Page 12 of A Love So Sweet

Allison tightened her lips then nodded. “I do.”

“Okay then, let’s eat and figure this out together.”

“Okay.”

One hour later,they were done eating, and their beverages were half gone when Allison pointed to the monitor. “Look!”

With his gaze stuck on watching his wife, Lance leaned forward and stopped the footage. Dawson Mills, a white guy in his late fifties, added the drone into a box that would’ve been broken down and discarded. He checked his surroundings then exited the equipment room.

“Not Dawson.” Lance sighed, rubbing a hand down his face.

“He’s been with your company for how long?”

“Since the beginning. I was going to make him a partner.”

Allison grimaced. “This is awful. Why?”

“I’m not sure, but I’m going to get down to the bottom of it.”

“Okay, now it’s time for me to leave. Besides, mom and I are headed to do some shopping for the nursery.”

“I thought we were waiting until the next doctor’s visit to find out if we were having a boy or girl before shopping.”

Allison shrugged. “She’s my mother, I can’t exactly stop her, so I’d rather be with her to make sure she doesn’t get anything hideous. For now, we’ll get all neutral clothes or items.”

“I understand.”

They stood and kissed; then Lance walked Allison to her car. As she got comfortable in the driver’s seat, Lance shut the door, and Allison looked up at him.

“I know what you have to do is serious, but try not to be too harsh, okay babe?”

“Me? I’m only harsh in the bedroom.”

Allison laughed. “You know what I mean.”

He chuckled. “Okay.”

They kissed again, and he watched Allison drive off before going back inside headed for the café.

ChapterFive

“Bossman, what’s going on?” Alvin Moore asked when Lance entered the cafeteria.

“Everyone leave the café and return in one hour.”

The employees glanced around at each other, then slowly everyone rose from their seated positions and one by one exited the cafeteria.

“Dawson, you stay.”

Dawson halted in his tracks, then stepped to the side.

Lance glanced behind him to make sure no one was in the vicinity of his voice. When he was sure, he turned back to face Dawson.

“I can explain,” Dawson rushed to say.

“You know, Dawson, it would have been better for you to explain before I found out this way. Why would you steal from me?”

Dawson hung his head, then lifted his eyes back to Lance. “My daughter is in trouble. She…” He swallowed back a lump in his throat. “She has to have surgery that we can’t afford. Heart surgery. The insurance is only covering fifty percent of the operation. And the doctors won’t schedule the procedure unless we pay at least thirty percent of the other half. I took out a loan on the house, sold my cars, and borrowed money from friends and family. It wasn’t enough. I became desperate. I needed to sale high value items. Anything, I—"