Coming Home (3 page)

I shook her hand. “Thank you. It’s nice to meet you.” Even though
she was still on the phone, I turned to Gladys and whispered. “It’s nice to
meet you, too, Gladys.” She stopped scowling at Stacy and actually smiled at
me.

Stacy took me to my office, and I couldn’t believe I actually had
an office. I’d only ever had a cubicle before, and I kind of expected just a
desk out in the open with everyone else the way Matt talked about how cramped
the space was. This was huge to me. There was a full desk, two filing cabinets,
a small round table, and two chairs in front of the desk.

Once we got all the supplies put away and she helped me to log on
the system for the first time, I was taken around for the tour of the facilities.
I was pleased the entire space seemed to be quite clean—including the
restrooms—and the lunch area actually had a full-service kitchen. I’d never worked
at a place with a cafeteria before. I usually brought cold lunches since the
line for the microwave took my entire lunch break to get through.

“Just how big is this place? Matt said it was just a small family
company.” I couldn’t keep the awe out of my voice.

“Yeah, he likes to think of us as one big happy family. It’s not
that we aren’t like family around here. We’re just one big dysfunctional family,
but it’s a little too big for all of us to be close. There are over 250
employees in this building.”

“This building? There’s more than one?”

“There aren’t any other buildings, but there are other people
that don’t work out of an office—sales people and recruiters to name a couple.
Matt knows each and every employee here. I’m not sure how he does it, but he
does. He and his wife have built quite a little empire. The advertising
department we work for is just a fraction of it.”

“Is his wife as nice as Matt is?”

Stacy stopped and looked at me. “You haven’t met his wife yet?”

“No. Is that a problem?”

“He usually doesn’t hire anyone in an office position without his
wife’s approval. You must have really made an impression on him.” Stacy led me
through the gym in the lower level. “Matt was allowed to put the cafeteria in
if he put the gym in first. I think most people like the cafeteria better, but
don’t tell his wife that.”

“Is she a health freak?” Between what Matt said at the diner
during my interview and what Stacy was saying about her, I was afraid I was
going to have to hide my addiction—the tallest, most calorie-and-caffeine-loaded
coffee I could find. I probably would have had an addiction to pastries,
cookies, and cakes, but having a mother that baked her troubles away cured me
of that. It was great as a kid, but once I found my drug of choice, there was
no going back.

“No, she just doesn’t want to lose her husband. She’s really nice
and they are the cutest couple ever.”

“Matt’s great. I can’t wait to meet her.”

I turned with Stacy to go back to my office and ran right into a
solid chest. The force knocked me back a couple of steps, and a man reached out
and grabbed my arms to stop me from further humiliating myself by falling.

“I’m so sorry.” Once he was sure I was balanced, he let me go.

“It’s my fault. I should watch where I’m going.” I looked up and couldn’t
help but stare at the face looking back at me. Without thinking, I reached up
and touched his cheek. “I would love to draw you.”

He grinned. “Well, I’ve never heard a better pickup line than
that.”

Stacy saved me from even more humiliation and took me by the
wrist to remove my hand. “She’s the new graphic designer, and you already know
we all love your face. It wasn’t a pickup line, Ryan.” I still hadn’t said
anything and couldn’t stop staring at the perfect man in front of me. Stacy
nudged me. “Was it a pickup line?”

Finally out of my trance, I realized what conversation was going
on around me. “Oh, I’m sorry.” I looked at Stacy. “No, it wasn’t a pickup
line.” Turning back to see him again, I tried not to stare this time. “I just
really would like to draw you.” I didn’t add what else I wanted to do.

“Bummer.” He shrugged. “Hey, if you don’t mind, I may use that
line. That’s a great one.”

The thought of him picking up other women bothered me for reason
I didn’t want to understand. I didn’t date much. I was too focused on finding
my family. And since I didn’t know exactly who my family was yet, I couldn’t
really date here. That would be an awkward moment if we realized we were
related. I shivered at the thought, and he thought it was because he wanted to
use my line.

“Do you think it’s too creepy?”

I snapped to attention at his voice. “What? Oh, well, do you
draw?”

He grinned again and leaned a little toward me. “No, that’s what
they hired you for.”

“Then it’s creepy. They are going to expect you to actually draw
them.” I held out my hand, realizing I still didn’t know his name. “Rebecca
Shultz.”

“Ryan Thomas.” Ryan took my hand as I finally looked at the rest
of him. He was taller than me, but not too much. His brown hair was a little
longer than most, but still above his collar. His eyes were a warm brown color,
but his best feature was his face. I’d never seen lines or definition like that
on a regular person. I thought they only existed in magazines and on
television.

“I’m sorry I ran into you.” I finally let go of his hand.

“I’m not. Maybe we’ll run into each other again.” He looked at me
for a second and tilted his head. “Did you say Rebecca Shultz?” His smile grew when
I nodded, and I was wrong: his smile was his best feature. “We’ll be seeing a
lot of each other. You’re on my team.”

“Team?” I was confused.

“That’s what I just said. If you were listening to me . . .”
Stacy huffed and grabbed my wrist again to drag me away from Ryan. “Rebecca,
come on. Let’s get the rest of the tour over. I know Matt wants to see you
before you get started, and we still have to go to human resources.”

I looked back as Stacy dragged me on for the tour, and Ryan was
just standing there with his hands in his pockets, looking back at me. He took
one hand out to wave, and I started to wave back, but Stacy knocked my arm
down.

“What was that for?” I knew I just met her, but Stacy didn’t come
across as rude until then.

“Don’t encourage him.” Stacy seemed a little irritated. She
stopped suddenly, and I almost ran into the back of her. “Ryan is a nice guy,
but he uses that face,” she pointed back at him, “to get what he wants out of
women and never gives us anything in return.”

“He sleeps with everyone here?” I couldn’t believe Matt would
allow that in a family company.

“No! That would be what we want, and he keeps holding out on us.”

I held my hand up. “Wait, I’m confused.”

“Look, he’s just a little off. He could be playing professional
baseball, but instead he works here making a hell of a lot less. Who does
that?”

“He must have a reason.” If Ryan had his own agenda for the way
he’s living his life, I certainly wasn’t one to judge. If it weren’t for the
possibility of finding my birth parents, I would never have left my home town,
either.

“If he has one, he’s not telling. He just spends all of his time
at a group home, teaching those boys baseball.” Stacy misread my expression at
the mention of the group home. “Don’t look so nervous. All I’m saying is he’ll
get close to you and get you to do things for him like bake crap for his
baseball team or help him when he’s shorthanded, but he never dates anyone. He
needs a girlfriend for the crap he asks for.”

I just looked at her as if she’d lost her mind. I knew I came
from a small town, but that’s what we did there. We helped each other and didn’t
expect dates or sex in return.

“Oh, God, he’s found another one.” She started walking again as I
shook my head.

~*~

“How’s it going so far?” Matt’s office was huge, but
inviting. It didn’t have all the cold furniture you’d normally expect to find
in the office of the owner. There was even an area with toys for small
children. I was just looking around and Matt started laughing. “I think I’ve
finally stumped you.”

“I just didn’t expect this. You said it was a small company.” I
took the seat Matt offered.

“It is a small company. I know I kind of gave the impression we
only had about twenty people working here, but that’s all you’ll really be
working with anyway.” Matt sat across from me at the table. “I didn’t want to
scare you away.”

“Why haven’t I met your wife?” I’d been bothered all morning by
the same question. Stacy told everyone she introduced me to that I hadn’t met
the almighty wife yet—Vicki. Everyone was shocked, and I always got one of
three reactions when Stacy told them. Most of them either said, “Really?” or
had the silent raised-eyebrows look. A couple of people said my personal
favorite: “How’d you manage that?”

Matt’s face grew serious for a moment and then he smiled. “I’m
glad you haven’t lost that directness of yours in the move. I told you she’s
been out of the office for a little while. Why are you asking about her?”

“I heard you don’t hire office positions without her, and I didn’t
even know the woman’s name while everyone was wondering what I did to get the
position without her approval.”

“You’re a great artist on paper and on the computer. We need
those skills to complete our ads and make them come to life. There’s nothing
beyond that to worry about. My wife, Victoria, or Vicki as we call her, has
already seen your work and agreed you’d be perfect before I met with you. She
actually wanted to come with me for the interview, but I talked her out of it
since she wouldn’t have approved of the diner. And yes, she knows what I ate
that day, and I’m not asking you to lie for me.”

I felt as though I offended him somehow, and I really didn’t mean
to. I just didn’t like being the reason for office gossip, and apparently this was
a big deal. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you.”

“You didn’t. You’ll meet her soon. I promise.”

I looked around the office to try to break the awkward moment. “Do
you offer recess here instead of breaks?” I pointed to the play area in the
corner. “Unless those are for you?”

Matt turned to look. “Oh.” He laughed. “Yes, I get my ideas from
play time. No, occasionally parents have difficulty finding daycare if their
regular provider is sick or on vacation. If I need someone here for a meeting,
I let them bring their kids.” Matt got up and picked up a snapshot on his desk.
“It started out being Ashley’s corner, but she outgrew all of that years ago.”

He handed me the picture he picked up. She was bundled up, and it
looked as if they were sledding or skiing, but you could tell she has her dad’s
smile. “She has your smile.” I handed the photo back to him.

“Yes, thank God that’s all she got from me.” He put the photo
back on his desk and turned back to me. “You ready for your first meeting?”

I stood up and placed my hand on my stomach. “I guess, but I
still need to go to human resources.”

“You don’t have anything to worry about. I think you’ve met
everyone already, and you don’t really have to contribute to this one. Just sit
back and get the feel of it. If you want to say something, say it. Just know I
won’t be calling on you. Then I’ll take you to fill out your paperwork afterward.
I need to introduce you to Charlie anyway. He’s in charge of security around
here.”

“Thanks.”

~*~

The first week was a little more brutal than I thought
it would be. The hours were supposed to leave me a little bit of time to start
my search, but I had been asked to show up earlier and to stay later than I was
originally told. Everyone grumbled when a deadline was pushed up, but no one
complained. Since it was my first week, I didn’t exactly feel I could say
anything.

I thought I would be able to get away at lunch and use the hour
to at least check into where I should start my search, but I was either asked
to join Matt or Stacy and felt as if I couldn’t say no. I was new to town, and everyone
would wonder what I could have to do that was so important. I just couldn’t
risk the questions. I’d waited this long, so I could wait a few more weeks.

Even though the job was similar to my previous job on paper, it
was completely more demanding in reality. I was used to deadlines and specific
style requests, but this was on a whole other level. I had never been happier
to see Friday afternoon in my entire life. I was just shutting down my computer
to leave for the weekend when Wade Upton walked in. He was part of the
brainstorming team that was supposed to give me direction on how they
envisioned the ads.

“I’m glad I caught you.” Wade had spiked blond hair and always
wore a bracelet instead of a watch. He was a nerdy type of cute, and I think
the spiked hair was his way of trying to separate himself from the nerd within.
It worked for him, but someone should have told him to hit the gym and lose the
stick figure if he really wanted to distance himself. His clothes were preppy
and usually were dressier than what most people wore. He either came from money
or was gay. I just didn’t have the nerve to ask. “I wanted to see if you were
free for dinner.”

“Oh, that’s really nice, but I’m a little beat. I just need to go
home and sleep this week away.” I continued to close up the rest of my desk and
grabbed my purse. “Could I have a rain check?”

“Sure. I understand. I just thought you could use a little
company. I don’t suspect you know many people yet, and I’d love to help you
unwind. I know a great place around the corner that has the best service.” His
eyebrows shot up in a pleading fashion.

Dinner out sounded really great, and I could have used a drink or
two as well. I hadn’t had much time to stock the kitchen in my new apartment.
Plus, he was right: I didn’t know many people and I’d be alone all weekend.