A New Foundation Rochelle Alers (read aloud .txt) 📖

same when she’d walked into the condo. She may have thought of them as perks, but he viewed them as necessities to make her life less stressful and had given her the option of setting her own hours. He did not relish the task of going through hundreds of crates, examining each item and cataloguing or authenticating it as an antique or a reproduction.

Taylor lowered the volume on the radio when a familiar name appeared on the navigation screen. “What’s up, stranger?”

“That’s what I should be asking you, Williamson.”

“It’s all good, Robbie. Right now I’m living the dream.”

“I’m glad you are because I’m so sick and tired of Lansing, Allen and Payette’s dog-and-pony show that I’m seriously thinking about walking into HR and quitting, but not before giving them the middle finger.”

Taylor smothered a laugh even though what Robinson Harris had said was no laughing matter. After the company’s merger several years back things began to change. It was gradual at first, but after a number of Payette’s board members gained a monopoly, the entire culture of the company changed—and not positively. Layoffs escalated, salaries and promotions were frozen, and supervisors were told to lean heavily on their workers to complete construction projects before the designated date in order to maximize profits.

“I’m sorry I didn’t get back to you sooner, but I just got the message. Kendall took my phone when we broke up. She only gave it back once she’d let me into her apartment to get my things. In the interim I was using a prepaid phone.”

Taylor suspected the woman in Robinson Harris’s life had tired of being his girlfriend when she’d hinted to Taylor that she wanted to become Mrs. Harris. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“It’s okay. I’m over it.”

Taylor wanted to ask him how he could be over a woman he’d dated for more than two years. He wasn’t calling Robinson about his love life but about whether he wanted to work for him as his project manager. He was a brilliant architectural engineer who had been passed over for a promised promotion before the merger.

“Do you want to leave the dog-and-pony show?”

There was complete silence from the other end of the connection. “You know I do.”

“I just might make that a reality if you agree to come and work for me.”

“For you and not with you? What are you into, Williamson?”

Taylor chuckled softly. “Why do you make it sound as if I’m involved in some shady business?”

“Are you?”

“Hell, no! I’m working with my family, and we’ll need a project manager for the next two years.”

Taylor made certain to say we rather than I. Although he’d supervise the restoration of the house and outbuildings, his brothers and sister had their assigned tasks before Bainbridge House was approved to operate as a hotel and wedding venue.

“You want me to come and work with you?”

“That’s why I called you, Robbie.” Taylor told him about the project and how he had set aside several weeks in which to interview licensed general contractors. “If you’re interested I’d like you to come up and see what I am talking about.”

“When can you make time for me?” Robbie asked.

“Next week. I’ll let you know when I can block out time to spend the entire day with you.”

“Where is the property?” Robbie asked.

“North Jersey.”

“I’m familiar with the area because my sister lives in Hackettstown.”

“Good. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Taylor?”

Taylor was taken aback—Robbie had always called him by his surname. “Yes.”

“Even if you don’t hire me, I want to thank you for thinking of me.”

“You misunderstood me, Robbie. I do want to hire you.”

“If you want me, then I’m your man.”

“I’ll be in touch.”

When he’d called Robbie and hadn’t heard from him, Taylor didn’t know what to make of it. It wasn’t like his friend not to return his call, and now he knew why. If his former coworker was willing to accept the position as project manager, then he would have filled the two most important positions.

Sonja had mentioned hiring faux bois specialists to restore the walls and moldings, and he planned to give her the responsibility of finding them. Once Robbie came on board, together they would examine the château’s foundation to make certain it was stable before any work began.

He also thought about what Sonja had said about ordering windows and doors from Italy and roof tiles from a Vermont quarry. The latter was more easily obtainable than the imported items. If he wasn’t able to get the windows installed before the cold weather, then they would have to wait until the following spring.

Taylor had given himself a two-year window in which to refurbish the château, barn, stables, and cottages, to take undue pressure off himself and everyone else involved.

Within that time frame Joaquin would’ve fulfilled his contracts and could begin to redesign the gardens, and Tariq could purchase horses for the stables.

A sixth sense told him that Viola would eventually supervise the kitchen because she’d never been one to let her brothers exclude her from any of their joint plans. And he was okay with Patrick’s role as CFO of the foundation, because no one else would monitor the bottom line like his certified accountant brother.

Conrad had made Elise promise to carry out his wish to restore his ancestral home, and Taylor had promised his mother he would see it to fruition.

Sonja checked the dining area table for what seemed the umpteenth time before realizing old habits die hard. She’d set the table for two with cloth napkins, water goblets, wineglasses and a vase of daisies as the centerpiece. She had also lit jars of scented candles and set them on tables in the living and family rooms.

As Hugh’s wife, she had presided over so many dinner parties that one blended into the next until she’d lost count of how many she’d hosted in the four years they’d lived together. Her then mother-in-law would come by and check on how she’d set the table, and then lecture her