 
A Trade for Good

~ Book I ~

A Trade for Good Series

By

Bria Daly

A Trade for Good ~ Book I

A Trade for Better ~ Book II

A Trade for Keeps ~ Book III

Also by Bria Daly:

20 Questions

A Plan Worth Changing

The Spoon Tree ~ A Family Series

Our Felicity

Coming Soon...

Small Town U.S.A

The Old Place

The Flip Side of Crazy

Sisters Out of Rank

A Tail in Two Cities ~ A children's story

COPYRIGHT © 2015 by Bria Daly

Smashwords Edition

All rights reserved. No part of the book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing by the author or publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review.

The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

Cover Art by A&L, Creative Designs

Edited by R. M. Green

TO My Family
Chapter 1

Jeff looked at his watch. It was nine in the morning; a decent time to call. He dialed the number from memory and prepared himself for another busy signal. Yesterday he had called the same number three times with no success.

The message left on his voicemail from yesterday morning sounded almost hysterical, but not in a funny way. It was apparently from a very distressed client, and in the landscaping business that usually meant a broken pipe, some shifty sprinklers, an industrious gopher, or a neighboring tree dispute. The problem was he had no idea who called!

"You've reached 555-1347." Jeff got out of his chair and quickly shuffled through the papers on his desk to recheck the number he had scribbled on his desk calendar. The number was the same, but he found it hard to believe he had finally gotten through.

The voices he heard on the recording were those of a couple of kids, followed by the happy trill voice of someone who had to be the children's mother, topped off by some barking in the end. It would have been cute had he been in the mood.

The person who called had left a number, but no name, and unfortunately, Jeff's files weren't set up to do a reverse phone lookup, so he had no idea what this was all about.

"Hi, this is Jeff Mason, from Mason Landscaping. You left a message yesterday. Please call me back ... Uh, and thank you." Another incomplete task.

He pulled out a cardboard box from the top right drawer of his desk, and sifted through the paper pile. Most of what was in there were letters or bills that were strewn about haphazardly. Others he wasn't sure what they were, because they were mysteriously hidden under the guise of a generic white envelope.

He looked at the task ahead of going through the endless piles and tapped his fingers on the desk. Moving on... he put the box back into the drawer it came from. He didn't feel like paying bills, answering letters, making calls or looking at ads. Maybe he'd throw this pile in another box and take them home to work on at home while he watched a game or something.

Jeff was tired, and in a rut. It was work, work, work, but he didn't feel he was getting ahead; he was just working and doing nothing else.

He looked down at the scribbled phone number he had called ten minutes earlier and decided to give it another go.

"You've reached 555-1347. Sera, P.D., Melle, Charlie, Em, and Buddy are either away from the phone or just don't want to talk! Please leave your name and number, and who knows, we might just call you back!" Jeff slammed the phone in its receiver. That was the second time today he had gotten that same stupid message with the three voices and a dog barking on cue.

Damn it! He didn't even know why he was fixated on calling the woman back. Maybe it was because of the desperation in the voice he heard on the other end when she left a message the morning before. Or it could also be that he had no idea what it was about and not knowing bothered him. Not that it should. If she had a pipe leaking in her yard, she should have at least left her name and not just a number...

Wait a minute. Jeff looked at the phone number again and decided to check on something. Out came another cardboard box, this time from the bottom drawer of his desk, and in it was a card file of current jobs, or maybe these were the upcoming jobs. It looked like they were all in one place. More things to sort through later.

He looked through the first five and found it. 555-1347 ... there it is! He looked at the number again. Yup, same number, and now that he had the paperwork in front of him, he even remembered the guy who ordered the work; he remembered him well. Some stuck-up asshole who argued over every penny, and even after he was given a discounted rate nothing seemed to please him.

Apparently this guy, Sinclair was his name, had asked around and finally ended up calling Mason Landscaping when he heard they were really good, and their prices were super low.

That's what everyone said. Apparently that's what was bringing in clients, reviews and prices. But the only reason why the prices were so low was because Jeff hadn't bothered to change them. Because it would be a bother; it would be a pain in the ass, that's what it would be. Jeff had to do something about that. One thing was staying competitive, but another was giving stuff away. The only thing that kept him from raising prices right now was that he had to re-do all financials, forms, and advertising to show the changes. And with all of the work he had on his plate, that prospect was way too daunting.

The guy owed him over ten grand for a landscaping job that was supposed to have started over a month ago, with paid building materials in storage, Jeff was waiting for payment in order to start digging.

Mystery over, Jeff picked up the phone and hit redial.

Sera heard the phone from the other room and yelled out to the kids, "Don't answer that!"

She waited, making sure the phone wasn't picked up, hoping it was a call from Ed McMahon, calling to say she won a gazillion dollars from Publishers Clearing House. Then again, it would most likely be better news for Ed McMahon if he called, since he had died a few years back.

No message? No such luck ... the recording on the machine was probably still going.

"...If Buddy could answer, he would," the message continued as a resonant dog's bark seemed to respond on cue, "but since he can't, and we're not home, please leave a message after the beep and we'll be sure to call you back."

What followed were goodbyes from mother, children, and some howling at the end, with the help of the dog.

Holding her breath and to see if it was the landscaping guy, she wondered how on earth she was going to pay for landscaping when she might soon be losing the house.

Jeff sat back down, adjusted himself in his seat, and waited for the recording to end, ready to leave a message. Beep...

"Hi, this is Jeff Mason, from Mason Landscaping, I tried calling several times but ..." the phone clicked.

"Hel ... sorry, hello?" The person on the other end was out of breath when she answered and didn't sound anything like the happy voice he had heard on the recording the day before.

Jeff picked up a paper, looked at it, and turned it over to write on the blank side just in case he had to take notes. He was about to introduce himself once again, when she saved him the trouble.

"Hey, I'm so glad you called. I was beginning to wonder if I'd hear from you," she laughed and a loud screeching sound erupted in the background, making it very hard for Jeff to hear what followed. The voice had apparently continued as if she didn't get the screeching sound on her end. It would have been impossible for her to continue had she heard it.

"...So I'm really sorry, but we'll have to cancel the job."

What the ... At this Jeff jumped to his feet and would have pounced on her had she been anywhere near.

"What do you mean cancel the job? I've got thirty bags of cement, 500 pounds of river rock, and a top-of-the-line sprinkler system on order, not to mention a truck with the best quality soil available, ready and waiting to be delivered to your address!" He knew he was yelling into the phone, but he didn't care.

"There is no 'we'll just have to cancel', because we have a contract," and with a slight hesitation he added "and it's binding!"

The screech in the background continued and the woman raised her voice higher to be heard, but also to match his volume. Apparently she did hear the screeching, so it wasn't only on his end.

"Mr. Mason, weren't you listening? You can do the job if you'd like, but I can't pay you. You'll just be wasting your time and your money."

No, he hadn't been listening. The screeching in the background had made it hard for him to focus. Jeff started tossing papers all over his desk and shuffling through them as quickly as he could. This was one of those times when he thought that clearing his desk and filing things might actually help his business.

There was a system to the chaos that surrounded him. Basically, his filing system followed the unorthodox order of what job came first. The top papers being jobs that were in progress, and the papers that came next were jobs coming up, and on the bottom he had a small stack of estimates and potential clients. The system had worked for him for the past seven years and he prided himself on being the only one who could understand it.

There. He found the contract he was looking for and pulled it out from under at least two dozen very similar contracts. He looked at one of the contracts and realized it was a few months old; he never said the system was perfect.

A key fell out of the stack as he was pulling out the contract and he gave it a quick glance, not knowing what it was for, he put it in his pants pocket to figure that one out later. Pulling the Sinclair contract from the pile and looking at it more closely, he scratched off a stain on the letterhead that looked suspiciously like mustard and continued.

"Listen lady, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but there's a contract with everything I just told you on it, and I'm looking at it right now." Jeff stretched his long legs and rubbed his eyes with the free hand that was not holding onto the phone.

"It says the job starts on June 15th – that's ..." he sat up straighter, "that's tomorrow. Yup, June 15th. It also says the estimated cost of materials plus labor is $14,000.00, which by the way is a bargain, so whoever negotiated this contract got a great deal for you. A great bargain." He added lowering his voice and once again thinking he had to do something about his pricing.

"Listen, and I don't mean to be rude," the woman interjected, "but I don't care what it says. The bottom line is I don't have any money to pay you, so you'll just have to cancel."

"No, you listen to me. I don't care what your finances are. From the moment you signed this, you had a legal obligation. It says it on the bottom of the page. That's the only reason we buy the materials ahead of time for you. We use our money in advance, but by buying more, we get the best rates. Everyone wins, that is if I get paid for the money I already put out."

Jeff heard some scraping sound in the background, like furniture being moved, and then the same screeching noise from before.

"This contract is binding. I have your signature here. It's uh ... right here. There's a P. Sinclair. Your scribble is right here in front of my face."

The screech in the background grew even louder to the point where Jeff had to pull the phone away from his ear, but somehow, that didn't even phase the harried woman who quickly responded.

"That's Peter Sinclair for your information, and I'm Sera Henderson Sinclair. So see, it's not me after all".

Jeff adjusted the phone a little closer to his ear this time, but instead of just listening, he hit the side of his head with the receiver a few times, trying to unclog his brain before speaking. All the while, the screeching in the background grew louder.

He was used to jackhammers, saws, loud cement mixer trucks, but whatever was on the other end of the phone was painfully noisy and almost otherworldly.

"Excuse me," Jeff said, almost yelling again to match the noise on the other end. "Is that a fax line in the background? Cause I can't even hear what you're saying?"

"No Mr. Mason," the woman said exasperated, "it's not a fax, that's my daughter. And before you ask, no, there's no way I can quiet her down. She does this all day long."

Jeff had nephews and nieces he claimed were almost inhuman at times. The way they moved nonstop, touched everything, put whatever they were touching in their mouths, and smelled foully, but none of them sounded like that. He almost found himself feeling sorry for Mrs. Sinclair, but not sorry enough to drop the small matter of a $14,000 job she was expecting him to suck up.

"So you're Sera Henderson - Sinclair. Fine, is Peter Sinclair your husband, then?"

"Well, uh ... I, you see,"

"It's not really that difficult a question you know. Either you're married to him or you're not, but if you are, you're just as responsible for the bill as he is."

"Mr. Mason, believe it or not that question is harder to answer than you think, but legally ... yes."

"Yes, as in Peter Sinclair is your husband?" Jeff wondered if the woman was on drugs. How hard was it to say the P. Sinclair on the contract was in fact her husband?

"Well then, that settles it. Your husband signed the contract so you are both responsible for paying the bills."

Hell, Jeff knew he was no businessman. He was a landscaper, so he wasn't even sure about recourse in a case like this, but he was not about to let another client take advantage of him again. He had to at least pretend he had the upper hand. Truthfully though, Jeff was a lousy businessman, but he was an artist in the landscape business when given free reign. He was also really lucky in that he was surrounded by honest people for the most part. Those he worked with who looked after him, and those who loved his work.

The woman had stopped speaking.

"Mrs. Sinclair? Are you still there?"

"Yes, and you're right. Okay, I'll pay you for the labor then. My husband can pay you for all of the materials."

He smiled at that. Not bad... At least she was a quick thinker when it came to business and striking deals. Too bad she didn't know how landscaping worked.

"Just for your information Mrs. Sinclair," he added putting emphasis on her marital status, "labor is more costly than the actual materials."

"I gathered that Mr. Mason," she said smugly, "and since the labor won't be done - because I'm cancelling the job - I have no problem with you billing my husband for the materials, even that top-of-the-line sprinkler system you mentioned earlier. So I guess that pretty much settles my part of the debt."

Quick thinking and smart, he thought reminding himself how lucky he was to be single.

"I'm sorry Mrs. Sinclair. I don't know what prompted this, or what this is all about, but when we write up a contract, we do the job. The job consists of materials and labor." Jeff was starting to worry about tomorrow's delivery and the bill for specific materials he'd ordered that he wasn't ready to be stuck with, and probably couldn't return.

"Did you change your mind on what you want done? You two – uh ... you and your husband - not agree on the layout? Are you moving, or did you find another landscaper?" Then hesitating, "I can't even believe I'm saying this, but I need to know what's going on if you want me to work with you on this."

The silence on the other end was followed by a strung out sigh that sounded like the air emptying out of a tire.

"No, Mr. Mason, it's none of the above. The job itself isn't the problem. I'm not moving or shopping around for another landscaper, and I don't even know what layout my husband and you agreed on." She paused, completely deflated, and added in a whisper, "I can't find my husband. I have no idea where he is. If you asked me to look for him, I wouldn't even know where to start."

Well that was unexpected. Then again, some problems followed him like magnets. Jeff would have to check, but as far as he remembered, the ad he took out in the Yellow Pages said he was a landscaper, not a sucker or a counselor, not even a businessperson, but a landscaper.

The last time something like this had come up, he had promised to protect himself against anything that could screw up getting paid. The last one was the contract with the widow. Well, she wasn't a widow when she signed it, but she had done a lot of crying and now she had a beautiful yard, free of charge, and a new husband only three months after starting widowhood.

The business couldn't stand another case like that. No, there would be no more widows, divorcees, families with hungry children, or missing husbands. He was running a business, and emotions had nothing to do with business, other than the emotion caused from leaving a client with the thrill of a beautiful yard, patio, or garden, and a job well done.

"Fine," he suddenly heard a voice from very deep within him say, "I'll cancel tomorrow's truck and all other deliveries." Then, running his fingers through his dark hair that had just a little bit of gray in it (most likely a result of the outcome of the widow's contract), he paused, and as if to himself, he said, "I don't know what I'm going to do with all of the materials, but I'll say one thing for your husband, he has good taste. He had me order only the best. Everything is top-of-the-line".

"Yes, that sounds like him ..." her voice trailed off. Then, "You sound like a nice guy."

Jeff was getting tired of hearing that.

"I'll tell you what," she continued softly, "if you feel bad about charging my husband for materials that won't be used, then as soon as I find out where he lives, I'll give you his address so you can dump every ounce of cement and rocks he ordered right on his doorstep. I'm hoping he'll be standing there when you do."

Jeff chuckled at that.

"Oh, and I'm sorry for yelling. It seems that's all I do these days. That and stopping checks, calling contractors, utility and mortgage companies, and specializing in a lot of creative financing."

Hell, Jeff was just about to tell her that she still owed him at least a portion of the money no matter what her personal problems were, and here he was, almost crying from the sob story.

This part was definitely the downside of the business. He hated collecting money, dealing with people directly, and had a hard time escaping the personal problems they brought forth. He almost wished he was still working for Freddie, but although Freddie took care of his business, he was a con man and that's the only reason why Jeff had gone out on his own. Better a sucker than a user.

"Listen lady, I'll have to call you back and come up with a plan. I just can't eat all of the expenses. In the meantime, worry about the other contractors on your list, and I'll come up with something. Don't worry. I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you Mr. Mason," she was obviously touched, "and by the way, my name is Sera."

"Yeah. I'm Jeff. Okay, I'll keep in touch ... Sera". As he hung up the phone he wondered. Why don't I just make this a non-profit enterprise and avoid the pain of it all.
Chapter 2

Jeff arrived at his office on Monday morning much later than his usual 7:30 show up time. He had been up since five that morning, going over a pile of outstanding bills and skeptically looking over a list of prospective clients. By seven that morning, he had had two pots of strong coffee, a box of stale doughnuts he found in the back of the kitchen cabinet while looking for some sugar, and was ready to call it a day. He reached the conclusion that the business aspect of his job was taking all the fun out of what he loved to do. By the time he dragged himself into work, he was emotionally drained.

As soon as he walked into his office, he knew something was amiss because it was Monday morning and Todd and Alan were all smiles. As soon as he stepped in, Mitch seemed to come out of nowhere, slapping him on the back and telling him what a glorious Monday morning it was.

In his seven years working with Todd and Alan, Jeff had never seen them smile; he didn't even know they could smile. And as for Mitch ... he must have smelled too many of those weeds they were taking out of their clients' yards.

Completely dumbfounded, he turned the corner into his office and immediately realized it wasn't weeds or weed. The reason behind the smiles on and the cheery disposition of these clowns on this glorious Monday morning took another shape altogether.

Stumbling into his office after being caught off guard and slapped on the back, he was immediately greeted by the most gorgeous, ass-thetically pleasing tush in tight jeans he had seen in a long, long time.

He wondered what the face looked like and quickly decided it didn't really matter as he focused on her assets while she was bent down shuffling through some papers and totally unaware of the eight eyes boring through her. Four pair of eyes who should have been working on something, but couldn't disengage.

The fact that she was rummaging through his papers didn't immediately register.

The woman turned around without looking up and carried a stack of papers to a file cabinet that had come with the building and had never been used. As far as he could recall, the cabinet had never been opened, and so far, had been used as a shelf for a silk plant his mother gave him as a gift when he started the business.

To his dismay, the plant was now in the trash bin next to the file cabinet. That hurt.

The woman was oblivious to the attention she was getting and after depositing the stack of papers in a neat pile in the top drawer of the file cabinet, she turned around to see a gaping Jeff standing before her.

The first thing Jeff thought before hinging his jaw back into place was that the woman's front-side was just as pretty as her backside. She looked to be in her early thirties, and not only wore the jeans very well, but the white t-shirt she had on was filled out in all the right places and looked like an advertisement for trouble.

She was petite, but disproportionately bigger where it really mattered. Her hair was tied with one of those elastic fabric bands his nieces always wore, and her eyes were as green as the silk plant had once been.

Jeff gave himself a few seconds before giving in to reason. Regretfully, he decided it was time to put an end to his enjoyment - nice tush or not. After all, this was his office, he was the boss, and he had no idea what the hell was going on.

"What did you do to my plant?!" was somehow the first thing that came out of his mouth. As if realizing how stupid his remark was, Jeff rather forcefully shoved his amused employees out of the way and out of his office.

She looked down at the trash bin he was pointing to, suddenly seeming very confused as she looked back up to see his expectant and slightly flushed face.

"It's dead. I don't think it can be saved, so I threw it out." Bending down to get it, she added, "I can put it back up he ..."

Now that really hurt. Not to mention the fact that her bending down again completely disarmed him.

"How can silk be dead?" he snapped.

"That was silk?" she replied smiling. "I never met anyone who could kill silk before."

Jeff tried to ignore the chuckles coming from the room next door, but just as he was about to snap at them, the intruder approached him with a smile and a hand extended as if welcoming him into her office instead of the other way around.

Her hand dangled in the air for a few seconds without his acknowledgement, and unperturbed she turned away and sat on his chair behind the big metal desk.

"You must be Mr. Mason. Nice to meet you. I'm Sera." She noticed she had yet to get a reaction from him, so she turned around and started going through another new neat pile that was stacked on his desk.

Jeff was still wondering who Sera was, and then it dawned on him. The lady with the kid who sounded like a fax machine.

"This is my office," he announced ominously only to hear the chuckles from behind him grow louder.

"Don't any of you have any work to do?!" The quick shuffle of feet and the roar of laughter that exploded as a door slammed behind him meant the men had retreated outside the building.

Good, three problems down, and one to go.

He turned to find the woman still waiting for some recognition from him.

"I came to discuss my bill." Sera said as she put some paper clips into a little container in the drawer.

She was still sitting behind his desk on his chair and Jeff decided he would lose even more ground if he brought in another chair to sit across from her. Had she been the one standing, he wouldn't have hesitated to get another chair. After all, his mother and his two older sisters had raised him well, but he was at a loss right now on how to proceed.

Jeff stood at the doorway, suddenly feeling very out of place in his own office and decided to walk over to the desk and search for the contract.

"Sinclair, right?" He looked up. Her eyes were really green. "Sinclair, yes, let me see ..."

"It's filed under 'S' over there." She said pointing to the file cabinet next to the trash bin where his silk plant was still resting.

Jeff moved toward the file cabinet, pretending he had some control, and opened the drawer to find folders filed alphabetically and labeled with bold printed letters in Sharpie black. "Yes, of course. Here it is, Sinclair. Hmm, let me see..."

Sera was leaning over him and had her finger on the bottom of the sheet, pointing to something she had obviously already looked at.

Jeff's vision was blurred and he was consumed by another sense; how good she smelled. She moved away and tucked in a wisp of hair threatening to come loose from the pink scrunchy she was wearing.

That about made him melt, and then she surprised him by asking if he wanted her chair.

"No, I'm fine standing. Go ahead, sit down."

"Thank you," she said taking her seat behind the desk again. "I came to discuss the cost of the materials for the job I cancelled last night. As I mentioned before," she had picked up one of the paper clips and was tying it in knots and staring down at it. When she looked up, her face had turned a slight pink, and embarrassed she added quickly, "I don't know where my husband is and I don't have any money to spare until I can find out what we're going to do. Now," she looked up to him proudly, "if you would just look at the notes I made over here on the bottom of the contract ..."

"You made notes on the contract?" he blurted out. There had to be something illegal about that. "How long have you been going through my desk? Do you always waltz into an office, go through a desk, mess with the filing system, and tamper with contracts?" he paused to catch his breath. "Or is this a new thing?"

Jeff went around the desk and pointed to his chair. "I think I will sit down now. On my chair. Lady, you've got more problems than you know."

"I – I, I'm sorry. I'm really, really, really sorry. You're absolutely right. I, I always do this and I don't know why. Not," she stopped and furrowed her brow. "What did you say? Waltzing? No, not waltzing into offices, but ... I ..."

Head hanging low, Sera bent down to get her purse, and all Jeff could think of this time was not her tush, but that these were the biggest tear-filled, and most beautiful green eyes he had ever seen.

He felt like an ass.

She was still mumbling something he couldn't hear because she kept her head down, and was talking into her white t-shirt. Then she looked up, and with quivering lips said, "I'm sorry, I just meant to help.

"I'm constantly trying to fix things, help out, and make things better. Not that there was a problem here," she added quickly pointing to the desk and the cabinet, "but I thought I could do it a little better," she blushed. "Snap. I did it again, didn't I?"

Jeff stood staring at her. Snap? Who said snap these days?

Before he knew it, she was running out of the office and into the street outside of the building, where her car was parked. And, before Jeff realized what he was doing, he was chasing after her to tell her she could snoop in his office any time she wanted.

"Wait Sera, wait a minute. Mrs. Sinclair, come back here!" He yelled out and saw that his voice had attracted the attention of his three co-workers, and they were all fixing a dirty look on him. He shook his head in frustration and gave them the bird.

Here he was trying to make amends with someone who ransacked his office, stuck him with over $6,000.00 worth of materials, and tampered with the document that was his only hope to use if he took the case to a small claims court, and he was the bad guy. Just because he made a woman run off in tears? Didn't it at least matter that it was his silk plant that was now being given an improper burial in a trashcan? Life was definitely not fair.
Chapter 3

Sera pushed her way past Jeff and ran off to the street where her car was parked. The tears she had held back for so long suddenly started pouring out like a floodgate had just opened.

She had messed up. She came to right a wrong, and she had screwed up. Jeff seemed like a genuinely nice guy. Last night after she hung up with him she had felt really, really bad. Peter had messed everything up for her and the kids. In fact, he left not only family and friends hanging, but business partners and others he owed a lot of money to as well. But Jeff Mason hadn't married Peter, she had.

I'm a nuisance.

She wondered what ever possessed her to go and organize Jeff Mason's desk and start filing his papers. She came to his office to explain how things were and thank him for his patience, but made him lose his patience instead. Eventually she'd pay him back. That was what she had come here to tell him. But instead...

The guy was absolutely right. Jeff had basically called her a lunatic, and he was absolutely right. Peter had told her she was crazy, her family constantly told her she was insane for trying to fix everything all the time, and now Jeff Mason, a total stranger, had her pegged for a loony almost at first sight.

Sera got to her car and opened the door she had apparently left unlocked. She sat in the driver's seat, with shoulders shaking. She was due for a good cry and this was as good a time as any.

The tears wouldn't stop pouring down her cheeks, but it didn't matter, it was raining outside anyway.

Sera hugged the steering wheel and put her head down. She knew she had to get a job because she had no idea how long she could last with the little money she had in the bank, or if Peter would ever deposit money in their account again. If not for her, he should at least do it for the kids. He had deposited two checks in the past four months and not even the bank had been able to trace where the deposit had come from. In fact, Sera had wondered if it was Peter who had sent that money to her in the first place. It was possible it had been someone from his work, but she really doubted it. He had a lot of people fooled, but...

Peter was a jewel. Like a diamond that looks beautiful and can slice you open.

She met him in high school. The first day she saw him, she was a goner. He had a way about him; he was charming. He was an actor and a manipulator, but she didn't pick up on that until much later. Too late.

After high school, they went off to college together. Sera would have followed him to the end of the earth, but she was lucky, college was only a few hundred miles away.

Of course, he was a jock at school, and Sera wasn't one of the popular girls. She was pretty, but she was nerdy. And it took a while for her to grow in places that made the popular girls, more popular. And speaking of popularity, that's exactly what she gained when Greg, her ex, had started spreading rumors about her and ruining her reputation. Greg had done it out of spite when he got tired of hearing her say no.

Interestingly, Greg broke up with her, and the previously not-so-popular girl started getting asked out a lot more. Just as quickly, she was dumped and decided she'd had it with guys, but that was when Peter showed up, and also about the same time her boobs made their appearance.

Peter was different. She never thought she was in his league and never tried to edge her way into the more popular groups, but Peter had noticed her, and that was something.

At the end of their junior year in high school, they started dating. Peter immediately took it upon himself to explain the ways of the world to her; somehow, at seventeen, he already knew.

He pointed out that she had apparently lived in a very protected and artificial world, and he was set on educating her as much as he could.

There was a lot of education taking place during their senior year in high school and in their freshman year in college. And before her year-end finals, she was educated enough to recognize the fact that she was three months pregnant.

Peter had done the right thing and had married the poor girl, as word would have it. Of course, having a dad in the military didn't hurt matters and kind of kept things moving, at least in the beginning. Sera's dad could be intimidating.

"Pops," damn she missed her dad. He died a few months after P.D. was born. Then came Michelle – Melle – because Peter had a thing for Michelle Pfeifer at the time, Charlie, named after Pops, and now Emma, who was seven months strong.

Sera didn't regret marrying Peter, if only because of the great kids he had given her. Had she been smarter, she would have figured out that Peter didn't care if they had one or ten kids, because he had never planned to be a part of their lives. No, she had no regrets. Peter made cute babies, and she wouldn't change them for the world. Well, she would install a temporary mute button on Em if she could, but that was about it.

Ironically, rumor had it that Peter had at least one more kid with someone else. You'd think the guy would learn. And despite taking pride in already fathering four kids (what century was he from?) he never fessed up.

Sera was still sitting in the driver's seat with her head down on the steering wheel. She heaved when she took in air and mixed it with the heavy flow of her tears.

Enough. She said to no one.

She took one big breath and lifted her head off the wheel to see if the storm outside had subsided.

That's when she saw Jeff Mason looking into her car window.

He was soaked on the outside, and she was soaked on the inside. She looked down in search of her keys to get as far away and as quickly as possible and heard him tapping on the glass. He was pointing to the window, and making a hand motion for her to roll it down – something only people over the age of thirty do. He looked exasperated when she mouthed no, but the truth is she couldn't, and she didn't want him to know why.

Sera saw him try to open the door she had locked. He looked like he could have easily busted it open. Instead, he paced a few steps in the cold rain, before he came back to the window and tapped again. He was a nice guy.

She sat there for a good two, very frustrating minutes, shaking her head, wanting to cry some more and wanting to make herself completely invisible. However, more than anything she wanted to drive off as fast as she could and go home!

If only she had the car keys she left on Jeff's desk.

Jeff Mason didn't enjoy making women cry or putting up with their stupid tantrums. He felt bad about upsetting her the way he apparently had, and he was trying to do his part to make amends.

He tapped on the window again and motioned for her to roll it down. His nephew would have laughed at that; you don't roll windows down anymore.

What the hell was she doing? This is ridiculous. Either roll down your window or drive off, but don't just sit there. He looked again and could tell she was still breathing. That was good, but she just sat there without even acknowledging him. She was actually pouting.

Jeff threw his arms up into the air and turned around to leave, wondering if the three stooges in his office would ever forgive him for getting rid of their only source of enjoyment on this murky Monday. There was nothing else he could do. He'd run out of options. He didn't want to leave her there, but she gave him no choice. His only option was to go back and face the clowns he worked with; he didn't like that option either.

He had started to storm off when he heard the car door click, open, and then shut. He turned again and saw Sera get out of the car stretching her lovely body to a mere five feet, if that, and walk right past him towards his office building.

With her back straight and chin up, she marched quickly, looking proud and as if the last ten minutes had never happened.

She was ahead of Jeff when he saw Todd and Alan open the door to let her in. The look they gave him said he was still the villain. He flipped them again and decided this could easily become his new Monday greeting.

Sera was stepping out of his office when Jeff stormed in. She was trying to get out as he was trying to get in, and the next thing he knew they were sidestepping each other in an effort to go where they wanted, trying really hard to not make bodily contact. Finally, Jeff raised his hands in the air and stepped aside pointing her in the right direction.

Her back was still to him when he broke the silent dance they had just performed.

"I blew my top. I'm sorry." Then looking down and putting his hands deep into his jean pockets, he added, "Please stay for a minute. I'd really appreciate it."

Sera froze where she was and turned around to look at Jeff.

Jeff was caught off guard. Those were some of the saddest and prettiest eyes he had ever seen.

"Sera, come in, because if you don't come out of this office smiling, those three jackasses I employ will never let me live this down, and for the record, you didn't mess up my desk, I did. I can't make heads or tails of some of that paperwork sometimes. I'm lousy at the business part of this job, I don't know how to keep an office organized, I didn't know that file cabinet could actually hold anything in it, and more than anything," Jeff paused and smiled, "I'm really lousy at customer service."

Sera was looking down at the floor and didn't say a word, but Jeff wasn't done.

"I do some of the best landscaping and stonescaping in town. I just wish I didn't have to do it to earn a living because it really takes all the fun out of it.

"What I'm trying to say is I'm sorry. Here," Jeff pulled his desk chair out and pointed for her to sit down. "Why don't we pretend you just walked in and let's try to settle our differences once and for all, unless you want to see me in the headlines: Landscaping boss buried alive by his three employees."

"You're too nice." Sera answered. "That's your problem. You have to look at your clients as a name on a contract, not as people with lives or families with personal problems like mine. You should have a secretary dealing with this, being the bad guy, and then you could focus on what you like, what you really enjoy, giving you a chance to be creative and have fun doing it. What's the use in owning your own business if you're not even having fun? Money isn't everything." Sera looked up at him and pointedly added, "Even when you don't have it. Your secretary could organize your office allowing you to get more prospects and new jobs. You'd be able to take on new jobs and still enjoy some free time with your family, or your wife and kids, whoever is important in your life, and even then ..."

Sera stopped abruptly and suddenly turned a very bright red. When she looked up at Jeff, he was standing with his back against the wall, arms crossed over his chest, and had a very big and somewhat wicked smile on his face.

"Snap! I did it again, didn't I?" Sera told him in a rush.

"You knew exactly how to apologize. That was really well done by the way. And what did I just do? I told you what I think you're doing wrong and let you know how you should live your own life.

"I should go. Call me up and tell me what I owe and somehow, I'll find a way to pay you back. I'm sorry I wasted your time." And as an afterthought, "By the way, you're pretty good at the customer service stuff," she added with a weak smile as she turned to leave.

Jeff put his hands up in the air in a motion to stop her in her tracks. "Oh no you don't. You're not getting off that easy. I may look like a moron, but I can't simply let you go without leaving me a deposit or some type of legal document stating that you will make good on your account. Can you type?"

"On a computer?"

Jeff motioned her to stay and started toward Mitch's office as he overheard some shuffling of feet walk away in different directions. As expected, they were eavesdropping again. She was right, he had to get the office in shape, but first he had to point out to his employees that there were at least half a dozen jobs in need of supervision and these morons were just standing around, listening in on his conversation.

"Hey Sera, come here. Mitch has a PC in his office that I'm sure has a word processing program on it. I don't know how good it is. All I ever see Mitch do is play solitaire or minesweeper."

Jeff heard Mitch's deep voice say, "Ouch, that hurt," as they made sure Sera found her way to Mitch's office. Jeff held the chair back for Sera to sit down and she immediately exited a FreeCell game that was on the screen, proof of what Jeff had just said. She accessed My Documents, and opened a blank document to start typing.

"What exactly is it that you want me to type? Do you want me to create a new contract or a pay schedule for the money I owe? I can probably do that better on Excel."

"If you don't mind," Jeff told her with a smile, "I'll dictate and you write. Okay?"

Sera uncomfortably adjusted her bottom on the chair's seat and focused on the keyboard. Placing her fingers on it just so, she was ready to start.

She actually looked like she knew what she was doing, but Jeff's two index fingers were all he ever used, so he wasn't sure how fingers were supposed to be positioned.

When Jeff finally began dictating, her fingers started flying over the keys as words were spat out onto the monitor, leaving little time for him to think up words fast enough for her to type.

"Okay, I think that's it." He had only seen her falter where he knew she probably would, but she had regained speed immediately after.

"Please read it back to me," he said in his most professional voice.

"I, Sera Henderson Sinclair," Sera cleared her throat and looked up at him before continuing, "will pay back the debt of expenses incurred by Mr. Jeff Mason in the amount of $5,768.00 (see attached), for materials purchased for the purpose of landscaping my home at 134 Hillcrest Ln.

I understand the debt will increase to its full amount of $14,000.00 if the project outlined on the estimate sheet is indeed completed by Mason Landscaping.

Full debt must be paid by March 15, 2014, or matters will be pursued by legal action taken against me."

Sera looked imploringly at her newest legal threat and then to the words on the screen before her.

"That's only six months away. I'm not sure if I can pay it all back by then, no matter how hard I try."

Dismissing her comment he motioned for her to keep typing.

"Where were we? Oh yeah," he cleared his throat. "Jeffrey Mason, owner/manager of Mason Landscaping accepts payment of said debt in the form of employment by Sera Henderson Sinclair.

"A portion of Ms. Sinclair's salary, not to exceed 20% and in accordance with current employment rates, will be deducted every month, for six months, until said debt of $5,768.00 is fulfilled."

"Go ahead and put the signature and date lines on the bottom to make this legal. I can get one of the three stooges to witness or someone else."

Sera didn't do as she was told, and instead asked, "You're offering me a job?"

"No, I'm not sure 'offering' is the word I'd use. I want my money's worth one way or another and unless you win the lottery, it doesn't look like I'll get paid any other way."

Jeff was caught off guard as Sera jumped into his arms and gave him a hug.

"When do I start?"

"I believe you just did."

"So what are my hours?" The look of excitement on her face was priceless, as was Jeff's look of confusion. He faltered for a second while trying to shake off the warmth of the quick hug and respond in his most professional voice.

"I'll expect you here at 7:30 every morning, you'll get an hour off for lunch, two fifteen-minute breaks, and you can leave at 4:00. I don't consider it unethical or think it's harassment to expect to find coffee ready for me when I come in to work at 8:00 every morning. Your duties will include answering phones, filing, taking care of the billing, payroll, ordering materials when I ask you to, and dealing with the clients on financial matters I need you to take care of.

"I think that about does it. Today I'd like you to continue with what you've already started." Jeff's lips moved slightly as he made an effort not to smile before he continued, "But before you do, I like my coffee strong and black with no sugar or cream."

As he turned, Jeff saw that his business partner and his two employees had gone back to their offices and back to their work. He might be wrong, but he thought he noticed a look of respect when they glanced his way. Sometimes it paid to lay the law and let them know who was boss in this place. Nope, this Monday hadn't been as horrible as he thought it would be after all.

Feeling quite proud of himself, he decided to take off for a bite to eat and let everyone cool down a bit before he began training Sera. He was about to leave when he suddenly remembered something. A little hesitantly, he went back to where Sera was stacking up papers and separating them into piles.

"One more thing, before I go," he added while trying to keep his voice down so the others wouldn't hear, "I forgot about your kids. Does this work for you? If not let me know if we need to make some other arrangements." Mitch had just walked in and rolled his eyes, and Todd and Alan could be heard chuckling from the other rooms.

So much for gaining their respect.
Chapter 4

Sera waited until it was almost noon before she called her sister-in-law, Deb. In the two hours that followed from the time Sera was hired at her new job, to finally sitting down to make the call, Sera had already filled an entire cabinet drawer with alphabetized statements and was starting another. Right now however, her number one priority was to call Deb and let her know what was going on.

Sera punched in the number from memory and waited several rings with no success. They could be outside, but she knew Deb had to be home unless there had been an accident. Another possibility was that Deb hadn't heard the phone ring. Sera looked at her watch and shook her head. Emma's colic attacks hit pretty much on target every day, but she still had some time left before she slept it off and re-energized for another screeching fit.

The doctors had explained that colic was still a mystery in many ways, but the good news was that children outgrow it. The bad news was that Emma should have outgrown it by now, and because she hadn't, she qualified as one of those special cases. UGH!

Emma's colic had started at exactly two weeks of age, which was pretty typical. Her episodes were predictable in length and times, as most cases are, and at this point, Sera had it down to a science. Mothers of colicky children plan their lives around these times; they know when to sleep, when to make a phone call, and when to go out without putting everyone within listening distance at risk. For the past six and a half months, Sera's life had revolved around Emma's screeching schedule and trying to keep the family finances from completely disappearing.

When the colic had first started, Sera had been terrified. P.D. had been such a quiet, calm, and smiley little boy. Melle had been a little more active, but still, a very easy baby over all, and Charlie was incredibly sweet and giggly. None of them had ever wailed or thrown fits. Emma on the other hand, let's just say she wasn't the type of baby most people wanted anywhere near them.

Emma was beautiful, but would have been the perfect poster child for all the reasons to encourage birth control. Sera had had her checked out by more than one pediatrician, and they all concluded it was colic, a pretty nasty colic, but simply colic. The best they could do for her – for the mother, that is - was to give Sera her a mild sedative to calm her nerves when things got out of hand. But with four kids, who could afford to take a sedative and possibly be knocked out no matter how tempting it was?

Peter hadn't been terrified when it all started like Sera was. Not afraid that something might be really wrong with their baby, he was just annoyed. If someone suggested that Peter might have stayed longer had it not been for Emma, all Sera would say was "Thank you Emma." She would make sure not to burden the poor baby with guilt for something her stupid dad did.

It was really hard to remember now, but Peter had been fun at one point. Peter wasn't the most patient person in the world and wasn't really suited to be the dad of four kids, but since the only qualifications are sperm, he proudly accepted his fate – to a point.

Before the kids were born, Sera and Pete had done everything together. School, studying, games, parties, breaks, and even meals were always with Peter; life was good.

That didn't change for Sera. As far as she was concerned, life was still good. It was different, but good. Motherhood was awesome. She felt her contribution to the world was great, and her kids were the best. She blossomed during her pregnancies and loved every minute of it. Life was good. And now, at least she didn't feel like she had to constantly protect the kids from Peter's impatience.

Peter's biggest issue was that he and Sera had very little alone time, which basically translated to sex. Gone were the days when Peter came home for a nooner, or they had a quickie while the roast was cooking in the oven. Peter complained that they couldn't even go to a restaurant anymore, but that wasn't exactly true. It was true that they couldn't go to the nice French restaurant they used to love, but they could definitely still do noisy Italian. Peter didn't want to share his wife with anyone, not even his own children.

That wasn't entirely true though. Peter liked Sera when she looked good and he could show her off. Then he didn't mind sharing her for the world to see. By the end of her pregnancies, his excuse was that she probably felt uncomfortable going out. The truth was he hated it when she looked like a blimp.

Sera tried dialing again and this time Deb picked up after the third ring. As soon as she heard her sister- in-law on the other end she immediately felt sorry for her. She sounded like she was totally out of breath. Not only did Deb's voice sound tired and strained, but in the background, Sera could hear Emma's high-pitched wail and knew exactly what Deb was up against.

Deb was gasping for breath when she screamed "Sera, where are you?" Sera didn't think she heard fear in Deb's voice, as much as the fact that Deb's hearing was just a tad strained.

"I'm at work. Are you all right?"

"Oh yeah. Aha, I'm great."

"You're out of breath."

"Oh, well that, I was just exercising."

"Bull. You hate to exercise, not to mention the fact that you have four kids with you under the age of six, which makes it impossible to do anything as fun as suffering great pain with major sweating."

"All right, all right. No, I wasn't exercising, how do you do it Sera?"

"What are you talking about? You have four kids too."

"Yeah I know, but you have Emma!"

Sera laughed at her sister-in-law. Emma was a handful, but if anyone could handle her, other than Sera herself, it was Deb.

"Wait a minute. Did you say you were at work?"

"Uh, yes. I should have talked to you first, but this sort of just landed on my lap, so to speak." Sera smiled as she looked at the pile of papers she was holding while she talked to Deb.

"Listen Deb. I'm sorry, I really am. I'm sorry about this and everything else. You guys have been the best friends I could ever ask for now that Peter's gone. You're not just family and you know it. I hate this. I know it's not easy with Emma and Charlie, in addition to yours, but I was hoping you could help me find someone to watch them for a few hours a day. I may even be able to come up with some work I can do from home to cut down my hours ..."

"Whoa, hold it. You have a job?"

"Don't worry, I'm not asking you to watch my kids all the time."

"Hey kiddo, this is temporary and you can forget about paying someone to take care of them. Chad and I will do what we can to help you and you know it."

Sera sighed, "Don't make offers you will regret."

"Whatever. So about this job ... Where is it? And how did this happen? You never said you were interviewing for a job."

"Well, I didn't exactly, consciously, or really interview for this job."

"What the hell are you saying? English please, and dumb it down. I'm used to kid talk."

Sera smiled at her sister-in-law's straight-to-the-point attitude. She had always loved that about her. In fact, she loved everyone in Peter's family and wondered how Peter ended up the way he did with such great people in his life. Sera teased Deb about it and always said she had married the wrong Sinclair; Deb was one hot little number and she could cook, but Deb was a Sinclair only by marriage, like Sera was.

"I've been working at my new job since 9:30 this morning. Remember I told you I was trying to settle some financial matters this morning? Well, first on my list was a guy who called me last night. Actually, he was returning my call. Anyway, it was a $14,000.00 landscaping job Peter had set up," Sera paused and rolled her eyes while she heard Deb growl in response. "It was something I didn't even know about until a couple of weeks ago. Well, I owe him a ton of money for material, and he offered me a job to repay it. I get a decent salary for the next six months. Plus at the end of that time, my financial obligation is fulfilled, and as far as employment goes, I can decide what I want to do afterwards if he's still happy with what I'm doing. It may help me pay off some other debts as well."

"You know we'll help you ..."

"I know, I know, but your brother-in-law did some pretty stupid stuff, and it's going to take more than a village to fix what he screwed up."

"Okay, tell me more about the job. They're not screwing you because they think you're desperate are they?"

Sera thought about how she had started reorganizing Jeff's files, how she had made herself comfortable in his office, had run off crying, stuck him with a whole bunch of materials and a debt she couldn't possibly pay, told him everything he did that was wrong in how he ran things ... and smiled.

"No, I don't think you have to worry about that. The guy, Jeff, is really nice. He seems very decent. He's not very organized, and if anything, I think I could be the one that will screw him."

"Really? That good looking?"

Sera turned bright red and looked around the office to make sure she was alone in case anyone could have heard that.

"Deb, you're an ass. And yes, now that you mention it, he is pretty good looking, but for me to even think about a guy that way is hopeless. Peter and I will never be together again, so my days with a man are over until the kids grow up. I'll just have to consider adding some new 'tools' to play with at home."

Deb laughed at Sera's quick analysis. "You know, Chad travels a great deal. I've found some ways of fixing stuff without tools ..."

"Yeah, well chocolate will just make me fat and I can't afford any more clothes. I'm still struggling to wear some of the stuff I was wearing before P.D. was born.

"Joking aside, this guy I work for ... Jeff, it's funny, but I don't really think he wants people to know how nice he really is."

"Are you sure you can handle being treated nicely for a change?"

"I believe it's something I could get used to rather quickly."

"Okay, now that I've made you smile for a couple of seconds, not meaning to ruin your mood, but have you heard anything from that jerk you married?"

"Your husband's charming sibling? No, nothing. It's like he just disappeared. If it weren't for the random checks deposited in our account twice, I'd say he disappeared completely. And honestly, if it weren't for the fact that I need to find him to claim child support, I think I would rather he just never show up again. Except to let his mom know he's all right. I feel really sorry for Marion."

"Yeah well, I do too, but I feel a lot worse for you. I think Marion does too. Yes, she's concerned, and if it were Chad, we'd all be freaking, but let's face it, Peter doesn't care about anyone but himself. She knows her son is a selfish pig who got lucky and married a great girl..."

"Have I told you how much I love you?" Sera's eyes welled up, thinking her in-laws and her kids were worth the pain of knowing Peter.

"Yeah well, me too kiddo."

Sera cleared her eyes and sat up straight. "Listen, I've got to go. I'm on my lunch break and since I don't have any food and don't want to spend any money, I might as well get back to work to impress the boss before he gets back."

"Tomorrow, wear that little red top with the flowers on the collar that I gave you. That's one way of impressing your boss."

"I'll think about it," Sera smiled while making a mental note of what she could wear to a job with three men and contractors filing through regularly... definitely not the little red top Deb gave her. "Hey, you know how much I appreciate what you're doing for us, don't you? I love you guys so much even though your brother-in-law is an idiot."

Both women were quiet and then Sera broke the silence to ask, "And other than being a demon, how's my little princess?"

"Let's see, she's still about 27" long, has brown curly hair, and is kind of pretty when she's not trying to kill me with her screaming."

"That bad?"

"No sweetie. She's a lot worse than bad."

Sera hung up, relieved that she had a family and a friend like Deb. The fact that Deb was Peter's brother's wife was irrelevant. They were wonderful people and had been invaluable since, and even before Peter had disappeared. They were never as impressed by Peter as she had been.

Sera knew that those who didn't know Peter probably thought she was callous about his disappearance, but she didn't care. He up and left without a goodbye, aware of their finances, and she assumed he remembered he had left not only a wife, but four kids as well! Sera knew he was probably living it up with Brandy, or whoever the flavor of the month was. She had been in denial for a while and finally figured out he was not only impatient, stubborn, and selfish, but he was unfaithful to boot. And as for leaving her, there had been clues before he left, threats even, but Sera hadn't had the time or energy to cater to Peter's fits when she was still trying to get used to Emma's.

Sera had waited a week, out of embarrassment mostly, and then filled out a missing person's report and explained the situation to the nice cops at the precinct. "Find him," she had said, "and remind him that he has four kids who have to eat at least three times a day."

Sera had taken only a half hour for her lunch break. She wondered if Jeff would be back today, just as she was getting ready to start working on his desk. He had disappeared right after signing their "agreement." Men disappearing on her seemed to be the story of her life.
Chapter 5

Jeff left his office kicking everything that got in his way. He had had a lousy morning, had hired a total stranger without even checking first with Mitch, who was after all, part owner of Mason Landscaping, and to top it off, now he was having his own doubts about hiring someone like Sera.

Sera came with tons of baggage, he didn't know her from Adam, hadn't done a background check on her, gave her a salary that no employee had ever been lucky enough to start out with, and had for all practical purposes written off her debt.

How would Mitch feel about this? Jeff had never bypassed Mitch since Mitch bought one third of the company business. Once again, Jeff proved to be lacking on the business side of the job. Once again, he acted like a total idiot, and once again – why not? – he hoped it had absolutely nothing to do with how attractive Sera was. He really wanted to think his judgment was more highly developed than that, although he knew from experience that man, and especially man working too hard and on a lengthy dry spell, hadn't really evolved.

Well, it was almost one o'clock now. Jeff had visited a site they had been having problems with, specifically with the irrigation system, and he couldn't stay away from his office any longer. He had to get back to the office, talk to Mitch, and if necessary, get rid of his new hire, deal with the possibility of another breakdown on her part, and accept a great loss of money.

Jeff called a few clients from his car, and found a few other things to keep him occupied so he didn't get back until 4:10. When he reached his office building, he was surprised to find Sera's car still parked outside. He recognized it as soon as he drove up. It was hard to believe, as tired as he was, that it had only been that morning that he was soaked to the bone after pacing around the car for a good ten minutes, waiting for her to acknowledge him.

Jeff had told Sera she could leave at 4:00. Maybe she had lost her keys again. He was going to tell her dedication was admirable, but she had a family to go home to, when he walked in and heard laughter at the end of the hallway. His office was the last office in the building and it seemed the laughter was coming from there.

What the hell was this? A circus? His office hadn't heard this much laughter ever. Was he paying everyone to slack off?

When he put his head inside the door, he saw that Sera was sitting at his desk, on his chair, and Todd, Mitch, and Alan were sitting on his desk, which apparently had been cleared of all the paper clutter he had had that morning. Wondering what shocked him most, the informal party taking place in his office, or the cleared up desk, Jeff was about to say something when Sera saw him and immediately got up to let him sit down.

The guys followed her eyes, which were full of guilt as if she had been caught with her hand in the cookie jar, but each one looked at Jeff, waved or nodded, and then turned their attention back to Sera who had been in the middle of a story or something. When Sera didn't return to her seat or the story, they realized it was probably time to go home or get back to whatever it is they were supposed to be doing.

"I'm sorry." Sera said as she grabbed her purse to leave. "Is 8:00 all right for tomorrow?"

"Yeah, uh ... see you then."

He watched her leave and didn't notice Mitch watching him from across the hallway until Mitch crossed the hall and came into Jeff's office smiling.

Jeff didn't want to deal with Mitch just now, and instead, focused on the room he was in which held no semblance to the office he had left earlier that day. The place looked great, but he knew he couldn't put Mitch off too much longer.

"Mitch, we need to talk."

"Damn straight we do."

"Listen, I know we should have talked about this, about hiring someone to get us organized and all before I sat her down and signed a contract. I can probably foot this one on my own, or if you're totally opposed, I understand. I screwed up. I don't even know if we can afford her."

"Yeah, we should have talked." Mitch said with understanding, but he surprised Jeff with what he said next. "We should have talked about doing something like this a long time ago. I don't know if you've had a chance to look around yet, but she filed everything in those cabinets, and they're already in alphabetical order. We might actually be able to find something now. She also set up three separate drawers that are labeled already, one for work completed, another for on-going maintenance projects, and the last one for contracts on work that still has to be done. She said she needs another file cabinet or storage to put the work completed, so she can better use that particular drawer for prospects. We've never done that, have we? She said that way you can target prospects and develop a clientele, instead of waiting for the calls."

Mitch started laughing. "She asked if she could have my computer to set up billing, payroll, prospects etc. She actually smiled and told me computers can be used for more than just games. I think she'll be great for us Jeff. And even if it's only until she's paid off the debt she owes, we'll be better off all around after she's been here for a while. It would be nice to finally get this business permanently in the black, if we know what's going on and have all of the information at our fingertips."

Jeff shook his head obviously relieved. "I thought you'd be mad."

"The guys love her." Mitch added as if that would put Jeff's mind at ease.

"Oh yes, and that's obviously a great reference! Actually, I kind of wish they didn't like her that much. We'll have to keep an eye on that if we don't want any problems."

"An eye on what?"

"You know, it's not just Alan and Todd, it's all the other guys who parade in and out of this office building. You know," Jeff lowered his voice so that the others couldn't hear, "they'll all see her and..."

"And what?" Mitch pretended to be dense.

"Well," Jeff looked down at his shoes and shuffled his feet, "she's a girl."

"Holy shit, I knew I noticed something different about her!" Mitch laughed at Jeff. "You know, hiring a female is not exactly a new concept. It's been done before. Maybe for you it's new, but you just stepped out of a cave and haven't even been out in the world for a while. Hate to tell you, but other people are hiring women too."

"It's not that she's a woman, well it is really, but I just think she just looks a little too..."

"Too what?" Mitch chuckled and was not about to help his friend on this one. "Too short?"

"Well yeah, she's short, but not too short. She's just, well kind of..."

"Kind of what?"

"Damn you Mitch! She's just too distracting. We'll never get any work done."

"Hey, speak for yourself. I'm a married man, remember?"

"How could I forget? My sister would kill me if I forgot who you were and didn't watch out for you."

"Watch out for me, or watch over me? That's right. That's why you let me become a partner, so you could watch me ..." Mitch stopped and added, "By the way, distracting? I don't think anyone says 'distracting' anymore. What you mean is that she's hot, she has a great ass, and I think I'll shut up before my wife magically reads the rest of my thoughts like she always does and I get in real trouble. Because I don't think she's distracting as much as, uh, disturbing really."

"I'll forget you're my brother-in-law for a minute and ask you. So, you agree that she's hot?"

"I say you'd have to be blind not to notice, but she's also efficient, has some great ideas we can benefit from, seems to be very organized, she's funny, amiable, and we all know she's going through some rough times so I think this arrangement will benefit us all. I'm happily married, and that's not just because you're my brother-in-law, but I also know your sister is going to want to come in and check Sera out, and when she does, I think she'll like her and tell us we're all bastards for us not making Sera's coffee in the morning."

"Yeah, I can see her taking another woman's side ..."

"I don't think we have to worry about the guys here. Todd is engaged, and Alan is so weird he might not have even noticed she is a girl. Although I find it hard to believe anyone would not notice that." Then stopping to pause, "I think it'll be fine. Welcome to the twenty-first century amigo. By the way, this wouldn't happen to be a personal problem you have, would it?"

"Kiss my a..."

Mitch was out of the room before he heard the rest.
Chapter 6

Sera went in to work every day at 8:00, and sometimes a little earlier. She needed time to get the kids up, and drive the older ones to their respective schools, or to the bus stop. Then, she'd take Charlie and Emma to Deb's. Charlie would be starting school soon, so that left only Emma with Deb.

Two weeks had gone by and she'd seen Jeff for only a few minutes at a time, on four or five days. She had heard nothing good or bad about what she was doing, and had had no direction from either of the partners. She assumed they were happy with what she was doing, or she would have heard.

This morning she was at the office by 7:30. She had arrived earlier in the hope that she could also leave before 4:00. She wasn't sure if anyone would be there yet, and was happy when she saw a car in the parking lot in front of the building so someone could let her in.

Jeff heard some tapping on the window and looked up to see who it was. He had been there since five and had started dozing off. He had already finished one pot of coffee, and decided to hold off before he made the next when he remembered his "secretary" could make it for him.

Jeff went to the front door and reminded himself to get a key copied for Sera. If he wasn't here, she would have to wait forever until one of the guys rolled in.

Jeff looked at Sera and admired how well she looked in a pair of jeans and a white cotton shirt. So simple, yet on her it looked fantastic. He found himself responding to her in a dangerous way. Mitch was right. She wasn't distracting; she was disturbing. How Jeff would handle six months of this, he didn't know.

Sera gave Jeff a big welcoming smile and thanked him for opening the door. And sensing he didn't want her anywhere near, although any reason she imagined would have been wrong, she quickly made her way over to Mitch's office.

As soon as she left, Jeff slammed the front door of the building, wondering once again how he would survive the next six months. He really needed to start dating again. But it was almost unnerving how anyone could be as cheerful and beautiful at this time in the morning.

Frustrated, he didn't wait for the coffee he heard her start, and walked over to his desk, found his keys, now that the piles on his desk were cleared, and left without a word. Having an extra body in the office would not be easy, especially a body like Sera's.

Sera heard the door slam and wondered if one of the other guys had just waltzed in. She finished Jeff's coffee and poured it in a mug he had said was his and brought it into the other room, only to find that Jeff had disappeared. He had probably been waiting for her just to open the door. She'd have to ask him for a key to the office unless he wanted to wait for her every day.

Sera had figured out how to use the answering machine yesterday and checked for any new messages, finding a few that she jotted down to bring to the guys' attention later. She started a new coffee pot, since she had only poured Jeff's from a pot that was almost empty, and went over to the computer where she would start entering all the data from their current clients.

As she waited for the computer to boot, she looked around the office and decided it was so ... The word that first came up was sterile, but to say that meant to imply that it was neat, tidy, and clean, and it was definitely not that, not yet. It wasn't really masculine either. It was just a room full of stuff. No warmth, no color, no pizazz. She wondered if any clients ever came in to arrange for their work to be done, to pay, or to sign contracts.

What had Peter done when he hired them for the job? She didn't know what Peter had done, only that she had gotten a bill saying the work was scheduled to be done and how much she owed. Peter had never mentioned anything to her.

If clients did come in, there was no welcoming area or warmth. There was no indication of the type of business they ran. The only plant they had had was in a dumpster outside and Jeff had claimed it was silk. Sera still had her doubts about that. She was sure it was dead when she threw it in the bin.

A landscaping company should have some greenery – live greenery – and a stonescaping company could use flooring or columns that reflected some of the work they did.

Something a little different would be nice. In addition to organizing, she should make it more appealing too. Looking at her surroundings, she thought of how depressing it would be to work in a stark box, but that would have to wait as well. Baby steps.

By the time the guys rolled in, Sera had almost finished entering the name, address, and the type of job that was being done for all of the current clients. She noticed when she was filing that a lot of them were current only because they still hadn't paid, but not because the job was incomplete. Mitch had told her yesterday to feel free to set up the computer just the way she wanted it, and to make any other changes she thought fit. After all, he had added that any change would be a positive change.

Mitch also seemed like a nice guy. They were all nice. Jeff was nice too, after all, he had hired her, but he was the only one she couldn't read, and the only one who made her nervous.

Alan helped Sera move a desk out of the storeroom and over to the front room where she set the computer up. Sera figured she'd position herself in a central location to greet people and to make herself available when the guys needed her at the office. She called to have a line added, moved the fax and the answering machine to the front, and basically set up a reception area. She wanted to get a hold of a nicer chair for clients to sit in and wait before they were called into the other offices, but was trying to work with what they had available to them; she didn't want to create additional expenses for the business. Additional expenses could make them question her hiring, and she wasn't about to jeopardize this job. She needed the work too much to risk it.

On her break, Sera drove to her house to pick up an old rug she had always loved but Peter had hated. It was in the basement and she had thought of putting it somewhere in her house where everybody could see it, but she realized the only reason why she'd do that was to spite Peter, and Peter would probably never see it anyway.

She picked up a few other things she had lying about collecting dust just to give the office a homier look. She decided she had filed almost all of the papers already and could work on inputting files into the computer later on.

Instead, she worked on hanging up prints of photos taken from completed jobs. They had been dumped in a box, like everything else, but the pictures were priceless. The before and after's would be an incredible marketing tool.

The storage area they had in the building turned out to be a treasure haven in the end. Unfortunately it also held enough dust from what felt like a full century, but the building wasn't that old.

Sera found two more file cabinets, what looked like a cubicle divider, cables that would come in handy for something, someday, some knick-knacks – although most of those were ugly and useless – and picture frames. But the best find again were the before and after shots from some of the jobs Mason Landscaping had already completed. She had to stop and catch her breath for a couple of them. Some were even difficult to recognize as before and after's. The difference was incredible. Had it not been for the house in the background, she wouldn't have been able to tell it was the same place. Their work was impressive and she wished they could have completed it in her own house before Peter had fled the coop.

As a sort of finishing touch, she lovingly placed a couple of frames on her desk with the pictures of her kids. If nothing else, the four children in the pictures would add warmth and brighten up the room. She wasn't humble when it came to her kids; she knew they were all good looking.

The reception area, which hadn't existed until a few hours ago, was far from perfect, but it was a start. The prints on the walls were impressive, but could use nicer frames. The walls could also use a coat - or five - of paint. Her desk could also use some color, but again, baby steps.

With a big sigh, she looked around pleased at her handiwork, and then frowned, knowing she should get back to doing paperwork. The clock in the back was now over the doorframe, and as she looked at it, she realized she had been at work for almost 9 hours. It was time to go or Deb would have her head on a platter. In fact, if she didn't hurry, she was afraid she'd find Deb's head hanging somewhere instead.

She got into her car after locking the office doors. She had been alone most of the day, which meant the guys were doing fieldwork, but still, she wondered about the phones not ringing. She had not answered the phone other than for one wrong number.

The phone should have been ringing all day. Business was slow, she was told because of the weather and all of the rain, but at least there should have been people trying to line things up for upcoming jobs.

Judging by the photos she had seen, the work Mason Landscaping did was incredible. There should be people lined up waiting to get their work done by them. And knowing Peter had contacted them, and not someone else, meant they had to be the best. Peter only had the best of the best ever done. Money was not an obstacle; he just didn't always pay it back.

Tomorrow she would call other landscaping firms pretending to be a client to get a feel for the market. She'd try to find out how busy they were and maybe even stop by to check them out.
Chapter 7

It was late when Jeff came back to the office. He had been home to take a shower, but decided he couldn't stay away from the office forever.

When he reached the door, he turned the key and walked in, as he had done for the last seven years, but took a step back. He looked up at the office number to make sure he was in the right place, and found the outside was the same, but the inside was not his office at all.

Actually it was, but it felt like a Twilight Zone moment where he was dragged into another place, another dimension, and another time. But this place he had been dragged into, he had to admit, looked much better than the one he had left.

Yes, it was his office, but it didn't look anything like it had the morning before. After a quick look he realized that everything was there. The same desk, chair, computer, clock, and even the pictures on the walls were all his. They had just never been put together to make it look like an office - like a real office.

As soon as he walked in, he recognized the front area was set up as a reception area. He went over to Sera's desk and noticed the notes she had made on her pad: check businesses, call on delinquent accounts, make appointment to see Melle's math teacher, set up payroll, check their website, bring in fern from house, buy diapers, check what camera they use, and call lawyer.

He smiled at the notes and then saw the pictures of her kids. There was a boy, who looked to be about twelve or thirteen, a girl who was around eight, another little boy who looked like he was four or five, and a red-faced baby, who was probably the "fax baby." They were all beautiful kids, except maybe for the baby, but it was hard to tell. The baby was all scrunched up and looked like she was about to start crying, or had been at it for a while.

Jeff wondered how anyone could do it. He didn't like going to an empty house, but he had to admit, he got his rest and lots of quiet. How Sera could leave the office and deal with dinners, schools, and groceries, etc. was beyond him. He also couldn't imagine having a family and dumping them like the Sinclair guy had. The fuzzy memories he had of the guy weren't good; sounds like he was as much of a jerk as a husband as he was as a client.

Jeff went for a closer look to the before and after shots that were hanging on the walls. The pictures looked great, and it made sense to have them there for everyone to see. He had never thought of displaying them like that; he really liked what she had done.

When the pictures were taken, they had just taken them and filed them - more like piled them - and had completely forgotten all about them. He looked at them again and thought what a damn good job they did at some of those houses.

He stayed to catch up with a few things when he realized it was already 8:30 at night. He knew he should have gone home, but just didn't feel like facing the silent house today. He thought about calling Lydia, but reminded himself he shouldn't. He had finally disengaged and didn't want her to think he was interested in continuing with the relationship. Jeff and Lydia had been off and on for two years now and Lydia was starting to get serious. In the beginning, it was easy to let things happen. She had started arranging his life, his house, choosing his friends, and even what he wore. He was lazy by nature when it came to things like that, so he didn't care at first. But with those changes came additional demands.

Jeff wasn't ready to settle down. When he saw Mitch and his sister together, he thought they really had it good, but so far, he didn't see himself staying with any one of the many women he had dated without getting tired of them or resenting them in the end.

It was better just to make a clean escape. He never made any promises, so there was no reason why anything should be expected. He had slowly excluded Lydia from his plans and claimed to be busy when she tried to include him in hers. If he had to be honest, he was terrified to commit. It seemed more complicated than it was worth.

He didn't really get why he was so opposed to commitment. Mitch and Trish seemed happy, his sister Brenda also had a great family, and her husband Jerry, a high school buddy of Jeff's, seemed very happy and was even growing a little paunch he attributed to his three "pregnancies."

It didn't help that none of Jeff's friends seemed to like Lydia, but then again, Lydia didn't like them either. She never had time for his friends, but expected him to love her friends and find the time to spend entire evenings with them.

Mitch hated Lydia and didn't hesitate to show it. Lydia despised the whole landscaping business, his family, and any dirt she saw under Jeff's nails. He owned a business; that was good. Actually doing the work should be relegated.

So no, no Lydia tonight.

Jeff stopped by the kitchen and saw that the coffee pot was off, but had a post-it note attached that read: Good morning boss, just push the "on" button. Jeff went to push the button and stopped. Instead, he grabbed his keys, maybe he'd grab a bite to eat as well and just go home.

At his favorite Italian restaurant, he got in line to order takeout. The hostess recognized him immediately and asked him about Lydia.

Lydia had only been to the restaurant twice, but had caused quite a stir when she had sent back her meal because it was overcooked once, and because it was undercooked another time. Jeff had decided never to bring her here again. He liked this restaurant, liked the food, and liked the people. He might have dirt under his nails sometimes, but he was never rude, and Lydia had been anything but polite.

Jeff told the hostess that he and Lydia were not seeing much of each other these days, which brought a big smile to the young girl's face. Everybody always treated him well at the restaurant and would probably rejoice at the possibility of never dealing with the likes of Lydia again.

The girl started telling Jeff about her new boyfriend and how the ex-new busboy had been fired for hitting on the owner's daughter. Jeff was enjoying the conversation and it sure beat going back to an empty home. He thought he might just stay and eat at the restaurant instead of taking the stuff home. His favorite waitress walked by and waved at him. Jeff waved back and as he did, he saw that the table where the waitress was attending had all eyes on him. At first, he wondered if she had said anything to them. Maybe even something about Lydia, the über bitch, and then he noticed Sera looking his way. The woman at the table with Sera said something to the waitress and the waitress, all smiles, came running over to speak to Jeff.

"Hi Jeff, haven't seen you for a while. Did you come by yourself today?" At Jeff's nod, she turned around and gave a thumbs up to Sera's table. "The group at the table across the way would like you to join them if you don't mind."

Jeff looked up at the onlookers and waved with an uncertain smile as the waitress lowered her voice and said. "They're really nice. The really pretty girl with the couple used to come here with her kids by herself all the time. She always said her husband was working late and she liked to come here because we're loud and the kids didn't have to stay quiet. She hadn't been here for a while now. I don't even know if she has a husband, but one of the other waitresses says this guy came here with her and the kids once and was a complete jerk. He complained about everything, and wasn't nice to his family or anyone else. She's super nice. Anyway, they're celebrating something and when they saw you they asked me to come and tell you they'd love for you to join them."

Jeff looked over and saw Sera with the other couple and no children. He wondered how he could get out of this. He wasn't sure if he wanted to get to know Sera; he was already uncomfortable about working with her and was afraid of even looking at her the wrong way. She was married and she had problems. No, that was definitely something he wanted to stay away from.

He looked at the waitress, nodded, and worked his way over to Sera's table.
Chapter 8

Chad and Deb had taken Sera out to celebrate her new job. The kids all stayed with a babysitter, except for Emma who had stayed with Marion, Peter and Chad's mom. Nobody could handle Emma, and Sera doubted Marion could, but at least she was family and it was safer for Emma. After all, an outsider might just run away or kill her.

Sera had worn the red top that Deb had given her for her birthday; the one Deb said made her even more irresistible. She wore a short black skirt and some high-heeled shoes that brought her height to a full 5'3". She had worn her hair down for a change and it framed her face and hung low, to below her shoulders, with a few wisps of a curl hinting down into her exposed cleavage.

She hadn't worn make-up since before Emma was born, but today she actually did feel like celebrating. Chad had called her up to tell her it was all arranged and she had no say in the matter. She had to leave the kids at their place, and they'd drive to wherever she wanted to go.

This was a restaurant where Sera had always felt comfortable. She came here with the kids when Peter was traveling, worked late, or didn't want them around.

Sera loved the Italian atmosphere and the fact that the restaurant owners loved her kids and stopped by to pinch their cheeks and make them giggle, and that the waitresses didn't care if the kids made a mess. The restaurant was loud, which was perfect for them. And even though she could have picked something quiet, this is who she was and what she liked.

Sera had only brought Emma once, right after she was born and before her colic had started, but soon after, Emma's colic began, and right after that, Peter left them. Money was tight and her restaurant days were over, unless someone else paid like today because Chad and Deb brought her.

Never shy about eating, Sera had ordered a huge meal of spaghetti and veal parmigiana and was being teased about where she'd put the food. Short and thin, it was always a wonder, but she did like to eat.

Deb had been telling Sera about the earplugs she bought to wear when she tried to calm Emma down. She also tried the contraption that Sera had designed to keep Emma's pacifier on. Sera called it the muzzle, although it was more like a plug. Em liked the soothing feel of a pacifier in her mouth, but with her mouth fully open in a wide wail all the time, it was hard to keep the pacifier in place. So after careful thought and many sleepless nights, Sera found some elastic thread and tied it to the little holes in the front of the pacifier that help keep the pacifier from creating a permanent suction and suffocating the baby. The elastic went around Emma's face, like the type of elastic that goes around the head on a mask. When Emma wailed, the elastic allowed the pacifier to pop out, but not far enough for her to lose it completely.

Deb said that this had worked for a while, but the earplugs she bought were the real Godsend. They were wondering how Marion was faring, but Chad said his mother had insisted on taking Emma and it was her own damn fault if they took a little longer and truly enjoyed the evening. The good news was that Emma was about to start her "resting" period. The bad news was that by the time Sera picked her up, she'd be starting her screeching period again.

The owners of the restaurant were always in and out of the kitchen, but had come out to ask Sera how the children were doing. They had met Peter once, and just to be polite, asked about him as well. Sera told them he was traveling, which was true, and she wasn't sure when he'd be back, which was also true. She wasn't ready to tell the world her husband was A.W.O.L. and had dumped not only her, but his own kids.

The waitress had also asked, but she didn't seem as interested in hearing about him, as much as making sure she didn't have to place another table setting for him if he showed up. Interestingly, when they saw Jeff and offered for him to join them, she was quick to offer and bring his plate and utensils immediately.

Deb saw him first. Chad had been busy looking at his menu when Deb elbowed Sera in the ribs and whispered into Sera's ear, "Check out the hottie over there," as she fanned herself to make a point.

Sera laughed at her very much in love, but not blind, sister-in-law and looked to where she was pointing, and blushed. Without a doubt, that was Jeff, her boss, and he was a hottie.

He was wearing black jeans and a red polo shirt, and she had to admit, he looked very good. She saw he had the hostess's full attention, and he hadn't just caught her sister-in-law's eyes, but seemed to have gotten the attention of several of the women in the room.

He was busy talking to the hostess and they were both laughing at something he said. She wondered if he was flirting, but it didn't look like it.

Jeff and the hostess were deep into conversation, so Jeff had no idea Sera was there. Sera would have kept it that way, but Deb had other plans.

Chad caught Sera and Deb looking at Jeff and asked his gawking wife if either of them knew the man.

Deb laughed and quickly told Chad, "No honey, but Sera here just pointed him out and can't take her eyes off of him." She winked at Sera and smiled to her husband sweetly.

Sera ignored the wink and said, "As a matter of fact, I do know him. The man over there," she stopped and looked pointedly at her sister-in-law, "is none other than the reason for our celebration today. That's my new boss Jeff Mason."

Deb's face was too funny for words. If she was gawking before, the look she gave Sera was priceless.

"You said he was nice. You never said he was that nice."

Sera and Chad both laughed at Deb.

"Oh my God woman," Deb continued, "how could you not notice that man is absolutely gorgeous? What is your problem?"

Chad cleared his throat. "In case you haven't noticed darling, I'm still here. Should we ask him over?"

His wife looked thrilled and clapping her hands she said, "Oh yes honey, let's do, let's do."

Sera laughed at the exchange and wondered why she had never felt this much at ease with her own husband, but then reminded herself that roles reversed, when Peter looked at a woman, there was a chance that he actually would go after her when Sera turned her back.

"Do you mind if he joins us?" Deb asked her.

Sera looked at her boss and wondered how she actually felt about having him join them. He was a really nice guy, but she couldn't overlook the fact that he was hot when they were away from the office. She didn't know much about him, but had found out that he was single, and that his partner Mitch was married to Jeff's older sister.

Would it be uncomfortable to sit next to him? Probably, but then again she wouldn't mind as much if getting to know him was on her turf, and with her family by her side.

"If you guys don't mind, I guess ..."

Deb didn't waste any time and flagged their waitress over before Sera could change her mind.

The waitress told them she knew him, that he came mostly by himself, and that he was a great guy. She said he brought a girlfriend with him a couple of times, but they hadn't seen her for a while and they were all crossing their fingers that he had dumped her. Then as the waitress looked at Sera, probably remembering that they had also talked about how they wished Sera would dump her arrogant husband, she quickly changed the subject and told them how he was always kind and occasionally even brought nieces or nephews for dinner all by himself, just to give his siblings a break.

The young waitress was thrilled to be able to join such nice people at her table and secretly hoped Sera was also single now and could join up with this great guy. The waitress was Italian and loved romance; she couldn't wait to get the ball rolling!

The waitress ran off to talk to Jeff who had just seen Sera and looked confused. Sera began to wonder if this was a good idea after all. Jeff looked slightly uncomfortable to her.

Leave it to Deb though. Sera looked at Deb and saw her smiling and waving Jeff over their way, and just when Sera thought Jeff was going to point to his watch, pretend he had a previous commitment, or yell out, "Fire!" and start running out the door, she saw him smile and start walking over to their table.
Chapter 9

Deb was quite pleased with herself by the time Jeff reached the table. To the point where Sera kicked her under the table a little harshly.

"He ... ou-llo." Deb said reaching her hand out to Jeff and rubbing her shin while aiming a piercing look at Sera.

Sera turned her attention to Jeff who was looking even taller than his six feet plus from where she was sitting. "Hi Jeff, I'd like you to meet Deb and Chad Sinclair. Chad is my husband's brother."

Chad extended his hand and said, "I wish I could say there is no relation as far as my brother goes, but yes, this lovely lady is indeed married to my brother Peter," and lowering his voice, "but we don't like to talk about him."

"It's very nice to meet you both," he said, and lingering his eyes on Sera a little longer than necessary, he added "you look beautiful tonight."

Sera had definitely not expected that remark from her boss, and judging by the awkward silence that followed, nobody else, to include Jeff himself, had expected it either.

Jeff laughed. "I'm sorry, that was awkward," which seemed to put them all at ease, "but the only times I've seen you have been at work, and you just look very different. In a good way," he added quickly. Then, "Not that you didn't look good before ..."

Chad laughed and saved the moment by saying, "Please sit down and join us. Tell you what. If you screw up again, I'll kick you under the table just like Sera kicked my wife before you got here."

They all laughed at that and Deb said, "Yes, and it still hurts," rubbing her shin a little harder and more obviously than before.

"Tell you what," Jeff said as he took a seat in the booth next to Sera, "I won't ask what that was all about if we can forget my comment."

"Thank you," Sera told him looking at him shyly, "but I rather liked the compliment, so I won't forget it that easily," and then bit her lip. That really sounded like flirting, and she knew she was out of training and too rusty to try, aside from this being her boss.

The waitress showed up with the menu making Sera's comments a little less awkward, this time for Jeff. Sera couldn't believe she had said that, but remembered her husband had done far worse, so ... so be it.

It wasn't like she was trying to flirt. She was a married woman and the mother of four young kids struggling to make ends meet. No, flirting and dating was the last thing on her mind. But the restaurant with its low lights, the two couple situation, and Jeff sitting next to her and so close, made her forget for a few seconds about everything else, and wonder what it would be like to be free of the bind she was in. Not to mention the fact that she was with Peter's brother, but surprisingly that was a non-issue. The way Peter behaved made it so Sera's happiness and that of her children's, was more important to Peter's family than Peter, or his whereabouts.

Jeff knew exactly what he wanted to order and the waitress still looked thrilled to have them all sitting together at her table as she left them to place his order.

Deb jumped into the conversation immediately after the waitress left and told Jeff that it was actually quite appropriate that they had run into him. "We're here to celebrate Sera's new job and hopefully new beginnings."

Jeff looked at Sera and once more lingered a little longer than necessary as he took in the long hair wisping down her neckline, the eyes that were framed with the slightest of make-up but looked stunning, and the red top Sera was wearing that didn't hide the many attributes Jeff had imagined, but had tried not to think about.

"I'm glad we met up too. Sera, I realize my hiring was done a little rashly," he laughed shaking his head, "but I've got to say, in the last few days you've made changes I never even thought to make and everyone is more than happy to have you around." Then looking down at her blouse again, "I just ask that you never wear your hair down or this great looking top to work, or I'll lose total control of my guys who are already pushing their luck with me."

They all laughed as Sera squirmed uncomfortably in her seat while turning a deep shade of pink.

Jeff asked Chad what type of work he did and then Chad asked Jeff about some of his work and their clients. Chad told him he had actually heard of some of the jobs Mason Landscaping had completed and was impressed with the work. He asked him if they did a lot of work for businesses or mostly for individual homes, because his company was moving to a new location and would need to revamp the building and its gardens. Chad was in real estate and knew of several people who could use a "flip" of their home - inside and out - to add the curb appeal before putting their homes on the market for a better selling price.

The men exchanged business cards, and looking satisfied, having taken care of business matters first, turned their attention back to the women..

Sera was all smiles and looked at Jeff proudly as if she had something to do with what just happened. "I love the work you do. Some of the jobs aren't that impressive, although they all look wonderful," she added quickly, "but others are a work of art. The job Mason Landscaping did on Melody Court should have been submitted to Landscaping World Magazine. It was a work of genius." Then, almost embarrassed by her excitement, "I'm sorry, but I saw the before and after shots and I couldn't get over the fact that it was the same place. It looks like something you'd find in the Garden of Eden."

Jeff laughed at that, trying hard not to imagine Sera in a skimpy Eve outfit running around the Melody Court gardens. "I did that one. They gave me free rein on that job. I had done their previous home and the wife," Jeff paused and laughed at what came next, "the wife told her husband to butt out this time and just let the professionals do their thing. They gave me a budget to work with, but the vision I had for the garden didn't require as much money as it did work. That's a job I was really happy with. Someday, if I ever have a home I can look forward to coming home to at night, I'd love to do something similar. Although honestly, I don't think my dream home will be that easy to do. I just have too many ideas."

"What kind of ideas?" Deb asked, genuinely interested.

"Well, I have ideas going in two directions. One would be for my old man bachelor pad, and the other if I ever marry, would include a large area for the family to play without having to worry about stepping on the tulips or getting a rose bush thorn stuck in their feet."

Deb looked pleased at that and added, "I'd love to have our home re-done, but Chad is talking about moving to a bigger place soon."

"I didn't know that." Sera looked at her sister-in-law and suddenly began to worry. "You wouldn't move far would you?"

"No, it would still be in the same school district. It would just be a little bigger to handle the new baby ..." Deb added quickly with a huge grin.

"A baby! Deb, you didn't tell me! Oh my God!" Sera had gotten up and stretched over the table to hug them both. "This is so exciting! When were you going to tell me?"

Deb and Chad looked at each other with a love that was obvious to anyone in view. "At dessert." Deb laughed. "I hoped you'd approve."

"The more the merrier. I always wanted at least a dozen kids, but then after Emma was born, I decided a third of that was fine ..." They all laughed at that comment, knowing Emma made even the most dedicated doubt their reason to be a parent, "Not to mention I lost the sperm donor," she said and then turned a deeper shade of pink looking quickly away from Jeff, "but honestly, I'm really jealous. I always loved having kids, and although four isn't shabby," she added with a grin, "it's kind of sad knowing that I won't have any more."

"Who says you can't?" This time it was Jeff who asked the question.

"Let's just say things aren't looking good right now." Sera told them sadly. "But enough of that. I may just win the lottery one of these days and adopt a school in Africa and have all the kids I want."

"Or," Deb answered slowly, "You may find someone decent who will love you and your kids and realize just how lucky he is." And with a note of mischief, "Maybe someone established, someone who owns his own business, with working hours to spend time with you; time and attention you deserve."

"Maybe Deb. Although I believe that in order to get married, you're supposed to not be married already. Anyway, this is about you guys. No, actually it's not about you guys, it's about me. I'm going to be an Aunt again!" she clapped merrily.

They were laughing when Jeff's food came and at the same time, Deb's cell phone rang. It was the babysitter, and she said she thought Eric, Deb and Chad's four-year-old, had swallowed a shoe from one of his sister's Barbie's. What followed were questions to the babysitter, and Jessie, the sister who was now short a Barbie shoe, getting on the phone and complaining about her brother always getting into her stuff. The fact that he might choke on something was irrelevant.

Chad told Deb that Eric would eventually poop it out in a few days, something he probably decided because he was ready to have some dessert. But as tempting as that sounded, Deb was not so concerned about dessert or even Eric choking at this point, as she was of Jessie killing her brother, or Eric needing some help to more easily "poop" it out.

In any event, Deb apologized and said she was ready to go, just as Sera grabbed her purse, and getting up to leave with her family.

"You don't have to go Sera," Deb said pointedly, eyeing Jeff as she said it, "Jeff just got his food, and you don't want him to eat alone do you?"

"That's all right. I don't mind, but I also don't mind driving you home," Jeff told Sera with what seemed like genuine interest. "Unless, of course it's time for you to be back with the kids ..."

"She can stay," Deb threw in. "I'll just send the babysitter away unless we need to go to the emergency room. Unfortunately, they know us well there, but I think Eric fine. I just want to check for myself, and make sure his sister doesn't kill him. Sera stay here. If I need you, I'll call."

Chad and Deb waved a quick goodbye and didn't give Sera a chance to leave with them. Sera looked at Jeff who was still sitting next to her on the restaurant booth, and asked him, "Would you like me to move to the other side?"

"No," he smiled, "this is quite cozy actually."

Sera wondered if Jeff was flirting with her now. He knew she was still married and wondered why he would bother. He seemed too decent to try anything just to get in her bed.

"Tell me about your kids," he suddenly asked.

Obviously, he was not trying to get her into his bed, but it would definitely win her over. She loved talking about her children. She told him their names, their ages, a little about their personalities, and what they enjoyed doing most. She paused after a long-winded recitation of their virtues and laughed.

"I'm sorry, but it's all your fault. You should never ask a mom about her kids unless you really want to know about them."

Jeff looked at her seriously and said, "I'll remember for next time, but in your case I really wanted to know. I'm also curious about your husband, but I don't want you to tell me unless you are okay with it. I mean, I can't understand why a man would ever leave his family, and if it was for someone else," he shook his head, "I really don't get it."

Sera looked away and her eyes suddenly filled with tears. Jeff was so kind to her and he seemed genuinely interested. It was embarrassing to have been left by her husband, but more than anything she worried about her kids and trying to keep things balanced at all times. It was beginning to cause a strain and she was afraid she might not be as strong as she'd like to be. Life had to go on, but she was the only person to lead the way.

Jeff must have misinterpreted her teary eyes and immediately apologized for upsetting her, but Sera was quick to set him straight.

"Please, don't apologize. You've been the best thing that could happen to me and to my family since Peter left us. I don't know why Peter left and it doesn't really matter. At first I blamed myself, but then I looked at my kids and became so, so angry with him for leaving them. I don't care what his differences were with me, but for a man to abandon his family, drop off the face of this earth, and disappear on his children, he has to be scum. I may be covering up my own faults, but I know that if I had ever been the one to leave, I would never have left my children."

Sera caught her breath before continuing. "It was partly my fault, I'm sure, that he left. I saw the signs. Some 'friends' even pointed them out to me. He was impatient with me and with the kids, and the more impatient he became, the more I withdrew the children and myself from his life. I had no problem with that. It was the kids and me. He provided financially for us, we had a home, and when I wanted another child, he was always willing to help me with that. Not that he was interested in the end result, but the process was enjoyable."

Jeff put his hand on Sera's and held it in his. He rubbed her fingers with his thumb in a steady and soothing motion. Sera's eyes went down to her hand. It felt good to be held. It felt good to be soothed, but she wasn't done.

"I don't know where he is. One day he just didn't come home. I've wondered if I'm a bad person because I didn't worry about him. I waited three days before letting his family know, and a week before filing a missing person's report. Five days after he left, his mother received a note dated two days earlier, letting her know that he had forwarded a check to her before he left to pay for the pre-arranged transport of some of his things to a pre-arranged address. The letter gave very few details and was mailed from his office, where he no longer worked. His mother didn't pay the transportation company. Instead she gave the check to me, apologizing as if she had anything to do with her son's horrible behavior. I haven't heard anything since. The police call occasionally, but they have nothing and only want me to give them leads. At one point they questioned me regarding his disappearance and wondered if it was foul play." Sera laughed at that. "I should have thought about it, but I never thought to get rid of the guy until the police suggested I might have."

Jeff sat there, listening and shaking his head. Sera looked at him and appreciated the outlet and the fact that he didn't get up and leave. It was a great outlet, and probably her first. Peter's family had been extremely supportive in every way possible, but they were his family after all, and she didn't want to burden his mother who had probably aged ten years in the few months since her son left.

Sera asked Jeff about his family, if he had ever been married, and about his nieces and nephews who he needed little prompting over to talk about. They were having a great time, and Sera was surprised at how comfortable she was and how good it felt to sit back and talk with no interruptions.

As if on cue, Sera's phone rang and made them both jump. It was her mother-in-law, poor thing. Emma had been going for a while now and she wasn't sure if Emma had a fever or was just overheating from screaming at the top of her lungs.

Jeff picked up Sera's purse from the other seat across from them and left enough money on the table to feed an entire family. "Let's go," he said without waiting for her to answer.

Sera was still on the phone when Jeff was already standing up and holding his hand out to help her up. She mouthed a thank you while still listening to her apologetic mother-in-law, and got up to leave.
Chapter 10

Jeff led Sera to his car after waving goodbyes to the waitress and hostess who were conspiratorially smiling, and opened the door and helped her in. The waitresses were probably hoping they were going home together.

He asked her where her mother-in-law lived and realized he was very familiar with the area, because of two houses they had completed a block away this past month.

The trip to Marion's house was not filled with the conversation they had shared at the restaurant over dinner. In fact, they did very little talking, except for a few directions from Sera to her mother-in-law's house as they got closer. Jeff only spoke when he was asked a question, and Sera wasn't asking much.

Jeff's problem was that he had a great time with Sera. In fact, he couldn't remember having such a good time just talking to a woman or being with a woman without planning on sleeping with her.

The concept was confusing to him. He enjoyed talking to his sisters and his mother, as well as the wives of some of his friends, but he knew this was not the same. He truly enjoyed Sera's company. He had laughed, had been understanding and sympathetic, and he had been upset for all of what she was going through. However, he also knew damn well that when he was sitting there talking and listening to her, absolutely no brotherly thoughts had crossed his mind.

The woman was trouble. She was drop dead gorgeous, and also smart, funny, efficient, mature, great company, and... had he mentioned drop dead gorgeous?

Those were the positive attributes. On the other side of the coin was the fact that she was married, had four children, her situation with her husband emotionally and financially was completely unstable, and she worked for him.

There was no way in the world he could or even wanted to get involved with a woman like this.

Jeff turned his eyes away from the road for a moment, just to convince himself that he should stay as far away from this woman as possible. He turned to see her profile as she looked out of the passenger window, even though at this time of the night there was very little for her to see.

She had put her hair up into a makeshift knot somehow that showed off the smooth white skin of her neck. The contrast in the color of her skin and the bright red of her silky sweater top made her even more appealing.

Who was he kidding? Baggage or no baggage, this woman was someone he could easily fall for, but couldn't and shouldn't. He wouldn't.

Four kids? Jeff loved kids, but they had to kind of grow on you. It was almost like working out at the gym. You start out with a couple of pounds. You don't start off with the two-hundred pound barbell. You have to work your way up. Besides, if the relationship didn't work out, there was much more at stake. Too many people could get hurt along the way.

I guess Lydia isn't that complicated, he thought, and shuddered.

Sera had noticed Jeff looking her way and had no idea how to react to that. She realized she was very rusty, but she didn't think she had imagined that the look that Jeff gave her was not that of a boss, or even just a friend. In fact, she wasn't sure how she even felt about him. It was so strange to even take that route, if only in her mind.

This is ridiculous. I'm a 32-year-old woman with four kids and a husband who has gone A.W.O.L., which says a lot about me. I'm broke, I meddle, I'm a loony - he said so himself - and I'm "entertaining" thoughts that he might be interested? I really am crazy.

Sera decided to risk taking her eyes away from the passenger window for a moment. She couldn't see anything anyway, but she felt awkward and inexperienced sitting in the front seat of the car, and being alone with a man. A real man, one who was nothing but kind and generous, a perfect gentleman, and as Deb had pointed out – as if she had needed a reminder - this man was hot.

Ugh! Even if she had the time or energy to put into a new relationship, who would ever be interested in taking on such a package deal with all that excess baggage in tow?

She had to get her life in order, and even then, would she ever meet anyone good enough to be a father to her kids? Not that they had to measure up to Peter. That part was easy, but the main reason why Peter's absence hadn't affected her emotionally, was that Peter had never measured up.

In Sera's life, a man had to fall in love with the woman, the kids, the house, and their dog Buddy. A relationship with Sera meant a relationship with the package—no ifs or buts about it.

Sera saw that they were approaching Marion's house and pointed to where Jeff should turn. She remembered that she had driven to Deb and Chad's, and they had driven her and Emma to her mother-in-law's house. So once she came to pick Emma up, she'd have to hitch a ride to go to Chad and Deb's to pick up the rest of the gang.

The car slowed down and then came to a full stop. Sera turned to open the door, but Jeff had jumped out and was almost to her door by the time she picked up her purse from the floor in front of her seat.

The perfect gentleman, he opened the door and held it for her to get out. She noticed that this time he didn't reach his hand out to get hers, but that was fine with her. The last time he did this he had sent shivers up her spine, and she didn't think she could handle that again.

As soon as she got out of the car, Sera noticed two things. One was that Jeff was smiling, and two that there was a high-pitched piercing sound cutting the air, and it was coming from Marion's home.

"Should we turn around and leave?" she asked him with a wicked smile.

"How much do you care for your mother-in-law? Jeff countered.

"Well, she is a nice lady. And after all, Emma is my tax deduction ... Okay, I guess we should go in."

Sera saw that Marion was watching from the living room window and suddenly felt uncomfortable about being with another man when she was still married to this woman's son. It didn't really matter that this woman's son was somewhere hiding, and possibly never to be found, with another woman, or other women. It didn't matter that he had been with more than one other woman during their thirteen-year marriage. Because in Sera's way of thinking, when you were married, there was only one person in your life, and that was your husband, or in Peter's case, it should have been his wife.

Her situation was a little different; she had been married to a man who had resigned from his wife and family in every hurtful way possible. As soon as the door opened, Sera straightened her back and rattled off the introductions to leave no doubt that there was nothing else between Jeff and herself, other than a work contract and the offer for a ride home. Marion looked at her warmly and explained that Deb had already called to say Sera would be dropped off by her boss.

"Hi Marion," Sera said as she quickly pulled Emma out of her mother-in-law's arms and into her own. "This is Jeff Mason, from Mason Landscaping, the man I work for. We were having dinner with Chad and Deb and we saw Mr. Mason walk in ..." At this, Sera turned a bright red as she remembered her sister-in-law's reaction when she saw Jeff walk into the restaurant, and Jeff looked at her confused because she had said Mr. Mason and was suddenly talking like a teenager who had been caught necking on the front porch.

"Mr. Mason was going to have dinner by himself, so the polite thing to do, not that we weren't happy to ask him, but the nice thing was for him to join us and not eat by himself. Don't you think? Anyway, Chad and Deb had to leave earlier and ..."

Marion must have picked up on the fact that Sera felt uncomfortable with the present situation, because she extended her hand to introduce herself and said, "Hello Jeff, I'm Marion Sinclair. I'm Chad's mother and this little demon's grandmother."

Sighing relief that that was over, Sera smiled at her very understanding mother-in-law who quickly added, "Deb called less than five minutes ago to tell me you and Jeff were on your way. It was nice of you to give Sera a ride. We all try to keep an eye on her these days."

Jeff smiled at the older woman and then looked at Sera who seemed to be relaxing a little more and said, "Don't worry, it's not a problem. I'm glad I could help." And raising his voice over Emma's wails, "So this is the fax baby you had as a background sound when I called you that very first day."

Confused, Marion looked from one to the other. "A 'fax' baby? Is that some new word or thing I don't know?"

Sera laughed and explained how Jeff thought the piercing sound in the background when he had called had been a fax line that went off. Never did he imagine a sound like that could come out of about 27" of baby.

"Sera honey," Marion suddenly looked concerned, "I felt bad about calling, but she felt so warm and ..." Marion shook her head, "I really don't know how you do it."

Sera smiled and took her daughter to the living room and laid her on the couch. She removed all of Emma's clothes except for her onesie and the diaper. Then, she looked in her diaper and saw that all was well. She stretched Emma's legs out and then began to massage her legs pulling them up and down in an almost circular motion while she rubbed Emma's distended belly.

Emma started hiccupping and slowly the screeching sounds began to ease down.

Jeff and Marion were watching her from the living room entrance with a certain amount of awe, but Sera was not ready to take any credit.

"I just got lucky. She was about to end it herself, and I just helped her out a bit. I can do this forever when she's in the middle of a fit and it won't work. Believe me, I've tried it all. She should be good for the next two hours at least. I think she was just overheating. I'd better go and get the others and put them to sleep before she starts crying again or we'll all be eating milk and cookies all night with our ear plugs on and absolutely no sleep."

Jeff picked up Sera's diaper bag that was on the table and her purse, which she had left at the entrance when she first walked in, but Sera stopped him.

"Jeff, you've really done enough, please don't worry. I can ..."

"You can be quiet and let people help you. That's what you can do." Winking at Marion, he moved over to the door and opened it up for mother and daughter. Looking down at them now, Jeff smiled. If he hadn't witnessed the whole process, he would have said that Emma looked like she had just been exorcized.
Chapter 11

Sera opened her mouth to argue and then closed it again. It made more sense for Jeff to drive her than to have Marion get out at this time or even to call a cab.

Jeff opened the door for her to leave the house, but she remembered leaving her coat in the living room area. "I'll only be a minute."

Sera went back to get her coat and hadn't noticed that Marion had followed her and was right behind her as she turned. "Oh, I didn't see you," she said as she almost ran into the older woman.

Her mother-in-law was standing awkwardly and looked like she had something she had to say, but wasn't sure how to go about it.

"Is everything all right Marion?"

"Yes, of course it is. I just ... Listen Sera, you are going through some very difficult times. What happened is awful and my son behaved horribly with you and with all of the rest of us."

Sera looked at her mother-in-law and almost felt guilty for not hurting as much as her mother-in-law obviously was. The pain in the woman's eyes was clear and was a mix of what looked like guilt and embarrassment for her son being a turd.

"Marion," Sera reached for her mother-in-law and gave her a quick squeeze, "you have no control over this and neither do I. If you ever think it has anything to do with you, please, please, I beg you, don't. You raised wonderful children and I am proud to be a part of this family. This is not about you. Peter made some really bad choices. If he wanted something different, or somebody else, he only had to ask. I was too busy being a mom to notice. Maybe that was the problem, or maybe it wasn't meant to be. I lack experience in relationships because Peter is the only man I ever knew, but I know enough to understand that what we had was not what you read about in fairy tales or romance novels. I fooled myself for many years, because I loved being a wife and then a mom. And honestly, my kids were more than enough for me. Peter was a means to get the kids I have and adore."

Sera reached for her mother-in-law's hands and held them tight. "It wasn't always this way. I married Peter because I was crazy about him and I honestly believe there was a time when he was actually crazy about me as well, but things changed. Life changed. I don't think Peter was meant to be a dad, but I don't regret, not even a bit, being a mom. I will always be grateful to Peter for the children he brought into my life. I can never thank him enough."

Then laughing between misting eyes, Sera quickly added, "You did good Marion. Look at the genes you passed on," she said as she uncovered little Emma's sleeping face from under a pink blanket. "Can't beat this, can you?"

The women quickly hugged, being careful not to disturb the sleeping baby and they turned, just in time to see that Jeff had overheard most of the exchange. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to intrude. If you don't need me, I'll be in the car."

Jeff left the room and Sera and Marion exchanged a look. Marion squeezed Sera's hand and said, "You know, if you were my daughter, and not my daughter-in-law, I'd say that's a very special young man from the little I've seen and heard of him. He seems to be good to you. I like that. You deserve to be treated well Sera and don't you ever forget that."

Sera opened her mouth to set Marion straight on anything the woman thought was going on between Jeff and her, but Marion hushed her and continued.

"I said before, if you were my daughter and not my daughter-in-law. Well, you are more than a daughter-in-law to me and you've always behaved wonderfully and have been great to all of us. You are family Sera, and you've behaved better than my own son. I want you to know that I want what's best for you. If you decide you want to start dating, you have my support. But don't be surprised if I want to check the guy out or if your father-in-law, who by the way slept through all of our granddaughter's screaming fits, puts him through hell and asks him all the questions he asked the poor boys that dated Peter's sisters."

Marion hugged Sera tight. "I love you kiddo."

"Yeah, me too." Sera said as she wiped a tear that was threatening to roll down her cheek.

Marion followed Sera to the door and kissed her as she left. Sera reached the car and looked around to see where the car seat she had left next to the passenger seat had gone.

Jeff had jumped out of the car and was opening the back door for Sera and Emma to get in, that's when Sera saw that Jeff had already strapped in the car seat. When she looked up at him questioningly, he shrugged and said, "I have nephew and nieces."

Sera knew that not everyone could figure out how to set up a car seat. Peter for one, had never managed or even tried.

Sera sat down and strapped Emma in. She gave the car seat a once over and tugged at all the right places to make sure it was secure, which it was, and saw that Jeff was watching her from the rearview mirror. He rolled his eyes at her thorough inspection, and she just smiled back sweetly as the car drove away.

Jeff drove without saying a word. He thought it was pretty much agreed that nothing should be done or said to disturb Emma's peaceful slumber. He thought of what he overheard in the conversation between the two women and wondered what it was that he had missed.

He was happy to know Sera had a good family and was appreciated. He knew nothing about her family. Was she an only child? Did she have siblings? Were her parents still alive? He had never thought to ask, but thought she was probably alone if not for Peter's family, because he had never heard her say or mention anything about anyone else. Of course, her family could be living in another state or even in another country and that would explain why she talked about Peter's family more and was able to rely on them more as well. Although, he chuckled to no one but himself, if his mother was far away and he was left alone with a family to care for like Sera had been, he knew his mom would have just moved in and taken over, and would not take no for an answer.

Jeff drove without saying anything. Chad had told him where they lived when they were at the restaurant, so Jeff drove without needing any direction. It wasn't far, only a twenty-minute drive or so. He had liked Chad and Deb and could tell they (Sera and her in-laws), were all very close.

He looked at the back seat of his car through the rearview mirror and saw that Sera had closed her eyes and looked to be sleeping. She was probably exhausted. And he thought he had it bad. Then again, there had been a moment back there, when he was strapping in the car seat, that he had felt that little tug in his heart. The same tug he felt when he went to his nieces' and nephews' birthday parties or ball games. He called it the missing link. The missing link in his life was a family of his own.

Although outwardly he tried to seem content with his "singlehood," he knew he wanted a family someday. A family of his own that he could love, care for, and have lots of fun with.

He had created a disguise that told the world that a family was the last thing he wanted. So far, he had never met anyone he cared to share his secret with and meanwhile, it kept the women he met from jumping at the chance to beat their biological clocks and land a well-established business owner who was not exactly a bad catch to meet their needs and procreate.

No, the fewer who knew about his secret desire to have a family and the fact that he didn't think he could ever be satisfied without having children, the better. But if he never did find a partner for life, someone to have and to hold, as the saying went, then he'd spoil the hell out of his nieces and nephews and let their parents put up with them later.

Jeff found his way to the Sinclair's house and parked in their driveway. He looked back in the mirror again and saw that both Sera and Emma were asleep. He opened his door and went to the back to open Sera's door, being careful not to wake little Emma up. She really was a cute kid when she wasn't scrunching her face up in a huge wail.

Then he turned his attention to Sera, who hadn't even stirred when the car stopped or even now that the door was open and a light breeze was starting to come in.

Sera looked peaceful and soft. Her features were always soft, but now they were also relaxed and ... Damn she looked really good.

"Sera. We're here."

Sera heard a male voice she didn't recognize and felt a soft caress on her cheek.

"Hmm?" She smiled wondering where she was and thinking how nice it was to sleep. "Where ..." she sat up quickly as soon as she opened her eyes and realized Jeff was smiling at her.

"Come on sleepy head. You couldn't have reached any significant REM cycle in just ten minutes."

"Some people speed read. I have to speed sleep. I am self-taught, and my schooling started with P.D...." Sera smiled as she closed her eyes again and stretched. "Umm, that felt good."

Jeff's eyes were intent on her as she stretched her arms and neck back; her body's movements were not lost on her boss.

"I wish you could stay here all night, but I think it would get kind of cramped with your three other kids if they decided to join us."

Sera opened her eyes and wondered if there had been more to Jeff's comment than just the words that were said. Join us ... Was it sleep talking, or did that just sound really, really good?

Not wanting to ruin the moment, but knowing that if she didn't stop this wonderfully peaceful feeling at any given moment, Emma would end it with a bang, Sera unstrapped Emma and climbed carefully out of the car with Jeff's help.

They reached the door and Deb opened it before they even knocked. "I saw your car and Marion just called to say you were on your way and that Emma was asleep. I threatened the kids to keep their mouths shut and to not say a peep. If Emma gets going again ..." she let her voice trail and shuddered.

Sera laughed at Deb and said, "I know exactly what you mean." And then, looking around and not seeing any little bodies running around the house, she asked, "What did you do with them?"

"Don't worry, I didn't kill them. Yet. They're in the den watching a movie. At least the little ones are. Pete and Tiff are sitting next to each other and not saying a word, but I think they're texting each other."

"Are they ready to leave?"

"I guess they could be. How long do we have before Emma wakes up again?"

Sera looked at her watch. "I think we still have a couple of hours."

"Jeff," Deb was only slightly taller than Sera, and paused as she looked up at Jeff, "I didn't realize how tall you were. Anyway, do you have time for a cup of coffee or a glass of wine?"

"Sure, I have a great secretary at the office. She can fill in for me if I sleep in tomorrow."

Sera looked up at him and rolled her eyes. Jeff might have heard something, but if Sera had said anything, it was more like an "ugh" than anything else.

"I think I'll stick to coffee though. Tonight at dinner I think I met my quota."

"But you only had a couple of glasses," Sera countered.

"That's right. I've met my quota. On weekends I can do better, but on week nights, I'm just a wimp."

Sera remembered how Peter used to drink too much and make an ass of himself. She would have to drive him home sometimes and put up with him pawing at her and even other women ... He probably did that when he was sober too. He just had that tad bit of "decency" left where he would at least wait until she turned her back when was sober.

"Yes, coffee for me too. Is it made?"

"No, I'll just go to the kitchen and start it. I think I'll just stick to decaf tonight ..." Deb said with a smile as she rubbed her belly softly.

"That's right! I should have known when you said you didn't want to drink tonight that something was up! That was a dead giveaway."

"Sera, Sera, you make me sound like the lush that I am. Shame on you girl," she said laughing. "Hey Jeff, Chad's in the other room, over that way. He's playing a game on the computer. Go and bother him while Sera helps me with the coffee."

Jeff did as he was told and as he walked by the dining room and past the den, before he got to the office where Chad was in fact playing some kind of shooter game, he thought he saw kids everywhere. Doing a mental count, he realized he probably did see kids all over the place, with Sera's four, and now that Chad and Deb were expecting their fifth child ... They could start their own school. Wow, he thought and shook his head as he popped in to sit with Chad. He couldn't blame the guy for taking a break from the insanity and shooting stuff up to relax.

Chad stopped what he was doing when he saw him. "Hey Jeff, didn't hear you come in. Everything all right?"

"Yeah, your kid eat any more Barbie limbs?"

"It was a shoe, and no, not since dinner today. Hey, by the way, thanks for driving Sera to my mom's and now here. I would have come to get her you know."

"I think everybody is too worried about me and that I might not have the time to do this. Although you married folk like to dream about what we single guys get to do in our free time. I hate to disappoint you, but tonight was the best night I've had in a long time."

"That is just sad. You disappoint me."

"Now you on the other hand ... five kids?"

"Yeah, I don't know how that happened ..."

"I have a general idea."

"Guys," they could hear Deb's voice calling them from the other room. "If you want coffee you'll have to come and get it. It's self-service tonight!"

"Is there anything other than self-service any night?" and with that, Chad slapped Jeff on the back and followed him into the living room where his wife and sister-in-law were looking very smug.
Chapter 12

Sera was a little self-conscious by the time the men came to the living room for their coffee. Deb had drilled her mercilessly about Jeff. What was he like? What did Marion say? What did she think of him? Did he hint anything to her? Deb only stopped when Sera told her to back off.

Sera was confused enough already and didn't need her sister-in-law to egg her on when she had no idea what she was even thinking. First of all, she hadn't even thought of another man for over fifteen years, and what Deb didn't seem to understand was that the timing was awful.

Sera was still married and financially in a big mess, although things were much better now that at least she was bringing home some money. She had four kids – and one of them was Emma who had to be counted at least twice - so bringing a man into her life was just stupid. Besides, what was even harder in bringing someone into your life when you had kids, was that not only did you have to choose for yourself, but you also had to choose the best match for your kids.

Of course, Deb also pointed out that Peter wasn't exactly the best fit for her kids and they were his. Okay, she had a point, but that had just been pure bad luck. Peter made awesome kids and a terrible dad all at the same time.

Sera wished Deb hadn't met Jeff. For two weeks he was a nice boss to Sera. Now she thought of him as husband material! She knew Deb wouldn't let it rest.

"So where's this coffee you made us, woman?"

Deb rolled her eyes at her husband, "In the kitchen my little man. Do you think you can handle getting it yourself?"

"I am the master of the house and I have much practice fending for myself - unfortunately. Come on Jeff. What did I tell you about the service in this place?"

"Mommy, mommy! When did you get back?" A little boy ran up to Sera and jumped up on her lap.

"Hi little monkey. I just got in and went to see you, but you were right in the middle of your movie. How was it? What did you see?"

"We saw Mulan ... again. Melle always wants to see that one because the girl dresses up like a boy and beats all the boys up."

"Yeah, I kind of like that movie myself." Sera said looking over to the men who had just come in and caught the tail end of Charlie's remark.

"Personally, I like Aladdin. Didn't he have a harem or something?" Jeff said looking at Sera.

"No, I think you're confused. For Aladdin, there was only one woman, Jasmine. She was the princess, and his only job was to do as she said." Sera retorted.

"What's a share-em?"

Chad choked on his coffee, and Deb elbowed him in the ribs.

"Hi Charlie." Jeff had jumped in to help out, but mainly to save his own butt. He knew from experience with nieces and nephews that mothers didn't appreciate it when you used foul language or brought up things you couldn't really explain. He thought he had done a good job distracting the boy, but then looked over and still saw dirty looks coming from both Sera and Deb.

"How do you know my name?" the little boy asked, suddenly noticing the stranger in his aunt and uncle's house.

"Your mom has a picture of you on her desk at work. My name is Jeff, and I work with your mom. She told me about you, Pete, and Melle, and I just met Emma today."

"Emma's loud," the little boy said, pretending to shake in fear.

"Yeah," Jeff laughed, "my ears are still hurting."

Charlie giggled, "Are you my mom's poz?"

"Yup, but I'm a nice boss." Jeff told him with a wink.

"Do you have kits? You look like you have kits."

Jeff puffed out his chest at that. "Why, do I look like I have kids?"

"Cause you're old. Old person's hab kits."

Sera almost choked on her coffee over that, and Chad just laughed.

Jeff cleared his throat, "Well you've got a good point. I should have kids at my old age, but I'm not married. Maybe someday I'll get married and have a hundred and seven kids."

"My mom is meh-weed. She used to say she wanted twelve kits, but you need your hubband for that, and we don't know where her hubband is, do we mommy?"

Sera looked only slightly uncomfortable because after all, she was among family, and with someone she was starting to think of as a friend. "Well, we think he's on a trip somewhere. Maybe he can't call us, that's all."

"Yeah, and I'm nine feet tall." A boy of about twelve or thirteen years of age, and somewhere near five feet tall had walked in and sat down next to Sera after giving her a quick peck on the cheek. He had his iPod plugged into his ears, and didn't even look around or see that there was someone he didn't know in the room. Then again, maybe he just didn't care.

"Pete, don't talk that way to your brother," Sera reprimanded.

"He doesn't even know what nine feet tall means," the boy retorted.

"All the more reason not to tease him."

"I do too know what nine feets tall is!" Charlie yelled back.

"Okay then, what is it short stuff?"

"Peter, cut it out. Charlie, it's about this much taller than uncle Chad," she showed with her hands.

"Pete, I haven't introduced you to my boss, Mr. Mason. Jeff, this is my son Peter."

"Hi Jeff," Peter gave Jeff a measured look and made sure not to say Mr. Mason, "I'm Daniel."

The adults all looked at each other, wondering about this new bit of information.

Deb was the one who asked first, "Daniel? Since when? You sure look a lot like my nephew Pete."

"I changed my name since my dad's name is Peter and I don't like it anymore. My middle name is Daniel, so I'm going to be using that name instead. I already told my teachers." Then, after rattling his audience with his detailed explanation, Daniel asked, "When are we leaving?"

"I don't think you can just change your name. I mean ..." Chad was about to say something else when Sera interrupted him.

"Daniel? You know, that was really my idea. Your dad wanted to name you Peter after himself, but I really liked the name Daniel. It might take some getting used to, but I'll try. Just remind me if I forget, okay? Oh, and please go tell Melle we'll be leaving soon. We had better get a head start before Emma starts up again."

Daniel, left the room and all eyes were on his back.

Chad looked over at Sera and told her, "He's getting a little rebellious, isn't he? Do the teachers go along with it?"

"He's the one that's been hurt the most. I wasn't sure at first, but Pe ... Daniel, understands what happened and hates his dad for leaving him, and for leaving me. I don't think he misses his dad that much. They never did anything together anyway, but he resents his dad and the many character flaws that are surfacing. If calling him Daniel will help put a smile on his face, so be it. I will call that kid anything to make him happy again. And yes, I spoke to his teachers and told them if that's what he wants, I'm okay with it."

"Have you thought of therapy?"

That was Deb asking, and Sera had considered it, but wasn't sure if her son was ready, or even if she could afford it. She told Deb that much, and Jeff added, "We haven't done the paperwork to include you in our health insurance yet. I forgot all about that. Do you have any health insurance right now?"

"It expires at the end of the month. Since Peter just up and quit his job, he lost his benefits, but they were nice enough at his company to keep us insured for six months afterwards. I've been checking out insurance rates and I can't really afford them. I didn't realize you offered it."

"We have a basic insurance coverage for the employees. There are specifics attached to it, like liposuction isn't covered, but having a tree fall on you is ... I don't think either of those things should be a concern to you though. I can see about adding you in and check if mental health is covered. My sister has a good counselor my niece went to when she was about this age."

Sera smiled broadly at him. That was another big worry on her list. "Thanks Jeff. That would definitely take a lot of weight off my shoulders. I'm not sure if he'd want to go see someone, but having insurance is ... wow, even if it only covers their regular immunizations. Anything helps."

"Mommy, can I spend the night? Jenny said I could."

"Well hello to you too missy," Sera grabbed the little girl by the waist and pulled her on her lap. "Didn't you miss me?"

"A whole bunch, but now that I saw you ..." she looked at her mother sheepishly.

"I think your aunt and uncle have put up with you enough for the last few weeks."

Deb had just had another girl about the same age go sit on her lap. "Please mommy! We were in the middle of an art project and we want to finish it together. Please?"

Deb looked a little nervous, "An art project?" Looking at Sera, "I don't even want to know ... If Melle stays, will you two clean up the 'art project' after you're done?"

Both girls jumped off their mothers' laps and went onto the floor on their knees begging, "Oh yes, yes, please, please. We promise we will clean everything up. Promise. We're making presents for you," one of them added.

"Shush! You weren't supposed to tell."

"It's not like they know what it is, do they?" and then, suddenly noticing Jeff in the room.

"Who are you? Do I know you?"

"Melle! There are nicer ways to ask!" Sera looked at her daughter exasperated.

Jeff shrugged and got up to introduce himself, shaking each girl's hand. "I'm Jeff. I work with your mom Melle. And you must be Jenny. Pleased to meet you both."

The girls both giggled and then turned to their mothers.

Sera and Deb exchanged a look that said even the younger girls were smitten by good looks.

"Well?" Jenny asked her mother.

"Well what?" Deb looked at her confused.

"Can Melle stay if we clean up?"

Sera and Deb looked at each and shrugged, "Sure, why not?" Then Sera yelled out as they both ran off, "But if you don't help clean up, you're never coming back here again!"

"Music to my ears. One less, but haven't I heard that one before? When was the last time those two ever cleaned anything?" Deb shot back at Sera.

"I know, I know, but I'm obligated to reinforce," Sera explained, and then, "if only to practice. Maybe one of these days I'll get it right." Then getting up, she said, "We'd better go. Emma's about to get her second wind ..."

"Not that I'm counting or anything, but this would be more than just a second wind, wouldn't it?" That was Chad who decided to chime in.

Jeff also got up to leave, and Deb, always the perfect hostess, said "You don't have to go you know. Just because Sera's a party pooper, doesn't mean we can't sit and chat."

Jeff smiled at his hostess. "I appreciate the offer, but unlike the rest of you, tomorrow I have to go into the office."

"You do?" This time it was Sera asking. "I didn't see any appointments or anything."

It was Friday night and the office was closed on Saturdays.

"No, no appointments. I have this new secretary and she organized everything really well, but now I can't find anything. I'm going in to fill out some estimates and get reacquainted with my office."

"Do you need me to help?"

Jeff looked at Sera and debated on how he should answer. Tonight had given him the opportunity to get to know her and her family better. He really liked her, felt comfortable with Chad and Deb, was pleased to see that Marion didn't hold Sera responsible for her son's disappearance, and had enjoyed the interaction between Sera and her children. Tonight had been much better than he had planned, but it was time to call it a day. And as for Sera's question about him needing her help? He didn't think it would be wise to find himself alone with her on a day off when nobody else was expected to show up. Not yet. Besides, even a super-mom needed time off.

He shook his head, smiled, picked up his keys saying thank you, and after a few goodbyes, he was off.
Chapter 13

Sera's weekend was busy. Melle had a dance class in the morning on Saturdays and had to be picked up from Deb's. Charlie had tee-ball at ten, and Pe ... Daniel had to work on a school project with a friend. Emma, well Emma just had a lot of screaming to do somewhere in between all of that.

On Saturday night, they made pizza together, and Sera and the three youngest watched a Disney movie while Daniel listened to his iPod and texted his friends.

Sunday was a lazier day, and Daniel and Melle were picked up by the parents of some of their friends, so Sera tried to dedicate some time to Charlie and together they baked some cookies for when Charlie's siblings came back.

It was a normal weekend for Sera, and a nice rest before having to go back to work again on Monday. Or was it the other way around?

On Monday, Sera decided her first task was to go over each account from this year and check its status to see if it was paid or not paid. She wasn't sure what the usual procedure was to collect on past due payments, but first she wanted to know how much money they were out. That is, minus the $5,768 that she still owed, which would be paid off within the next six months, if not sooner.

After about an hour of going through the files, Sera was amazed that the company even had any money left to pay for the remainder of her salary. Obviously, it helped that the business was booming, but without money being paid when jobs were completed, she didn't know how long they could keep up at that rate.

Jeff obviously loved what he did. It showed in the quality of his work, but the business side of the job had most definitely been neglected. From what Sera had tallied so far, it had been neglected in excess of $120,000, and she wasn't even close to finishing her search for past dues yet.

Sera looked at the clock above the door and saw that it was nine o'clock. How strange that Jeff hadn't come in yet.

She wondered what his weekends were like. He was single after all, so it was possible that he stayed out late. She had heard somebody mention a woman's name ... Lucy? No, that wasn't it, Louise? Lydia? Yes, that was it. Lydia. She didn't hear much more than just the name, and the fact that she and Jeff had gone out, but Sera wasn't sure if they were still an item, or if that relationship was history.

What she did gather from the little she heard about Lydia, was that if she and Jeff were not an item, the loss wasn't too great.

Jeff's love life was not her concern right now. The only thing she should be concerned with were all of the outstanding accounts and bills, and paying off her own debt. Still, she hoped this Lydia or whomever Jeff ended up with turned out to be a nice girl. Jeff was a really nice guy and would someday make someone very, very happy.

Jeff actually slept in on Monday and didn't make it into the office until after ten o'clock that morning. He came in all smiles after sleeping better than he had in ages and didn't see Sera at her desk, but knew she was somewhere in the office, because her desk had all the signs of someone who had been at work for a reasonably long time. Besides, he smelled her. She always smelled like something fresh out of the clothes dryer — clean and fresh.

Walking past their offices, Jeff waved to Mitch and Alan, and found Sera going through some papers in his office and pulling out some of the files from the file cabinet that only a few weeks ago had been storing dust.

Sera had her nose in the files and turned as she heard him come in. Once again, Jeff was taken off guard as he looked at her fresh and clean look. Even on a Monday morning she looked beautiful. He didn't know how she did it. He had had a glimpse of what her life was like after meeting her four children, and knew only too well through the lives of his siblings and friends, and the nieces and nephews he spent so much time with, how exhausting children could be.

"Good morning Sera. Did you decide you didn't want those files in the cabinet after all?" Jeff asked her with a smile. There were three stacks of manila folders on the desk that had been clear of papers for at least two weeks now.

"Oh hi Jeff, I'll clear this mess up. I'm sorry, I didn't know when you'd be in. If you just give me a couple of minutes?"

"That's all right. I'll go and make us some coffee in the meantime. Don't worry, take your time."

"The coffee is made already." Then smiling, "Don't you remember that was one of my duties?"

Jeff smiled, "Indeed it was. I'm glad that's clear, but what I don't know is how you take your coffee."

"I'm not drinking coffee these days. I decided this weekend that I'd go easy on it for a while. I need to be alert, but I need to get my cat naps whenever Emma allows me to sleep."

Jeff smiled and turned to leave, but then turned around again. "I enjoyed Friday night. It was great meeting your family. The kids are great," and then as an afterthought, "you're very lucky to have them. I had a great time with you on Friday night. Thanks."

Neither Jeff nor Sera had noticed Mitch walk in and overhear the latter part of the conversation. Mitch raised an eyebrow and gave Jeff a quizzical look as he followed Jeff to the office kitchen.

"Shit," Jeff muttered. He hadn't seen Mitch and didn't want his sister to get her claws into that conversation. Surprisingly, Trish hadn't been by since hearing they had a new hire.

"Friday night? You guys go out on a date or something?"

"Not that it's any of your business, but no, we didn't."

"Okay, not that it's any of my business, but did I hear dinner and meeting the family, or are my ears playing tricks on me."

"All right, damn you," Jeff looked to make sure nobody was in earshot. Then, lowering his voice he told his brother-in-law, "I went to that Italian restaurant I always go to, the one I take the kids to sometimes, and Sera and her husband's brother and wife were there. They asked me to join them. They're a really nice couple. You'd like them, and we may get some business from them soon.

"Anyway, I ran into them and they asked me to join them. Chad and Deb, Sera's in-laws, were called home by the babysitter so I stayed at the restaurant with Sera. I had to drive her to her mother-in-law's house to pick up the baby, and then to Chad and Deb's, because she had left her car there. We had coffee, said our goodbyes, and that was it. Is there anything else you need to know?"

"Yeah, if there's nothing to hide, than why are we whispering?"

Jeff opened his mouth to say something when Sera chose that time to come in.

"I think I will have that coffee after all. That was a very big and brave statement I made earlier, but I think I do need some caffeine. By the way," Sera winked at Jeff before adding, "I like it hot, strong, and just a little sweet."

They saw her turn around to leave with a big smile on her face and Mitch started laughing. "Boy are you in trouble ..."

Jeff brought Sera her coffee, just the way she wanted it, and watched as she took her first sip closing her eyes and sipping the hot drink as if it were an aphrodisiac.

"Mm. That's good Jeff, just the way I like it."

Jeff could tell Sera had no idea how sexy she looked and sounded hugging her mug of coffee. He started back to his office and found that she was following him.

His desk had been cleared with the exception of one stack of manila folders, which sat right in the middle of the desk.

He looked down and smiled. "In the olden days this would have been an extremely tidy desk, but this pile of files is making me nervous."

"Oh yeah, when you get a chance can we go over some of these accounts? I went over most of the files from this year this morning, and then I found these. Most are completed jobs, but they haven't been paid yet. And these," she held up a stack that she was carrying, "these look like decent prospects."

Sera came around the desk to where he was standing and leaned closer to show him what she was talking about. She smelled absolutely great, and Jeff only heard half of what she was saying.

He couldn't believe how flustered he was by her getting close. It was like being in high school with a beautiful girl again and feeling awkward about his next move. Except that he wasn't in high school, she wasn't a girl, she was the mother of four children, and she was married. No this wasn't the same. This just meant he definitely had to start dating again.

Jeff walked away abruptly from her, realizing she had just asked him something and was waiting for a reply, to which he answered. "Fine, talk to Mitch about this." And off he went.

Sera was left standing in his office with the two stacks of files and not knowing what to do. Jeff was a really nice guy, but she wondered if he was bipolar. What had that been all about?

Maybe he wasn't ready for her to get so involved in money matters. Maybe he thought she was questioning his effectiveness as a business owner.

Once again, he had acted as if he wanted nothing to do with her. It was confusing. He said he had a good time on Friday and enjoyed meeting her family, and then she starts talking business and he storms off. Men!

Maybe the thought of unpaid accounts reminded him she was hired only to settle a debt.

Sera knew she was a little sensitive to that. Sera felt awkward and resented the fact that a debt had been the only qualification that had landed her the job. At least now, she was proving herself. She hoped.

Yes, she was. She told herself. Even she knew the changes she had made in the office were all good ones. She didn't need the guys to tell her that, even though they always did. Mitch, Alan, and Todd were constantly praising the changes she had made. "Now I can find the files without having to search the entire building," and "Alphabetical order? Why didn't I think of that?" Maybe she just rubbed Jeff the wrong way. These mood swings were way too confusing.

Confused she was. There had been a couple of moments when she thought Jeff really liked her and felt at ease with her, like at the restaurant. They had joked around, he had complimented her, and he even praised her work.

Fine, whatever. She'd talk to Mitch. Mitch was easy to talk to and never avoided her.
Chapter 14

Sera's meeting with Mitch went well, even though Mitch seemed even more clueless, or at least oblivious, to what was going on with the business side of it all. He told her to drive on with what she was doing to find all delinquent accounts, and to make sure they actually hadn't been paid and not that they were just not recorded. He suggested she match numbers against bank statements, which she had already done.

Sera had been through bank deposits and hadn't seen any of the outstanding amounts, but Mitch said he'd check with Jeff himself on this while Sera looked through more papers to make sure.

Mitch was confused. This was Jeff's thing. Why did he pawn it off and send Sera his way, and told Sera just as much.

So Sera wasn't the only one who was confused by the way Jeff acted.

On Tuesday morning, Sera was typing a draft for a letter that was going to all past due account customers. She had drafted two letters so far. One was very nice and just a simple reminder, while the other threatened with legal action. She opted to write a third and would have the partners make any changes they saw fit.

A letter was the first step. After that, they'd have to figure out how to proceed once they heard back from the different clients. Should they offer payment plans? Did the contract state they had a designated number of days to pay back? What if the client didn't respond?

It was close to noon and Sera was actually thinking of stepping out today to buy a couple of things she needed for her house, when she heard the door to the office open. She knew there were no appointments scheduled for today.

She was in the back room and knew it wasn't one of the guys since they told her they'd be out on a job site and might not even return before the day was over, so she felt a little uneasy and kicked herself for not locking the front door.

Jeff had told her repeatedly to lock it when she was alone. The neighborhood was pretty safe, but they didn't like her staying alone at the office when anyone could walk in on her thinking there was money, or worse, knowing there was a pretty woman and no one else around.

Sera made sure she had her cell phone in hand just in case she had to call 911, but didn't think she'd need to after she snuck a peak of the intruder, and relaxed.

A tall, thin, and perfectly groomed woman had come into the office. She seemed like the type of person who waltzed in, not walked.

She didn't look like she belonged here, but maybe she was a rich client and wanted to speak to somebody about a job she wanted done.

This would be Sera's first experience talking to a client face-to-face, and she wished the client hadn't looked so stunning in a business suit and high heels, next to Sera's most professional looking jeans, t-shirt, and bleached-out sneakers.

This woman was also tall. Sera didn't like tall women who looked down on her. This woman was at least a head taller than Sera.

"Hi, I'm Sera. May I help you?"

"Do you work here?"

Sera immediately noticed the woman's condescending tone, and decided her first face-to-face was not going to be fun.

"Yes, I'm Mr. Mason's personal assistant." Sera wasn't exactly sure what her job title was, but the one she had used sounded pretty good and put her in a good position directly under Jeff, which was not a bad place to be ...

"I bet you are," the woman said and took a seat behind Sera's desk.

"I'm sorry, I hate to be rude, but is there anything I can do for you? If you need to talk to someone, I can take your name down and ..."

"Is Jeff in?" the woman purred.

"No, he's out. He's at a site."

"Oh yes, he loves getting his hands dirty, doesn't he?" The woman asked with a shudder.

"He's the best there is at what he does, and making himself available at the different sites is definitely a part of his success. Have you seen his work?"

The woman looked down at her nails as if extremely bored by the question, and answered, "Yes honey, I know what he does and I know how well he does it.

"You probably know how much he likes getting down and dirty." She fluttered her eyelashes, trying to act as if she was very coy and Sera realized they weren't just talking landscaping here. However, why this woman felt the need to push her way in and make a point was beyond Sera.

"I'm sorry Miss ... You see, you have me at a disadvantage. You know who I am, because I introduced myself, but I don't know who you are." Sera smiled sweetly and silently congratulated herself on the fact that she could be as phony and coy as any woman in stilettos.

"I am sorry. You said your name is Cynthia?"

"Sera."

"Oopsies," she said with a very fake giggle, "Sera then, I thought you'd know, I'm Mr. Mason's fiancée. I thought everyone knew."

Sera took a step back. That one caught her off guard. Sera hesitated before responding in the hope that the truth would sting a little along the way. Then, looking at the well-dressed ice queen in front of her, she answered, "No, in fact, Jeff never once mentioned you."

"Interesting ..." the woman said as she picked up her purse and left without as much as a wave, a name, or even a goodbye.

The rest of Sera's day went without any major incidents. She managed to polish up a couple of drafts for her letter and left them on Jeff's desk for review. Today she hadn't seen Jeff at all, but with the quiet of the office, she felt she had actually accomplished less. Sera was used to noise, activity, and chaos. Those were everyday occurrences in her life and in her home. The quiet of the office had not helped, nor had the visit from Jeff's fiancée.

She should be happy for Jeff. If he was engaged and thinking of getting married, she knew he'd make a great husband and an awesome father someday, but somehow, she didn't see his fiancée as a Donna Reed type, and she seemed too high-maintenance for the Jeff's of this world.

But what did she know anyway? And why did it bother her?

She spent too much time that afternoon being bothered by the thought of Jeff engaged to that woman, or was it just Jeff engaged, period? It nagged at her that Jeff was engaged to that frigid bitch. He was a nice guy, and he deserved better. Yes, that must be it, or ... Was it really just the fact that he was engaged period? Ugh! She didn't want to think about that.

If truth be told, and she had just recently accepted this as a reality, Sera knew she was somewhat, maybe a little, and sort of – kind of, slightly attracted to Jeff.

There, she said it. However, who wouldn't be. As her sister-in-law, Deb had said, that guy is sizzlin hot!

Anyway, she tried to tell herself "Good for him." However, if he had to be with someone, that woman was not what Sera would have ever imagined for Jeff. Maybe that was his type of woman ... Well then, so much for Sera ever standing a chance!

Today had truly taken a toll on her. She looked up at the new 'older' clock she had recently unearthed from the storage room and decided it was time to pack up and go home.

Sera was tired and didn't like the way her mind wandered. It was taking her to places where she didn't wish to go and in all honesty, she couldn't afford - literally or figuratively - to go there.

Her life was too much of a mess already, and she didn't need some romantic notion of starting fresh and being madly in love, not to mention being loved, by a sizzlin hot, really nice guy.

She turned the coffee pot off, the copier off, shut down her computer, turned off all of the lights, and left.

Today sucked.
Chapter 15

Sera came in earlier the next morning to make up for the twenty minutes or so she had taken off early the day before. Yesterday, when she left early, it was knowing that no matter how long she stayed, she wouldn't have gotten anything else done, but today would be better, and any thoughts about Jeff would just have to go away.

Smiling and singing to herself, she went to unlock the door and found that it was already unlocked. Funny, she didn't recognize any of the cars outside.

Then, walking in slowly, Sera entered the office and saw her. Tall, thin, and gorgeous, but this time, the woman was wearing shorts and a t-shirt and sneakers that looked a lot like the ones Sera always wore; only these sneakers were probably at least three sizes larger than Sera's.

Sera shuddered. Another one of Jeff's women? At least this one looked normal, although maybe too pretty. Sera wasn't sure if she was ready to retract her claws quite yet.

"Hi, you must be Sera." A beautiful woman who looked slightly familiar came to her in quick strides with her hand out and a genuine, welcoming smile to greet Sera.

It was hard to hate her, but Sera did.

"Yes. I mean hi. Yes, I'm Sera."

"I've heard so much about you, and I wanted to check you out myself." The young woman laughed and quickly added, "I meant to say meet you personally." And then with another chuckle, she kept talking while silencing Sera who was trying harder to hate this woman, and not really following the conversation all that well. "You see, I'm supposed to be jealous of you, and quite honestly, I should be, because you're absolutely beautiful."

This woman was making it really hard for Sera to hate her. Still, she could play the bitch game. Two days of gorgeous women invading her turf was all she needed to play rough.

Today wasn't looking as good as she hoped it would.

"And you are...?" Sera asked with her nose up in the air, which rather put her at a disadvantage since it barely reached the woman's neck...

"Oh damn, sorry. Don't even look at me, by the way! I'm on my way to the gym and I'm a mess. I should have at least worn some makeup to come and meet you."

Sera laughed at her and blushed. Fine, she had to admit it was actually impossible to hate this woman.

"I meant," Sera chuckled, "No, not I am beautiful, and you are ... something else," she smiled and saw the meaning of it finally dawned on the tall girl, "And you are ... as in do I know you?"

The young woman started laughing, a very inelegant laugh with a slight snort to it that was very contagious. "Shit. I should have started there," she laughed again. "I'm Trish. I'm Mitch's wife, Jeff's older sister."

Sera relaxed. She really relaxed. Whoa. Yes, that felt better, but not wanting to analyze why she was so relieved and feeling like a total ass, she told the tall girl, "By the way, and before I stick my foot in my mouth again, you are gorgeous. That part was coming next. You kind of startled me when I first walked in. I didn't expect to see anyone, and yesterday this woman came in and ... Sorry," Sera extended her hand as a sign of peace and a form of greeting. "Nice to finally meet you Trish."

"I'm sorry. I just wanted to meet you. Mitch can't stand the fact that I'm not the jealous type. He's been telling me how pretty you are, how efficient, and how you brighten up everyone's day. I am supposed to hate you, but you don't really look hate-able."

"Thanks. I was just thinking the same thing about you! I wish all of my 'visitors' felt that way."

"Visitors? I didn't think anybody ever came in here." Trish looked around not with distaste, but surprise. "By the way, this looks amazing. I know you are the one to blame for making this place look like a real office. These guys are worthless, not to mention clueless."

"Actually no, we really don't have visitors. The guys meet clients at their homes, and the workers and contractors aren't really 'visitors.' You are the second visitor I've had, and the first one was yesterday. I'm sorry. I guess I'm shell-shocked. The lady who came in yesterday left me a little rattled."

Sera turned bright red when she remembered this was Jeff's sister she was talking to. Way to go Sera.

"Who left you rattled? Did you tell Mitch or my brother? Were you alone? I know they're always concerned about people popping in after-hours thinking there is money here or something."

"No, sorry, I didn't mean ... You see, I was alone, but ... Well, I guess she just caught me off guard. Not her fault at all.

"I feel like an idiot, anyway, I was in the back when someone came in and Jeff always tells me to lock the doors and I forgot, and..."

Trish was looking at Sera and waiting patiently for some punch line.

"Sorry. To make a long story short, it was Jeff's fiancée, who surprised me. It was just unexpected, that's all."

The woman looked at Sera confused, as if Sera had just grown another eyeball right then and there. "What do you mean by fiancée?"

"Just that she came in yesterday and told me she was Jeff's fiancée. I didn't even know he was engaged. Anyway, she never told me her name ... So when I saw you in here this morning, I thought great, another fiancée checking things out."

"Eww. You thought I was her? Anyway, she actually said fiancée?"

"Eww, and no, I didn't think you were her. You look a lot more norm ... Uh, I just thought you were another fiancée or something. You're a lot prettier! It's just that she made a point to say fiancée several times in the conversation, and then kept referring to Jeff as Mr. Mason to make sure 'I knew my place' or some stu..." Sera stopped abruptly and turned a bright shade of pink. "Oh my God, I am so sorry. This is your future sister-in-law and I'm..."

"Sorry about what?" Trish asked.

"But..." Sera stammered, "I'm so stupid. I just realized that if you are Mitch's wife, that means that you are Jeff's sister, and here I am badmouthing your future sister-in-law. I've always had a big mouth."

Trish started laughing again. "First of all, you can bad mouth that bitch any time you want. I will help you and feed you some additional ammunition. I've got stories. Secondly, she only wishes to be the future Mrs. Mason. Oh my God, I can't believe she actually said that." Then with a huge smile Trish looked at Sera and winked, "She must have felt super threatened by you to say that."

"Threatened? Threatened by me? I was the one that felt threatened. She looked so ... perfect."

Trish looked down at Sera warmly. "Of course she felt threatened. You're here with Jeff all day, you're hot as hell, and you're more his type than she will ever be. She hates you!" Trish bubbled up with laughter, loving the fact that Sera had rattled Lydia as well.

"She's NOT his fiancée. Jeff broke things off with her and just can't seem to get rid of her, and believe me, not one person in our family would hesitate to dump a load of manure on her if we got the chance. She's absolutely horrible."

"Well that's a relief," Sera said suddenly serious, "not that she seems like a horrible person, but ..." Sera suddenly stopped and gave Trish a look that said she was lying about Lydia not being a horrible person, and they both burst out laughing.

Sera wiped her eyes and added, "I honestly would hate to see Jeff with someone like her. Not that it's any of my business, but he's such a great guy. It's stupid, I know, but after I met her, I couldn't get my mind off the thought that I would take up voodoo just to get her far away from Jeff. Yuck! She uh, she's so ... hideous, and wrong for Jeff."

Just as she was finishing her sentence, Sera saw the door to the office open as Jeff walked in. "What's wrong for me?"

Sera and Trish exchanged a quick and knowing look, and Trish jumped in. "Brussels sprouts. They upset your stomach." She stretched out her arms to motion a hug, "Aren't you going to say hi to your little sister Jeff?"

"My little sister is not little in height nor is she in age, at least compared to me," he said laughing. And looking at Sera, "Ever since my sisters passed the age of thirty, I suddenly became the older one of the three. It's amazing how things work out. And you thought my math was bad?"

Jeff walked over to his sister and gave her a long hug and a quick kiss. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Not you, Sera. I'm supposed to be green with envy and jealousy of Sera." She winked at both of them. "Mitch keeps telling me how wonderful she is and finally in a moment of rage," she turned to smile at Sera," I told him I'd come and meet my competition."

Sera looked embarrassed and slightly confused, but Jeff was just laughing.

"Let me explain," Jeff told Sera, "Mitch and I were college buddies. In all honesty, I don't know why, but I was the one who had the most girls when we went out or were partying. I mean, neither one of us was exactly the playboy type, but I think Mitch always had his eyes on this one," he said pointing to his sister who suddenly pretended to be shy and embarrassed, "so I think he tried to behave in case she heard about our escapades. Anyway, when she started noticing Mitch, Mitch would tell her of all of the parties he went to, of all of the girls, and would make up stories while I would just shake my head in the background. My sister is smart enough to let him enjoy the pleasure of thinking he's making her jealous, when in reality, he's completely harmless. Not only that, but this one," he said pointing to his sister, "loves to annoy him, but when it backfires, she has to pretend so he doesn't lose face. The truth is they're both still crazy about each other and play stupid games to keep the romance alive, since they don't really get out much."

At that, Trish punched her brother hard on the arm and he pretended to fall against the wall.

He kept going, unperturbed, "This is not the first time Trish has had to pretend to be the jealous wife, just so you understand, Sera."

"Well, I am not sure if I really do understand. You see, when I heard stories like that about my husband, I never heard them from him, and they ended up being mostly true," Sera said smiling.

Trish and Jeff exchanged a look and Trish looked heartbroken. "Oh Sera, how heartless of us. I completely forgot. I mean, not that we know anything, but Mitch told me a few things about what's happening in your life, and I know your husband left you, but I didn't know if it was for anoth ... I mean that he had cheated, so still, I mean ...

"Umm ... Oh God, I should just shut up." Trish finished, and turned a bright shade of pink.

Sera went over to Trish and surprised her with a big, heartfelt hug. "Please, it's not your fault. First of all, I'm okay, and secondly my husband is an ass. You can't say a lot of nice things about him because he doesn't deserve it. And contrary to the stereotypical wife that has been dumped because her husband went off with another woman, I don't think it was my fault. I do think I make a better mom than a wife, but sometimes you just have to grow up, and they were his kids too. The guy is an ass, and you just pointed it out. Other than the financial loss and the hurt he's left on my kids, I am better off without the man. Of that I am sure."

Trish hugged Sera back and said with a wink, "You go girl." Then looking back at her brother, she added, "You deserve a nice guy."

Sera wasn't sure why, but she looked up at Trish and turned bright red again. If Trish and Deb met, they would definitely hit it off, but then again, it might be safer if they never met.

The door opened again just as Sera and Trish were separating from their hug. This time it was Mitch who came in. He looked surprised to see his wife there and immediately smiled and went to give her a kiss.

Trish put her hands up to shield herself from the man she had married and said, "I came to meet her for myself, Mitch. She's everything you said she was and more."

Mitch looked suddenly uncomfortable, and turned to Jeff, who looked quite happy with the way things were developing.

Trish turned around to wink at Sera, but only Sera saw her do this. "Sera, I am here to tell you this man is mine. I want you to keep your paws off him, you hear?"

Mitch looked extremely uncomfortable and started to say something when Sera walked over to him and told him, "Oh Mitch, I don't know what to say. I was hoping, but..." Raising her hands to touch him, and stopping herself as if burned, she added, "I guess it's just not meant to be. You have your wife and family, and I have my kids. I just wish we had met a long time ago when we still had a chance."

Mitch shook his head and started chuckling, while at the same time Trish and Sera exchanged a look and Sera said, "Goodbye sweet Mitch," and with that Sera raised her hand as if to wave a goodbye, but instead got a high-five from Trish.

Trish smiled, "Well-played my friend."

"Them two is some dangerous wenches bro," Jeff told his brother-in-law, and then bent down and kissed the top of his sister's head, before walking towards his office with Sera following.

Trish grabbed her brother's arm as he was walking away, and said, "Not so quick little brother."

Jeff turned, "At least we got the 'little' part straight," he said, even though he towered over her by a good five or six inches. "What's up? You look just like you did when you caught me with that dirty magazine when we were little."

"Oh yeah, I remember. Mom gave you hell and dad asked to see what the fuss was all about and then he kept it the evidence. Anyway ... Don't change the subject!" she waved her finger at him. "Now tell me, what's this about you getting engaged and not telling me about it?"

Jeff looked at Mitch, then his sister, Sera after that, and then back to Trish again, although his eyes darted back to Sera a few times in between while he was talking to Trish. "What the ... Engaged? Engaged to what?"

"So you know exactly what I'm talking about? What, as in that ... ugh," Trish pretended to slow her breath down and make a yoga pose to relax herself. "Don't get me started ... I'm talking about being engaged to Lydia, you idiot."

Jeff looked at his sister in shock, not to mention anger. "Are you out of your mind? What the...? Who told you that?"

Sera was beginning to look very uncomfortable since she was the one who had come up with this little piece of information, but Trish seemed oblivious to her discomfiture and kept going.

"Your fiancée came in yesterday and made sure to let Sera know who she was, and where Sera stood."

Jeff looked at Sera, and by now all eyes were on her, making her want to teleport any place and anywhere out of there, "Sera, did you say Lydia was here?"

Sera looked down at her white sneakers and then at Trish begging for help. "Yes, umm, she came in at around noon, and I didn't tell you before because you weren't here, and also because she didn't ask me to."

"She said we were engaged?"

"Yes. She actually said it more than once. She used the word engaged and the word fiancée, so she left me no doubt. I shouldn't have said anything. It's just that when Trish came in, I thought 'Great, another fiancée to deal with.'" Sera realized she had said more than she had intended to say, and immediately apologized. "I'm so sorry. You can have as many fiancées as you want. I just work here. I ..."

Jeff smiled at her. "I can? As many fiancées as I want, huh?"

Sera turned a deep crimson, but Jeff put his hand on her shoulder and smiled in a way that put her at ease.

Sera was relieved, and her smile to Jeff showed it. Trish looked at Mitch with a knowing glance and signaled for them to go away. At the same time, Jeff shrugged and mouthed another "I'm sorry" to Sera, who was left with very mixed feelings: one was relief in knowing that Jeff was not actually engaged to that horrible bitch, but the other and more frightening feeling, was being relieved that he was free. That giddy and happy feeling of knowing he was unattached actually made her panic. That, topped with the warm look Trish was giving her, absolutely freaked her out.
Chapter 16

Saturday mornings were always hectic at Sera's house. Mondays were also hectic, as were Tuesdays. Wednesdays were just as bad, and Thursdays, well, if she had to be honest, all days were pretty hectic.

Still, Saturdays were a different hectic. They were sports days. During the week with work and sitters, it was impossible to let the kids do their extracurricular activities, so that left everything for Saturday.

The activities changed regularly, but usually there was dance, swimming, tee ball, or whatever else the school dangled in front of the kids to tempt them, who in turn, dangled in front of their parents with a pouty face that softened the deal and brought on a lot of expense.

Today it was tee ball and Charlie was having his first real game against another team of four and five year-olds.

Sera was in charge of not only snacks, but of getting her four kids motivated and moving. Daniel didn't want to go, but didn't really have a choice. One, it was his little brother's first game, and two, Sera needed his help. He was thirteen and hated the world, but more than anything or anybody, he hated his dad. Everything bad was about his dad, and today he was stuck helping his mom because his dad had dumped them. There were no two ways about it.

"Did you remember to pack the pretzel packs?" Sera asked Daniel, who was sitting in the passenger seat of the SUV.

"Yah..."

"What about extra diapers for Em?"

"Aha..."

"Did you get the..."

"Yup..."

Sera turned to look at her son who was staring out the window of the car and obviously not even paying attention to her. "Okay, so you got the fireworks. Did you bring the matches?" Sera stopped and looked at her son again. "Daniel, did you hear anything I said?"

Daniel smirked at his mom and said, "Yeah, but just that last sentence. And yes, I always carry matches..."

Sera rolled her eyes, "What's the matter with you P.D.?" Sera used the nickname she had given Peter to separate him from his dad when he was only two, and she saw her son's miffed look and said, "Sorry, D-a-n-i-e-l – Hey, it's going to take me a while, but I'll keep trying, okay?" She smiled and continued, "I'm sorry that you had to come today, but your brother worships you, and I both need and worship you as well." Sera looked over to see if he was smiling or even listening, but he was still looking out the window at the moving road, and brooding.

"I hate dad."

"Peter! I mean, Daniel, try not to say those things in front of your brother and sisters." Sera told him in a hushed tone.

"Why not? If they don't hate him yet, they should and will. Dad's an asshole," Peter braved using a word he never used in front of his mom.

"Daniel, what's wrong with you? You know you're not supposed to say things like that in front of the little ones."

"Really mom? Well that's not fair ... So I can't say a-s-s-h-o-l-e, but I can change a diaper and I can clean puke. You can't have it both ways you know! If you expect me to do things that jerk should be doing, then you can't expect me to be happy about it."

"P.D. said asshole..." Charlie giggled. "A-s-s-h-o-l-e, a-s-s-h-o-l-e..."

"Charlie, don't say that word sweetie. It's not nice. Peter is angry, but he shouldn't have said that."

"That's a funny word, A-s-s-h-o-l-e. What's an asshole?"

Sera thought to herself, the kid has a slight speech impediment and can't say "boss" or "kid," but he can say asshole?

"That's a bad word Charlie! You're going to hell if you say that!" Melle chimed in. "Mommy, I don't want Charlie to say that! Tell him to stop! Please!"

"A-s-s-h-o-l-e, a-s-s-h-o-l-e..."

"Hell? Where did you hear that Melle? Nobody in this car is going to hell, you hear me?" Sera was starting to lose it. She didn't have time to have a family pow-wow, and they were already running late to Charlie's game. Under normal circumstances, she'd sit everyone down and make sure they all had a chance to say what they needed to say, while making it a learning opportunity on what not to say, but today wasn't normal. They were running late and had a game to go to.

"Matthew, a boy from school, says if we don't think God is our father we'll go to hell. He said God sends you to hell when you say bad words too. I don't want Charlie to go to hell! I love Charlie! Make him stop mommy, p-le-a-s-e!"

Sera's head had started to pound. "All of you stop! All of you stop right now! I mean it. I'm turning this car around and heading home, and there will be no game if you all don't stop saying that word and talking about hell!" Sera pulled the car over to the side of the road and gave each of her kids a piercing look. Silence reigned, and was broken some thirty seconds later by Peter.

"Asshole?" Peter obviously decided to risk it again, but this time he was hoping to be rewarded for it. With any luck his mother would turn the car around and head back home to put him out of this misery.

Sera put her head down on the steering wheel and started hitting it against the hard surface. Once oww, twice oww-oww, three times oww-oww-oww and over and over, and over again.

The small humans in the car went suddenly silent. Even Emma by some strange miracle had decided not to scream. In the silence of the car, all they could hear was Sera banging her head against the wheel.

"Mommy are you okay?" Melle asked with a twinge of fear in her voice.

The kids stared silently while their mother continued to hit her head.

After a while, they all looked at each other wondering what to do. Melle and Charlie looked at Peter and looked really scared.

That was just about the moment when Sera chose to accidentally honk the horn of the car with her head and jumped a foot off her seat yelling, "What was that?!"

Peter looked at her like she had gone mad, but after seeing her smirk, and seeing the confused look on her face after the horn went off, he just started laughing.

Sera smiled at her son, winked, and shrugged.

Another major emotional tragedy avoided.

Later on in the day, they'd have to discuss bad words, bring up religion and tolerance, explain that acting maturely and helping out doesn't give you a free pass to use foul language, and the toughest one: discuss their dad – lightly – and try to balance the truth with what the kids could handle.

Their dad's abandonment couldn't be downplayed. However, how do you explain that type of behavior to a kid when most adults around you don't even get it? Parenting was a balancing act, and these kids needed a safety net. Sera was their safety net, and she was hanging on by a thread.

Yes, all that would come later. They'd have to put the family pow wow on hold for now, because right now it was time to play ball!

They parked the car as close to the field as possible, but not close enough for all they had to haul. Sera asked Melle to take Emma. She didn't want to push her luck with Peter today. So Emma was in the stroller with Melle pushing, Peter had the cooler to lug, and Sera carried bags with odds and ends, while trying to follow a very motivated and enthusiastic Charlie onto the field.

They were late. Not surprising after the little episode they had just had on the road. Now Sera's head hurt. She touched where it hurt and felt some pain. Great, she was probably walking around with a huge bruise on her forehead! Next time she'd put one of those soft covers on her steering wheel before hitting her head on it time and time again.

They got to the field where all of the kids were lined up. The boys and girls looked adorable in their super clean new uniforms. Sera wondered if there would be time for some picture taking before they got too dirty. Even better, maybe they could do a before and after.

The kids were standing attentively listening to their coach. Sera didn't really care for the coach, who was too serious about a game for four and five year-olds. The guy must have worn a jock uniform in his early days, but now he just wore a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, a baseball cap, and a paunchy belly. He made it clear to Sera the last time she saw him, that he didn't like that Charlie couldn't make practices, but the only way he could get to practice would be if someone other than Sera took him. Didn't other parents work too?

"Hi everyone," Sera smiled at the kids who gave her a shy wave, but she received no acknowledgement from the coach.

"Charlie, you stand between Joey and Becka." The coach pointed to two kids who looked a little younger than the rest, and then he looked up at Sera, snorting, "You can hang out with the other parents."

So she was dismissed. Nice. Sera looked over to the bleachers to see if she recognized anyone, but before sitting down, she'd have to track down Peter, Melle, and Emma. Emma would start wailing soon and she was afraid she'd find her stuffed in a trash can somewhere.

Sera started heading to the other side to see where her kids were when a guy popped out of nowhere, and got in her way. "Uh, hi. Excuse me," Sera stuttered, "I have to go find my kids."

"You're Suzie Sinclair, aren't you?" he asked looking down at her body and spending little time on her face.

"Sera, I don't think we've met."

"Brian. I saw you at the school a few times. Your kid is Chuckie?"

The guy was gross. He was leaning into Sera like he knew her and like he thought she wouldn't mind. Sera took a step back. "C-h-a-r-l-i-e, not Chuckie, and uh, like I said, got to go." She turned quickly, but didn't miss the thumbs up the guy gave to another guy standing nearby.

Well, good to know her husband Peter wasn't the only scumbag around.

Sera scanned the crowd and saw Peter and Melle standing next to Emma in her stroller, who was still miraculously asleep. From a distance, Sera couldn't really see if Emma was awake or if she was asleep, but since she wasn't wailing, it was a safe bet that she was still asleep. She had forgotten about the cooler, but she'd have to bring it to the field a little later for snack time. She was not about to tackle the coach or that gross jerk until she re-energized.

With her eye on her kids, the most beautiful sight ever, Sera rushed over as if she hadn't seen them in ages instead of the five measly minutes that had gone by.

"Hi guys! Have I told you lately how much I love you?" Peter rolled his eyes and Melle beamed. Emma slept. "So where should we sit?"

"How about here?" Peter said.

Sera looked around. There were bleachers, but that part of the small stadium was empty. "Don't you want to sit where the other people sit?"

"Nope," he said and quickly planted his butt on the cold aluminum seat.

"This okay with you Melle?" Sera asked her second child who was looking around and fidgeting.

"Mommy, umm," Melle twisted her hair with her finger, "is it alright if I go sit over there?" she asked pointing. "I just saw Tiff with her mom and dad."

Sera smiled, knowing Melle would be bored to tears staying with them, and P.D.'s plans obviously were to sulk and make it miserable for everyone. "Sure baby, I'll be here if you need me. Remember," Sera added waving a finger to her daughter, "buddy system. You don't go anywhere without telling someone or without a buddy. No bathroom visits without a friend. Got it?"

"Yes mommy, I know that. You tell me every time." Melle put a lot of emphasis on the word "every."

"Okay, good to know you've been listening. So go now!" She pushed her daughter away and sat down next to P.D..

P.D. scooted a foot away from his mom and continued texting or doing whatever he was doing when Sera and Melle were talking.

Sera looked around and tried not to feel sorry for herself. Wait until all four are teens! P.D. couldn't get far enough away, and Melle was cheerfully running off to someone else's family, who were obviously a lot more entertaining than her own. Charlie was in the dugout somewhere, and Emma ... well, it was better to leave Emma be.

Sera scanned the area and hoped she'd be able to see Charlie from where she was sitting. It was obvious Peter had no desire to be with others and was hating every minute of this family outing. She had to tread carefully with him. He was at a super tough age, and tough things happened at the worst possible time for him. Deb was right. She should consider therapy for him, but even broaching the subject now was risky business. He hated his dad, but her relationship with him was also turning fragile.

Sera saw two guys coming her way and hoped they didn't ask her to join them. Now that they were closer, she saw that one of them was the guy she had tried to avoid earlier. Today was continuing to suck.

"Hi again," Brian said. "You remember Randy, don't you?"

"Sure. Hi Randy."

"Mind if we sit?" Randy asked.

"Well, uh," Sera answered as P.D. shot her a "don't even think about it" look. She wished she could shoot something back that said "I am with you on this one kid," but gave a lame "Okay," instead.

The men sat on either side of her, making P.D. have to move again, but this time it was not by choice.

"This is my son, uh ... Daniel." She had hesitated, but got it right. No use alienating P.D. any more by using his deadbeat dad's name.

Brian laughed, but didn't even say hi to Peter. "What, too many kids to remember their names?"

Not worth a response, Sera thought. So instead she changed the subject, "When are they starting to play?" she asked both or none of the two jerks on either side.

"They were waiting for someone, but I think they're about to start."

"Good, this is exciting," Sera smiled. "Their first game! I hope they don't keep score though, so they can all win."

"Well where's the fun then? They got to learn sometime?" Brian answered.

"Yes, but they're four and five year-olds. They should just have fun." Sera hated competition for kids. It seemed it was more for the parents' sake than for the kids.

Case in point, Randy answered, "If they don't keep score, how will they know who won?"

Oh, he must be the bright one of the two...

"That's the whole point. It doesn't really matter if they are learning and just having fun." They were harder to talk to than her four kids, including Emma who didn't talk.

"I want them to keep score so everyone will know my son is the one who beat all their butts!" Brian laughed and elbowed P.D., who moved another foot away from them.

"What sport do you play, sport?" Randy asked a very uninterested P.D..

"I don't," P.D. answered and went back to his iPhone.

"Single mom is gonna make a pansy out of you!" both men guffawed.

Sera sat upright when she heard "single mom." What had they heard? Is that why they were here? This was a game she wasn't willing to play. Besides, how dare they talk to P.D. that way? The poor kid turned bright red and dug his head deeper into his phone.

"Pansy? I'm sorry. I thought I heard you call my son a pansy," Sera was having a really hard time staying in her seat and not hitting someone.

"Well, if you keep standing up for him, he'll be a queer someday too!" Brian laughed.

"P.D., let's go sit over there," Sera pointed to the general direction of anywhere but here. "This area is starting to stink. Doubt it's the bathrooms, they're on the other side." P.D. got up, grabbed the cooler, and smiled at his mother before looking at the guys who were still sitting down and adding, "Eww mom, it does stink here."

"I thought she said his name was Daniel," they laughed, "so it's true she doesn't even know her kids' names. Pops them out too fast to remember!"

Sera and P.D. couldn't get away fast enough. They walked past where Melle was sitting, and Sera pointed to where she was heading. Melle waved her away instead of over. Interesting. So all was settled. Off they went to find new seats.

Sera saw that P.D. was steaming. He had heard the entire exchange and that last bit about popping kids out, not something a thirteen year-old wants to even think about, especially when talking about his mother. Sera looked at him and said, "You want to talk about assholes? Those two are more like ass craters!" P.D. smiled and his pace quickened; he almost skipped at that one.

They were halfway down to an empty spot with other families when Sera heard her name being called out. It was a man's voice she didn't identify at first, and thought great ... another one! She was just about to turn the other way when she heard her name again. Shielding her eyes with her hand to see where the voice was coming from, Sera saw that it was Mitch, sitting on the bleachers with Trish and a couple of kids.

Sera beamed. Mitch was like an oasis right now. What were they doing here?

Mitch and Trish waved them over and then Mitch ran down to help Sera with Emma. They left the cooler down near the field, and Mitch turned to P.D. to introduce himself.

"Hi, I'm Mitch. I work with your mom. Would you like to join us?"

Mitch hadn't even glanced at Sera when he asked, and Sera loved it. She loved Mitch! What a great guy. She almost threw her arms around him to thank him, but that would have been just weird.

Trish helped pull a sleeping Emma out – still in her carrier – by unsnapping the carrier from the stroller. Trish looked up at Sera and mouthed "She's gorgeous!"

Trish looked over to Mitch and pointed to Emma, "I want one of these!" she squealed.

Sera laughed and told them both, "Watch what you ask for," and P.D. laughed.

Sera went on to do the introductions of Daniel and Emma, and explained that Melle was sitting with a friend.

Trish introduced her eight and twelve year-old daughters. The girls were just as stunning as their mother was, and tall ... The oldest looked like she could be fifteen or sixteen, and was absolutely beautiful.

Sera saw that P.D. had also noticed, because he put his phone away in his pocket and was very cool about it all. Pansy, my ass!

The game had just started and they all quickly shifted their attention to the field. Trish pointed to her son, Austin, and Sera pointed to Charlie, who was sitting on a bench with the two kids he had been told to stand next to when they arrived.

It was funny to watch the kids. There were so many errors, a few tantrums, a couple of minor injuries, and random tears. However, it would have been a lot more fun to watch had Charlie been playing.

Sera turned to Trish and asked, "Do they make sure all of the kids play in every game?"

Trish looked at Sera suddenly realizing Charlie had been sitting out the entire time. "They're supposed to. Our coach makes sure they all go out or he gets hell from us parents. Has Charlie played before?"

"No, this is his first season and first game. The coach thinks I'm invisible. I've tried to ask how Charlie's doing, but ..."

"Mitch," Trish put her hand on her husband's knee and squeezed, "go to the dugout and see what's up with Charlie and why he's not playing."

Sera looked uncomfortably over at Mitch who also looked a little uncomfortable.

Mitch got up to leave and Trish explained, "If you haven't noticed, this is a man's world. That's why there are wars and famine. If we ruled, we would be hugging and apologizing even if we didn't do anything, and we'd be sharing a big table with food for anyone who was hungry. If you go to the dugout, they will ignore you and piss you off. If Mitch goes, they might actually listen. It sucks, but that's the way it is."

"Don't you go giving my employee any women's lib ideas now!"

Sera turned and saw Jeff sit down next to her. She flushed, and the sun suddenly started feeling a lot warmer.

"I ... uh ... I didn't know you were coming. You didn't say..."

Jeff smiled, "I don't have to tell you everything, but you should have told me."

Sera laughed at him, "Really?"

Jeff leaned over to give his sister and the two girls a kiss, raised his hands defensively when he saw Emma, and said, "Hey Daniel. How's it going?"

P.D. had been talking to Jeff's niece and turned a light shade of pink. Jeff winked at him and turned to his sister, "Where's your man?"

"Talking some sense into Charlie's coach." Trish answered.

"Oh," Jeff looked confused. Then he turned to Sera and asked, "Has he been sitting it out?"

"Yes, but I'm not sure if the coach will be calling him in. This is Charlie's first game, so I'm not sure how it works."

"Who's the coach?"

Sera thought for a second and said, "They call him Coach Mike. I think his name is Michael Casey," Trish and Jeff exchanged a look Sera could not figure out.

"What?!" Sera looked from one to the other very confused.

"Let's just say he shouldn't be coaching four and five year-olds," Trish said. "We had him for the two older girls for a short time and we hated him. If you weren't really good, he'd bench you." Trish realized what she said, and added, "Sorry."

"Hey Daniel," Jeff called out, "do you want to take a walk with me to check on Charlie?"

P.D. hesitated, looked at the pretty girl next to him, and decided going to check on his younger brother might earn him some points. "Sure, be right back," he told the girl who had already pulled out her iPod.

When Jeff and P.D. got there, Mitch was on his knees giving Charlie some pointers. It looked like Charlie was about to go play.

"Hey Charlie, how are you doing? Don't you look sharp in that uniform," Jeff told a very happy Charlie.

"P.D., they're gonna let me pway," Charlie beamed. "Coach said there wasn't woom before, but he made woom for me now."

P.D. looked up at Mitch and then to his brother, "That's great squirt. The game will finally get interesting now."

The coach called out to Charlie and made no eye contact with Mitch or Jeff. At least Charlie would play.

The three "men" walked back to the bleachers to some very proud and happy women.

Sera was the first to speak, "Thank you so, so much. I had no idea how this worked Mitch, but Trish explained this stupid man code thing, so I'm glad you went to talk."

Mitch looked at his wife smiling and said, "I bet she did. Anyway, the coach said it somehow got past him..."

"I bet it did..." Trish rolled her eyes.

As predicted by P.D., the game did get more interesting. Charlie was awful, and the coach and a few other dads were not happy. Poor Charlie! The good thing was that Charlie was having fun and didn't seem to notice or care how bad he was.

It was half time, so Sera brought out the juice boxes and snacks for the kids. She was handing them out when Randy came up to her and asked, "Who taught your son to play? You or your baby?"

Sera's head snapped up and she was about to say something when Jeff replied, "I did."

Jeff towered over Randy who was probably only 5'6 or 5'7. He was a bit intimidating and the look he gave Randy made things look worse.

"Oh, well I hope you keep teaching him, because he's got a lot to learn." Randy turned to leave, but Jeff stopped him.

"You're the one who has a lot to learn. Leave the kid and his family alone. You hear me?"

"Or what?" Randy asked, and then shrugged and left when he saw Mitch join Jeff and Sera.

"Ass crater..." P.D. was heard saying behind them.
Chapter 17

On Monday, Sera walked into work with a headache. She hated ugly people and Charlie's coach and those two dads at the game had really bothered her. Sunday, she had spent the day wondering what she should do. She was happy Mitch and Jeff had been there to help out, since this was a man's world, as Trish had pointed out. Life wouldn't be easy raising four kids alone if so many men kept getting in her way. All she wanted was to get her life going in the right direction, and do what was best for her kids.

The good news was that Charlie didn't know or care that he wasn't a good ball player. As long as he got to run around with other kids and toss or catch the occasional ball, that was all he needed to have fun. However, it wasn't fair to Charlie or other kids that there were jerks who made the rules, and benching a four or five year-old was totally messed up.

She wished she could explain things to Charlie without hurting him, or talk to someone else. She had never really had someone who listened; Peter was not that kind of husband, if such a husband even existed. It was obvious that Jeff, Mitch, and Trish knew exactly how she was feeling, because all had jumped in to help out. Sunday had been a day of moping and feeling sorry for herself. Today she'd have to snap out of it and face the world.

Sera looked around confused. Today was Monday, wasn't it? Sera walked into an office that was buzzing. Not only was there activity everywhere she looked, but all of the guys were in the office at once, and that was something she hadn't seen since that first day when she met them all.

The guys walked by and waved hellos and Sera continued walking, past her desk, and over to Jeff's office to say hello.

When she walked in, Jeff was looking at some files that were spread out on the once clean desk, and had the phone to his ear, "Okay, sounds great. We'll be seeing you this afternoon. Yes, 837 Maple, got it. Take care ... yeah, alright, aha ... bye."

"Whoo. Hey there sleepy head." Jeff said in the form of a greeting.

"Sleepy head?" Sera laughed, "It's 8 o'clock and I'm not late according to the schedule my boss gave me."

Jeff smiled warmly, "We'll have to have a talk with your boss. Anyway," he added, still all smiles, "no worries, you're fine. It's just that I've been here since six, so it feels like it's late afternoon by now."

Sera smiled back, "Not my problem," and then went over to stand behind him and look over his shoulder to see what he was working on.

Umm, he smelled delicious. Soapy and musky delicious ... Y-u-m-m-y.

"What?" Jeff asked Sera.

"What, what?" Sera asked turning pink.

"Did you say yummy?" Jeff laughed.

"Oh, I was thinking of something ... ah, never mind. What are you working on?" Good thing she was standing behind him, or he might have noticed her face had turned a deep shade of red. She had said yummy out loud?

"I'll go over it after we get some coffee, okay?"

Sera laughed and asked Jeff, "Is that your subtle way of asking me to bring it?"

"It wasn't, but did it work?"

"Coming right up, boss!"

Sera walked over to the kitchen and saw Alan and Mitch looking down at some papers on Mitch's desk. Everyone seemed busy but her.

Coffees in hands, Sera returned to Jeff's office, and Jeff looked up at her as he heard her come in and stretched his arms, completely unaware of the fact that he was showing off his beautifully muscled torso.

What the hell is wrong with me? Sera wondered, while trying to shift her eyes away.

"How is everyone at home?"

"What?"

Jeff laughed, "You're a little distracted this morning, aren't you? I asked how your family is doing."

"Oh, good. Emma had a great day on Saturday, and she skipped one of her fit times yesterday. I am hoping her colic will start getting better. Melle had a friend over. Charlie couldn't stop talking about the game..." Sera paused, poor Charlie. "Oh, and I think Peter and your niece have been texting non-stop since Saturday."

"Yikes! Really? I am not ready for her to start dating. She's only thirteen!"

"You're not ready? What about me? I don't think I can add THAT to my worries."

"True dat." Jeff replied.

"True dat? OMG! Who have you been talking to lately?" she laughed.

"OMG? We need to get out more, don't we?"

There was a slightly awkward silence after that and then he added, "I actually spent most of the weekend with nephews and nieces, so you'll have to bear with me."

"I'll try to cut you some slack. Anyway, what's happening, and what's everybody doing? I haven't seen all of you under one roof and at one time since the first day I came here."

"Ah, well to tell you the truth, it's all your fault lady."

"Don't blame me. I wasn't even here. Remember? I came in at 8 A.M., which was your noon or something. So do not go pointing fingers at me. I had a shitty weekend, so you'll need to cut me some slack too."

"Because of the game?" Jeff asked her with concern.

"Yes, well ... Let's not talk about that right now. Sorry..."

"No need, but to answer your question, it is your fault that we are jumping through hoops right now. This has to do with those letters you sent out to the clients, and I found several messages on the machine when I got in this morning."

"Wow, I didn't know you knew how to work the machine," Sera pretended to be in awe.

"Cute. Really cute."

"I thought so. Anyway, are these messages for jobs you already did, or new jobs for you to do?"

"New jobs. It looks like the inserts with the 'before and after' pictures did the trick. There are some very motivated clients who were hesitant before, but now they are onboard. Sera, this is great. It really is. Business has been down, and you're helping to bring it back up." Jeff was all smiles and Sera felt like mush inside.

Jeff saw she was uncomfortable with the praise, but kept going. "You have been a lifesaver, Sera. I mean, things weren't bad, but let's just say I didn't really know where we stood. Now I have spreadsheets and files, stuff I'm still trying to figure out how to read," he laughed, "and well ... I just want to say thank you."

"We both know you're the real lifesaver, Jeff. I have no idea where I would be without you. Working here helped me not only to pay a debt with a tyrant landscaper guy..."

"Thank you," Jeff smiled.

Sera continued, "...but I've been able to stay afloat. Even the hours, you've allowed me the flexibility I need with the kids, and that's H-U-G-E!"

"When you started, I thought it was the only way to get paid, so I helped you. But now ... I mean, you immediately took the knight-in-shining-armor role away from me!" he laughed.

"I guess we're good together," Sera said and then blushed.

Jeff smiled and looked straight at her, "We are good together. I have no doubt about that."

After another awkward silence, Jeff became all business.

"Okay, now I'm going to need your help to start mapping out our schedule for the next few weeks. Mitch and I have some appointments this afternoon, and then we will know what the jobs will be and how we should distribute the work. We will be busy for the next few months, but this is a perfect time of the year to get it done. I will also have to add a few more hands here for laborers, and there are some contractors we have worked with that might pick up some of the extra work. This is really great and it seems to have exploded. I guess we got into a rut or something. It was too easy to sit back and wait for stuff to come in, but I do plan to retire someday." Jeff smiled and saw Sera's head was somewhere else.

Sera hesitated. She was about to say something, but she stopped, "Okay, I'll start setting things up. Send me what you have and I will set up your calendar so I can send out reminders. You will need to tell me the type of work you will be doing so I can start ordering the materials to get better prices in bulk. Put it on the requisition form like I showed you, and ..."

Jeff grabbed her hand and squeezed it, "I love you Sera Henderson..."

Sera turned bright red. Among other things, he had used her maiden name Henderson, instead of Sinclair. She wasn't even sure if she had squeezed his hand back, it felt so good. Now, red and flustered, she should have laughed it off and come up with something witty. Instead, she turned a dark shade of red and froze.

Jeff was looking at her was suddenly embarrassed by her reaction and slightly taken aback, "I'm sorry Sera, I didn't mean to..."

"Oh, that," she said flippantly, "I hear that all the time." She laughed and headed out the door as fast as her feet could take her. She went straight to the bathroom, and hit her head against the mirror a few times, whispering "lame, lame, lame!" Then she turned around and made her way back to her desk.

This hitting her head thing was getting old, not to mention it actually hurt.
Chapter 18

Sera spent half of her day creating calendars, making schedules, calling on appointments, and making lists of materials they'd be needing to get the jobs started. The other half of the day she spent frustrated, mad, embarrassed, and wondering what the hell was going on and why she was being so stupid. She was getting all goo goo ga ga over Jeff, and there was no time for that.

Okay, let's evaluate the situation, Sera thought to herself. He's hot. Oh my God, he's h-o-t! He's really nice, he saved my butt, he's good with kids, he's single ... Sera stopped.

I'm not single.

He's financially stable, and ... What the hell am I doing? Okay, RE-EVALUATE:

I'm married, I have four children, I am a mess financially, I have traumatized kids, I ...

Even Sera could see she wasn't a really good catch.

Ugh...

The day progressed and she found herself alone for most of the afternoon. Jeff had left at two to go to an appointment, and had scheduled back-to-back meetings until 9 P.M. that evening. He had an open slot between three and four, and she told him she could call to see if she could get his last appointment moved to an earlier time, but he had told her this was fine. "In fact," he had added, "please block out the hour from three to four for me every day this week."

"Do you need me to call anyone el..." Sera yelled out, but he was out the door.

The rest of the week stayed abuzz with the guys coming in and out, contractors stopping by, and phones ringing constantly. Sera loved every minute of it.

The office was finally performing the way it should. Jeff, Mitch, and the others were very good at what they did, so promoting their work with the before and after shots had simply allowed other people to recognize the business for what it was. The difference was that now they would start treating it like a business with Sera's help. Sera could do the business side, which she was proving to be very good at, and the rest of the team, -the artistic minds and laborers - could focus on what they did best.

Sera saw very little of Jeff that week. He was out meeting with clients and contractors and spent almost no time in the office. Sera forwarded all messages his way, so he didn't even need to call her back to check in.

Sera had to admit she missed seeing him, but the way her body and mind had started responding to him, it was better that he stayed away.

Sera went home every day feeling tired, but fulfilled. She knew she had succeeded in promoting the business, and the guys were all thrilled; more work for them meant more money.

It was Thursday already, and Sera was ready for the weekend. One more day ...

Sera left work and went straight to Deb and Chad's as she did every day to pick up the kids. Deb and Chad had been looking at properties nearby and searching for their next home.

Sera was so happy for them. They were great people and she loved the idea of a new home, a new baby, and a wonderful family, all for such an incredible couple. She also felt she owed so much to them for all they did. After all, Peter was Chad's brother, but they had immediately jumped in to help her when he left. Marion, her mother-in-law, helped, but it wasn't the same. There was still the fact that Peter was Marion's son and she had a hard time accepting what he had done.

Jeff told Sera that when Deb and Chad found a new home, he would gladly do the work for them, and only charge them for materials, as a gift for all they'd done for Sera. He knew what they meant to Sera, and he wanted to help her thank them for all they did. That was a wonderful gesture, and she didn't even know where to go with that.

Sera appreciated the thought immensely, but was a little confused as well. She was still paying off her debt, although she had received a raise and the debt was almost paid in full, but she didn't even know if she'd have a job for much longer. The six months were up in six days, and she was afraid to bring it up to her bosses. Neither Jeff nor Mitch had brought it up, but they were so busy, they probably didn't even know what day it was, or forgot about the whole contract thing. Sera on the other hand very much remembered the contract and worried that she would find herself jobless soon.

Sera told Deb about her concern, but Deb told her not to worry.

"How can I not worry? I mean, this debt will be paid in full, but I need to keep feeding the kids. I've managed to scrounge enough to stay afloat, but this job is what allows us to eat."

"First off, you're the one who brought in more business, so they know they need you," Deb reasoned. "Not only did you bring in new clients, but you made the deadbeats who didn't pay, pay."

"Deadbeats like me?" Sera smirked.

"Exactly," Deb rolled her eyes. "Not only that, but the guy depends on you and, he is c-r-a-z-y about you."

Sera's head snapped up, "What do you mean he's crazy about me?"

Deb smiled, "Oh that got your attention. Let me spell this out to you, I think he l-i-k-e-s you!" she said in a sing-song voice.

"Oh please! Why? Because I'm such a great catch? Besides, you were at my wedding thirteen years ago. There's that little detail about the fact that I'm still married, remember?"

"Speaking of deadbeats ... Yes, I do recall my husband's younger brother marrying way above his decency and kindness station."

"Cute. Joking aside, there's no room for that in my life now and you know it."

"If it worked out, there would be plenty of room. If it didn't ... Well, I don't want you to get hurt again, but I want you to have something really good." Just then, the door opened and in came Chad, "Speaking of which..." Deb became all smiles.

"Who's a witch?" Chad smiled at Sera and bent down to kiss his wife's lips and then her stomach, "How are my girls doing?"

Sera looked at them with pure envy and a lot of love, "You guys are gross. Isn't it a little early to say the baby's a girl?"

"He only says that because he chose a girl's name. If he likes a boy's name instead, that may change. You know my Chad, he's very scientific," Deb explained.

"I see," Sera replied, "and what would that name be?"

Deb laughed, "There's more to his science, of course. You see, if he tells someone the name he's thinking, he'll jinx it. So for nine months, I have to live in fear of what name he came up with."

"Oh, I get it. I see I married the dumb brother. This one must've got all the brains." Sera smiled.

Chad sat down. "That's right little lady. Hey, where are all of the little beasts? Wait, don't tell me. Are they outside hunting dinosaurs, or are they making mud pies again?"

"Oh God, I hope it's the dinosaurs. If not, either we bring out the hose when they're done, or they sleep outside. I'm not in the mood to clean up a muddy bathroom tonight."

Chad turned away from his wife and asked Sera, "So how's Jeff? Was he here to..."

Deb elbowed her husband leaving no doubt he was about to say something she didn't want him to say.

"Ouch, woman!" And Chad left no doubt that Deb's elbowing was painful and obvious. "What?!"

"Oh, umm. Was Jeff at work today?" He recovered.

Sera looked from one to the other and shook her head. "You guys really have to work on being subtle. No, he was not at work. Work is good, but very busy. I've been alone most of the week, except for the guys coming in and out and contractors stopping by all the time."

Chad nodded, "Yes, I heard things got really busy," and got another elbow from Deb.

Chad looked at his wife and shrugged, "I think I'll go hunt for dinosaurs. They're a lot safer than my wife," and off he went.

It was Friday, and things did not seem any calmer. Instead, it looked like the following week would be busier. It was amazing how word got out and business had picked up. She'd have to talk to Mitch and Jeff about increasing some costs as well. It seemed business was great, but they were charging a lot less than the competition, and it was now obvious the competition, as far as amount of business and quality of work, was falling behind. But according to some information Sera found from calling around, Mason Landscaping was charging way below what it should.

All of this business coming in should be charged at the going rate. She texted Mitch and Jeff and gave them the highlights of her findings, but said she would explain more if they ever decided to come back into work.

Sera liked being busy. She loved it in fact. What she did not like was not seeing the guys; she missed the guys. In addition, as much as she tried to deny it, she knew there was one guy in particular she missed even more.

She felt like a young teenager again. Unless she was letting her imagination go, Jeff had been throwing little comments her way and there had been some flirting. She had been away from the dating scene long enough so that she might not recognize some things, but in her gut, she knew the attraction was mutual. The problem was, Jeff had a lot more to lose from a relationship with Sera, than Sera had to gain from being with Jeff.

So Sera was busy, but lonely, and had too much alone time to think of things she probably should not think of.

Although she didn't get to see her guys, she still had a lot of other male attention at work. Unfortunately, some of the attention she received she really didn't like.

There was one contractor in particular who had started referring to her as "my girl." Sera was nobody's girl, and especially not this guy's. She knew if "her" guys were in the office, they would have put a stop to that. She made it clear to him that she was busy, not interested, and working, so she should not be bothered, but the guy was obviously dense.

Sera was in the back of the building in Jeff's office, putting away some papers from recent estimates, when she heard some noise coming from the front office.

"Yoo-hoo!" Sera heard the contractor's grating voice. Yuck, Gary was in the building.

Shit, shit, shit! Sera was about to grab her purse to leave. She had decided to put a couple more papers away and then head out early, when he called out. It was not quite 4 P.M., but she had texted Jeff to let him know she was leaving.

She was almost done with basics anyway, and this had been a l-o-n-g and trying week. Jeff did not mind. All that mattered was that she did her work.

When she did it was irrelevant. They trusted her implicitly. Shit, shit, shit, she thought. The guys would be really mad if they knew she forgot to lock the office door again. Good thing they weren't here to find out.

"Hold on a sec, I'll be right there!" Sera yelled out and made sure she grabbed her purse to show she was just leaving. She picked up her purse, turned, and bumped into the contractor. Apparently, her "Hold on a sec" had not been acknowledged.

"Oh, hi Gary, I was on my way out. Do you need something, or can we just walk out and I'll make sure I get it for you on Monday?"

"Aren't you leaving earlier than usual?" Gary asked her.

Really? Like it was any of his frickin' business. "A little, but Jeff doesn't mind. My work here is done, so if you don't mind?"

"I'm sure you keep Jeff happy enough so he doesn't mind..." Gary told her.

Sera didn't like his tone. The guy was gross, and she was sure he wasn't referring to Sera's work, as to what kept Jeff "happy."

"Yes well, we have an understanding. I get my work done, and if I need to leave early, he is happy knowing I will not screw him." Ugh, really bad choice of words.

"Well that wouldn't make me happy," Gary smirked. "I guess Jeff's not the kind of guy I thought he was."

"Yes, well you and Jeff are very different people, that's for sure. If you don't mind, my shift is now over. Maybe you can stop by Monday morning during regular office hours. I stay until 4:30 usually, but the sign outside says the office closes at 4 P.M." Sera didn't mind being rude. The guy gave her the creeps.

Sera moved towards the door for him to follow, but instead, he got in front of her and stopped, not letting her go by.

"Gary, I don't kid around. When I am done at work, I am done. I don't get paid overtime. So..."

Gary did not move. "Sera, Sera, Sera. I love that name. I've been thinking for a long time that we should get to know each other a little better."

"I know you well enough Gary. I know all of our clients and contractors well enough to make sure the work gets done, but now," she stopped and looked straight at him, "my shift is over and I'm tired of working today."

Gary did not move. "I don't really understand why you are in such a hurry. I won't make you work hard at all," he laughed. "I don't mind doing all the work. Even when I do all the work, I still have fun..."

"Gary, you're not listening. I don't have time for this. My husband is waiting for me and I don't thin..."

"Your husband left you," he smiled as if that truly amused him. "I'm curious why, but I'm thinking there must be something very wrong with the guy. I don't think it's you, but I am curious."

Warning bells started ringing louder. "Okay, you're right. My husband isn't around right now, but I need to go pick up my kids from the sitter and..."

Gary got closer to her and made it hard for her to back away. He was just a few inches away and looking at her in a way that made her skin crawl.

"Very funny Gary. Now get out of my way so I can get going." Sera pretended to laugh, but the break in her voice made it obvious she was not in control.

"You know, you are really pretty Sera. More than pretty, you're really h-o-t if I'm to be completely honest." He laughed, "I don't know how anyone gets any work done here with you around," Gary looked down from her face and took in the rest of her. He came up again, but steadied on her chest that was heaving in deep breaths of air. "Ever since the first time I saw you ... I've had a hard time keeping myself away from this office. What do you say we get to know each other a little bit better and find out where it goes?"

"Let me be clearer, although I thought I was. No. I am not interested, nor do I have the time. The guys will be back any minute now, so please get out of the way."

When he didn't move, she said, "Gary, this isn't funny." Sera pushed him away this time, but Gary stood his ground.

"Why don't you make it easier on both of us, and stop playing hard to get." His face was only inches away from her. Unfortunately, the rest of him was just as close.

If Sera had any time to think, she would ask herself: When is it a good time to panic? When is it justified to scream? When do you stop being polite and pretending the scum in front of you is just yanking your chain?

Her answer came suddenly when he reached over and put his hand on her breast. Sera jerked back. Now she was terrified.

"Gary, get your hands off me!" Sera pushed as hard as she could and reached for the door. She turned the knob, but Gary had locked it with the deadbolt. She went to turn the deadbolt and he quickly turned her around and pushed himself, full body, against her.

"Not so fast. You've been teasing me all week lady. You're not getting away this easily."

Sera pushed him, but he stayed put; he had an advantage of about eighty pounds on her.

"Leave me alone Gary! I'll call the police!"

He laughed, "You are feisty aren't you?" Gary put his hands behind her and pulled her closer. His mouth was on hers and he was trying to kiss her. His mouth was wet and disgusting. His hands were working his way over her body and she was trying to scream, but no sound came out. "Stop playing hard to get. You're not the innocent virgin you play at, Sera. So cut it out. This is how you play the game."

Gary shoved her against the desk and started pulling at her blouse. The blouse she wore that day was a soft pink peasant blouse, and the fabric was flimsy. She heard the fragile fabric tear immediately, just as she heard herself cry.

"Please don't. Leave me alone. I have kids, Gary. I'm sorry if I gave you the wrong impression. Please don't do this. Not like this. Stop..." she cried.

It was as if her pleading fueled his fire. "Oh, so that's how you like to play it? Tease, tease, tease, and then push away? That's a dangerous game Sera, but I kind of like it."

Her top was ripped off, leaving her breasts exposed. All she had on was a thin white lace bra that left little to the imagination.

He stared down hungrily, "Beautiful. Now let's stop the charade." Gary bent down and pulled her closer. Putting all of his weight against her, he started roaming her body with his tongue. While doing that he started pushing his fingers under the lace of her bra, and grabbing.

There was no hesitation and no finesse. He rubbed and pushed, and it hurt.

"No! Stop it!" Sera's voice had come back and she knew he could hear her, but ignored her plead. She pushed, cried, screamed, and just hoped someone could hear her.

He was hurting her. She could feel herself bruise. Now he was kneading her breasts with one hand, while trying to work the button on her jeans with the other. Thank God for tight jeans. Thank God for those extra pounds after Emma. Thank ... but where was God or anyone else right now for that matter?

Sera pushed and screamed. She tasted blood when he came back suddenly to her mouth. She was pushing with all her 115 lbs. And she wasn't even sure why she bothered. His weight was too much, and his determination was even greater.

Gary had managed to tear her bra off and stopped kneading her for only a few seconds. With an intake of his breath at the sight of her exposed breasts, he looked up at her with even more hunger. The man had a look of pure lunacy. The man was possessed.

Sera was crying and screaming, or at least she thought she was. She couldn't even tell anymore. The button on her jeans flew off as he snapped it open. She knew what was coming next, and if she didn't have four kids she adored, needing her and waiting for her, she'd just choose to die. He was determined to have her, with or without her consent. He was raping her. With or without penetration, he had already violated her. The power he had was the extra eighty to a hundred pounds he had over her, and the added strength from the type of work he did. Sera didn't stand a chance, but while she still breathed, she'd fight for her self-respect, her life, but mostly for her kids. They needed her.

He lifted her with no effort and threw her on the desk. He effortlessly yanked her pants off and tossed them across the room. Her panties had flown somewhere with them. She was completely exposed.

Lying on the desk, Sera could feel the edge of her keyboard digging into her back. She raised her legs and started kicking. He had one hand on her chest pinning her down, while his knee was propped between her legs. She realized he was on top of her all the way, and was working at the button and zipper of his own pants now.

Sera pushed her hand back remembering her steel stapler was just inches above her head. She grabbed it. He wasn't paying attention. He was putting every effort into pulling his pants down. She picked up the stapler, pulled her hand back, and slammed it against his face. That caught his attention. But unfortunately that didn't stop him. Some blood came out of the corner of his eye.

He was obviously taken aback and reached and felt where she had it him. He saw the blood on his fingers, but that didn't stop him or slow him down. Instead he just looked down at her in disgust and punched her in the jaw.

Sera used everything she had. She was kicking and scratching, but all she was doing was getting weaker from the effort.

She was no match for him.

She saw him raise his hand again to hit her when something stopped him.

Sera felt the 200 plus pounds of weight on top of her lift as she saw Gary fly against the wall. Gary's body fell like a rag doll, but sounded like a heavy thunk.

Sera turned to see Gary's body was lifted again by the neck with that same hand that had thrown him. Once up and secured by the neck, the strong hand flew at his face and punched him in the jaw. The large hand pulled back and flew at Gary's stomach. Back again and with full force went the fist, making Gary's head the biggest target, while at the same time a knee went up and whacked him in the balls.

Sera heard the sound of something breaking as Gary's head snapped back.

At that same moment, another hand reached over and pulled Sera's savior off from Gary's limp body, before going for another hit.

Sera heard Jeff's voice. He was pulling away from Mitch who was making every effort to stop Jeff from doing more damage.

"Let me kill him!" Jeff yelled out to Mitch, trying to get out of his brother-in-law's grasp.

"That's enough Jeff. He can't hurt her anymore. Stop."

Sera saw Jeff's shoulders shake. He was crying. She rolled to her side and tucked her legs in a fetal position, trying to cover her exposed body, sobbing like the baby she now resembled.

Mitch looked pointedly at Jeff. "I'll take care of him. She needs you now. Go to Sera. I'll take care of this scumbag."

Gary lay crumpled on the floor. For all Sera knew, he was dead; if he was dead, she didn't care.

Sera lifted her hand and called for Jeff. His tears were flowing as freely as hers were.

Jeff turned slowly and came to her. Looking her over quickly, he pulled off the work jacket he was wearing to lay it on top of her. He reached over to a tissue box and pulled some tissue to wipe her mouth. Apparently, she was bleeding. She hadn't noticed.

Once Sera was covered and some of the blood was wiped off, Jeff sat on the desk next to her and gently pulled her close. He rocked her to him as they both cried.

He was so gentle, but she needed him closer. She held on tight and pulled him closer. He was hurting too, and right now she needed him more than anything.

They held and rocked. Jeff ran his fingers through her hair and kissed her head softly. His breathing slowed, which soothed her. She took what strength she could get from him to make her stronger.

Sera felt Jeff's strength, but also his love and his kindness. Smelling him and pulling him as closely as she could, she melted into his arms.

Jeff was once again her safe harbor. He had saved her once, and now he had saved her again. He gave her the strength she needed, and a greater reason to move on.

Maybe there was a future for them as Deb had suggested. Maybe Sera's future included Jeff. Sera hoped it did. He had helped her before, and here he was again, pulling her up when she was down. It felt good to be held by him. Too bad their first opportunity to hold each other like this came with blood and tears, making that special moment something far from a happy first. Still...

Sera leaned into him and could feel him lean in too. She didn't look to see if Gary was dead or alive, but somewhere in the background, Sera heard Mitch talking to a 911 First Responder, and somewhere very close, Sera heard Jeff whispering in her ear.

Sera listened carefully as he kept repeating, "Shh. Shh, baby. It's okay. I'm here. I love you Sera Henderson. I will never let anything bad happen to you again. I promise. You're safe now baby," he cried into her ear.

Jeff pulled her away for just a little as he looked down at her lips. He reached over the desk and pulled another tissue out of its box to wipe a trickle of blood that was trailing down her chin. He softly kissed the corner of her mouth he had just wiped, and looking now into her eyes he said, "I'm here Sera. I'm not going anywhere." His lips quivered as he made an effort to finish, "We're together baby, and you'll never be alone again."

Wincing at the pain, but trying her hardest for normalcy, Sera smiled back at him and closed her eyes.

Later, much later, Sera would not remember if at that same moment she fell asleep or if she passed out. Whatever it was, she would always remember what she dreamt.

In her dream, Sera was somewhere at a ball game. It might have been that same field where Charlie played his first game. In her dream, Daniel's name was P.D. again, Charlie had just hit a home run and had the entire stadium cheering, Emma wasn't crying, but instead was giggling in that special way only babies do, and Melle was laughing at something someone next to her said. Melle was sitting on the bleachers, next to that man who made her laugh. A man, who looked just like Jeff.

The End

(for now)

Dear Readers,

I loved writing this story and had lots of fun doing it. Jeff is the kind of guy we all want to meet, and Sera may be cute, petite, and quirky, but she's also strong and resilient, and of course, we really want her to end up with Jeff.

Follow Sera, Jeff, and the gang in A Trade for Better and A Trade for Keeps, to find out how their story develops. I promise the excitement hasn't ended here.

Spoiler alert: Peter comes back and it's not pretty.

Thanks for reading,

Bria

Word-of-mouth is crucial for any author to succeed. If you enjoyed the book, please leave a review. Even if it's just a sentence or two. It would make all the difference and would be very much appreciated:

 Click here to review

To find out about my other titles, specials,

beta reading program, and freebies, please

 sign up here

And...

Check out my website, follow me, or

email me directly at

http://briadaly.wordpress.com/

Write2Bria@gmail.com

@BriaDaly

Bria
Acknowledgements

First, I want to thank my family for their support, love, and unending encouragement. If I didn't have such wonderful people in my life, I would have never taken the leap to publish the many ideas that soon became words and later stories, fighting hard to get out of my very jumbled head.

You are first for me in everything.

And when I say my family, I am primarily referring to my husband of almost 30 years, and my two children, but I also have a mother and two sisters, and I have several friends.

My mom likes everything I do, which is truly amazing because it hasn't always been that way, and my sisters are great critics; or maybe they're just critical of me. In any case, I trust my sisters to tell me what they think, and even when I don't want to hear it, I know they'll still tell me.

Thank you Rose, my editor, who not only makes corrections for basic grammar and syntax, but also tells me when she's bored, or couldn't stop laughing, or when something was totally unexpected and caught her off guard. Those are all of the things I need pointed out to me to make me a better writer. Thank you.

My book covers are created by A&L, Creative Designs, and I thank them for listening to my vision of what I see as I am creating my characters and the places in the story where they will be.

Speaking of my characters, I want to thank them as well. They become a part of me in every story I write. When they're funny they make me laugh, when they're sad, they make me cry, and if somebody hurts them, I just want to pummel whoever did the hurting.

Now to my readers... After my first series, I could have given up, but your letters, praise, reviews, and encouragement have made me want to write more. I love to write, but I need my readers to tell me what they think and to motivate me to want to write more.

Thank you all,

Bria

Bria's first series: A Trade for Good

Sold over 30,000 copies in 2014!

The Spoon Tree, A Family Series

Books 1-5

This is the story of two trees, two families, and how their tales intertwine.

There's a place where hundreds of spoons hang from two large trees.

Each spoon on The Spoon Tree was put there for a reason. And each one has its very own story. This is a story of love and second chances, of family and loyalty, and, it's a story of choosing happiness as your guiding light.

The characters in this story love life, family, and really enjoy having fun. They don't play stupid games. They're mature and sensitive, and they recognize a gift when it presents itself and they cherish it.

Bria's Suspense Novel: 20 Questions

"Did you kill anyone?"

That was the first question Sam asked me on this last road trip we made together.

We've been moving every four to ten months for over ten years now. She never asks why we just up and move with no forewarning, why she can't say goodbye to friends, if she's lucky enough to make a friend, or why she's the only kid who, at almost sixteen, has never been allowed to go on Facebook. Sam's seen me wipe down and bleach everything in sight before a move, and even watched me clean or replace perfectly good light bulbs before we leave for a new place.

I was happy not having to answer any questions, because I always believed the truth would hurt her more than the ten years I've been keeping her in the dark.

But that first question was a real eye opener.

"Did you kill anyone?"

And then,

"Are you my mom?"

I realized then that the wall I built to protect her was also standing tall and thick between us. Sam deserved to know why I did some of the crazy things I did, but I wasn't ready to give up too much too soon.

When Sam was little, we played a lot of games on our long road trips; a favorite was 20 Questions. But now that she was older, the game would be used to bring us closer. And so it was that I agreed to answer one difficult question per day with a yes or no answer to see where it would lead us.

As the questions are asked and answered, the wall Mary built starts to crumble and sheds a new light on the dark secrets she's managed to hide.

20 Questions is a story that unfolds in two parallel tales. The first is of Mary and Sam. The second is of Jack, the FBI's lead agent on the Whitney kidnapping case, as he befriends Patty Whitney, Mary's mother-in-law, friend, and accomplice.

A Plan Worth Changing

Nikki is recently divorced after 8 wasted years. Because she's always been good, she decides that it's time to shake things up a little, but her idea to meet a bad boy and have some fun is met with amusement from those who know her best; it's just not her style. In her search, Nikki finds something better than bad, she actually finds someone worth keeping.
Coming soon...

