Page 17 of Wish You Were Mine

I reached his office door, but it was shut. I knocked, and a moment later, he called me in. Two chairs sat in front of his desk, and he gestured for me to take one of them.

“Morning, Asher.” He moved aside a stack of papers to see me better and steepled his hands in front of him. His craggy countenance gave nothing away. “You look like you’ve been ridden hard and put away wet.”

I stiffened. Why did people keep telling me I looked like crap? “Thanks, sir. Glad to hear it.”

He rolled his eyes. “Don’t be a smartass. I just wanted to make sure you’re doing all right. Is there anything you’d like to talk about?”

I cringed. Talking about my feelings was the last thing I wanted to do. Especially with my boss. “I’m fine. Just not sleeping well.”

He pursed his lips. “Do I need to worry about your ability to perform your job?”

My heart dropped. “No! Absolutely not. I’m a little tired, but it won’t interfere with my work.”

He nodded and searched my eyes. “If you ever do need to talk, or if you need some personal time, you know where to find me.”

“Got it. Is that all?” I really wanted to escape this conversation.

“The woman you lost. Susan Warner. You seemed to take that hard.”

I sighed. “Difficult not to when her husband, Robert, was so upset.”

“You did the best you could.” His tone was firm. “We can’t save them all.”

“I know.” I just didn’t like it. I always felt like I’d failed both the people we lost and the loved ones they left behind.

He gestured toward the door. “Go on. Head home. Get a proper night’s sleep. That’s an order.”

I rose to my feet and strode out. As I left, Parks reached for a stack of files on his desk. Despite my mixed up emotions over that shitshow of a conversation, I experienced a pang of relief that I didn’t have to deal with the same paperwork he did. It seemed never-ending.

“All good?” Maia asked as we gathered our things from our lockers.

“Parks is worried I’m going to let the team down,” I replied, pulling my jacket over my uniform.

“He’s just watching out for you.”Her expression was sympathetic, which only made me feel worse. “Want to get a coffee on the way home?”

I almost dismissed the offer, but maybe a little time to decompress with a friend was what I needed. “Yeah. Actually, that’d be nice.”

We walked to Taste of Destiny together. The tables were full, and the line stretched almost all the way to the door. The morning rush was in full swing. We joined the end of the line, and I checked out the contents of the food cabinet, debating internally whether I should treat myself to a pastry as a distraction from the shitty morning.

Maia reached the front of the line first, and she ordered an espresso and a triple chocolate chunk muffin.

She turned to me. “What do you want?”

I waved my wallet. “I can get my own.”

She tapped her foot impatiently. “Are we gonna play this game, Ash?”

Rolling my eyes, I asked Eden for a double shot long black and let Maia pay.

“I heard about the accident earlier in the week,” Eden said. “I’m sorry.”

“Thanks.” Maia smiled more genuinely than she had all morning. “The junk food helped.”

Eden smiled back. “I’m glad to hear it.”

“You people are too damn soft,” a gruff voice cut in from the other side of Maia.

My expression froze in place as I slowly raised my eyes to where Lionel Lowry was waiting for his morning coffee. He scowled at me, and my gaze dipped to the cane he had to use to help him get around since the farm accident he’d been in a few months earlier.

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