Page 125 of Conquering Oz

“Yes.”

“Well, he had some really bad days, and he’s on newmedication, but um—” Charley paused. “Sometimes he gets sick when they change his meds. And he doesn’t like to take them.”

Elodie knew the bare minimum, which is what Charley shared. She lived with her brother who was sick. She never asked anything beyond how her brother was doing in fear of being nosy. Charley never offered more information. But now Elodie was getting a vision of what her life looked like.

“He stopped taking his medication?”

“Yeah,” she muttered. “And he gets really anxious and upset and erratic. And I don’t know what to do to calm him down, so I just have to wait it out, you know? But um, he got mad when I called our neighbor to see if she could keep an eye on him because I had to work.”

Elodie reached out, rubbing her arm. “What happened, Charley?”

“He locked himself in my room for an hour. When he finally came out, I saw he’d taken a knife to all my work clothes.” Charley peeked up through her lashes, whispering. “The nice ones.”

The nice ones.Elodie gave a generous discount to all her employees. While the other three had invested in entire wardrobes, Charley had only three outfits that she recycled for every shift. Elodie chalked it up to the clothes not being Charley’s style, but now she was seeing the situation differently.The nice ones.As if those clothes were prized possessions.

“I’m sorry that happened, Charley.”

“Me too.” Her voice shook, and Elodie’s heart broke.

“Do you want to quit, or do you think you have to because of the clothes? ’Cause if that’s the case, it’s an easy fix.”

“I don’t have the money to buy new outfits.”

“That’s not the question.” Elodie arched her brow. As much as she wanted to coddle Charley, she knew tough love would get her an honest answer. “Do you want to quit or not?”

Charley bit her bottom lip, slowly shaking her head. “No.”

Elodie smiled, wrapped her arm around Charley’s shoulder, and walked her to the center of the show room.

“Good, because I really wasn’t going to let you.” Elodie rubbed her hand over Charley’s arm. “I love you all, but you’re my favorite, and I’m not losing you. So.” Elodie dropped her arm, and waved her hand in a circle. “Pick out seven outfits.”

Charley’s eyes widened. “I don’t have the money forone.”

“I’m not charging you forany.”

Charley’s jaw dropped. “What?”

“Well, they are clothes from the boutique, and you look fabulous in everything. I’m going to use you to market them. Mannequins are fine, but people love to see the clothes on actual people. It gives them a real idea of what they’d look like on them.And you make everything look beautiful. So while it may seem like I’m doing you a favor, it’s actually the other way around.”

“I can’t take them…”

“Yes, you can.”

“No Elle, I can’t. What if he does this again? I can’t risk that.”

Elodie hadn’t thought of that, but Charley was right. She needed a solution. A thought popped in her head when she heard the dryer buzzer sound off. She smiled and folded her arms.

“You’ll keep the clothes here. You can change in and out during your shifts. And you can use the washer and dryer in my apartment to clean them. And if you ever want to wear them out, you have the key to the store and my permission to wear them outside of work. Sound good?”

“I don’t know what to say.”

“Say you’re not quitting.”

Charley’s lips twitched, but she didn’t respond. It didn’t matter, Elodie knew her answer. She stepped forward, prepared to give her a hug when the front door opened. Oz walked in with Nash following close behind.

“I wasn’t expecting you,” Elle said, smiling.But it’s always a pleasure.

He glanced down at Charley, who immediately averted her eyes. Oz had that effect on most people.

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