Read Online The Aries Libra Connection (Opposites In Love Book 1) by Janet Lane-Walters - Free Book Online Page B

got to go. There’s a meeting of the negotiating committee. Not that there’s anything to consider.”
    “There will be. We’re discussing the contract tonight.”
    “Unless Bishop finds a more important issue.”
    “What could be more important?”
    “He’ll find something. I think he wants a strike.”
    Eric’s shoulder throbbed. He strode across the lobby. “All right. Just what do you know?”
    She frowned. “He’s fought and delayed ever since our contract expired. He’s kept the Board from making a counter offer.”
    “I’ve never seen anything from the union.”
    She opened the door. “One arrived. Delivered in person.”
    “I’ve talked to a number of Board members who want to see this settled.”
    “He doesn’t and what Bishop wants, Bishop gets.”
    Eric caught her hand. “We could argue until we both miss our meetings. Let’s meet at Frank’s, say around nine thirty.”
    “Are you sure you want to hear ‘I told you so?’”
    “I won’t.” He turned her to face him. His lips met hers.
    For an instant, she surrendered. Then she wiggled free. “Frank’s at nine thirty for talk, period.” She ran across the parking lot and got into her car.
    Eric stood at the edge of the walk. Her car sped from the lot the way she’d raced into his life. When the taillights vanished over the crest of the hill, he jogged across the street to the hospital.
    Twenty minutes later, Bishop banged his gavel on the massive oak table in the gloomy basement Boardroom. Eric put his coffee cup in the saucer and looked at the older man. The smile on the Board president’s face turned into a glare after he looked at his copy of the agenda.
    “We’re scraping this.” He crumpled the paper. “Those little girls who think they run this place are meeting tonight to call for a strike vote.”
    Tension gripped Eric’s shoulder muscles. The scar tissue throbbed. Jenessa’s comments flared in his thoughts. Had she known? He pressed his hands against the table. “A few negotiating sessions could head off the trouble.”
    “Agreed,” Sam said. Several of the doctors nodded.
    “Hogwash,” Bishop said. “Giving them a contract is like slapping one patch on a tire with twenty holes. Let them throw a tantrum. After a month on the streets, they’ll jump for any bait we dangle.”
    “I don’t agree,” Eric said. “How can you say talks won’t work when they haven’t been tried?”
    “Hah! They’re going to strike and nothing we do will stop them.”
    Eric fought against the memories that swirled like the twisting winds of a cyclone and pulled him into the past.
    Darkness. Clouds hid the moon. A dank odor filled the air. Men wearing dark clothes formed a chain blocking the entrance to the newspaper printing plant. A second group strode down the street. Eric stood with his fellow officers and waited for trouble to begin.
    “Scabs on the way.”
    Like the aftermath of a stick thrust into an ant hill, violence erupted. Two sets of truckers clashed. Eric waded into the melee. He separated a pair of combatants. Hands shoved against his back. He stumbled and fell. As he tried to rise, a heavy object slammed against his shoulder. Along with excruciating pain came a rush of nausea. He slid into oblivion.
    “All in favor.”
    Eric blinked. The group of men and women seated at the massive table slid into focus.”
    “Those opposed.”
    What motion? His hands remained on the arms of the chair. How could he vote when he hadn’t heard the motion? A surge of guilt flushed away the remnants of his trip in the past. Before he could speak, Bishop announced the motion had passed.
    “Here are plans for a cardiac catheterization unit I’d like you to look over,” Bishop said. “When the proposal came across my desk, I took a good look. You know how I feel about profits.” Several Board members laughed.
    “Profit makes a company,” he continued. “Eastlake Community’s no different from any corporation. We need to expand