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“You won’t regret this,” Gary said cheerily.
“See that I don’t.” I shook hands with him before he left my office as our new CFO.
Wenzel had requested the opportunity to go back to Smith’s, and I wasn’t stopping that.
Dee poked her head in the doorway. “Your cousin is here.”
“Send her in.” I checked the time.
Lara slid through the doorway.
“Close the door and have a seat,” I told her.
I decided to stand and lean against the desk. The height differential was a tactic I’d seen Josh use to good effect with Wenzel.
“Yeah?” she said after sitting.
“You’re late.” My stomach knotted up.
“I’m here, aren’t I?”
I crossed my arms. “You can lose the attitude, young lady. You agreed yesterday that you’d follow the rules and be on your best behavior. Being late doesn’t cut it anymore.”
She looked taken aback. “But I’m barely being paid.”
I nodded. “You can collect your full paycheck after you finish paying me back the thirty-two thousand of bail I’ve posted for you over the years.”
After the whole Ernst thing, the embezzlement charges had been dropped. Removing the other charges had required a phone call from Josh’s dad, who seemed to know the right people. With the bail canceled, the notice of default on my house had been cleared, but I was still out the latest bail bond fee.
She slumped in her chair. “But you’re taking half my paycheck. What am I supposed to live on?”
“Well, I’m providing you a place to live. It won’t take long to pay it off—or you can get a second job. It’s not my problem. It’s yours.”
“But he killed Vern.” With her it always came back to being a victim.
I raised my hand. “And he murdered my parents. I have to live with that knowledge every day, but what I don’t have to live with is listening to your excuses. Sure, you’ve had it tough, but it’s not all about you. Get over it and get on with your life. I’m done babying you. Life is tough. Life is unfair. Get used to it.”
Lara sat silently for a few moments. “Is that all?”
I rounded the desk back to my chair. “For now.”
She made for the door.
“And,” I said.
She turned.
“Gary said you did good work last week on the payables project.”
A confused look crossed her face. “Thank you.”
“You should thank him. And Josh is bringing over pizza tonight at seven, if you’d like to join us.”
Lara hesitated before answering. “Sure.” A hint of a smile showed as she opened the door and left.
Josh entered less than a minute after Lara had gone and closed the door behind him. “How’d it go?”
“I had to practice that speech for a half hour, and I’m still not sure I got it right. Are you positive this is the right thing to do?”
