Page 17 of I Choose You
“Uh, the boss,” I chuckled. “It’s fine. Comes with the territory of being a lackey, as my father would say.”
“Your father can shove it. Same with your boss. You’ve done the work, and you deserve the recognition. When one of my guys comes up with a great idea or a solution to an issue, I don’t hesitate to give him the credit he’s due. That’s how it should work.”
I shot the email off to Andrew and steered the conversation back to the lighting debate. Reid seemed reluctant to let it go, but luckily, he did.
After the 10:00 a.m. call, where Andrew presented the work that I had done—without so much as a name drop of recognition, much to Reid’s irritation—Andrew left me witha laundry list of tasks to complete before the end of the week.
“He can’t seriously expect you to get all of this done before the end of the day,” Reid huffed.
“No, he said by the end of the week.”
“It’s Thanksgiving tomorrow. There’s no work on Friday, and then we go into the weekend. When does he think you’ll have time to do this? Especially with you traveling back home for the holiday.”
“Oh, I’m not going home for Thanksgiving. My parents are away in St. Croix. So, I can work through some of it tomorrow and try to get the rest of it done on Friday.”
Reid’s face changed expressions at least three times. Confusion, surprise, and anger were all evident in his eyes.
“I told you, we don’t work on Friday.” Anger clearly won in the emotions department.
With my best smile, I told him sweetly, “I don’t work for you, remember.”
“Well,” he said, “if you’re going to be in town, then you have plans.”
Holding his eye contact suddenly felt too intense. I bent to gather the combination packets that we knew were out so we would be left with only the final options, but what I was really doing was trying to clear the fog in my mind from his commanding tone.
“Oh yeah? What are these plans I didn’t know I had?” I said, trying to sound unaffected.
Reid took a second to answer, so I looked over my shoulder to see if he’d heard me. His eyes were on my ass where I was still bent over, and when he swung his gaze to meet mine, his expression didn’t change. There was no hint of guilt or embarrassment at being caught. He did another sweepover my ass before turning around. “You’re going to the tree lighting ceremony with me.”
* * *
Friday couldn’t have come quick enough. I was excited for the tree lighting ceremony, but more than that, I was glad that my lonely Thanksgiving for one was behind me.
Despite Reid’s construction company taking the day off, I spent all morning trying to get through the list of things Andrew needed from me. Most of them were researching things for another project that my colleague Derrick was running. But Derrick was away for the holiday weekend, and Andrew knew I would have more time on my hands. It was all part of being a team member, even though Reid thought Andrew was taking advantage of me.
Maybe he was. I never said no, and I knew that my work was well-researched, accurate, and thorough. This job was important to me though. It was the first thing I had earned that was just for myself. It was my chance to prove to my parents that they could trust my decision-making. Trust that I knew what was best for myself. If I had to take on an extra workload for the chance to travel the country, immerse myself in the rich and unique history of local communities, and work in a field that I loved, then it would all be worth it.
The tree lighting event started at 5:00 p.m. and had taken over the center of town. Booths lined the cobblestone streets for multiple blocks. It looked like all of the local businesses were involved. Christmas lights had been strungup along the lampposts and buildings, weaving from one side of the road to the other to create a twinkling ceiling down the street. Beautiful green wreaths with red and gold bows adorned the lamps. Garland wound around the base, twinkling lights creating a magical glow. The booths had their own decorations, from festive Santa and elves to snowmen and Christmas tree decor, all lit up with white and blue and multicolored lights.
I hadn’t been sure what kind of an event this was, so I chose a cute short-sleeved top and a pair of skinny jeans paired with my tan trench coat and the short brown boots I hadn’t had a chance to wear.
Mallory, the young woman who worked at the motel, was serving little paper cups of popcorn to everyone who entered. I took the offered cup and thanked her. “Are you here on behalf of the Cove’s End?”
“Ha. God, no,” she laughed. “My grandmother is part of the community engagement committee that helps set this up. I’m here because of her, not that dump.”
“That makes more sense,” I told her with a smile.
Reid said that he would pick me up so we wouldn’t both have to find parking, but I told him I would meet him here instead. The last thing I needed was Reid showing up at the motel and realizing that was where I was staying.How embarrassing would that be!
I walked along the street, checking out the booths with locally made soaps or shirts, handcrafted signs, and art. A tingling feeling lit up my skin, and I spun around, my eyes finding Reid in the crowd instantly. He was standing with a group of people, but his eyes were on me. I walked over to him, hanging back a bit while they talked amongst themselves.
“Guys, this is Claire,” Reid announced, cutting off someone who was talking. Everyone stopped and looked at me; one of them even winked at me. “Claire, these are my brothers, Wyatt and Luke.” He continued to list off a string of names and connections. Maeve was Wyatt’s girlfriend, and they had a baby, Jane. Juliet was Luke’s wife. Wes was… someone’s best friend. Same with Seb. It was easy to remember who the brothers were and who were the friends. All of the Wilder men were tall and broad, but none of them even came close to the size of Wes.
“Hi, everyone.” I offered up a small wave, smiling at the group. “I hope I’m not intruding on a family night.”
“Not at all,” Maeve said. Her dark hair was tied up in a messy bun, and she wore a maxi dress with a jean jacket over it. She seemed really friendly, which helped ease some of my nerves. I wasn’t expecting a whole family affair when Reid asked me, or rather told me, to come to the town celebration. “Did you see the cider booth when we came in?” she asked her boyfriend.
“Yeah, I’ll go grab you one, doll.”
