Page 221 of Daddy's Naughty List

“We thought we were being fired,” Melissa whispered.

“What? The only way you wouldn’t have a job is if you quit or the whole company went belly up!” Tami rushed to assure them. “I’m so sorry. I wanted to make it a surprise, but I really messed this up!”

She looked so upset that Melissa immediately forgot how she’d felt. “It’s okay, Tami. We just misunderstood. This should be a celebration.”

Melissa lifted her iced latte toward the center of the table. Tim bumped his cup against hers before they both looked at Tami, who still had tears in her eyes.

“I’ll celebrate if you both promise me you’ll forgive me,” Tami requested.

“Already done, boss lady,” Tim assured her. “I should have known better. But, give us some clues next time, huh?”

“I told you I had information to share about the future of the poo service.” Tami’s mouth rounded in a circle. “Oh, that does sound bad.” She whacked herself on the forehead.

Tim lifted his cup again in invitation. “Let’s celebrate. Melissa and I are both excited now.” He winked at Melissa, who quickly held up her glass.

“Cheers!” Tami said and clinked her coffee drink with theirs. “There’s no way I could do this without you. Seriously.”

“Thank goodness. All those dogs would howl when we didn’t arrive with treats,” Melissa joked.

“That can’t happen. Now, who do I hire?” Tami asked, tapping the folder marked applications in front of her.

“How many people are you looking for?” Tim asked.

“At least one. Maybe two.”

“There was this girl at the supermarket. She loves dogs. I still drop by that store from time to time to grab a snack or a drink. Every time I talk to her, she tells me how much she’d love to get to do a job like mine. In a super sweet way. She reminds me of where I used to be—trapped in an awful job. I gave her a card. Did she ever call you? Her name is Debbie.”

“I did have someone call. That might have been her name, but the phone number was blocked. I couldn’t call her back. I’d love to talk to her.”

“I’ll take her an application and have her call you again,” Melissa said and put her hand out for a sheet. Tami opened her folder and pulled out an application for Melissa, as well as one of Tami’s cards.

Melissa looked down at the page in her hand and shivered. “I don’t know what I would have done when I lost my job. I’d still be back at that apartment.”

“With the rats,” Tim said with a grimace. “I drove past there on my way to get gas last week. There was an enormous banner on the front sign that said closed for remodeling.”

“What?” Melissa asked.

Both women turned to look at him in amazement. “You didn’t say anything?”

“I forgot. Sorry, my Daddies distracted me when I got home. I couldn’t text while I was driving,” Tim reminded them.

“Did it look like everyone had moved out?” Tami asked.

“It looked pretty deserted,” Tim said with a shrug.

“They must have had to move out fast. I bet it was condemned,” Tami suggested.

“I’m sorry for all the tenants who had to scramble to find new homes. Hopefully, they all ended up in a better place. Well, except for that jerk that threatened me,” Melissa said, and wrinkled her nose in disgust.

“Your car looks as good as new,” Tim said. “I saw it in the parking lot as I came in.”

“It’s better than new. Daddy put new tires on it and had a bunch of work done on it. I guess I hadn’t changed the oil for a while,” Melissa admitted.

“Ouch,” Tami said.

Melissa knew her friend had a very good idea what the punishment for that oversight had been. She nodded and rolled her eyes. “I won’t be in charge of my maintenance in the future.”

“Excellent!” Tim celebrated. “I hate remembering that. Maybe I should…”

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