Ten Minutes Past Two

By Paul R Meredith

The death of Estelle Mercer's husband of thirty years in a violent work-related accident, leaves her by default as the new president and sole owner of the family construction business, a business of which she has virtually no working knowledge. As the new president of the company, she has no choice but to lean on the management team in place to help her get up to speed with her new responsibilities. Gene Davidson is one of the management team members who is most helpful during this early transition period, and eventually a romance develops that leads to complications that could cause a sudden end to the relationship. The sudden death in a foreign country of Estelle's close friend, Tara Isome, complicates the romance even more. There are many twists and turns and ups and downs as the story moves toward its dramatic, shocking and totally unexpected conclusion.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Nov 18, 2001
• ISBN: 9781462079988

Paul R Meredith

Paul R. Meredith writes stories that define and capture real life romantic experiences in a new and exciting way not seen in recent years. His stories are not easy to lay aside.

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All Rights Reserved © 2001 by Paul R. Meredith

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without the permission in writing from the publisher.

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an imprint of iUniverse, Inc.

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iUniverse, Inc.

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ISBN: 0-595-20628-X

ISBN: 978-1-4620-7998-8 (ebook)

Printed in the United States of America

Contents

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 11

CHAPTER 12

CHAPTER 13

CHAPTER 14

CHAPTER 15

CHAPTER l6

CHAPTER 17

CHAPTER 18

ABOUT THE AuTHOR

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

^

I wish to acknowledge Anne Golden for her invaluable assistance in helping edit this novel. She is ever on the alert for that pesky dangling participle, with her friendly Webster’s Dictionary always close at hand. She is quick to attack those misplaced punctuation marks and identify the need for clearer definitions. With a red pen in her hand, she is death on repetitious words and phrases, as well as new paragraph starts.

Anne has a wonderful sense for how a sentence should be structured, but more importantly, how the sentence should sound when read aloud.

Anne is not just a great edit person; she’s also a wonderful neighbor, friend, and a Christian lady I have grown to admire for her faithfulness to her God.

Thank you so much Anne.

CHAPTER 1

^

Estelle Mercer was sipping her first cup of coffee of the new day. She looked out the window and saw the breaking sun turn the sky from the dark of night into the bright of early morning. It was a huge and beautifully brilliant yellowish orange ball, now just half visible above the tree line on the distant horizon. She saw the gorgeous work of God being displayed in a magnificent fashion, and it somehow gave her new hope and inspiration for the future.

As the sun slowly rose in the east, her Florida room was flooded with the rush of the day rapidly heading west. The light quickly grew so bright it nearly blinded her from being able to continue looking eastward. She donned the pair of sunglasses that were conveniently in front of her on the table. She kept a pair there for just this very reason, because she dearly loved to watch the sun come up these last few mornings when it was not possible for her to sleep well. This is the day I must start living the rest of my life, Estelle thought. I must put my troubles behind me and look to the future. Paul is gone now. I’m on my own from here on out.

Estelle Mercer’s husband Paul died exactly two weeks before in a horrible work-related accident at the relatively young age of fifty. For the ten days since his funeral, Estelle had found sleep hard to come by. She had had her soul mate by her side nearly constantly for all thirty of the years since they married. She smiled as she thought back to that day so long ago. She was eighteen and Paul was twenty. They had fallen in love

^

three years before in high school and had gone steady from that moment forward.

When Estelle’s father turned down Paul’s petition to marry his daughter, she was heartbroken. She devised the plan to run away and get married. Paul was nervous about the idea, but he knew her dad was firm in his decision, and as much as Paul loved Estelle, he knew he couldn’t live four more years without her. That was her dad’s decision— to wait. He wanted the kids to wait until Estelle was out of college. After that he would give his blessings on their marriage.

Paul told Estelle, Honey, let me go back and ask him one more time. Maybe he will give in and let us get married. I’ll talk to him tomorrow.

He won’t ever give in Paul. He says I will never finish school if I get married first. Dad told me it was his obligation as a father to make sure I get started in life with a chance to make it, and it takes a college education to make it these days. He won’t cave on it, I’m telling you, Estelle said. I know my dad.

I’ve got to try it one more time, but if it doesn’t work, we’ll just elope as we planned. But somehow, I just feel he will allow us to go ahead and get married, Paul told Estelle.

Paul begged Estelle’s father the next evening to let them go ahead and get married. He promised that he would continue with his last two years of college and make certain that Estelle started and finished her own college education. Her father would have none of it, saying to Paul, No, her mother and I know that Estelle would most likely get pregnant and cut her education short. You kids can’t afford to do that anyway. College is expensive as hell these days.

But sir, my folks would probably help us a little if we needed them to. I think we could do it, and we’d be careful not to get in a family way.

"Look Paul, I like you a lot. I think you are a fine young man, and there will come a time when I will be more than happy to welcome you

- 2- into our family with open arms, but it will have to be after Estelle gets out of school. The two of you are young. Four years will be a good test of your love."

But sir, we have already been tested for three years. I love her so much, and she’s the only girl I would ever want to be my wife, Paul argued.

That’s good, but the answer is still the same, and you shouldn’t expect your folks to help support you kids after you’re married. Being married is a grown up responsibility. Your folks have a lot on their plate anyway. They can’t afford a burden like that, Bryan Sager said.

Estelle and Paul did elope to Arkansas and got married. The parents were upset at first because they feared the worst—that Estelle and Paul would never get their college degrees.

Now, as Estelle recalled those days so long ago, she at first smiled, and eventually openly laughed out loud at how it had all turned out.

Paul worked hard at two part-time jobs during college, while Estelle worked at a good part-time job. They were both able to secure a little scholarship money from various sources, and yes, the folks on both sides helped them some when they got in tight pinches. Paul graduated and was lucky enough to land a great starting job in a local industry as a mechanical engineer. Estelle continued on with school and was able to graduate two years after Paul. She immediately went to work as an accountant in a local firm that was growing rapidly.

There was no pregnancy during that time, nor were there any huge problems of any kind. The pieces just sort of fell into place for the young couple. Paul insisted on paying the parents back the money they had provided when they were desperate. He had carefully and completely kept track of every penny given them, and even though the money was never considered a loan by any of the parents, Paul always considered it as such. Paul and Estelle paid back every single dollar to

- 3- ^

their parents, even though it wasn’t required. Paul never let the parents refuse the payments—told them they owed it and would not feel free until they reimbursed them.

Paul was such a wonderful planner, Estelle remembered. He had such high standards. How will I ever live up to his expectations? she thought as she finished her coffee and rose to head into the house to get showered and dressed to start the day.

The warm water of the shower loosened Estelle’s stiff muscles as she soaped her body from head to toe. Later, the cooling rinse refreshed her and made her feel alive once again. As she dressed, she thought about how she would face the problems of the business day that would lie ahead of her. The most pressing problem was deciding whether to submit the company bid for the general construction of the new factory on the edge of town. She was convinced Paul’s construction company had bid it too low, and she didn’t have time to review the bid details before or after his accident. Estelle was nervous about the bid because she feared the company would get the nod and possibly go under because of it. There was no time to do any further reviewing; it was now or never. She also knew that if things went well, and the bid was accurately done, the company would profit greatly from the work and the subsequent overruns that went with all these large jobs.

Damn it anyway, it wasn’t fair for Paul to leave me at a time like this, she muttered as she walked into the office.

Morning Sheila, she uncharacteristically snapped as she whisked past the receptionist to her office in the corner of the building. How are the children? she added.

Good morning Estelle. The kids are fi... she responded, realizing Estelle was already out of earshot.

Estelle quickly opened her office door. "Dave, can you bring the Brady project prints in so we can have some last minute discussion on

- 4- the bid?" she said, as she leaned back to speak to him just before she entered her office.

Sure, be right with you as soon as I grab Gene, Estelle. He’s the major man on this project. He can better answer any questions you might have about the prints than I can.

Dave Harris was the engineering supervisor for Paul and Estelle at the Mercer Construction Company. Gene Davidson was the project engineer on this potential project, as well as most of the other major projects the company had over the past several years. Gene, Estelle needs us in her office pronto to discuss the Brady project bid. We have to decide what to do about it this morning. Can you grab the prints and come on in?

I’ve got them in my cabinet. I’ll be there in just a second, Gene responded.

Dave walked into Estelle’s office and sat at the round table she used as a small office conference table. Gene will be here in a sec. He’s grabbing the prints.

Estelle looked at Dave for a second. What’s your gut feel, Dave? Is this a butt buster or what? she asked.

Just then, Gene popped in and started to unroll the prints. I’ve got an opinion on that if you’re interested in it, he said.

Hold the prints, Gene. Now that I think about it, it’s too late to worry about print details. I wouldn’t know what I was looking at anyway. The final bid is already printed. I guess I just want some honest conversation on this darn job, and yes, of course I am interested in your opinion, Estelle Mercer said. You’re the resident expert on this job, so, what is it? Will we go broke on this project? That’s what I’m mainly concerned about. I’ve got sixty-six people here to worry about, and all their families.

^

Gene looked Estelle in the eye. I think we stand a good chance of making a very large profit on this project. It could possibly make you wealthy…wealthier, that’s my opinion, he stated.

And what about you, Dave? Estelle challenged.

My opinion is that it’s a borderline project. I think we bid it too close for comfort, but I’ve been wrong before. I’m open for any ideas from you, and I have to admit I wasn’t that close to how the bid was put together, Dave responded. Gene was in there all the way, so he has the detailed knowledge to make the best prediction.

Look guys, here’s my position, for what it’s worth. Paul left us in this situation. I know he wanted to go forward with this project with all his heart. He wanted to get the bid, but he didn’t share any of the intimate details with me as to why he was so hungry for it. I’m just nervous that if we get the project, we’ll be biting off more than we can chew. I don’t want this business to fail and force me to throw these wonderful people out the door, Estelle confided in her two closest business confidants.

Paul always thought we would get well real quick if we won this bid. He had visions of growing this company to a couple of hundred employees within a few more years. Paul and I worked closely on putting this thing together. I’m confident we will do well, Gene said. Look Estelle, I know that your part in the business wasn’t in the middle of these bid packages, but you saw many of our bids from an accounting perspective. You gave us an educated opinion on potential profits. Don’t you think this is a good possibility for us?

I am an accountant. I’m not a general contractor. That’s what my husband was, and he was an extremely good one. I have no engineering degrees like he did, but I do have a degree in bean counting. That qualifies me to say that I don’t know crap about building a factory, she snapped back. She thought to herself, I will need to pray about my language usage tonight during my evening prayers.

So who makes the decision whether we stop or go? Dave asked. If we do as much work putting a couple more bids together like we did this one, and fail to even submit them, then hell, we’ll fail the business anyway.

Gene looked at Estelle carefully before he spoke. He decided to say what was on his mind. It’s your company now, Estelle. You have to make the decision which way it will be. Dave and I can’t make those types of decisions. We’re not that empowered. I only know Paul would have gone with it.

Estelle stood up from the table. Boys, here’s what we’re going to do. I’m going to go out to the coffee machine and get a cup of coffee. I’ll be back in five minutes. As I leave this office, I offer you the empowerment you need to make your individual choices as to how you will vote on this matter. I give you that empowerment right now. Write your individual choices down on a piece of paper and leave them here on the table. When I get back, I will open the votes, yours and mine. I will have mine written on a piece of paper when I return. We’ll discuss the votes then and do whatever the vote dictates. There will be no retribution for whatever may happen after that.

Estelle walked out the door. Dave grabbed a couple of scratch paper sheets from the holder on Estelle’s desk and handed one to Gene. Let’s vote, he said. And they did.

The two men watched as Estelle stopped at the receptionist’s desk and chatted for a minute. They noticed she seemed calmer now than a few minutes before. They observed that she took a paper and wrote her vote on it and slowly folded it as she walked toward the office and entered.

Estelle Mercer sat down at the table when she returned. She looked at the two men before abruptly standing. Guys, would you mind if we had a short word of prayer? I just feel it’s the right thing for me to do.

Ten Minutes Past Two

^

They both stood as Estelle reached for their hands to hold, they bowed their heads and she prayed:

"Our Gracious Heavenly Father,

We thank you so much for the beautiful day You’ve given us. And Father we thank You for all the things You do for us each and every day. Lord, today we ask Your guidance and Your blessings on the direction we are to take in the business decisions we make. However You lead us, we will be careful to give You the praise and glory for it. Now Lord, be with these fine men and me as we make this big decision for our company. You know better than we do how many lives will be impacted if the decision is the wrong one. Just give us the courage and the vision to do the right thing. Now we ask Your blessings on us and on these fine people who depend so much on us. We ask these things in the precious name of Jesus.

Amen"

Amen, Dave and Gene said in unison, as they dropped their hands.

Estelle slowly raised her head. She paused and carefully weighed her words before she said anything. Let’s open the votes. Gene, will you do the honors and please announce them as you open each one?

Sure, be glad to, he said as he reached for the three pieces of paper. He slowly and carefully opened the first vote. This one is a go vote. Gene opened the second one. He looked at it carefully while he glanced at Dave and Estelle. This one says to go also. He reached for the last vote and opened it slowly. He glanced over his glasses as he slowly announced, Looks like it’s unanimous folks. We’re going to do it.

Estelle jumped up from her seat. "Great, let’s celebrate! I’m doing lunch for everybody tomorrow. I’ll have Julie call and have it catered in, so make sure and tell everybody not to bring any lunch tomorrow, okay

guys?"

We don’t have the work yet. Isn’t this celebration a bit premature? Dave asked.

I’m celebrating the fact that we made the big decision, not the winning of the bid. But speaking of the bid, let’s get it over there right now, Estelle said. I think…feel it in my gut that we’ll actually end up getting the nod for some reason, and I think we’ll do okay. My gut says that anyway, and if we do get it, we’ll have a big celebration. Dave, can you hand deliver it to the Brady group before noon?

Sure thing.be glad to do it. You just need to sign it and we’ll seal it and I’ll take it over.

Estelle carefully signed the bid documents as the owner and president of the company. There, that’s it, she announced. Go ahead and take it Dave, and please bless it with your good luck as you hand it to them.

CHAPTER 2

^

Estelle seemed to be more comfortable as the company head each passing day. She had at first been reluctant to make some of the decisions, but was now quick and confident to make them. The employees of the