The Widow's Bachelor Bargain by Teresa Southwick

Author:Teresa Southwick
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2015-09-25T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

Sloan was having trouble concentrating on work. Maggie was on his mind, more specifically her reaction to learning why he never planned to marry again. The problem was, he’d been unable to gauge her reaction. Would that strengthen her resistance to anything personal between them?

With an effort, he pushed that problem to the side for right now. He and Burke were in his cousin’s office with Ellie McKnight, their local architect. She was sitting in the chair behind the desk while they stood on either side of her, going over preliminary plans for the new resort complex near the base of the mountain.

Sloan was intently studying the blueprints and zeroed in on the hotel walls. “You know there’s a plastic wrap that can be put around the building to reduce the amount of air leakage through the envelope, that barrier between inside and outside.”

“I’m aware of it.” Ellie tucked a strand of long brown hair behind her ear then made a note on the plans. “I’ve included an initial materials list for your consideration, alteration and approval.”

Burke nodded absently as he studied the top paper on the thick stack that was nearly as wide as his desk. “At the risk of sending you screaming from the room, Ellie, can we round these walls that face north? It’s more self-contained that way. The interior temperature is comfortably maintained without an increase in energy usage.”

“I can do anything you want,” she said cheerfully. “You’ve both made it clear that it isn’t just the construction process that needs to be green, but the energy sustainability of the building itself.”

Sloan was glancing through the list Ellie had provided. “I don’t see it on here, but I can provide you the information. There’s an innovation for elevators. A company has put a high-friction polyurethane coating over a carbon-fiber core to create a lighter and stronger conventional steel rope. It eliminates the disadvantages of the material currently being used, and the efficiency reduces energy consumption.”

“Can you make a note of that on the list?” Ellie asked.

“Of course.” He grabbed a pencil from Burke’s desk and did as requested.

Sloan knew that the foundation of any construction project was rooted in the concept and design stages. Building, as a process, wasn’t streamlined and changed from project to project. Each one was complex, composed of a multitude of materials and components, each constituting various design variables. Any difference in one of them could affect the environment during the building’s relevant life cycle. It was important to get this right, and they plowed through the details for the rest of the morning.

“I think we’ve got this,” Sloan finally said, glancing at his watch. Noting that it was just after one, he picked up the phone and asked his assistant to order in some food from the Harvest Café. “I don’t know about anyone else but I’m starving.”

“Right there with you,” Burke said.

“I hope the café sandwiches are all right with you two?”

“I love the food there,” Ellie chimed in.

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