Page 251 of Show Me
The guy on the other end hesitates. “…Morning?”
“What?”
Another pause. “Uh. Is Ruby there?”
“No.” The answer comes sharper than I intended.
I scrub a hand down my face. Our customers prefer talking to her, and I’m fucking everything up. “She’s out right now. What do you need?”
By the time I hang up, my coffee is cold, the spreadsheet is still wrong, and I’m pretty sure I accidentally scared a supplier into agreeing to a discount.
The shop door opens and Travis sticks his head inside. “You got the work orders for the Miller job?”
“On the printer.”
He walks over, grabs them, then stops when he sees me glaring at the computer. “You look homicidal.”
“I’m doing payroll.”
He winces. “Ah.”
“The numbers don’t match.”
Travis leans over my shoulder, studies the screen for about three seconds, then points. “You entered the subcontractors twice.”
I turn my head. “How the hell do you know that?”
“Because Ruby fixed the same mistake for you months ago.”
Asshole.
He grabs his paperwork as the phone starts ringing again. I ignore it.
Travis arches his brows and nods toward the offending instrument. “You gonna get that?”
“I’m testing a theory.”
“Which is?”
I pick up the receiver. “Apparently they don’t stop on their own.”
Travis laughs and heads for the shop.
Her sticky notes line the edge of the monitor.
Call supplier before 3.
Invoice due Friday.
DO NOT LET XAVIER TOUCH PAYROLL.
I stare at the last one. That one earned all caps. Unfortunately, I’m proving her right.
By nine-thirty, I’ve ordered the wrong lumber and sent one crew to the wrong address.
My cell phone rings. Travis. I groan under my breath. Perfect. “Yeah?”
“Where the hell are we supposed to be?” Travis asks.
