Page 16 of Wounded Fox
I rolled my eyes at the thought but said nothing. Politics weren't my area of expertise and neither was bureaucratic bullshit.
Lex, on the other hand, spoke up for the first time. "It's bullshit."
I nodded by head in agreement at the sentiment.
"It is, but it's the way the world works, so no use complaining about it. Have you spoken to Valerie about installing a security system?"
I didn't even want to think about how that conversation was going to go. "No, I haven't."
"Well, you better because that's why Lex is here. He's going to install it today."
I thought about my choices. I could go in the back and speak to Valerie now. Or I could wait until after the system was installed and beg for forgiveness.
It was a no-brainer as far as I was concerned.
"Install it. I'll tell her about it tonight."
Maverick didn't look like he agreed with my logic but he didn't argue, and for that, I was grateful.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Valerie
I guided Nancy and Shirley into the back room where the inventory was kept. It was a good thing I was such an organized person because I would've been embarrassed for them to see a mess.
"Here we are."
"Wow!" Shirley looked around in awe. "I need you to come clean up my back room. I'm lucky to be able to find anything when I walk back there."
I smiled at the thought of repaying Shirley in some way. I was the kind of person who couldn't accept help unless I was giving something in return.
"I would be happy to come over. Organizing is kind of my thing. It helps me relax when I'm having a rather tough day." And I'd been having a lot of those since Aaron came back into town. I'd spent more time rearranging the stock for the store than just about anything else.
"I just might take you up on that offer."
Before today I had known Shirley as someone who went to the same school as me but was a couple of years younger. We talked about business but I wouldn't have considered us friends. The same could be said for Nancy. I knew her from school, but after she left, we never stayed in touch. I considered that my fault because I sucked at keeping up with friends. I always prioritized my store and everything else fell to the wayside.
We worked mostly in silence for the first thirty minutes. Moving everything that would soon go out onto the floor over to one side of the space and leaving the other half wide open to bring the ruined garments.
"What do you plan on doing with the stuff from the shop floor?" Nancy broke the silence. "I'm sure some of it can still be sold."
"I'll end up having to get rid of it all. I can't take the chance that any small pieces of glass flew far enough and embedded itself in the clothing. I care too much about my reputation to take that chance, and considering some of the items are also sold on my online shop, I don't want to ruin that reputation in the early stages. Or any stage for that matter.”
"Can I make a suggestion?" Nancy sounded unsure, so I stopped what I was doing to give her my full attention.
"Absolutely," I encouraged her.
"Trista. She's the wife of one of the guys who works for my boss. She runs a shelter for women who used to be trafficked and are now getting back on their feet. Maybe you could donate them to the shelter? I know you’re worried about the glass but we could wash it before it went to them."
I loved the idea, but before I could say as much, Nancy was backtracking. "You don't have to though if you had another plan. I just thought I would throw the idea out there."
"No, I love it," I quickly told her. "How in the world didn't I know about this organization?"
Nancy shrugged. "Trista works with big donors to help fund the organization but I don't think she's ever reached out to stores to help. One of the nice things about Second Chances is that she helps women get back on their feet, and that means going back to school or finding jobs."
Second Chances.I was going to look into the organization just as soon as I got the shop back in order.
"If you don't mind getting me Trista's information, I would love to donate the items I was going to get rid of. And I’d be happy to partner with her in other ways."
