so many things to do at once, but I couldn’t pass it up.”
She couldn’t afford to turn any order down no matter how small or short notice it was. Scraping the bottom of the barrel of the company funds was not a good feeling at all, making her realize how much pressure her parents had to have felt years ago.
Things weren’t quite as bad now as they were when she took it over, but it was a desperation she didn’t want to ever feel again and one little slip-up or botched order could set her back. Even a machine breaking down adding repair costs.
“As you shouldn’t have,” he said. “The Deckers carry some clout around here. Fifty announcement blankets for their newborn is a quick and easy job. Take those and run, then hope they spread the word where they got it so all their rich friends do the same when their time comes.”
“If they didn’t already have the blankets themselves from a place they’d ordered online, I would have been screwed. But I can’t mess this up either. I don’t have any to spare. I’m going to give them a few magnets too, what do you think?”
“I think it’s good practice to give them more than they asked for. Magnets or stickers.”
“I thought about stickers. I’ve got to start getting the word out on the vinyl too.”
“You’re doing a good job. You’ve taken on a lot,” Ralph said, “but you’ve got to learn to balance it before you get in over your head.”
She was feeling a panic she hadn’t felt in years. Not since the business was handed over to her because her mother couldn’t do it anymore. It was take it and try to turn it around, or close the doors. Everything had been falling apart around her back then and emotionally she was just worn out. How she got through the past few years was beyond her, but she was finally able to not only be in the black but add staff, new products, and services. She’d take the win for now and focus on what Ralph was saying another day.
Ralph reached his hand out and patted hers awkwardly. She wanted to laugh but didn’t. He was trying to be helpful. “I’ll stay late and get them packaged up for you, no worries. Sorry to add anything else right now, but the toilet is leaking in the men’s room. I think I should be able to fix it, but wanted to give you a head’s up.”
She kept the groan from escaping her lips…barely. “I appreciate it and I’ll keep my fingers crossed it’s an easy fix, but let me know. As for this order, thanks for offering, but I’ll probably be here finishing up the last of the first part of the Fierce order. Since I couldn’t get vendor shipments fast enough, I’m doing everything in stages. The first one is due in two days.”
She was supervising every step of this order the first time through if she wasn’t doing it herself. This was too huge to mess up, especially with the big balloon payment coming up on the loan she’d taken out to bring this business up to modern times.
Sleepless nights weren’t as frequent as they used to be, but they tended to creep up on her just the same when money was tight.
“I don’t blame you there. If you change your mind and want me to stay, just give me a holler.”
“Will do,” she said and turned back to see the finished test. “Yes.” She pumped her fist in the air, did a little butt wiggle when she was positive she was alone, then loaded the blankets to get them done. She might be back on schedule.
“Alex. There’s someone here to see you.”
She turned to look at Alena, her office manager. So much for her schedule. “Did you get their name? I don’t have anyone scheduled today.”
“Jolene and Gavin Fierce. They were just dropping in and wanted to know if you had a few minutes. They didn’t say what they needed though.”
“I’ll be right there.” She couldn’t tell them no, not when Jolene had talked to Cade and they were giving her a chance.
After grabbing Ralph and making sure he kept the production going on the blankets, she rushed up front to see the Fierces milling around, looking at different samples and laughing. She remembered that about them. They were always laughing. Much like Cade. He always seemed so happy.
She wished she knew what it felt like. It’d been way too long since she felt any type of true happiness. Maybe when she was younger and dancing, before she reached an age of competition and pettiness. Mean names and rumor mills. Or the knowledge that money was scarce and the business had to come first. She didn’t understand it back then, but she sure the hell did now. Adulthood had a way of sucking at the best of times.
The Fierces hadn’t changed much at all. Gavin was still as huge as she remembered, maybe even an inch or so taller than Cade, and Cade was over six foot. Jolene was still as tiny as ever too, and it always amazed her to think Jolene gave birth to five kids at once.
“Jolene, Gavin,” Alex said, walking forward. “So nice to see you again. It’s been years.”
“Alex,” Jolene said. “Haven’t you turned into a stunning young lady. Look at her, Gavin. Isn’t she beautiful?”
“She is,” Gavin agreed.
“Beauty is just surface though,” Alex said. “You should see me after I’ve worked all night long and my hair is falling down and I’ve got dark circles under my eyes.”
Jolene laughed. “I still don’t know that that would make you any less beautiful, because beauty is within, just like you said. Your mother has been singing your praises, but then again, you were always a good kid.”
Alex felt her face flush. She was an only child and hardly ever acted out. Her parents worked long hard hours to keep things together. Money had been tight at times, and Alex worked in the family business long before she was sixteen.
She’d gotten way more attention for her looks than she wanted and tried to become a tomboy to avoid it. It didn’t matter what she did, she still got attention, and with attention comes rumors and speculation. Especially from other girls when the guys brought her name up too often. She never should have let her grandmother talk her into those pageants as a teen. They ended up making matters worse.
Sometimes talk followed you to the grave, regardless of the truth behind it. She couldn’t get out of high school fast enough. She spent a lot of her teen years working to stay away from groups or activities where she’d get caught up in lies or judged.
“I’m sure my mother is keeping some of my ‘moments’ quiet.”
Gavin laughed. “All five of our kids had plenty of ‘moments’. Some more than others. Sorry to just stop in this way, but we were wondering if we could pick out a few things for a throwback line. Did Cade mention that to you?”
“He did,” she said. “He said he was still trying to figure out what he wanted.”
“He’s a good boy too,” Jolene said. “Probably had more ‘moments’ than the other four, but his heart was always in the right place at the right time. More loyal and trustworthy than the rest.”
“You’re making him sound like a dog, Jolene,” Gavin said, laughing.
Alex giggled. “Cade has been really helpful and easy to work with. I appreciate you giving him my name. He offered to pass some of my business cards around to his contacts after the first shipment is done.”
“See,” Jolene said, turning to her husband. “His heart is always in the right place. I don’t know why the others always gang up on him.”
Gavin snorted. “Really? Because he’s exactly like you. Laid back but never zipping his lips.”
Alex expected Jolene to say something sarcastic, but all she did was laugh. “Gavin, you love me that way.”
“I do,” he said, agreeing. “Now let’s get down to business so that we can get out of Alex’s hair. That is if you’ve got time for us. We think we know what we want. Cade thought it’d be neat if Jolene and I picked out a few of the items ourselves since it’s the old logo that I created in the beginning.”
She smiled. “I think that’s a fabulous idea. Why don’t you both come to my office and we can look over what I’ve got.”
The Fierces followed her to her office and took a seat at a table while she grabbed some catalogs and brought over her laptop.
Jolene laid her hand on hers before she could open her computer. “How’s your mother really doing? She looked good when I saw her, but there was still such sadness behind her eyes.”
Alex felt her shoulders drop. “She’s hanging in there. As you know, my father kept the business running and my mother really only helped out. It was hard for her to step in when we lost him two years ago.”
She didn’t want to mention her father hid how bad the business was really doing from everyone. Pride probably kept it locked up hoping he could turn it around. She knew that feeling well now and she’d been told often she shared her father’s stubbornness.
“You didn’t hesitate to move back home and help out though,” Jolene said. “Family is what it’s all about.”
When Alex had graduated from college, she’d been offered a job in Texas. She wanted to get out of the area and make a name for herself. She wanted to follow her boyfriend back to Dallas too. Both ended up being a mistake.
“It is. I was ready to come home anyway,” she said. “My mother needed me in more ways than one and at the root of it, I needed her too.”
“Like I said. You’re a good girl.”
***
“I can’t believe you,” Gavin said to Jolene in the car on the way home. “You just don’t know when to quit.”
“What?” she asked, not even bothering to turn her head to look at him. Hiding her guilt, that was what she was doing.
“I’ll give you credit for being three for three, but Cade is the wild card. Are you trying to set that poor girl up for heartache?”
Jolene laughed. “Please. She’s tough as diamonds.”
“Pretty as diamonds is more like it,” Gavin said.
“Yep, and yet she isn’t trying to have anyone see that. Totally not Cade’s type at all.”
“Then what are you trying to do?” he asked, getting confused now.
“Get them to see they’ve got more in common than they ever imagined.”
“You’re nuts. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Cade is too much of an attention hog himself to get involved with someone who is trying their hardest to keep eyes off of her. He would have a hard time being with someone who doesn’t want any eyes on her at all. A fool could see that with the way she was dressed.”
“Cade needs someone to let him know it’s not surface. That it’s what is inside that counts. He also needs to realize that he can’t outrun his past but should just face it.”
“Now what are you talking about?” he asked.
“Nothing.”
“You’ve always got something going on in your mind. What is it this time?” he asked.
“You know as well as I do that Cade has acted out for attention his whole life,” she said.
“Yep, and it always backfires on him.”
“Exactly. He’s changing and he’s matured. But the one place he hasn’t really matured is with women.”
“Because he hasn’t been willing to settle down like the other three,” he said. “That’s why you’re nuts. Let Cade be.”
His lovely, sweet, wild wife reached over and pinched his arm. “I’m not letting him be and you shouldn’t either. Cade is the one that needs the most help. It’s taken me this long to find the right girl. One that might put up with him not taking much seriously and getting focused. Those two need each other. Now they just have to figure it out on their own.”
He snorted, realizing that sometimes there was no arguing or winning with his wife. Not when she was usually right. He just wasn’t going to admit it.