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“They would,” I said, imagining Faith’s face when I brought another Crawford company to the firm. They would reconsider me for the manager position, I was sure of it.
“Speaking of work,” I said. “I better get going before I’m late. Do you think you can drop me off?”
He raised his eyebrow. “Of course not.”
Confused, I stared at him, waiting for him to smile. He didn’t. He walked over to a cabinet and grabbed a set of keys. Throwing them at me, he said. “Here. And if you don’t like the Audi, let me know which one you’d prefer to take to work.”
“Oh, I can’t do that,” I said, dropping the keys on the table as though they weighed a ton. And perhaps they did on my conscience. I’d always worked for everything I’d achieved. No one had ever handed anything to me. Well, not before Luke.
He walked up to me and placed his palm on my cheek. “I thought after our conversation last night that we were together. Officially.”
“Oh, we are,” I said, reassuring him.
“Then, take the car. What’s mine is yours, Grace.”
“You trust me with it?” I asked skeptically.
“I would trust you with much more.”
I lifted onto my toes and kissed him. “Thank you,” I said. And rushed to get ready for the day.
I spoke to Laura and Theo on my way to work. My mother was awake during the day now and they kept her company while I went to work.
I spoke to her doctor this morning. My mother’s surgery was scheduled for next month, but they reassured me she would be stable until then. I didn’t know how I was going to pay for the surgery. But when I called the hospital administrator on my way to work to inquire about payment plans, she told me a generous donor had taken care of the payment. Suspecting the name, but still wanting her to say it, I asked. She said the donor’s name was Jeanie Sweeney. “Is she a relative of yours?” she asked with a southern accent.
I laughed aloud—snort and all. She must have thought I was crazy and maybe I was for letting Luke pay for the surgery. But I would pay him back somehow—with interest. I smiled at the thought.
Just as I was about to turn off the car, another call came through. The number was vaguely familiar, so I answered it. “Hello?”
“Grace Sweeney?”
“Yes?”
“This is Harriet from Charters. You interviewed with us last week.”
“Yes, hi!”
“Is now a good time to chat?”
I looked at my watch, five minutes before I was supposed to start work. But I shook off my old habits and tried something new. “Yes, no problem. I have time now.”
“Great. Well, after reviewing other candidates, we’d like to offer you the manager position at our firm. If you’re still interested, the job is yours.”
I was glad she couldn’t see me because my mouth flapped open like a fish.
“Grace? Are you still there?”
I leaned forward and dropped my head onto the steering wheel.
What should I do?
This firm was much smaller than the one I was at now. But I wasn’t looking for prestige anymore. I’d worked so hard at Delmar & Tuch, they knew me. Sure, I didn’t get this promotion, but there would be others. And Delmar & Tuch was a bigger firm. I gave myself some time to think this over.
“Thank you, Harriet. I appreciate the offer. Can we schedule a time to discuss this further? I’m free at noon tomorrow.”
“Sounds great,” she said. “Chat soon.”
“Goodbye,” I said and sat in my car for a few minutes before rushing to work. Some habits were hard to kill.
