By the middle of the next week, Joseph was happy with all he had managed to get done. The cameras were installed, including the extras he ordered for the stairwells, and six more employees were starting training to operate them in master control. Today, the personnel department and Tom were conducting interviews for eight more security guards to patrol the casino floor, halls and shops. They would start immediately the following week if they had experience, and the applicants looked good. There had not been any rooms robbed in all that time. Things were quiet at The Mohegan and Foxwoods, too. He was glad they had all decided to work together on this. There was still some reports of merchandise loss, but nothing compared to the kind of theft that had been going on previously. The added security was a good deterrent for employee theft, and the new cameras. And no one had gotten to the ATM machines also. In all, it had been a productive week. And with the convention this weekend, he was hoping there would be no problems.
And all was good on the home front too. He had patched things up with Jewel. He hadn’t been able to spend a great deal of time with her, but they had managed to squeeze in a couple of hours a few nights during the past week. She always went home to be with her brothers for the morning and he hadn’t had the pleasure of waking up to her yet. But the boys were busy at school, too. With May just around the corner, finals were approaching and they needed to have all their ducks in a row for graduation.
When Lesley and Wesley had practice, or a school function, she met him at his house. They had their final track meet on Saturday, and he and Jewel had gone to cheer them on. He’d brought a picnic lunch and they had enjoyed the feast while watching the boys from the bleachers. Afterwards, he had taken them all out for celebratory ice cream. The weather was warm again, and everything was running smoothly. The election was in two weeks and he was feeling really good about his chances of winning a seat on the Council.
He was surprised when Jewel showed up in his office on Wednesday afternoon. Glancing at the clock he knew her shift started in forty five minutes. She was pretty busy as usual, and also prepping for the convention this coming weekend. He was excited for that. It would be a great test of their added security features and staff.
“Well, hello there gorgeous,” he greeted her. “To what do I owe this pleasure?” He came around his desk to meet her. He was more than pleasantly surprised to spend any time with her. They hadn’t had much. Some. But not much.
“Your secretary told me to come right in.” By now the fact that they were an item had reached all areas of the casino. Even his mother was asking to meet her, asked him to bring her along to a family function. Both her and her brothers. But he wasn’t ready to do that. Not yet, anyway. It was still too new, and he just felt something inside—a feeling he couldn’t explain that prevented him from formally introducing her to his family, even though he’d spent time with hers. He’d met her grandmother the other day on his rounds of Lantern Hill. She was a sweet woman who’d welcomed him into her home. Even though he’d been busy and had wanted to knock on several doors that night, he’d spent over a half an hour with her over a cup of coffee. She’d grilled him as to what her intentions were with her granddaughter. She’d laughed at him heartily when he’d replied they were pure.
She teased him and shocked him when she came back with her own quick cackling retort. “Well, not to pure, I hope.”
“News spreads quickly. We are an official topic.” He used air quotes when he said the word topic, and she had to laugh. He closed the door behind her, locked it, and then took her in his arms. “So what topic are you here to discuss?”
“I had the strangest call today.” She had her head turned to the side and pierced him with a curious gaze.
“Really, and what might that be?” he gave her a quick kiss before she could answer. He had a feeling of what it might be about, so he wasn’t overly concerned with what her reaction might be.