Page 70 of In Plain Sight

“I get that. I worked in enough shops where my bosses treated me like I was five and couldn’t be trusted to do anything without micromanaging my every move. It takes time to get past that kind of conditioning.”

“It does.” I leaned against the wall behind me, feeling more at ease.

One thing I really liked about Nate and Dev was they weren’t just bosses; they were also mechanics by trade, and they had no problems getting their hands dirty and doing shifts with us on the floor when needed. They understood the job from a practical perspective and didn’t just look at the bottom line.

“How are you finding things?” he asked, giving me a little prompt when I didn’t say more.

“Great, really great,” I said truthfully. “This is the best place I’ve ever worked.”

He smiled proudly. “That’s really good to hear. How are you adjusting to the hours? I know that can be a rough transition when you’re used to working days.”

“It’s fine,” I said quickly. I wasn’t about to complain when I was the one who’d applied for a job working evenings and weekends.

And that wasn’t a lie. I was used to my schedule now. The hours were fine. It was everything else in my life that sucked.

“How are things outside of work? Is there anything we can help you with?”

I started to tell him I was fine but stopped before I could get the words out.

Nate might be my boss, but he was also becoming my friend. I didn’t work a lot of hours with him because he had young kids at home and tended to work days while Devon filled in outside of regular business hours, but he’d made it clear he cared about me as more than just an employee.

“Things aren’t great right now,” I said honestly. “Just dealing with some issues with my friends, and I’ve got family stuff going on too.”

I didn’t tell him that I was also trying to get over my crush on my coworker while also trying not to fall for the guy I was chatting with online. That wasn’t something I could share with anyone.

“Is there anything we can do to help?”

I shook my head, my stomach flip-flopping at his concerned look. “No, unfortunately these are the kind of problems that will only go away on their own.”

He nodded. “Will you let us know if that changes?”

“Yeah.” I cleared my throat. “Thanks. It actually really helps to know that you care. That I’m not just a cog in the wheel, so to speak.”

“I hope things get better. And feel free to come and talk to Dev or me any time. Our door is always open.” He huffed out a laugh and glanced at the closed door to the office. “Metaphorically speaking, of course.”

I laughed too. “Thanks. I will.”

Taking that as my cue that the meeting was over, I hooked my thumb at the door. “Is there anything you need done out there?”

He shook his head. “I think we’re good.”

“All good?” Zander asked as I passed his workstation.

“Yup.” I shot him what I hoped was a breezy smile. “Do you need help with anything? I’m out of busy projects unless I rearrange my shit for a third time.”

He chuckled. “I did that a while ago when it was really dead, but then I ended up putting everything back in the same places a few days later because I couldn’t find anything.”

“Why do you think I did it twice?” I grinned, more of my nervous energy bleeding away. “Once to change it, and then once to fix it.”

“Hey, Zander?” Cass called, poking her head through the door that connected the back of the shop to the front end.

“Yeah?” he called back.

“Can you help me translate Isaac’s handwriting? I’m trying to close out some of his files, but it’s like trying to read an alien language.”

“Be right there.”

“You’re the best.” She beamed a big smile at him.

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