Hidden Summit

Conner had tried to fill the gap. When their father died, Conner had tried to be both mother and father to her. Katie’s husband hadn’t even seen the boys enter the world, but Conner had been there, at the hospital, spending the night there to help his sister with these newborn twins when they’d been less than a day old.
    “I was kind of fantasizing you’d come here,” she said. “I really like it here. I know, I know—we couldn’t get farther apart and be in the same country.”
    He laughed. “We could if you were in Florida.”
    “Maybe this will work out....”
    He’d always known that this could happen one day. He hadn’t expected it to happen like this, with Katie moving away and meeting the man of her dreams because he was an eyewitness in a crime. But he’d always known she could fall in love with a man who could take her away, making the end result the same. And by damn, she deserved to fall in love again! Her short marriage to Charlie had been filled with intense love lost too soon.
    “It’ll work out, honey,” he said.
    No matter what he had to do, it would work out.

Ten
    W hen the kitchen remodel work was finished on the house Dan and Conner had been concentrating on for the past two weeks, Conner volunteered to drive over the mountain to Paul’s new office location to pick up the specs for the next job he wanted them to tackle. The trailer sat on the property for the big custom job; the foundation had been poured, the house was framed and huge.
    Inside the trailer he found Paul, not in his office but perched on a sawhorse at the big plywood-fashioned table, his laptop and a lot of paper spread out. And the look on his face was, frankly, frustrated. “What’s up, boss?” Conner asked.
    “Fixtures, that’s what. I’ve got a big renovation in Clear River and I don’t know how I can make the owner happy and bring it in on budget. They have pictures from Architecture Monthly —top-of-the-line stuff—and I can’t find most of it at builder’s cost anywhere.”
    “Let me see,” Conner said.
    Paul handed over magazine cutouts.
    Ah. This was what Conner did. He sold to custom builders. He looked at the pictures. “Nice. Monticello brass. Tuscan accents. Brushed nickel faucets, I like that. But this brass basin? I’d try to talk them out of that if I were you—pretty, but a godawful pain in the butt to keep from spotting. I don’t like brass around water so much, but I’ll be the first to admit it’s classy. Brass accents is one thing, but… Hmm, and nice lighting—this shouldn’t be hard. You wouldn’t think Italian accents would work in a mountain house, but in thinking about it…perfect. Let me use the laptop a second, I think I know where we can find some of this stuff. Manufacturer prices.”
    “Really?” Paul said, turning his computer toward Conner.
    “I’ll try. I know some wholesalers who carry some of this stuff, or damn close replicas.” He did a search, and in minutes he found the widespread faucets, the chandeliers, the spigots and showerheads, the cupboard knobs and handles. He scribbled down the order codes and prices. He launched into one item after another, found them, wrote down the specs. Some items were tougher than others—some weren’t available at cost. “Try this alternative on the client—it’s good quality, equal in value and, if you ask me, a fine-looking showerhead. Might even be better—it’s a Koen and comes with a kick-ass lifetime guarantee.” And he went on, through the kitchen and a few bathrooms, finding the actual items or good alternatives at even better prices.
    “How’d you do that?” Paul asked.
    “Paul, it’s what I do. Kitchens and bathrooms.”
    “Yeah, but you do it like a contractor, not a finisher.”
    “The boss relied on me a lot. This is the kind of stuff I looked into all the time. Good hardware and contractors’ prices.”
    “Thanks,” Paul said, staring at a sheet of paper with lots of prices, order numbers and internet addresses. “Next time I’m not going to waste so much time. I’ll just call you.”
    “Absolutely,” Conner said. “I’d be happy to help.”
    Paul looked at him a bit oddly. “Sometimes I think there’s more to you than meets the eye.”
    Conner laughed. “You have no idea. Do you have the specs for the next kitchen job? Dan and I will get started tomorrow if the owners are ready.”
    “Right here,” Paul said, handing over some rolled-up architectural plans.