Till There was You

Karen Mathers had a big smile on her face as she drove her new 1966 Corvette into the city of Palm Oaks, located on Florida's east coast. She drove her sports car under the portico of the best hotel in the area, stepped out and watched as the bellhop loaded the suitcases from her convertible onto the luggage cart. Once he had her suitcases, she turned her keys over to the valet and followed the bellhop into the hotel.

She had been in the second class which had allowed females to pursue an MBA from Harvard. The effect a Harvard education had on most people made her smile.

Armed with her MBA and a conviction she was smarter than anyone else in the room, Karen had persuaded her grandfather to appoint her to lead the team responsible for a housing development his company had undertaken in Palm Oaks.

Stage One would see 124 homes constructed on a portion of the two hundred acre tract Karen's grandfather, Timothy Morton, owned through a holding company. Once the first phase was completed satisfactorily, Karen was certain she would be given total responsibility and control over the ensuing phases.

The plans were in place, all the necessary permits had been obtained and the property had recently been cleared. Construction was scheduled to begin and Karen was champing at the bit.

She was quite pleased her grandfather had accepted her suggestion to limit any one contractor to a maximum of twelve homes during the first phase. This strategy would keep builders from spreading their crews too thin, with the added benefit of competition among the builders. Bonuses would be offered to companies which met, or beat, deadlines. Those failing to meet deadlines would face costly penalties. The company also would have a better handle on which contractors to hire for the next phase.

The builders, who had already been given contracts by her grandfather's representatives, were scheduled to join her in a meeting room at the hotel Friday afternoon. The actual construction was to begin first thing Monday morning. It was Thursday and Karen decided to rest after the long drive down from her parent's home in New Jersey. She wanted to be fresh and alert for the next afternoon's meeting.

Karen spent Friday morning preparing her notes, making certain she was completely prepared for every eventuality. She felt it was important to demonstrate to the builders that she was a savvy business woman who had earned her position. She decided to omit telling anyone about it being her grandfather's development company. It had no bearing on the situation.

"Good afternoon, Gentlemen," was Karen's opening. She had earlier determined there were no other women present. "We're going to go over the expectations Morton Homes has for this project, its contractors and their crews.

"Quality is our primary concern. We expect all builders to adhere to the blueprint plans. There will be no short cuts taken on this project. Safety of the crews is also a priority. Builders are expected to follow the highest industry standards.

"All of that said, your contracts state there will be bonuses awarded for meeting certain deadlines and penalties extracted for failure to meet those same deadlines. I'm going to explain them carefully so there will be no misunderstandings. I will then listen to questions and concerns."

While speaking, Karen's eyes went from builder to builder as she had been taught in public speaking class. It was important to keep everyone's attention. Many of the builders had an assistant or two attending with them. Karen made an effort to include them in her presentation.

When her gaze reached the left side of the room, she realized a young man seated next to the wall was not looking at her face. He was intently studying her legs. She briefly wondered if wearing a short skirt had been a mistake.

Karen glared toward the man, but he never noticed as his eyes remained glued to her lower extremities. Giving up, Karen once again moved her eyes across the room.

Once her presentation was completed, she opened the floor to discussion. Several men immediately blurted out questions and concerns. Karen began pointing to men for their questions so she could systematically respond. She thought she had handled things well and was ready to draw the meeting to a close when the man who had been studying her legs spoke.

"What sort of quality control are you going to have on this project?"

"We'll have people checking on everyone's work as it progresses to make certain the plans are followed precisely. It's quite simple. If the details are adhered to, the finished product has to be of highest quality," reasoned Karen, noting the man now seemed fascinated with her breasts.

"So you won't have inspections at every stage of construction? You'll expect everyone to simply "follow the plans" and things will be fine? How many nails will there be in each shingle? How many coats of paint will there be on the interior walls? Who makes certain the foundations are square and level? Will you allow your builders carte blanche in these matters, as well as many more I haven't mentioned?"

"I would expect every builder to adhere to industry standards on matters not covered in the plans," stated Karen with more confidence than she felt. "All of the builders we've hired are respected professionals, and as such, can be depended upon to do things properly wherever the plans may be vague. If it makes you feel better, I'll ask our designers to include more details and get everyone slightly revised plans. Proceed as planned on Monday and I'll see that you all receive answers to these questions."

The builders began filing out, but the older man who had accompanied the man who had stared at her legs and chest remained behind. It was obvious to Karen he wanted to speak with.

"I hope Jess didn't come across as a jerk, Ms. Mathers. He's just a perfectionist. He takes tremendous pride in his work. I'm Stan Crane, by the way."

"I can appreciate his concerns, Mr. Crane, but I'll expect you to come to me with any issues your company may have. I'm going to be very busy with this project. I can't waste time with members of your crew. You'll be my only contact point with your company," explained Karen with more patience than she felt.

"What's the name of your company? I want to connect all the faces with the company they run. I should have asked everyone to introduce themselves at the meeting," admitted Karen.

"Ma'am, I'm not the owner of the company. We're Brooks Enterprises and Jess Brooks is the owner. I'm his foreman," revealed Stan Crane.

"The man who asked about nailing shingles and the other stuff? He's the owner? Is he a trust fund baby or something? He looks kind of young," suggested Karen as she checked her list. "It looks like he was the highest bidder to secure a contract. I wonder how he made it through the bidding process. He's almost 20 % higher than Smithtown Homes and they're the top home builder in Florida."

"Jess built his company from scratch. He's worked 70 and 80 hour weeks for years. Now that he's just turned 29, he's beginning to back off on his hours."

"Maybe he should get out more," replied Karen. "He was staring at me while I was speaking. He was quite obvious about it."

"He gets out quite a bit," chuckled Stan. "You must have impressed him. He's not usually like that."

Sunday afternoon found Karen at the beach enjoying the sand and surf for which Florida was famous. She had been sitting under a beach umbrella watching beachgoers when she saw the guy, Jess Brooks, who had asked about the damn shingles at the meeting.

He was walking the beach with a beautiful woman and two young girls. The woman was laughing as the man appeared to tease the girls. Although the woman was undeniably beautiful, she appeared to be in her mid-thirties, a handful of years older than Brooks. For some reason, seeing him with the beautiful woman and the two pretty young girls put a damper on her enjoyment of the day.

Jess Brooks without a shirt was an eye opener. He was just over six feet with broad shoulders and muscular arms. His chest was well defined and his stomach flat. Karen had to admit the man was not only good looking, but appeared to be in very good shape.

Karen made a point of visiting the construction site at nine, Monday morning. She was pleased to see most contractors were already building forms for concrete pads. Most builders were laying out enough forms for several homes.

When she reached the area Jess Brooks was responsible for, she was surprised to find not single form was in place. She was unable to even find any lumber on his site. As she observed the situation, she saw a large dump truck arrive. Directed by Jess Brooks, it dumped a load of light brown dirt on a home site.

Then another large dump truck pulled in and Brooks led the driver to a different home site where the driver proceeded to deposit his load. As she looked around more carefully, Karen could see several mounds had already been placed on home sites. A small dozer was spreading the dirt over the area where the home would sit.

Unable to contain her curiosity, Karen saw Stan walking across the road in front of her car and flagged him down.

"Stan, can you tell me what's going on? The other builders are building forms for the pads and your company's just dumping dirt. Please explain the reasoning behind this, if there is any."

"I understood you didn't have time to talk with anyone but the boss, but I'll answer your question since Jess is pretty busy," replied Stan. "This area is pretty low. It's been known to flood a little.

"The trucks are dumping denser material which compacts better than the soil you find around here. We'll spread a load and drive over it a bunch of times to compact it. Jess wants to do that until we've elevated each building site a foot. That doesn't seem like much, but it will when there's 6 or 8 inches of water sitting on the ground."

"I never heard anything about water issues from the people who drew up the development plans. There's no record of this area flooding. I think your boss is wasting time and money. All unauthorized expenses are his responsibility according to the contract," pointed out Karen. "I hope he understands what he signed."

"Ma'am, I'm not always convinced Jess is making the right decision, but I'm completely confident he understands the contract. I'll tell him about your concerns," replied Stan.

"Let him know I'll be checking all the sites regularly to ensure everything is being done correctly, and that includes nailing shingles. Here's a copy of the revised specs on the items he mentioned. This should make him happy," stated Karen before returning to her car.

Three days later, Karen returned to find Jess Brooks had people working on forms. She noticed that each of the ten home sites he was responsible for were now raised a foot or more higher than the surrounding area.

As she watched his crew work on the forms, two things struck her. The first was the number of women on the project. A quick count showed of the 17 people working, four were female, with two of them being young and very attractive women.

The second item was Jess Brooks on his knees working alongside his crew. No other company had the boss physically involved in the construction. The other crews had all their pads poured and most of them had begun construction. Brooks was already several days behind the others.

By the end of the first week, Karen realized she was checking on the progress of Brooks' crew more often than the others. She told herself it was because he was behind and she was concerned about his performance. The reality was Jess Brooks fascinated her. He was working under contractual time constraints, yet he and his crew moved deliberately, but with purpose.

She had seen Jess personally measure each set of forms a dozen different ways and make minor adjustments to each one. When they began pouring cement Friday afternoon, Jess Brooks was wearing boots and pushing the cement around with the rest of his crew. The four women were working alongside the men without complaint.

At quitting time Friday, Karen noted that two pads had been poured with eight more ready. Jess Brooks appeared to use more steel reinforcement on each pad than the other builders.

Karen spent work nights keeping her extensive records and making reports, which she mailed to her grandfather twice a week. While having dinner at her hotel, she overheard women at a nearby table talking about a place called "Bones". They were unanimous in declaring it the best place in Palm Oaks on a Saturday night.

Karen was surprised at the size of the building as she pulled into the crowded parking lot the next evening. She found a seat at the bar and ordered a drink. While she waited, she used the bar mirror to scan the crowd behind her.

Being Florida, the women were wearing shorts and small tops while most of the men were in jeans and t shirts. Karen first noticed the blonde girl from Brooks' crew on the dance floor. She had cleaned up quite nicely. She exuded strength and vitality as she gyrated in a sensuous rhythm. As the song ended, the blonde gave her partner a warm hug. That was when Karen realized it was Jess Brooks. Karen wondered why that fact bothered her.

Karen was taking a sip from her second drink when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned to see a slightly older man.

"I hate to see such a pretty woman sitting all alone. How about dancing with me?"

"Thanks, but I just came in for a drink and some relaxation. Maybe some other time?" responded Karen.

Before she was able to finish the drink, two other men approached her for a dance. She was about to head home rather than spend the evening declining dances with the local Lotharios when she once again felt a tap on her shoulder.

Turning, Karen was surprised to see the blonde woman from Brooks' crew smiling at her. "Why don't you come sit with us? You won't be bothered by all these cowboys hoping to get lucky."

Karen was forming her excuses when she suddenly changed her mind. "That's very nice of you. It is getting a little tiresome. Is your boyfriend okay with me joining you?"

The blonde looked confused as she answered. "Yeah, he'll be fine with another pretty girl sitting with us. How do you know my boyfriend?"

"Well, isn't it obvious?" asked Karen. "I see him every day at work."

"At the hospital?" wondered the perplexed blonde.

"Why would I go to the hospital?" questioned an equally confused Karen.

"Can we start over?" suggested the blonde. "I know you're Karen. I'm Heather. I work for Jess. His brother, Will, is my boyfriend. He's doing his residency at the Medical Center. He's here tonight. I'll introduce you."

"Jess isn't your boyfriend? His brother's a doctor?" asked the surprised Karen as she assimilated the girl's explanation.

"Jess, my boyfriend? I'm not his type, but his brother thinks I'm pretty good, so I'm happy. You're interested in Jess, aren't you?"

"Not in that way!" insisted Karen as Heather led her back to her friend's tables.

"Hey, everybody. This is Karen and she's going to join us, so watch your language. She's a real lady. She went to Harvard!" announced Heather.

Karen smiled to everyone as one of the guys vacated a chair for her. She noticed that she'd be sitting a different table than Jess. As that thought registered, Heather pulled a good looking man over and introduced him.

"This is Will Brooks. He's Jess's younger brother. He's much better looking, too. Don't make eyes at him or I'll have to claw your eyes out. His uncouth brother is available, though, if you like 'em rough around the edges."

"Hello, Will. May I ask what your specialty will be?" asked Karen to change the subject.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Karen. I'm hoping to open my own practice in pediatric medicine once I'm done with my residency," offered Will. "You're the Karen I've been hearing so much about?"

"I don't know. What have you heard?" responded Karen immediately.

"Will, we don't talk about work on our group nights out," broke in Heather. "Let's just have a few beers and dance."

Karen managed at least a brief conversation with most of the crew over the course of the evening. They studiously avoided discussing anything work related, yet Karen was able to get a feel for their work dynamics. Everything began with Jess. That became clear early in her conversations.

They bantered with him far more than she would have expected, considering he was their employer. He laughed and accepted the gibes directed his way with humor and grace. Part way through the night, Karen arrived at the conclusion that the group was very much like a family.

Jess Brooks was avoiding her. Karen was certain. He chatted with everyone but her. He even danced with the four women who worked for him as well as a couple of wives of his crew members. Karen would have thought he was completely ignoring her if it hadn't been for an incident near the end of the night.

Karen and Heather made a trip to the ladies room together. Karen found she really enjoyed the uncomplicated blonde woman. She was direct and honest, almost to a fault. She was Will's girl and she was quick to tell anyone who might doubt it.

As Karen and Heather emerged from the ladies room, two burly men blocked their path. Karen wasn't overly concerned since they were in a public setting. She'd been accosted by men before and had always been able to handle them.

"Ladies, we've been watching you all night. We'd like to buy you both a drink and maybe have a dance or two," declared the one with a moustache.

"Sorry, Boys," responded Heather. "We're here with our fellas. Thanks for the offer, but we wouldn't consider leaving our guys alone."

"You're here with the doctor guy. This one hasn't danced with anyone all night," declared the second man as he reached for Heather's hand. "I don't think your boyfriend would mind if you danced a few times with me, and this lady's alone."

"I really don't want to drink or dance with either of you," stated Heather firmly. "I insist you allow us to go back to our friends."

"I don't think so," replied the first man as he took Karen's hand and pulled her close to his chest. "We're going to have a drink and a couple dances."

"Let go of me right now!" demanded Karen.

"Or what?" laughed the man as he pulled her even closer.

"Or I'll kick your ass," came a calm voice from somewhere beyond the man holding Karen.

The big guy holding Karen swung around to face the man making the threat. He still held Karen's hand tightly, but he had moved enough for her to see Jess leaning against the wall as he watched the two men.

"Fuck you!" replied the guy as he tightened his grip even more, causing Karen to wince.

"Bill, that's Jess Brooks. Watch what the hell you say," warned his friend.

Karen watched in amazement as the man released his grip on her wrist and apologized. "Ma'am, I thought you were unescorted and might want some company. I didn't mean anything by it. I didn't know Jess Brooks was your boyfriend."

"Well you know it now, Asshole!" snapped Heather as she took Karen's hand and pulled her past the two men.

"Thanks, Jess. Why don't you have a dance with your girlfriend while I go find your brother and get him out on the floor," insisted Heather as she led Karen to Jess and released her hand.

Karen was still flustered from the brief confrontation and the quick turnaround caused by Jess Brooks' intervention. She made no comment as Jess led her onto the dance floor and took her in his arms as a slow song began.

Once she regained her equilibrium, Karen became more aware of her dance partner. He confidently led her and was a surprisingly good dancer. He was a gentleman and didn't try to pull her too close. She almost lost her bearings when she looked into his eyes.