Page 113 of Meant to be Mine

“Now you’re talking,” he said.

On the drive home, I reached over and put my hand on his leg. He parked in the garage and I thought about what it would be like to come home to his beautiful house every night. A girl could do worse.

“Want to take a shower?” he asked.

“With you?”

He winked. “I’ll wash your back.”

I laughed. “I’ll wash your front.”

37

DREW

Two days later, I found myself back at the store with Edith, walking her through everything she needed to take over as manager. Most of it she already knew. She’d been running the floor operations for months. But there were admin things, access codes, vendor contacts, and the quarterly reporting structure that I needed to hand off properly.

We spent three hours going through it all. She absorbed everything with her usual brisk efficiency, taking notes on her tablet and asking clarifying questions when needed. I showed her how to access the financial dashboards and explained the communication chain with the New York office.

“Adrian will want updates on everything,” I said. “Nothing formal. Just an email summarizing sales, any issues, upcoming events. He likes to keep an eye on things.”

“Understood.” She made another note. “Do I need to approve everything through him?”

“This is your store now, Edith. I imagine there might be a transitional period, but it won’t be like that forever.”

We finished going through the last of the documentation. She closed her tablet with a satisfied click. Everything had been covered. There was nothing left to hand off.

“I think that’s everything,” I said, standing up from the new desk in the manager’s office. That had been Edith’s only condition. She wouldn’t come back unless we replaced the desk, and I honestly couldn’t blame her.

What she didn’t know was that I had moved the old desk to my house. Kensey was going to die when I showed it to her. I couldn’t wait.

Edith stood as well, smoothing her skirt. “Thank you for being thorough.”

We walked toward the door together. The store was bustling. Things had picked up a lot since the Blackwell Summer events. For me, it felt like the end of an era. I would miss the place, but what I had ahead of me was so much better.

At the door, I stopped and turned to face her. “I never thanked you for being cool after you caught Kensey and me. You could have raked me over the coals.”

Edith’s expression remained neutral, but I saw her tense up. “It was unprofessional and not something any employee should have to worry about seeing at work.”

“I know. And I’m sorry you had to see that.”

“That being said,” she continued, the edge gone, “you were a decent boss otherwise. You listened when I had suggestions and the store has been thriving.”

I felt some of the guilt ease. “Thanks. That means a lot.”

“Thank you for bringing me back for the promotion. You didn’t have to do that.”

“You earned it,” I said simply. I pulled the store keys from my pocket and held them out to her. They felt heavier than they should have. Responsibility. Trust. The end of one chapter and the beginning of another.

She took them, her fingers closing around the metal. “I won’t let you down.”

“I know you won’t.”

We shook hands, formal and professional, and then I walked out of the store for the last time as its manager. I stood on the sidewalk for a moment, looking back at the building. I felt lighter than I had in months. This had been the right decision. I knew it in my bones.

I pulled out my phone and called Kensey as I walked to my car.

“Hey,” she answered, sounding slightly out of breath. “How’d it go?”