Page 105 of Knockin' Boats
“Hey, Heath. Missed you at work today.”
Heath kept his eyes on the television. “Told ya I was sick.”
“Uh-huh. You feeling any better? We could use you down there tomorrow.”
He slanted me a look. “No one needs me anywhere.”
“That’s not true.” I took a seat on the couch, shifting sideways to make eye contact. “You’re one of our most experienced tour guides.”
He huffed. “So why are you in charge, huh? While I get all the shit jobs?”
“You’d have to take that up with Hudson.”
He waved a hand. “Whatever. Go deal with all that. I’m too sick to come back this week.”
“Heath, I’m gonna be real honest with you.” I waited until his eyes focused on me. “If you don’t come back this week, you’re fired.”
Tammy made a distressed sound behind me, but I couldn’t worry about her. Heath needed to understand the consequences of his choice.
“You don’t have that authority,” he said, sounding only halfway certain.
“Hudson told me to do what I see fit,” I said. “I can find someone to take your place. We’ve got a stack of applicants. All I have to do is make a call. Or…”
Heath glared. “Or?”
“Or you sober yourself up, and you get your ass in by Wednesday. I’ll juggle the schedule so we can manage until then.”
“I guess…maybe I could be feeling better by then. If I get only morning shifts.”
“You’ll get the shifts I give you.” I stared him down, not giving an inch. “You’ll do what I need or you won’t do anything at all.”
Heath’s face turned red. He looked ready to pop off, maybe tell me to take the job and shove it. Tammy stepped forward.
“He’ll be there, and he’ll be grateful for it.”
“Is that right, Heath?” I asked. “I need to hear it from you.”
“Yeah,” he finally grunted. “Wednesday.”
I nodded. “All right. I’ll see you then. If you don’t show up, there’s no more chances. You got it?”
“Yeah. Got it.”
Tammy walked me to the door. “Thank you for giving him a chance. He just hasn’t been the same since his son died last year.”
Shit, I had no idea that happened. Heath kept to himself, didn’t talk much to me, though I knew he had friends in town.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” I said. “I hope he shows up Wednesday, but maybe you ought to think about getting that drinking under control?”
She nodded. “I know. I’m working on it.”
“Good. In the meantime, I’ll make sure he doesn’t have any booze cruises.”
I’d told Heath he’d take the shifts I wanted, but there was no way I could put an alcoholic in that situation. And with Graycovering extra tours today and tomorrow, I could hardly make him take every booze cruise too.
I went back to the office to reconfigure the schedule, putting myself down for a booze cruise on Friday with a grimace.
I’d be taking one for the team, but at least I got to choose which night I did it. Gray wasn’t getting that luxury. There were some perks to being the boss. Even dealing with Heath wasn’t all bad.
