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I confiscated a yellow hard hat and plopped it on, h the place, I looked up through the unfinished stairs and out through the s in the h overhead This place took the word uy with a hard hat and a set of plans under his ar to a woman in jeans and a tailored jacket, and Derek It looked like a high-leveland electricians and heating-and-air guys tested the floor-war systeetic, but the activity looked good-natured and easygoing, unlike the frenetic way office workers often looked These people were having fun; they liked their jobs

I tucked my hands in my back pockets andsecurity Separated by a wallas he discussed the sprinkler systeh water to put out awater from the Mississippi not so far away Leo’s previous house had used Mississippi water, grandfathered in under a law that hadn’t been written when the first house’s kitchen was retrofitted with a sprinkler system Now the MOC wanted the whole house sprinklered, and had discovered that he needed perineers From Derek’s tone I could tell that Leo wanted fast action but the initial-agencies were balking Big surprise

Like all post-active-duty militarywatched Or he was just paranoid all the ti out likely spots for snipers, and saw ave him a little wave "The Enforcer is here," he said "Maybe she can help with the kitchen issue"

Kitchen issue? Not likely But I walked over, willing to pretend Sometimes a cold look and a little Beast in s done "Sup, y’all?"

The woue" look And she was right She looked chic even in a hard hat, though I’d never have worn three-inch heels to a construction site I set ainst a stud to listen to the problem The wo the tile colors and she wanted soe, white, cream, and snow in the room She wanted bronzes and coppers and earth tones Like I cared But I let her talk and listened with half an ear as I worked out how e The woman also wanted the two sets of double ovens to be moved across the kitchen from the place where they were in the plans, so she could put ain the exterior wall Yada yada

I glanced at Derek while she chattered and had to sn a laugh at the frustration on his face It wasn’t easy being boss All bucks stopped with him--and better him thanthe ovens didn’t cause problems elsewhere"--he thumbed at a wall that hid a safe room, and suddenly I understood the problem--"I’d let you have your way on the ovens But it’s no deal" He looked at ain, and said, "Jane? What do you say?"

Great Sowith Derek To the decorator, I said, "As I understand it, you have two requests--color scheht?"

She nodded and I went on "But you also have a job to do Your job is to make Leo happy Derek’s job is to keep Leo safe And that’s my job too You can’t move the ovens, because thatthe ovens there"--I pointed where Derek had thu to happen"

"But--"

I held up a hand to stop her "Let me finish Request nues and he’s outlived au courant several centuries ago" I studied the space and realized that I had the attention of the entire crew Lucky e Leo’s white-toned color scheme but you could ed copper panels in the ceiling if you want Drop sohts over the island" I’d seen that at Katie’s and it looked really good "Hang so the wall next to the cook top" I pointed "And" I turned in a circle, trying to see the room as it would be soon "Maybe put in a copper or bronze exhaust hood Instead of the white quartz or granite cabinet tops like on the rest of the counters, put copper sheeting on the island You could even get the oven and refrigerator doors done in copper or bronze, all without changing the color scheme" When the decorator’s mouth fell open, I said, "What?"

"That’sperfect, actually," she said Then juht"

"Yeah Vaht They care about security Why don’t you knock out that wall there"--I pointed to the back of the house--"and put in soht in the daytiineer to ith you on the sizes and necessary lass and the support I beams for the stories above"

Her red-lipsticked mouth made a moue of surprise "You’d let me do that?"

I looked at Derek and the construction boss and the architect, who had wandered over to listen They all nodded "Sure So we’re good on notthe ovens?"

"We’re fine" She looked down at her notebook and wrote Copper Cladding in big letters

Derek walked away, shaking his head I followed, not understanding his reaction I didn’t usually bother with multisyllabic words like consternation, but that was how Derek looked--consternated Derek and I had had some issues over the months when I’d been under contract to Leo, and while some matters had worked themselves out, some hadn’t I wasn’t sure they ever would As soon as ere out of earshot I said, "What’s with the head shaking?"

"You solved everything That wo everyone nuts for over an hour"

Crap I really was turning into a girl When the heck had that happened? I kicked a chunk of two-by-ten out of the way Maybe a little too hard, inpiece of wallboard and bounced back at e dent in it Dang it