Page 116 of From the Start
“Where are you, Kai?” I hiss into the phone. “You were supposed to be here thirty minutes ago. I’m late for work. I can’t leave Dad alone.”
I stab the button to disconnect the call but it doesn’t make me feel any better.
I pace in front of the window for a few minutes before picking up my phone again.
“Hey, boss lady,” Sloane answers on the first ring.
“I’m running late.”
“I kind of figured you were late when you didn’t show up thirty minutes ago for the beer delivery.”
Shoot a smuggler. I forgot all about the beer delivery.
“Did you check the delivery? Ensure we received everything we ordered?”
“Yes and yes. All good.”
“I don’t know when I’ll be in.”
“Everything okay?”
No, everything is most definitely not okay.
“Yep,” I lie. “Everything’s fine. I’ll work on the payroll from here and be in later.”
“We’ve got you covered, boss lady.”
I wish I could believe her – despite her recent improvements, Sloane isn’t the most reliable of workers – but I’m out of options.
I hang up and settle at the kitchen table with my laptop. Kai told me I should keep my laptop at the bar. That I should create a boundary between work and home.
Ha! Kai also told me he’d be here at 2 p.m. sharp this afternoon to care for my dad.
“What the hell are you doing?” Dad asks.
“Payroll.”
“Why?”
Because I enjoy watching money disappear from theRumrunner’s bank accounts? I swallow those words. It’s not my employees’ fault that I paid too much for the bar and am now struggling.
The accounts are currently healthy after the summer season, but this money needs to last throughout the winter when there are fewer tourists visiting Smuggler’s Hideaway.
“Go to the bar, Harper,” Dad orders in his most grumpy tone.
“I’m not leaving you alone.”
“Kai will be here soon.”
He will? He’s already nearly an hour late. I decide to message him.
Where are you?
You’re nearly an hour late.
I can’t leave Dad alone.
All of my messages go unanswered.
