The Quintessence of Quick (The Jack Mason Saga) by Stan Hayes

Mose’s three-sizes-too-big shoes. Opening the door, he walked across the lobby and, putting his hands on either side of Beverly Tyler’s doorjamb, stuck his head into her office.
    “Hi, Bev.”
    “Well, good morning, Mr. Mason,” she said with mock formality. “And how was Miami?”
    “Hot, buggy and full of Spics, thank you,” he said with a grin. I see the place didn’t collapse while I was gone.”
    She’d gone to lunch late on Friday, so this was the first time he’d seen her since he got back. “Not so’s you’d notice it,” she said, standing up and extending her hand. Getting close to fifty, she’s still a handsome woman, thought Jack as he shook it. She’s run this place since I was in grammar school, and we still call her ‘the bookkeeper’. “See you stopped in over the weekend.”
    “Yeah. Brought my friend by to show her the place; no tour of Bisque would be complete without a look at the halls of HCBC.”
    “Well, I hope you’ll bring her back when we’re here. You know what Mose used to say; ‘it’s not the plant, it’s the people.’ She from Miami?”
    “Yeah; she was kind enough to give me a ride back up here on her boat.”
    “Ralph mentioned that. Said it was quite a boat, too.”
    “Forty-six feet; guess you could cruise the world on it if you knew what you were doin’, and from what I’ve seen she definitely does.”
    “Must’ve been quite an experience for you. How long did it take y’all to get here?
    “Just a day over two weeks; left there the morning of the fifth.”
    “So you were on the high seas on Valentine’s Day. Pretty romantic way to spend it, I’d say.”
    “I’ve certainly had worse ones,” Jack said, augmenting his grin with the briefest of winks. “Guess it’s stretching a point to call the Intracoastal Waterway the high seas, though. It would’ve been a much different trip if we hadn’t been able to tie up some place every night. And the last three or four nights were pretty damn chilly, after we ran out of Florida weather.”
    “Well, count me in on your bon voyage party for the return trip. That’s gotta be a sight to see, that much boat and a lady in command. You are going back with her, aren’t you?”
    Jack hesitated for a moment. “Sure; far as I know now, that is.”
    Bev smiled at him, the older woman ratifying youthful passion. What the hell else will you have to do, she thought. “Well, it’s good to have you back, sailor boy. You’re going to be here for awhile, aren’t you? I need some decisions on a few things.”
    “I’m all yours, boss. Your office or mine?”
    “Yours, for sure. My desk won’t hold any more.”
    They’d gone at it, nonstop, for an hour and a half when Ralph Williams stuck his head in the door. “‘Scuse me, y’all. Miz Beverly, can you talk to Charlie Martin? He’s already called a couple of times, and he says he needs an answer-  sump’m about last year’s inventory-  ’fo noon.”
    She stood, blowing out her cheeks as she did. “Ol’ Charlie’s dottin’ his I’s and crossin’ his T’s for what’s probably the hundredth time today. I better talk to him. After all, it’s his money; well, theirs. No point gettin’ crosswise with him when we’re so close to making the deal. I think we’ve done enough to keep us out of jail ’til the end of the month, Jack. I’ll come back and get all this paper soon as I get Charlie squared away.”
    Ralph smiled as he turned to go. “She keeps more shit in ’er head then I can in a filin’ cab’net. Sorry to interrupt y’all.”
    “Hell, I appreciate it,” said Jack as he returned the smile. “I can only look at so many worksheets before I gotta holler uncle. By the way, you talk to Ziggy lately?”
    “Oh yeah. One day between Christmas and New Year’s.”
    “He still likin’ the big city?”
    “Mm-hmm, I reckon so. Stays busy, anyway. He and his manager- can you believe it-  he got a manager now! Anyway, they was s’posed to go