He had a hard enough time with Jordan and other players having one-on-one time with her in the garage with the door open, and they were dirt bags. Was thisfriendsmart? Accomplished? Not in recovery with a limp? Those questions sent his nervous system into a tailspin, and even after a good night’s sleep, he still felt like a charged up air compressor tank.
Brett’s knee twinged when he got out of the car, and it was then that he realized how rarely he’d thought about his injury over the course of the week. Not only his knee, he hadn’t felt as exhausted or depressed as he had for the past month. It may have had something to do with the fact that he wasn’t using his crutch anymore, or the fact that he’d gotten his autonomy back with driving privileges, but that wasn’t the whole story.
Brett wasn’t thinking about his knee because he was thinking about Penny. Constantly. He wasn’t feeling down or useless because Penny was there in the apartment making him laugh or sitting with him at the dinner table. He was making good progress in PT because of her, and that gave him some modicum of control and goals to shoot for.
All it took was one day of her not being there, and that cloud was already beginning to roll back over his life.Was he getting better or was he just inserting another way to numb?It terrified him. Not only because he hadn’t appreciated how big of an impact she’d had in such a short time, but because he needed to keep those clouds at bay. If Penny pulled back, where did that leave him?
He wasn’t proud of the thought, but he let it sit for a minute before he strode through the doors and inspected the job site. The smell of sawdust and sound of clomping boots were like balm for his senses. It was a much-needed break to drop into analysis mode and troubleshoot with his team. They’d made good progress on the electrical and on the added entrance Daniel had requested but were waiting on a pallet of brackets to complete the framing on the upper floor.
Brett was nearly ready to head home for the day when Dominic called for him at the front. He caught sight of blond hair and aviators, and his stomach clenched.Take your damn sunglasses off when you enter a building, dickhead.“Hey, Daniel. Wasn’t expecting you today.”
“Hey there, looks like that knee is doing better.” Daniel pulled off his glasses and looped them in the pocket of his crisp button-up.
“I have an excellent physical therapist.”
Daniel blinked, then moved on. “I was passing through to meet a client of mine and thought I’d stop by for a looksie.”
Brett gritted his teeth and forced a smile. “Excellent. I can take you through.” Brett led him to the back and gave him a quick walking tour of the changes they’d made since he’d seen the site last. They were making their way back to the front when Daniel’s phone rang. He looked at the screen, then held up a finger to Brett as he answered it.
Instead of taking the call outside, his voice boomed even louder than before. "Hey, yes, this is Dr. Ascott. Thanks for making the extra call, I just felt it wasn’t appropriate for my office manager to be answering those questions since I’m the one who works so intimately with my physical therapists.”
Brett swallowed the bile that rose in his throat at the word “intimately.”And physical therapists, plural?Was this dude pulling in other young women and treating them the same way he had Penny? He pulled out his phone, searching for something to serve as a distraction and lower his blood pressure.
Daniel sighed. “Right, we had to part ways, unfortunately. If I’m being honest, the main reason was because she couldn’t handle the patient load.”
Brett’s ears perked up. How big was Daniel’s office? Had he “parted ways” with other staff recently, or just her?
Daniel ran a hand through his hair, pressing his ear to the phone to keep the sound of hammers and drills away from the speaker. “She’s a nice girl, but in that kind of environment, I don’t think she’ll be a strong enough team player. She’d do great in a stand-alone physical therapy office, but she’s not a collaborator. At least in my experience.”
Daniel looked back at Brett and gave an apologetic smile, then turned and finished the call. By the time he spun and slid his phone back into his pocket, Brett was seething. He’d been talking about Penny—he had to be—and everything out of his mouth was complete and utter horse shit.Penny not a team player? Penny not a collaborator?Sure, he’d never worked with her in a professional setting, but she was the least prideful person he’d met in ages. He couldn’t imagine her not being an excellent addition to any team.
All the moments that Penny had mentioned not getting interviews or in one instance, having her interview canceled, flooded into Brett’s head. Daniel Ascott was actively sabotaging her job prospects.
“Sorry about that. I’ve been getting calls to be a reference for a previous employee.”
Brett bit the inside of his lip so hard he drew blood. “Seems like a time commitment.”
“Well, you know. It’s my duty to give my honest opinion. Make sure other offices don’t make the same mistake I did.”
Brett clenched his hands and nearly snapped his pen in half. He turned and continued on toward the front door. “Sounded like this was a physical therapist you had to let go?”
Daniel nodded, falling into step next to him. “Frustrating situation. I brought her in, gave her an incredible opportunity, and she showed zero gratitude for any of it. She was critical, tried to monopolize my time, and was impossible to manage. At a certain point, I had to wash my hands of her.”
This time Brett did snap the pen, and ink splattered over his fingers.
“Whoa!” Daniel laughed. “Don’t know your own strength there, eh?”
Brett nodded. “Dominic, can you walk Dr. Ascott out?” He held up his hand, and Dominic dropped the nail gun he was holding. Brett escaped into the office where they had a working sink, pumped soap into his palm, then held his hands under the warm water and scrubbed.
I had to wash my hands of her. Daniel Ascott would either be gone from the site by the time he walked out of the office, or Brett was going to lose his contract because there was no way he’d be able to stop himself from planting his un-mitted fist into the side of that smug bastard’s face.
ChapterNineteen
Mom 3:03pm
You’re coming back to have dinner with us for our anniversary, yes?
Penny 3:24pm
