Page 10 of His Off-Limits Christmas Gift

“She’s settling in fine,” I told him honestly. “She’s efficient and sticks to the task.”

Brandon laughed, wiping the counter. “More than any other assistant you’ve had?” He shook his head. “I’m starting to wonder if Julie scares them all off.”

I shrugged. “Maybe she does. But Julie’s damned good at her job and she’s not unreasonable. If someone can’t measure up to what she expects, then they won’t last.”

“But Rach does?”

“Oh, Julie adores her,” I replied. She hadn’t told me that outright, but I caught several comments of praise.

“She’s not being too much of a grump, is she?”

Aha.He was expecting her to be grumpy?

“I told her to apply for that position just in case you needed a new assistant.”

I rolled my eyes. Being notorious for not hanging on to assistants couldn’t be a good thing to be proud of.

“She was grumpy and stuck at home, so I figured if there were an opening, it’d be a smart move to get her out of Rockton for a while.”

Brandon had always been like that for everyone, empathetic and quick to want to help others.

“Why would she be grumpy?” I set my elbow on the counter and leaned in to slant in a more comfortable position. “Not that I agree with that assessment. She’s not grumpy, per se, from what I’ve noticed. But she seems… down?”

He nodded, confirming my guess. “She was just dumped. Do you remember that dude she went to high school with?”

I winced, shaking my head no. “That would’ve been, what, five years ago?”

“More like six,” he replied.

“In other words, the aftermath of Yasmin?” I arched a brow. “I don’t recall much of that time other than what she did to me.”

“Which is understandable,” he ceded as he set the towel aside. “That’s when she hooked up with the neighbors’ son. Kyle. They played together as kids, were friends in school, then high school sweethearts.”

“What happened? They just didn’t last?”

“No.” He cringed. “He dumped her at Thanksgiving dinner.”

“Ouch.”

“Yeah. I don’t know why. Or any details, really. Rach isn’t saying much about it at all, but she’s had a rough time of it. I was there for part of dinner. I couldn’t stay because I had to come back and work, but I’ve talked to her every day since. I could tell that she was having a rough time.”

I sat back and crossed my arms. “Anyone would struggle with that. Being dumped at a family dinner? On a holiday?” I huffed, knowing acutely how hard that would hurt. Yasmin had ended our marriage with a public act as well. That sort of humiliation was no laughing matter.

“That’s why I said she should apply for your assistant job. Just to get her out of town.”

“A change of scenery always helps.”But is that the reason she doesn’t want to go home or celebrate Christmas at all?

“It’s not only that,” he said, slanting to lean his hip against the counter. “The Joneses live right next door. Kyle’s parents were at the dinner.”

“Jones?” I frowned. “Isn’t that your mom’s best friend?” It was sad, and interesting, how many of those details faded the longer you had moved away from home. All thewho’s whointel ceased to matter as much in a new life.

“Yes. My mom and Emily Jones are best friends. My dad and Mr. Jones are good buddies too. So when Rachel was dating their son…”

“Yikes.”

“Yikes is right. Lots of pressure. You know how it is in small towns. And it didn’t help that the mothers are upset about this and wanting it to work out.”

“So, that’s why Rachel is dedicated to her job and eager to be here. Did you know she is the first one to arrive and one of the last ones to leave?” It’d only been three days, but she was starting up a heck of a pattern for being a workaholic.

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