Page 35 of By the Letter

“Agree to disagree.” Leaning a hip against the counter, we fell into silence as she munched on her cracker. Slow, delicate bites followed by careful chewing. She’d be eating that cracker all day at the rate she was going. “How did you get up there?”

One brow quirked. “I’m more spry than I look.”

“How will you get down?”

“I was thinking I’d fly.” Her cheeks flushed a rosy pink. “But most likely, I’ll end up hopping down.”

I eyed the distance from her swinging feet to the tile floor and instantly took a disliking to it. Jumping that far didn’t seem like a good idea on a normal basis—even worse when nauseous and pregnant.

I also didn’t think she’d take kindly to me saying that, so I let it go.

For now.

“I need a key to your house.”

Her mouth fell open. “Um…why?”

“So I can let myself in to clean the litter in the morning. Stopping in on my way to the office will be easiest, and I’d rather not wake you.”

“Hmmm.” Her teeth dug into her bottom lip as she thought it through. “Since I no longer have a job, sleeping in would be nice.”

“Shira—”

She waved her half-eaten cracker. “No, it’s done. I don’t want to talk about it. I’ll give you a key, but if it’s too big of a burden, let me know and I’ll figure something else out.”

“It won’t be a burden. If there happens to be a day I can’t make it,I’llmake alternative arrangements. This isn’t something you need to worry about anymore.”

“Thank you. And I’m sorry I woke you up this morning.”

“Don’t worry about it. I have work to do.” I folded my arms across my chest. “Are you aware of the resignations that came in after you left?”

“I—” Her hand dropped to her lap. “Yes. It was Terry’s time. After everything she’d done, she needs rest. The others, though…I told them they didn’t have to do that. I told them to stay. They did what they thought was right.”

“It’s put me in quite a spot.”

Her eyes flicked to me then away. She looked like she was going to say something but clamped her mouth shut.

“Shira, you obviously have an opinion. Just say it.”

She sucked in a breath. “I would say you put yourself in this spot, Roman.”

I let that settle for a moment before nodding. “Fair enough. But tell me one thing, do you believe you were the best person for the position you held?”

Her answer came without hesitation. “No.”

“No?”

“No. I was there because Frank wanted me to be, but I was drowning. I wish you and I could have worked together to find a solution that helped GoldMed. That’s what I’d been hoping for when you came aboard.”

“You could have said that to me.”

She tilted her head, her eyes finding mine. The sun streaming through a nearby window dappled them in amber and gray, like a clear lake on a warm afternoon.

“Would you have listened?”

It was me who looked away this time. Heaving a sigh, I shoved my fingers through my hair. “I honestly don’t know.”

“It’s done now. I hope you’ll be able to save GoldMed or, at the very least, take care of the employees left. I can’t give it any more of me. I have to focus on staying healthy for Beanie.”

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