"Sheesh, Mike! Give me a heart attack why don't you?" I laughed as I raised my glass and clinked it against his. "Thank you for the opportunity."
"Opportunity, hell," he scoffed. "You've earned it, kid. Besides, now I can pay you bigger bucks and keep you closer to the office!"
"You're a slave driver, Mike Killian!" I laughed as I sipped my drink. The thought of my family suddenly crossed my mind. "But Mike, my—"
"Yeah, you need time off to help your family," he said thrumming his fingers on the desk as he drank from his glass. "I know, I know. We'll figure something out, but I'm going to need you here for the new account we're bringing in at the end of the month."
"Just let me go home and figure out how to wrap things up so my brother and sisters will be okay," I said. "It shouldn't take me more than a week or two."
"One week," Mike said. "You have one week to wrap it up and get back to the office. I can't afford to have you out longer than that."
"Got it," I said as I set the glass down. My mind was racing as I tried to figure out how I was going to make everything happen in one week. There was the store, the farm, and the turbines. Adam! I stood up and headed for the door saying, "Mike, I've got a few things I need to take care of, do you mind?"
"Nah, go ahead, kid," he said waving me off. "I'll see you tomorrow night at the London House, right? You need a car?"
"If it's not too much trouble," I said smiling at his thoughtfulness.
"For you? Not a bit, kiddo," he said as I nodded and headed back to my end of the office. I needed to call Adam and find out what he and Verity had planned for next week, and then I needed to figure out how I could settle the store accounts before Uncle Amos put us completely out of business. As I thought about the challenges that were going to have to be overcome in the next seven days, all the questions I wanted to ask Adam about Gordon Wallace slipped from my mind.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Adam
All day my phone buzzed with incoming calls, but every time I picked it up, it was my mother. I sent each of her calls directly to voicemail and then erased them without listening to the message. I didn't care what she had to say; I wasn't interested. Knowing my mother, it would probably be some selfish request for me to do something for her and it would involve crocodile tears served with a huge side of guilt. I decided to ignore her until I got back to the city.
By five o'clock, my mother had begun calling every fifteen minutes, and at six-thirty, I finally gave up the ghost and answered.
"What do you want, Mother?" I said sharply.
"Finally you pick up!" she said in an exasperated tone. "I need you to come back and be here for the Vasquez party tomorrow night."
"Why on earth would I want to do that?" I asked only slightly stunned that my mother would think that my short absence would erase the way she and my father had treated me.
"Because I'm asking you to," she said without an apology.
"You're a piece of work, you know that, don't you?"
"Adam, look, I don't have time for your hurt feelings or your childish temper tantrums," she continued. I could hear her fingernails clicking as she tapped on something impatiently. "I know your feelings are hurt and you're mad, but this is business, son. You need to hightail it home and be here for the reception tomorrow night."
"Or what?" I asked my voice dripping with contempt.
"Or I will hunt you down and make you pay for your insolence, you ungrateful boy," she hissed. Something about her tone made me shiver. Unlike my father, my mother didn't often issue threats, but when she did, she meant it. "I don't know what little game you're playing down in the hinterland, but I suggest you get yourself back on the road toward home ASAP, son."
"I don't have anywhere to stay," I said adding, "And I don't have anything to wear."
"I've booked you a room at the London House where the event is taking place, and your tux will be pressed and waiting when you arrive," she said without pausing.
"What makes you think I'll show up?" I asked.
"Because I asked you to," she said before disconnecting.
"Bitch," I muttered into the phone knowing she couldn't hear me.
"You don't like your mother, do you?" Honor said making me jump.
"Don't sneak up on me like that!" I shouted as the phone slipped out of my hand and hit the ground. Honor picked it up and handed it to me without saying anything. I took it saying, "It's rude to sneak around."
"Why don't you like your mother?" she asked as she squinted up at me. Her face was streaked with dirt and sweat, and her hair was flying out from under her white cap.