Sparks (8 page)

W
HISTLING
, Tomas drove toward the office. Pulling up to the gates, he punched his code and drove in when they opened. He drove toward the two-story Tudor-style house that was their office. The grounds around it were the best example of their work. The area around the office was divided into four sections. On each plot, a little away from the main office, were smaller houses in a similar style as the main office. Those housed the offices for each crew manager and their teams. They let the crews decide how to landscape their area. It was a great way to show their work, and had become a sense of pride for the crews. Each year, Tomas and Malik picked which crew had the most innovative landscape area. That crew then had free rein to implement their design around the main offices. Pulling into his space, Tomas turned off the truck and got out.

Spotting the sign on pillars in the front lawn that read “Rodbro Landscapers,” a sense of pride filled him. They had gone from barely scraping by to being a well-known company. Their contracts varied from residential to professional projects. Malik, Link, or Tomas drew up all landscaping plans that one of the four crews then implemented. Link was the boss over all the crews and assigned projects based on their strengths. Link also led one of the crews, which was made up of the best people they had. They could do anything. Malik and Tomas rotated among the crews, working with each one.

Punching a code next to the door, Tomas entered the house. The top floor had presentation and meeting rooms. The entire left side of the top floor also had what they were known for—a solarium. Each solarium they did was an oasis designed to the requester’s wants. It was very early, so Tomas had the office to himself. Sheldon, who was in charge of the front reception area and scheduling, would be in shortly. Tomas strode to the left, down the hall on the ground floor to his own office. Opening the door, he went inside and sat at his desk. He booted up his computer. Glancing around his spacious office, he wondered what Bernie would think of it. Bernie had never come to his office. He made a mental note to bring him by.

Unrolling his plans for the project he was working on with Link’s crew, Tomas frowned and made notes. A ping made him pull out his BlackBerry. Reading the message, he placed the phone on the desk. He made more notes.

“Are you ready? Didn’t you get my text?” Malik asked from the door.

“I got it, but why are both of us needed for this meeting? And why is the project Link’s crew is working on being reassigned?” Tomas asked.

He was surprised at the change. Neither he nor Malik liked changing crews on projects midstream. It wasn’t like this was that special a project—just a residential landscaping. Hell, they hadn’t even done the evaluation yet. He couldn’t understand why the change was made with no notice.

“It’s a special request from Jerrod,” Malik replied.

Tomas leaned back in the chair. At Malik’s words, he knew why. Jerrod Morgan was not only a good friend, but had given them their first major job. They had met Jerrod when he strolled into their offices eight years ago. Jerrod had been dressed casually, but from their first look at him, they knew he was somebody to be reckoned with. He had requested a meeting. Since they were so small and had no real clients, they had seen him right away. He had wanted to know how they handled residential jobs and had given them basics on what he liked. They didn’t usually give ideas without visiting the property, but Jerrod had insisted. Then he’d listened as they gave him general ideas. With his questions interrupting them, they realized he’d known all about their new business. His questions were probing, and he was sharp. Once he had finished interrogating them, he left as suddenly as he had come. They hadn’t known what to expect.

For months after, they didn’t hear a word. Then one day, Jerrod strolled back into their offices. That time he had dressed impeccably, in a suit they could tell was expensive. He had been accompanied by what seemed like an army of people. Before they knew it, he had hired them to redesign the grounds of his massive estate. While they did the job, they had become friends. Jerrod was hands-on with the design. He had even worked beside them, digging in the dirt. That had impressed them. Since then, they had worked on various projects for Jerrod. Hell, when Jerrod wasn’t traveling to one of his numerous business things, he even had an office there. They still weren’t sure how he had gotten office space at their business. Jerrod’s excuse, of course, was that they had stolen his right-hand man.

“Sheldon. I should have known he was the one who would reschedule everything for Jerrod. We should fire him,” Tomas growled.

“Then where would you be without me?” a modulated voice asked.

The voice matched the man. Sheldon came in, dressed impeccably, as usual, in what he considered casual wear—a soft-looking dark-green shirt with one button open at the neck and black slacks with a crisp crease down each leg. His black loafers shone. His pale-blond hair was precisely styled around an aristocratic face. Sheldon placed a cup on Tomas’s desk. He sat in the chair in front of the desk, holding his ever-present book—the book that kept them where they needed to be, and that he used to meet all their needs.

“You’re not going to butter me up with cranberry juice,” Tomas said.

“Would I do that?” Sheldon’s bright blue eyes were innocent.

“That look won’t work. Jerrod isn’t your boss anymore. We are.”

“Oh. I thought you were firing me.” Sheldon looked at his trim nails.

Tomas retorted, “We still can.”

It was an empty threat. Sheldon had taken over their offices right after they finished their first project with Jerrod. At the time, they had told him they couldn’t afford him. He had said, in his snotty tone, that once they could, they could pay him what he was worth. He wasn’t going to organize their pitiful business for money, but for the challenge. Tomas hadn’t liked the tone or words, and hadn’t wanted to hire him. Malik had convinced him to give Sheldon a chance. Tomas hadn’t regretted it for a moment. He would never admit that to Sheldon, or tell him he appreciated what he did for them. They both preferred to match wits. Or, in Tomas’s case, as Sheldon had said numerous times, he tried to keep up with what was above his intellect.

“Speak for yourself. I’ll pay him myself before we lose him,” Malik said, sitting in the other chair.

“See, that’s why I like you best,” Sheldon said, then he looked at Tomas. “Unlike some growly asses.” Sheldon looked down his nose at him.

“You can’t just rearrange the schedule because of Jerrod.” Tomas sighed.

“He’s never asked me before. And I wouldn’t have, but he pulled the one thing I couldn’t say no to.” Sheldon’s brow furrowed.

Tomas waited for him to continue. When he didn’t, Tomas turned his attention to Malik.

“You know what he’s talking about?” Tomas asked.

“He asked a favor as family,” Malik said, frowning.

Tomas’s eyes narrowed. Sheldon was Jerrod’s cousin. They were each other’s only family and were more like brothers. Sheldon was actually a full partner in any business Jerrod did, but he had chosen to work on the organizational aspects of their businesses. He let Jerrod be the face for their various business dealings. In all the time Tomas had known them, Jerrod had never asked for anything due to being family. Neither man ever had. For Jerrod to do that, it had to be something big.

“Did he say who this Del is?” Tomas asked about the name he received in the text message.

“No. I’ve never heard of him,” Sheldon said.

Tomas was even more intrigued. Sheldon usually knew these things.

“Jerrod has to explain what’s going on.”

“He’s out of town and incommunicado since his call.” Sheldon glowered.

“Whatever the reasons, we need to go so we’re not late for the meeting.” Malik stood.

Tomas got up and walked around the desk to join him. Sheldon stood and walked out with them. He went behind his desk and handed them a file.

“This is the info on the house.”

Tomas opened it. It was just specs on the space they would be working on.

“I don’t see anything here that would call for me and Malik both to go.”

“Just come on, Tomas. We can go see it, and then, in good conscience, tell Jerrod that we checked it out and assigned it to one of the other crews. Link’s crew can stay on the project they’re on today. The sooner we go, the quicker you can get back to the project too,” Malik said.

“Fine. But I’m already going to lose half a day.” Tomas snapped the folder closed.

“You’re going to want to work on this. And you’ll need Link’s crew.” Sheldon sounded sure.

“What are you not telling us?” Tomas studied him.

“Jerrod was sure you would want to do the job yourself,” Sheldon said.

“Well, I’m going to prove him wrong.” Tomas stomped out.

He got in his truck, and Malik got in the passenger side. He got them on their way knowing they didn’t have that far to go. Parking, Tomas got out and walked over to stand next to Malik, who was standing at the passenger side of the car.

“We’re going to do this together,” Malik said.

“That fucker Sheldon knew which house it was,” Tomas said.

“Yeah.”

He hadn’t recognized the address. They studied the familiar house. It was a two-story stone-faced bungalow. It looked as regal as it had when they had first seen it. The landscaping, on the other hand, looked like it belonged to an abandoned lot. Seven years ago, after completing Jerrod’s house, they had put in a bid for the landscaping for this house. They had wanted it, since it was such a challenge. The landscaping they came up with for it when they submitted the bid would make the house look like the jewel it was. They had lost the bid to another landscaper who, in their opinion, hadn’t done the house justice. Since then, they had done many other projects, but from time to time, Tomas still pulled out the plans he had for this house.

Tomas strode up the slight incline, already picturing the changes he would make to the plans he had drawn up all those years ago. With their experience, they could push the envelope more. Reaching the house, he went around the side, plotting out the trees he would plant along the perimeter of the house. He stopped and checked the low-slung rock wall that separated this property from the one next to it. It would need to be reinforced.

“We’ll need to pull Leonard from Kale’s crew to help Duke with relaying this whole wall. I want it changed out,” Tomas said.

“Make it more of a mosaic design.” Malik nodded, making notes.

Tomas grunted and continued on. Coming around the side of the house, he put his hands on his hips as he viewed the backyard. It was overgrown and in disarray. Stepping through the weeds, he stooped down, looking at the private lake. It was murky, and algae floated on the surface.

“We’ll have to call Schneider to see if he can fit us in to dredge this lake. I don’t remember it being here before,” Tomas said.

“It was added on to the house by the previous owner,” a voice said.

Tomas glanced up at the woman who strode toward him. She was in jeans and a T-shirt, but she might as well have been in a business suit. Her carriage held the same special something Sheldon had.

“Del?” Tomas asked.

“No. I’m Megan, his assistant. He wants you to implement the plans you created seven years ago.”

“How’d he know about that?” Tomas stood.

“Del makes it his business to know who provides the best. And from what people have told us, that is Rodbro Landscapers.”

Tomas strolled toward the gate. He glanced at the beach that ran along the back of the house. With the beach right there, the addition of the lake hadn’t been necessary. Absently, he heard Malik and Megan talking, but didn’t pay attention to what they were saying. He checked the rest of the area. The back patio was nice. He kicked the brick, and when it gave, he frowned. Before they could work around the patio the way he had planned, the patio itself would need to be fixed. They’d do the same mosaic design as the low perimeter wall. He returned to Megan and Malik.

“So, when are we meeting with Del to go over what we are gonna do?”

“You won’t. Everything goes through me. And as mentioned, the plans you had years ago is what he wants, including a solarium,” Megan stated.

“Planned on adding one. We also want to make some more changes,” Tomas replied.

“Fine. Go over them with me.” Megan’s tone was a demand.

Tomas exchanged a look with Malik. He filled Megan in on what he had planned. She asked lots of questions and took notes. After they were done, she closed her book.

“Sounds good. As mentioned, no one else except you all and Sheldon are to know Del’s name. All correspondence and questions are to be addressed and directed to me. Call me when your new plans are done, and I’ll meet with Sheldon to pick them up. I don’t see Del having any problems with them. He’ll love the cut-glass mosaic you want to put in for one side of the atrium. And as agreed, you will start in the morning. Nice meeting with you, gentlemen.” Megan walked away.

“She didn’t even wait for us to reply,” Malik said.

“And that bit about privacy seems a little extreme.” Tomas frowned after her.

“But we get to design this house,” Malik pointed out.

“Yeah,” Tomas said slowly.

Something about the whole thing made him uneasy. Pushing it away, he walked back to the truck with Malik. As they went back to the office, they made more plans. The project would be a lot of work and take some time. It was disgraceful how the yard had been left.

“
T
HIS
is the house I always wanted to have a chance to do the landscaping for. I’ve done lots of other projects, but this house… with all those slight inclines, angles, and now the lake… it’s a challenge. It’ll be lots of work.” Tomas flipped the chicken in the pan.

He turned to look at Bernie where he sat on the stool by the island. Bernie had a smile on his face.

“What?”

“You’re so passionate about it. It’s sexy.” Bernie blushed.

“It’s what I do. I get hyped about projects. We only take those that interest us. And this one does. If you think that’s sexy, then that’s good.” Tomas chuckled, turning back to the stove.