Page 117 of A Lesson for Laurel

She cleared her throat. “Oh, Laurel,” Denise said, jumping. “I didn’t know you were there.”

“Clearly,” she said. “It’s all set. There was nothing wrong, as I’m sure you were aware. You can get back to your station.”

She walked away and returned to her office, saw Lily move over to talk to Denise, and didn’t care.

When she sat down she took a few deep breaths.

This was the last thing she wanted as public knowledge.

“Denise was just put on final notice,” Lily said, walking into her office.

“What?”

“I’m not dealing with this,” Lily said. “I told her this is coming from me and not you. That I don’t like how she conducts herself. She’s walking a thin wire and has little to no respect from her staff. One more mark and she’s done.”

“With all due respect, that might make her have more animosity toward me or anyone else.”

“Sometimes people need to be made an example of. There wasn’t anyone close enough to hear what I said, but they could see Denise’s reaction. I’m just letting you know. She might quit. It’s a good possibility.”

“Might be for the best,” she said. “I’ll start looking for possible replacements. There are a few I could see in that position with a little guidance.”

“Good,” Lily said. “Being proactive. Why don’t you call Easton? Take a few hours this afternoon and go home to deal with this.”

“No,” she said. “It’s fine. I’ll see what he has to say and go from there. I’m not sure if this is something he can handle or if I’ve got to get another attorney, but he’ll be able to refer me to someone.”

She could call Rose’s husband, Thomas, but wouldn’t for something like this. It might be better to go get someone in New Haven if Easton couldn’t do it.

So much for the bliss she’d been feeling this morning!

39

MIXED BAG OF EMOTIONS

Easton parked his car in Laurel’s driveway.

He’d gotten the call hours ago. When she was laughing on the other line, he couldn’t figure out what was going on. But then she started to cry and he’d never expected that of her.

When she told him about the lawsuit, he couldn’t believe it and she had to repeat it to him, then she burst out laughing once again.

He’d asked if she was okay and she’d insisted she was, but she needed his advice.

Rather than ask her to send it to him, he’d packed up his laptop and a week's worth of clothing. He was coming this weekend anyway, so what was the big deal? It’s not like he hadn’t worked from here before or for months when Abe was away.

If she didn’t want him around in her house for the week or they got on each other’s nerves, he’d go work at Abe’s. He’d stay there too if he had to but didn’t expect that to be the case.

“What are you doing here?” Laurel asked when she saw him getting out of his car. She’d come out on the front porch where he was getting his bag of clothing. Shorts and T-shirts didn’t takeup much space. He packed two nice shirts just in case he ended up on a video call but didn’t have anything planned this week that he had to worry about wearing more than what he normally did.

“Not the reaction I thought I’d get,” he said with his bag over his shoulder and his laptop case in his hand.

“Did you come here because of the lawsuit?”

“Yes,” he said. “I thought maybe you’d like me to be here. I can read what it says and we can figure out a plan. But more than that, you might want the company.”

“Did you come to comfort me?” she asked, her voice all sappy.

“You don’t like that word,” he said.

She laughed. “I love it when it comes to something like this.”

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