Page 6 of Never and Always
The workshop was busy, with the majority of my team hard at work. A few of the guys had been at the Windward for years, and could’ve retired, but they loved their work. At the other end of the group, I had young men and women learning the trades.
“Rob, how did you do with that plumbing issue on level two?” I asked.
“Kid flushed a toy down the toilet.” The gruff guy shook his head. “I got it free.”
We’d seen everything. Working at a hotel kept things interesting.
“We have a wiring issue in the restaurant.” Susie was the newest member of the team, fresh out of high school, but a hard worker. “I think the renovations might’ve messed something up.”
“I’ll look into it.” I pulled out my tablet and swiped the screen. The renovations were a headache. It wasn’t that I was against them. The improvements to the hotel would be great, it was just more work for me and my team. “Okay. Were all the jobs from housekeeping completed?”
“Yes,” Tony said. “There wasn’t much, thank the Lord.”
When housekeeping came across a problem, like something broken or damaged, they punted it to us.
I noticed Johnny glancing at his cellphone.
“Johnny? Everything okay?”
The young man jolted. He looked jumpy. “Yeah, sorry, Ev. I know I’m not supposed to look at my phone on shift, but Heather hasn’t been feeling great today.”
Heather was his wife who was eight months pregnant.
“Keep your phone, Johnny. Whatever you need.”
He shot me a relieved smile. “She’s had loads of those fake practice contractions.”
“Braxton Hicks,” Dee, one of my best team members, said. There wasn’t a plumbing, electrical, or repair problem that Dee couldn’t fix.
“Yeah.” Johnny nodded. “It’s hard to know if it’s real or not.”
“If you need to go early, go,” I said.
His phone beeped again, and this time his eyes went wide. “Oh fuck, she thinks her water just broke.” He stood there, frozen.
I swiveled. “Rob, drive Johnny home.”
“No, I know we’re shorthanded. I?—”
“You’re in no state to drive.” I smiled at him. “Go and take care of your wife. You’ll be meeting your baby soon, daddy.”
“Daddy,” Johnny breathed. “Fuck.”
“Come on, big daddy.” Rob hustled the younger man toward the locker room.
“Right. Let’s finish this shift.” I grabbed my toolbox so I could take care of Johnny’s last jobs.
The work didn’t take me too long. I repaired a dent in a hallway wall where someone had whacked something into it. I tightened a loose central air grate in a guest room. I replaced a damaged painting in one of the suites with one from storage. Before I knew it, my shift was over.
“Night, everyone,” I called to my team, pulling on my suede jacket.
“Bye, Everett,” Dee called out. “See ya tomorrow.”
In the lobby, I looked for another glimpse of long legs and ridiculous heels, but didn’t see Piper. No doubt she was locked in the conference room on calls. That woman had lots of calls. She was a workaholic, for sure.
Shaking my head, I headed into the staff parking lot. Cold air smacked me in the face, but I breathed it in. I loved winter. My red Dodge Ram was covered in a few inches of snow. I huddled in my jacket, wrapped my scarf around my neck and pulled my gloves on. Then I pulled out my keys and remote started my truck to warm it up.
I knew the signs of a workaholic. My boots crunched on the snow. I’d been one, once.
