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“You mark my words: If anyone else in the world spoke to you the way he does, he’d punch them out.”
“Probably.”
She rests her head against my chest and hugs me close. My mom has always given the best hugs.
“I hope you two work it out.” She sighs just as Jake comes in and sees us.
“Whoa, what’s wrong? Gram? What’s going on?”
“Nothing, buddy.” I smile at him as Mom pulls away from me and walks over to fold Jake in her arms for a big hug.
“I just wanted to see two of my favorite men and bring them some dinner.”
“Do I smell clam chowder?” Jake’s eyes brighten at the idea.
“You do,” she confirms.
“That’s legit. You’re the best gram ever.”
“I do my best.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
POLLY
Ihaven’t seen Ryan in a week.
It’s been the fastest week of my life because all I’ve done is work, pretty much every waking minute of the day. With both Grace and Jessica gone, it’s been almost impossible to stay on top of things, and I’m sticking close to Melissa because I was right not to trust her. After getting a second set of eyes on things, I’m finally able to prove what I suspected was going on.
And I know that Ryan’s been just as busy. He’s got to be buried in work and has the ranch to see to. Jake is playing football in school, so they’ve had a lot going on. I’m definitely going to the game tonight, no matter what. I’ll close the shop early if I have to.
“Are you still mad at me?” Melissa asks as I walk into Pocket Full of Polly with my arms full of apple tart cookies, fresh from Jackie’s bakery.
“I’m not happy,” I reply and immediately walk over to the sideboard, where I set the cookies out on display for customers. “I get that you wanted me to have fun without worrying, but this is my business. This is my livelihood. I have a right to know every single thing that happens, no matter where in the world I happen to be.”
“You’re right,” Melissa says, holding up her hands. “I made the wrong call, especially after Jessica had to be gone for bereavement. I should have at least told you what was up but that I was handling it.”
“But you weren’t handling it, Melissa,” I counter and turn to her, my arms crossed over my chest, more than ready to have this conversation and get this woman out of my shop. “This place was a mess when I came in on Saturday. There were piles of clothes that needed to be folded and hung up, the floor was filthy, and even more clothes were left in fitting rooms. Don’t even get me started on the fact that you didn’t even close out the till at the end of the day.”
“I couldn’t stay twenty-four seven,” she says and rolls her eyes. “Even I have to sleep, Polly.”
“We weren’t that busy. Summer is over, and the bulk of the tourists left with it. How is it that you were so slammed that you couldn’t run a vacuum over the floor or hang up product?”
“Oh, so you abandon your business and then question the way it’s managed when you’re gone?”
“THAT’S MY WHOLE GODDAMN JOB, MELISSA!” I can’t believe I just yelled like that, but now I’m fucking furious.
“I don’t need to stand here and be yelled at like this. I might just quit.”
“You don’t have to. You’re fired.” Holy shit, that felt good.
Her jaw drops. “You can’t fire me.”
“Oh, trust me, yes, I can. And I just did. You did a pissy job of looking after my business while I was gone. I spoke with Katie last night.”
Now her face goes sheet white.
“She told me that Grace quit because you were a complete bully and a jerk to her about changing the shifts that I laid out before I left. I also know that you threatened Katie if she told me. Well, she did, and she doesn’t care that you know, because Katie has balls. Katie, the sixteen-year-old, is the one I trust. I also know that you stole money and product from me while I was gone, and I’ll be pressing charges.”
