Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 113741 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 569(@200wpm)___ 455(@250wpm)___ 379(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 113741 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 569(@200wpm)___ 455(@250wpm)___ 379(@300wpm)
“What about those hard hats, can we wear those?” Hunter asked, causing Trent to smile as he backtracked to the truck, digging in the back for two hard hats.
“Yes, sir, Hunt-man, good call, buddy,” Trent said. He found two, placing them on the kid’s heads. Trent ushered the two of them inside the building and looked immediately into the office, relieved when he didn’t see Gage. Keeping Em in his arms, he took Hunter by the hand and ate up the distance between the front door and the basement to the panel box. He all but drug Hunter along, trying to get out of the main gallery room before Gage showed up. It was dark in the basement. He left the door opened to filter in light and flipped on his flashlight. Once he got to the bottom of the stairs, he sat them both down on the last step from the bottom.
“Sit right here. Don’t move, I have to work right over there. Do you see? No more than ten feet from you,” he said, pointing the flashlight in the direction of the panel box. “Keep your flashlight on and I’ll be right here with my other flashlight, okay? I won’t leave you at all.”
“You made it,” Gage said. They all turned to see him coming down the stairs. Of course, he looked gorgeous in dark slacks and dress shirt he wore today.
“Mr. Synclair, these are my children, Hunter and Emalynn. Today’s my nanny’s day off,” Trent began, trying to make excuses, but Gage cut him off.
“No, it’s not a problem. Thank you for getting here so quickly,” Gage said, coming to stand directly behind the children. He took a seat on a step above them and placed a hand on each of their upturned heads, smiling down at both of them as Trent spoke.
“It’s probably nothing more than a bad breaker. I know the amperage is right, the feed’s good or it would have already shown itself. I need to check the connections and a couple of other things just to make sure, but it shouldn’t take too long. We’ll be out of here soon,” Trent said, and for the first time in days, he looked Gage straight in the eyes. It helped to have the kids there between, it took some of the pressure off. Trent knelt down one last time to again tell the kids to stay put while he worked.
“Hi, you two, I’m Gage, why don’t you come up to my office with me? I have paints, crayons, big rolls of paper. My nieces and nephews say it’s all really cool stuff. You can paint and color, while we wait for your dad to finish, and you won’t be stuck on this step the whole time. You can bring the flashlight, but I have windows in my office. It won’t get dark,” Gage said, looking at them, then up at Trent.
“Can we, Daddy?” Hunter asked.
“I don’t want to put you out, Mr. Synclair. They’ve done this before. They’ll be fine,” Trent said.
“It’s not putting me out at all. I offered and it’ll speed things up for you. The AC people are waiting,” Gage said, helping the kids with their toys. “We’ll be in my office. I’ll leave the front office door open for you. We’ll stay in the front of the office. I’ll keep them safe.”
“Daddy, can we?” Hunter asked again while Gage stood to his full height waiting for him to answer.
“Be good, guys… On your best behavior and manners. I’ll just be a few minutes. Do what Mr. Synclair says and don’t touch anything you aren’t supposed to,” Trent said.
“Yes!” Hunter cheered enthusiastically. Em being a little more reluctant stayed seated. “Em, come on! He has paints!”
“I have lots of pink paints. Do you like pink?” Gage asked. He bent down again, getting more on her level.
“Yes,” she answered quietly.
“Then come up stairs with me and I can show them all to you,” Gage said.
It took a minute and Em looked up at Trent for confirmation. When he nodded his head, she finally rose and held up her arms to Gage.
“Em, walk…” Trent began, but Gage cut him off.
“No, it’s fine, I got her. You get my AC people happy. We’ll be upstairs.”
****
“Paint or colors? I have both,” Gage said, putting Em on the floor as he walked into his office, heading straight to the credenza in the waiting area. He opened a cabinet and pulled out a large box filled with every type of paint, color, and coloring book imaginable.
“You guys can sit at the table,” Gage said, walking past Em to place the box in the center of the small conference table. He pulled out two of the heavy oak chairs and helped Em, then Hunter, up into them. He pushed the chairs closer to the table, where they scrambled up on their knees to be able to see and reach better.
“I have a little bit of everything here. After all it is an art gallery. What’s your preference?” he said, dumping the contents of the box directly onto the table, letting it scatter around for them both to see.
“Paints! And the Hulk! Em likes colors,” Hunter said, pulling a Marvel coloring book and paint set to him.
“Colors!” Em said, affirming Hunter’s selection for her, but she waited, her sweet little face smiling up at him, waiting for him to give her what she wanted.
“Okay, Emalynn, do you like princess, or fairies, or Barbies?” Gage asked, shifting the different books in her direction. He handed her a boxed set of colors, letting her open the lid and see all the different shades available to her. Em chose the Barbie coloring book and began instantly searching out a page. Gage went to a sink, pouring water in a cup for Hunter. He ripped off several paper towels, ready for any spills.
“How come you have all these colors?” Hunter asked, never taking his eyes from the page he’d selected. He began to work the brush in the lines on the page. Gage sat down between them, placing the water at the top of Hunter’s area and the paper towels around the glass.