“Brad!” He turned and saw Al Carpenter, who’d had to leave the meeting to see to an issue on a jobsite. “Hey. Sorry about that.”
“No problem. Current projects need to take precedence. Everything okay?”
“Oh, yes. It’s resolved.”
“Good.” He looked at his watch. “I have a Chamber meeting in forty-five minutes.”
“Your dad relinquishing the hobnobbing, too?”
“Apparently.” He laughed. “I remember the first time he invited me to go with him. I was so excited. I think I was sixteen.”
“Would be nice if we could find some of that young excitement again occasionally, eh?” He paused outside Jon’s office door. “I’m heading into Jon’s office. See you later.”
“Bye, Al.”
Back in his own office, he pulled up his email program, but paused and said out loud, “I hear you, God. Being thankful, finding excitement, not dragging my feet and wishing I was doing something else. Thanks for the confirmation from last night’s revelation.”
He glanced at the clock in the corner of his laptop screen. He could spend about thirty minutes catching up on emails before he absolutely had to leave to make it to the Chamber lunch on time.
Valerie stood and shifted astack of paint samples off her desk as Buddy set the two cardboard containers on top of the desk. She could smell tangy barbecue sauce and her mouth started watering.
“Is this Mama Robinson’s brisket?” she asked, setting the samples on the floor and grabbing one of the boxes.
“Surprised you had to ask. I wouldn’t get barbecue from anywhere else in Atlanta.” Buddy laughed.
“How’d you get it?”
“I was on that side of town this morning and placed my order an hour ahead of time.”
She opened the lid and put her nose close to the meat, breathing in through her nose and inhaling the spices. “Oh, heaven.”
“Speaking of,” Buddy said, holding out his hand.
Reluctantly, Valerie placed her fingers in his and bowed her head. As soon as he finished the declaration of thankfulness for the food and the company, he said, “Amen,” giving her the opening to pick up her plastic fork.
After taking a bite of creamy potato salad, she picked up a pepper packet and sprinkled black pepper over the potato salad and coleslaw. “I had dinner with the Dixons last night. I missed you there.”
“Rosaline invited me, but I had a working dinner with some people wanting us to build their house.”
Valerie raised an eyebrow. “Since when are you working residential?”
He pulled a bottle of hot sauce out of his backpack and sprinkled his beef liberally with it. “Oh, ‘bout a year now. Philip and I reworked a few things a couple years ago. I’m VP of residential now, directly under Ken. I pretty much handle the front part of the high-end houses.”
She dipped a slice of meat into the tangy barbecue sauce and took a bite. Her taste buds exploded in delight with the burst of flavor. After chewing and swallowing, she said, “Why? Are you okay?”
“Val, my lovely niece, I’m simply almost sixty-five years old. Your mama was my baby sister. I don’t want to be out there in the Georgia sun, breathing red clay and listening to the clutter of the jobsite. I want to sit in my air-conditioned office and appease millionaires who are building showcase homes.”
How did she not know this? As she pondered that thought for a minute, it occurred to her that she simply hadn’t asked. Looking at Buddy with narrowed eyes, she realized he wore khaki pants and a black golf shirt with the red Dixon Brothers logo emblazoned on the chest. Throughout her young life, he wore blue jeans and Dixon Brothers T-shirts. She hadn’t even noticed his clothing difference.
Now she examined him closely. He’d had salt-and-pepper gray hair for as long as she could remember but had white temples now. His chocolate skin looked smooth and healthy, but his fingers had a slight curve instead of straightening all the way, and his left hand had a faint tremor.
“I’ve not been a very doting niece, have I?” She picked up her drink and took a long pull of the syrupy sweet iced tea.
“Never have done. You was always closer to Rosaline. I think, looking back, taking you away from there for your high school years wasn’t the right decision.” He shoved meat into his mouth and chewed.
While he savored his meal, she thought about his words, knowing he spoke the truth but feeling like she needed to defend his actions at the time. When she opened her mouth, he held his hand up to stop her. “Ain’t no arguing it, girl. You knew it then, but I was so concerned about you growing up so sheltered and wanted you to have some diversity in your life. Putting you into a different school and taking you away from your family, no matter what color they were, that was wrong. But I think maybe I was a little jealous of your relationship with Rosaline. Decided to remove you from her so I could have that love and attention you gave her.”
Sharp tears stung her eyes. She reached out and gripped Buddy’s wrist. “I love you. I’m sorry if I didn’t properly show it. You’re my blood. She’s just….”
