Free Hearts Under Construction by Diann Hunt Page B

dropped his baby at my doorstep and walked away.”
    “I still don’t know why you’re telling me instead of Jax.”
    He stared at her a full moment. “You’re right. I need to talk to Jax. I guess I just needed to vent to someone else first, and well, you’re the one who came to mind.”
    She smiled, sort of. An uncomfortable feeling settled upon her. After all, Jax was her friend, and Cole, well, she wasn’t sure what he was, but she was sure she didn’t want to get in the middle of something between the two of them.
    “Talk to him, Cole. But don’t worry about the houses, we’ll be all right. We’ll just put the appropriate people in place and get things moving.”
    “Ellie, I don’t think you’re taking this seriously. We have contracts. Due dates on those homes. We have to get them finished. On time. Do you understand that?”
    Okay, now he was getting her dander up. Seems he had a knack for that. He obviously thought she had dismissed the whole matter too easily. “Cole, I think I can understand that. I’ve been in this business awhile, even though you think I’m not capable of handling—”
    “Look, Ellie, this is not about you. This is about—”
    “Who said it was about me?” She rose from her chair, chin lifted a notch.
    “Now hold on. Sit down, Ellie.”
    Just who did he think he was, ordering her around? She swallowed hard. Oh, yeah; he was her supervisor. Reluctantly, she settled back into her chair.
    “I don’t mean to argue with you. I just mean—” he ran fingers through his hair “—I don’t know what I mean.”
    So the mighty partner was stumped. What was the big deal? They were under a time constraint. She had dealt with those before. It wasn’t the end of the world. “We’ll get through it. Don’t worry.” She tried to make her voice gentle and encouraging, but she wanted to bonk him on the head. Men could be so stubborn. She felt a prick to her conscience. Okay, so she could be stubborn, too, but she didn’t want to go there just now.
    She stood to her feet. “Talk to Jax,” she said as she walked across the room. Before closing his office door, she glanced back. Cole stared out the window, his brows drawn together, chin resting in the palm of his hand.
    Her insides went soft. Again.
     
     
    Two days later, Ellie noticed Jax in his office. A textbook was opened in front of him on the desk. She decided to stop and say hello; she hadn’t talked to him in a while. “Got a minute?”
    He glanced up, and a smile lit his face, his shoulders relaxed. “Sure. Come in,” he said, stretching back in his chair and yawning.
    “Studying hard, huh?”
    He nodded and thumped forward in his chair. “I’ve forgotten how tough it is to be in school.” He rubbed his eyes then looked at her. “So, how’s it going?” Before she could answer, he continued, “I’m sorry I’ve been kind of scarce these days.”
    She waved off his comment. “No problem. I understand you’re working hard with school and all. I just wanted to see how you were doing.”
    He nodded. “Thanks. It’s going pretty well.” He told her about his classes, discussing the challenges of going back to school.
    After some small talk, she stood to go. “Well, I don’t want to keep you. Just wanted to say hello.” She walked toward the door and turned back to him. “By the way, sorry about the houses, but I don’t think it will be a problem to get them up and going again.”
    “The houses?”
    “Yeah, you know, the ones in Woods Edge that were damaged by the tornado.”
    He looked as though he’d just been doused with cold water. Uh-oh, she hoped she wasn’t out of line. “I’m sorry, Jax. I thought you knew.” She walked back over and sat down.
    Jax blinked his surprise. “No, can’t say that I did. I mean, I knew about the tornado and that it hit that side of town. I just hadn’t considered it hit our houses. Now I understand why Tim and Chad got quiet when I walked in on them talking