Seasons (8 page)

“You ain’t telling me nothing I don’t know. The only reason she got the investigator position was because of management’s
fears of gender discrimination lawsuits. The threats weren’t coming from Jaci, but she’s the one who ended up with the job
because of her qualifications and experience. After getting the position, she received very little support from management.
And she had to deal with some pretty rough treatment from the men in the department who either wanted the position or felt
it should have been given to a man.”

“Was it really that bad?” Gloria asked.

“Oh man! That lady was programmed for failure in so many ways, it’s a wonder she made it. That’s how she gained my respect.
I admit, at first I was kind of grudging, too, because I just didn’t think a woman could handle the job. But when I saw her
hanging tough and refusing to give up, I knew she had to be motivated by something other than just wanting to be the first
woman to hold the position. I started helping her. I took some heat, but I just couldn’t stand by and watch her struggling
like that. And when I started helping her, some of the other guys jumped in and helped her, too. It was only later that I
found out she was a single parent and needed the higher salary.”

“Oh, Bill, I’m so glad you did that for her. She’s a very caring person and will do anything to help you. Remember when I
had surgery a few years ago? She would come up here on weekends and bring her daughter to help me keep up with my work so
Wynola wouldn’t try to replace me. I’ll always be grateful for that. You know, I think that Gilmore guy is interested in her,
but Jaci won’t cooperate.”

As they were talking, J.P., who had gotten detained by someone on his way out of the building, was slowly driving out of the
garage. When he saw them standing there in deep discussion, he pulled over and stopped. The thought occurred to him that these
two people worked closely with Jaci and perhaps he could pump them for information about her. He got out of the car and walked
over to them.

“Hi. I just thought I’d let you all know how much I appreciate all the help you guys give me. It saves me from having to go
through a lot of hassle for the information.”

“No problem, glad to be of service,” Bill said.

Seeing an opportunity for them to play matchmakers, Gloria jumped in with both feet. Giving Bill an eye that said, “follow
my lead,” she said, “You know, we were just talking about our boss, Ms. Winters. If it weren’t for her we probably wouldn’t
be able to offer you much help. She’s the one who’s worked and fought hard to get our division to where it is.”

“Right,” Bill kicked in. “I was just telling Gloria how much I respect and admire Jaci. She’s been our supervisor for several
years now, and I haven’t regretted a minute of it. Jaci has the division so organized that a punch of a button will give you
anything you need to know about any building on file. And I gotta tell you, it hasn’t always been that way. Man, I remember
when it would take us days to locate a file. And then, nine times out of ten, no current information would be in it. But now,
it had better be in there or somebody’s butt is in serious trouble.”

“Is that right?” J.P. asked, eagerly taking in everything they were saying. “So, Ms. Winters is something else, huh?” He felt
like he had hit the jackpot.

Bill started chuckling. “You better believe it. Needless to say, she’s become an expert at anything to do with the demolition
process.”

“How did she end up coordinating these hearings?” J.P. asked.

“They practically forced it on her,” Bill answered. “Jaci already knew the administrative paper flow and the kind of documentation
needed to get a structure demolished. After she became an investigator, and she was the first woman to hold that position,
it didn’t take long before she was finding ways to improve how information was collected and expeditiously transferred to
the file. And like I said, she’s a stickler for detail and hard work. Her production was soon way over everyone else’s and
her files never got kicked back. The powers that be soon realized it was in their best interest to utilize her abilities to
increase overall production. So they created the Hearing Coordination Section and put Jaci in charge of it. I agreed to come
over and work with her. Best move I ever made.”

J.P. had heard enough. They had given him an idea for a plan. “It’s been good talking to ya’ll. I gotta go but just wanted
to let ya’ll know how much I appreciate your help. I’ll talk to you guys later. Thanks again.” He waved to them as he got
into his car, feeling good about what he had just heard and about the plan forming in his mind.

M
axie sat in his worn recliner, TV remote in hand, idly flipping through channels, but his mind was on Jacetta—again. He tried
to recall how she looked, but he couldn’t put a face with that sexy voice he had heard on her answering machine. He knew she
couldn’t be bad looking since he didn’t deal with unattractive women. But he did remember her being a little chubby. That
was all right too since he didn’t like skinny women either. “I bet she’s really fat now,” he said to himself, deciding to
ask George about it.

“Hey, George, how’s it going, man?” Maxie asked when he heard George’s voice on the phone. “I hate to bother you, but I’ve
tried to follow your suggestion and call Jacetta. I’ve dialed the number you gave me several times, but I always get an answering
machine. Under the circumstances, I’m reluctant to leave a message, you know?”

“Oh, so you decided to call, huh?”

“Yep. She sure sounds different, but you know I’m relying on an old memory. She still look about the same?”

The first time Maxie called Jacetta’s number and heard the husky, sensual voice instructing the caller to leave a message,
he had been so intrigued he hung up, then called right back, just to hear that voice again. Her voice didn’t sound like that
when he knew her.

“Well, Jacetta is a hard person to catch,” George answered. “Probably still working two jobs—always has. But the last news
I heard, her daughter was having problems with that baby she’s carrying. Serious problems. You just gon’ have a hard time
catching her. And you messed up big time when you cut out on her, man. And I’m not just saying this because she’s my niece
either. Jace is a beautiful woman. I never have figured out why she’s not married. The men in Houston must be blind or crazy.”

“Oh really?” Maxie asked, a sliver of unexplained excitement running through him. “Well, I guess I’ll just have to be patient
and keep trying until I can catch her.”

After his conversation with George, he decided that it might be better to just take a trip down to Houston. It was only a
thirty-minute flight and he could easily get Jaci’s address. Yes. That was a more interesting course of action he decided,
and he began to plan a trip to Houston.

J
aci tried to push J.P. Gilmore to the back of her mind as she went about her weekend activities, but thoughts of him intruded
at regular intervals. What could he possibly want to discuss with her other than Housing Compliance business? She knew of
his reputation with women and didn’t believe he had that kind of interest in her, because from what she had heard, he went
for the young and beautiful, and she certainly didn’t fit either description. Curiosity nearly got the best of her, and she
almost dialed his number a couple of times, but she managed to fight off the temptation. No, she decided, she would wait for
his call on Monday.

Monday was hectic! An unscheduled staff meeting interrupted her plans to begin writing the disposition reports from Thursday’s
hearing. And her daughter called and begged Jaci to accompany her to a doctor’s appointment. Randi’s second pregnancy was
turning out to be difficult.

Jaci knew she probably wouldn’t be returning to work, so she was trying to get as much as possible done before leaving. It
was almost lunchtime when she remembered J.P. Gilmore’s promised call. Oh well, it must not have been too important, she decided.

As if her thoughts had somehow been communicated to J.P., Jaci’s phone rang, and when she heard his voice, she couldn’t help
but wonder:
Wow! what’s up with this?

“Ms. Winters, how are you today?” She felt a shiver travel down her spine. His deep voice caused all kinds of reactions in
Jaci. “I hope I caught you before you had lunch. I was wondering . . . if you’re free, I’d like to take you to lunch. I apologize
for the short notice, but it’s been one of those mornings.”

The invitation was the last thing Jaci expected, so she was caught off guard and left floundering for a response. She finally
pulled her haywire thoughts together enough to recall her plans. “I . . . uh . . . I can’t today. I’ll be leaving here shortly
for a doctor’s appointment with my daughter.”

“Well, how about dinner then? That would be better anyway, since we won’t have to watch the clock.”

Again, Jaci hesitated. She really didn’t know the man and had no idea what he wanted to talk to her about. Under these circumstances
she didn’t feel comfortable going to dinner with him. “I don’t think so, Mr. Gilmore. I’d better not make any plans. You never
know how these doctor visits will go.”

“Okay. But before we go any further, I have a request. Would you please call me J.P. or Jason. Every time you call me Mr.
Gilmore, I look around for my father.”

Jaci laughed. “Only if you’ll call me Jaci, or Jacetta.”

“Whew! I’m glad we got past that! Now, how about dinner tomorrow night? Think you can make that?”

“Sorry, I have choir rehearsal tomorrow night. Let’s make it lunch and you’ve got a deal.” She could tell J.P. was disappointed,
but he covered it well. They arranged the time and location, and just as she was about to hang up, he said, “Tell me if I’m
too presumptuous, but is anything serious going on with your daughter?”

“No, but it’s very nice of you to ask. Hopefully, it’s nothing a little time won’t cure. She’s just having some complications
with her pregnancy.”

“Pregnancy!” he yelled in an amazed voice. “You have a daughter old enough to be pregnant?”

Jaci laughed. “Yes, and if that’s a shock, you’d better sit down for this one. I’m already the grandmother of an eighteen-month-old.”

After a stunned silence he said, “I see I have a lot to learn about you, Ms. . . . uh, Jaci. I never would have thought you
were a grandmother.”

“Well, thank God it’s not the case with me, but you know these days you can find grandmothers in their twenties.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

Jaci had another restless night as she raked her mind for some fathomable reason for J.P.’s request to talk to her. She really
hoped he wasn’t seeking a casual affair. For some reason, she knew she would be very disappointed if that was the case.

The next day, she was nervous all the way to the restaurant.
What if he doesn’t show up? What if all he wanted was to make some kind of pass.
Jaci made a lifestyle of rebuffing passes and had finally gotten to a point where her body language and the way she carried
herself sent the message that she was not interested. Men still made passes, but she could tell they were doing so only to
see if they could get a different reaction from her.

Her fears about his not showing up proved to be groundless. As soon as she turned into the parking lot, she saw him waiting
for her in a prominent place where he couldn’t be missed. Pappadeaux’s was one of Houston’s most popular seafood restaurants
and also one of her favorites. They made small talk until they were shown to a table, where J.P. solicitously seated her before
taking his own seat. She knew what she wanted to order because she always ate the same thing here.

When she told him this, he looked astonished. “Why don’t you try something different today? This is our first meal together,
so start a new tradition.”

Jaci didn’t know how to respond to that suggestion, so she adamantly stuck to her usual, then began worrying about what was
coming next.

She didn’t have long to wait. “I know you’re curious about why I wanted to talk to you,” he stated. “First, let me say how
much I admire the way you do your job. You’re very good at what you do. Do you like your job?”

Really curious about where this was headed, she answered slowly. “I guess it’s like most jobs, you love some aspects and hate
others.”

“Oh? That’s surprising. What part of your job do you hate?”

“Well, there’s another part of my job that you probably know nothing about. What you see at the hearings is just the culmination
of a long process. By the time we get to that point, we have to be certain we’ve dotted every ‘i’ and crossed every ‘t.’”
That’s where my staff and I take over. We’re kind of like the quality assurance arm of the department, making sure every detail
is accurate before any kind of housing violation goes to a hearing.”

“Yes. Being in real estate, I have a general idea of the process. And I’ve already noticed how good you and your staff are
at what you do. But what part of it would you like to do away with?”

“Having to go into those dangerous and sometimes collapsing buildings is extremely difficult, even though I’ve been doing
it for years now. I don’t ever know what I’m going to encounter in a building. And believe it or not, finding a dead body
is not my greatest fear. It’s the live ones, and those of the animal kingdom that I fear the most.”

“You mean you go into those buildings?” At her nod of confirmation, he continued. “Alone!?” He sounded upset. “Why? Why would
you put yourself in danger like that? That’s no job for a woman!”

Jaci tensed up. She caught enough flack from her coworkers, she didn’t need it from him. She cautiously answered his question.
“Well, I seldom go in alone anymore. I always take one of my staff with me, which doesn’t reduce the dangers, just makes them
a little more bearable. But when I became an investigator ten years ago, I had to go alone.”

“Why? You still haven’t answered my question. Bill told me you were the first woman to hold the position. Was it so important
to become the first woman investigator that you put your life at risk?”