For the first time in forever, she was having fun and wondering what was going to happen next.
The project manager in her was horrified.
“Dad! Elisa! Hurry, breakfast is just about ready!” Boom stood in the doorway waving her broken arm. Once she saw them wave back, she turned in the doorway and knocked her cast against the doorjamb.
Elisa winced. “Ouch.”
Alex chuckled. “Actually, she needed fewer pain meds last night. She might’ve forgotten she was hurt until just then.”
“It’s amazing how fast kids bounce back from injuries.” She shook her head.
“Speaking of which, how’s your wrist?” Alex asked, looking down at her.
Elisa lifted her left wrist, opening and closing her hand. “Doing fine. I’ve been wearing the brace the last couple of nights. Helped a lot.”
“Doc at the ER said it was a bad sprain?”
The night they’d met in the emergency room seemed a long time past, but it really had been just a few days. Amazing how caught up in Alex’s world she was getting. Yet, now that she thought about it, there was a rightness to it she didn’t want to overthink.
She nodded. “Ice, ibuprofen, and stabilize it to let it heal. I just hate wearing the brace when I’m typing and I figured since today is a work day I’d end up leaving it off.”
“Doesn’t hurt to bring it along just in case.” Alex gave her hand a squeeze. Then he paused. “Feel free to grab a big freezer bag from the kitchen in the main house and ice from the freezer whenever. We use ice a lot around here.”
“Okay.” He’d brought her ice the first morning. Maybe she should figure out how to set a periodic alarm on the phone to remind her at regular intervals. The faster her wrist healed, the better. There was still plenty of organization she could do for the front office.
They arrived at the doorway, and he let her hand go, motioning for her to head inside. “I’ll let Souze into his kennel so he can have water and some time to himself.”
Boom rushed back to the doorway to meet her, grabbing her right hand. “C’mon, Elisa. I’ll introduce you.”
Elisa let herself be tugged inside and down the hallway into the kitchen area. David gave her a wave from his seat at the table and Brandon was manning the stove. Whatever he was frying smelled so good, her mouth immediately started watering.
Two women were arranging dishes on the breakfast counter. “Lyn! Sophie! This is Elisa!” They turned to her with smiles.
“Hi, there.” The very pretty blonde turned to her first, offering a hand.
Elisa reached out and shook it, smiling at the firm return grip. When she’d been in an office environment, a solid handshake had been an absolute must to show confidence. Once she’d stopped working and had started meeting more of her ex’s colleagues in social situations, the handshakes she’d received from other women had turned limp. Without substance.
It was nice to get a firm greeting again.
Boom continued her brand of introductions. “Lyn works with dogs all over the country, rehabilitating bad behavior. She travels a lot, so she wasn’t here the day you started, and she’s still getting over a bad cold, so don’t let her breathe on you.”
“Ah.” Elisa fished for something to say and came up with nothing.
Lyn laughed. “No worries. I washed my hands just before you came in, and I’m on antibiotics now so I’m not likely to be contagious. I hope. Other people might’ve balked at taking antibiotics so they aren’t allowed to breathe on Boom.”
Lyn sent a warm glance in David Cruz’s direction. He shrugged and winked. “I prefer not to encourage the breeding of uber viruses or bacteria.”
“Uncle David!” Boom flapped her un-casted hand. “Still doing introductions here.”
David held up a fork and waved it as if to say “continue.”
“I’m Sophie.” A dark-haired woman came around the breakfast bar to shake her hand, too. She had the sort of ever-young Asian features that made it hard to pin down her age, so she appeared to be anywhere between eighteen and thirtysomething. “I hear you’re wrestling the chaos at the front desk into much-needed order.”
Elisa blinked. “Well, I streamlined a few things and started up a client database so the forms could be just for newcomers.”
Sophie nodded once, definitively. “Much needed. I’ve been telling them they needed to get someone with a good head on her shoulders to help out for months. If you let these guys go, they’ll do nothing but work with the dogs and forget people even exist.”
“I can believe that, actually.” Elisa found herself smiling again. “It’s nice to meet you both. Do you all live here?”
Lyn grinned and jerked her head toward David. “The two of us are in the guest cabin right now, but we’ll be moving back into our cabin as soon as the expansion is done. I needed an office and a bigger bathroom.”
“With a tub,” Sophie sighed.