Jeff happened to know what Craig looked like because their kids went to the same school and they had a couple beers together at the annual St. Mary's Parish International Night a few weeks earlier.

Craig noticed Jeff walking toward him and broke away from the workers he was standing with near the entrance.

“Well, two visits in one day,” he said, smiling. “Everything okay?”

Jeff was glad that Craig seemed happy to see him. “Yeah, everything's fine. I just wanted to know how things are going.” Suddenly, deciding that he should be more direct, Jeff corrected himself. “Actually, maybe things aren't fine. I don't know.”

Craig looked concerned. “How can I help?”

“Well, I was just talking to Nancy, and it seems like you guys have had some issues.” Before Craig could jump in, Jeff continued. “Now, I know about the foremen who quit a few months ago, and all that. Bobby gave me the basic story there. I'm just wondering what your take is, and why you and Nancy aren't working better together.”

Craig frowned. “How frank do you want me to be?”

“Does anyone ever say not to be frank?”

“I guess not.” Craig smiled. “But I could give you the politically correct answer, or I could cut to the chase.”

“The chase.”

“Okay, that woman,” he said, pointing to the trailer across the parking lot, “has some serious issues. I mean, she knows her stuff when it comes to putting up a building, I'll give her that. But she's not easy to work with. Not for anybody.”

Jeff just listened, and Craig went on.

“She blamed my guys for her guys quitting, but it was her as much as anything else. Yeah, we were tough on them for falling behind, but that's mostly because none of them could deal with her. I hate to say it,” he hesitated before finishing, “but she's kind of a hag.”

Jeff didn't smile. “I'm not exactly sure what a hag is, Craig. Be a little more specific.”

“Sorry. It's just that she makes people so mad. The way she says things. Her mannerisms. Facial expressions. Heck, even her vendors don't like dealing with her.”

“Is that why you don't have her come to your meetings?”

Craig smiled, but not in a happy way. “She told you that?”

Jeff nodded.

“I didn't say she couldn't come to our meetings,” Craig explained. “I said she couldn't come if she was going to piss everyone off. So she stopped showing up.”

“You think she acts that way on purpose?” Jeff wondered out loud.

Craig sighed. “I don't know. But anyone who's that good at making people uncomfortable probably doesn't do it by accident.”

“What about you?”

Craig was confused, but not defensive. “What do you mean?”

“What do you do that makes her mad?”

He thought about it before responding. “I don't know. I suppose I don't tolerate her attitude very well. And I should've sat down with her to rebuild the relationship when she stopped coming to the meetings.”

“But you say she's good at her work from a technical standpoint?”

“Yeah.” He shrugged. “She's really good at figuring out what needs to get done and keeping things organized.”

“Big ego?”

Craig winced and scratched his head. “You know, as much of a pain in the ass as she is, I wouldn't say she's egotistical or self-centered. It's weird. She's just a pain, whether she knows it or not.”

That phrase, whether she knows it or not, stuck with Jeff.

Though he was as confused as he had been a half hour earlier, Jeff felt a new sense of energy. It was that feeling he used to get when he was consulting, like a detective trying to solve a crime. Maybe this won't be so bad after all, he wondered. And hoped.