Not yet, but I wouldn't leave it. If we go in and do this right, it adds 2 weeks to the job and probably 30% to the cost. If we do it the other way, we'll be having the same conversation in 10 years and it'll cost double. Richard looked at him steadily. Do it right.
Marcus looked at the older man. Most people say that until they see the new number. I'm not most people, Richard said simply. And then unexpectedly. Neither are you from what I've heard.
How long have you been running your own company? 7 Years alone. More or less. Two guys on my crew used to be four. Richard asked it carefully.
Not accusatorily. Coastal development. Marcus met his eyes. They undercut me. I've heard their work then you know.
I know. Richard agreed. He looked back at the damaged wall. How's your daughter doing? Marcus paused.
You know about my daughter? Thomas Whitfield told me about her when he referred you. Said you'd once rescheduled a meeting because she had a fever. And when he asked about it, you said, and I'm quoting, I don't reschedule her. He seemed to find that notable.
Marcus was quiet for a moment. Then she's great. She's eight. She told me this morning our version of fine is better. Richard looked at him with something that might have been the beginning of a smile.
She sounds perceptive. She's terrifying, Marcus said honestly. In the best way. Richard laughed a real one. And that was how it started.
Over the following weeks, Richard Bennett's presence on the job site became a near daily occurrence. Not in an intrusive way, but in the way of a man who had found something worth watching. He and Marcus fell into a rhythm of conversation. Nothing too personal, nothing too formal, moving back and forth between the work and wider things, the way men do when they respect each other's time and intelligence. Marcus found himself looking forward to it more than he expected.
Richard was the kind of person who asked genuine questions and then actually waited for the answer in Marcus's experience. That was rarer than it should have been. You ever want more than this? Richard asked one afternoon leaning against the truck while Marcus reviewed the day's progress. The company, I mean the scale, Marcus thought about it honestly before answering which was the only way he answered things.
I want it to be enough. He said, "That's different than wanting more." How so? More is about comparison. Enough is about your own life. Whether the thing you built is actually holding together, whether it's real, he looked at the property, like this house.