Page 35 of You're All I Need

Jack glances my way, waiting on my response, to which I just shrug. “Let’s play it by ear, but I’m sure we’ll be ready for a break by noon,” he tells his friend and partner.

“Sounds good. Adrienne, you’re the boss. Take charge,” Caden says before pushing through the door and disappearing from sight. Clearly, he was referring to taking charge in the office, but my dirty mind instantly dove into smutty territory again. Caden seems to have that effect on me.

“Let’s start off with a tour,” Jack says. “You can sit at the desk here behind the counter,” he offers, pointing to the small area housing a new computer. “We’ll get you all set up on the accounting program, email, anything else you need. Like Imentioned, we’re considering offering set storefront hours, but that’s not anything we need to worry about now.”

“I don’t mind manning the storefront when I’m here,” I tell him, taking in the area which is on the opposite side of the room from Caden’s and Jack’s desks.

“Let’s see how much time you need doing the office side, and we can talk. I don’t want to overwork you, considering you’re putting in four days at Burgers and Brew too.”

I nod in understanding. “Sounds good.”

“Caden and I sit over here, as you know,” he says unnecessarily. This side of the office is complete with two matching desks and chairs and a wall of filing cabinets. He picks up a coffee mug that reads “World’s Best Dad” and points to his desk. “My computer currently houses the accounting program, and you’re welcome to use it anytime you need. You have full access to my desk.”

“Okay.”

A door opens behind us, and we both turn to see who has arrived. An older gentleman with aged hands and wrinkled skin offers me a warm smile the moment he enters the room, using the same door Caden exited with. “You must be Adrienne.”

“I am,” I reply, stepping toward him and extending my hand.

“This is Glenn. He works part time with us three days a week, so you’ll be seeing his ugly mug often.”

“Happy to know you,” Glenn replies with a grandfatherly smile. “Maybe this guy won’t be so grumpy having to do all that paperwork stuff.”

“That’s the plan,” Jack states with a laugh. To Glenn, he says, “Caden left you a service call in your bin. If you finish by noon, you’re welcome to meet us for lunch at Burgers and Brew.”

“All right, I just might do that.” Glenn walks over to a series of bins and grabs a sheet of paper from within. “I’ll get outof your hair. Holler if you need me.” To me he adds, “Pleasure meeting you, Adrienne.”

“You as well,” I state, watching as he exits out the door, which must lead to their large work area.

Jack points to a closed door. “Restroom.” To a second closed door, he adds, “Small storage room.”

We walk out the other door into the huge work area. It’s an old warehouse building, complete with a loading ramp and large roll-up doors. The space is cool, with large fans moving air and the windows covered to help keep the temperature down.

“There’s a second smaller employee restroom over there, as well as a washing station. You shouldn’t need to come out here too much, but if we’re here, this is usually where you’ll find us.”

“Okay.”

“What do you say we head up and get started?”

“Let’s do it.”

***

I climb into the passenger seat of Jack’s work truck so we can head to grab lunch. Before we left the office, Jack called Stevie to join us, but she was having lunch with her sister, BJ. Glenn will join us, but may be a few minutes later, as he’s cleaning up from his service call. So, until then, it’ll be just Jack, Caden, and me.

We park on the street and walk to the restaurant side of the business. Cool air hits us the moment we open the door, as does the scent of delicious food. My stomach growls the moment we cross the threshold, my mouth watering as I inhale deep fried goodness.

Caden is already seated at a square table in the middle of the room, so we make our way to him. He takes a drink of hisCoke and smiles, his eyes casually watching as I approach. “I ordered some appetizers,” he says in way of greeting.

“Excellent. Office work makes me hungry,” Jack states, taking the seat across from him, while I slide into the empty chair to Caden’s left.

“How’d it go?” he asks, his eyes bouncing between Jack and me.

“Really good. She doesn’t even need me,” Jacks informs his business partner.

“You use the same program I’m accustomed to, so it’s pretty easy,” I add to the conversation.

“She already has last week’s payroll done and all the bills caught up. Things that take me hours and hours, she does in no time. This afternoon we’ll tackle invoicing, but that’ll prove to be a challenge, because you write like a doctor.”

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