Page 18 of Safe With Me
“Just like that?” People didn’t come out and offer a job like this. Did they?
“Yeah. Just like that.” He shrugged. “You need to reinvent your life. I need somebody who can tolerate an asshole.”
“Oh, the last asshole I cut out of my life. Ruthlessly.”
“How long did you put up with him before that?”
“Years.”
His mouth twitched, almost forming a smile. “We’re good then. Start tomorrow?”
“I can.”
Reaching into his suit jacket, he withdrew a business card and laid it before me on the bar.
Lips pursed, I rolled my eyes. “It’s Coney. I know where your office is.”
He tapped the card. “My cell is on there. Add me to your contacts.”
“Right.” I played with the edge of the thick vellum. Uncertainty crept through me. “I don’t exactly have a law office wardrobe.”
Scott snorted. “Not like I’m running a big city law office. Wear something comfortable, and we’ll worry about clothes later. You might hate it and want to quit by Friday.”
Tucking the card away in my clutch, I shot a look at him. “Afraid I might hate you?”
“Darlin’, my friends hate me. You wanting to gut me after a day or so of my bullshit is a given.”
“As long as we’re on the same page.” I lifted my bottle to clink it against his glass, and he chuckled.
After a supper of chips and spicy sausage dip – the Millhouse had the best appetizers – I headed home, feeling a little lighter.
I paused at the Macarthur Drive intersection. I needed to call Daddy, but I should go see him instead. Eight-thirty wasn’t that late. I’d ride by the house, and if the lights were still on, I’d stop.
A few minutes later, I pulled into the driveway. The kitchen and living room light spilled through tall windows onto the yard, and the living room television remained on. Parking behind Daddy’s truck, I skirted Tilda’s SUV, went to the side door, and knocked before letting myself in. “Daddy? Tilda?”
“Hey, sweetie.” Tilda rose from her recliner as I walked into the living room. She pressed a kiss to my cheek, her sweet Avon lotion surrounding me. I returned the kiss, then leaned down for Daddy’s hug.
“You feeling better?” He patted my arm, and I grimaced.
“I am. Sorry I left you in the lurch like that.” My grimace deepened. I was about to abandon him again. Guilt pushed at me, but overriding the remorse was how being at the store felt today, looking at the mess Elizabeth made and assumed I would clean up, experiencing the humiliation of seeing her in Tate’s embrace. Not to mention the searing hurt and jealousy when she kissed him awful close to his mouth. Sinking onto the couch, I ran my palms down my thighs to my knees. “Daddy, I got an offer for a new job, and it’s a great opportunity . . . working at Scott Barlow’s law office. He wants me to start tomorrow.”
Tilda shot a glance at Daddy. He studied me, his brows drawn together in consideration. “That what you want?”
I swallowed hard, my throat aching, like I could break down and bawl. “I do. I need . . . a change.”
“You mean a break from your sister.” The disgust in Tilda’s tone hinted this wasn’t the first time she and Daddy had discussed us. Probably loudly. Tilda tended not to hold back with him.
“Yes.” I went for honesty, I twisted my fingers together in my lap, fiddling with the pretty birthstone ring Tilda had given me for my sixteenth birthday. “Listen, whoever ends up processing the email for the store . . . there may be ugly ones. About me.”
Daddy looked hard at me, hazel eyes the same shade as mine sharp. Tilda fixed him with a scowl, her mouth thin. “Ted, I told you weeks ago you needed to tell her she couldn’t bring that mess in the business any longer. She’s hurting her sister.”
“That what you need? Elizabeth out of the store?” Daddy asked, gentle contrition in each word. I could be mad he hadn’t listened when I’d tried to talk to him the first time, but he was listening now. That counted.
I needed an Elizabeth-free space. Even if he removed her filming access, the store wouldn’t be it, not really.
“I appreciate that, Daddy, I do.” I pulled in a breath too shaky for my liking. Planning to really leave the store felt like scaling the walls at the lime mine, like at any moment, I might fall. “But I need this.”
Sadness glinted in his gaze, and his mouth turned down at the corners. “Gonna miss my best help.”
