Page 79 of Bad Love

He can't stay the night. Not in my bed or out ofit.

He stares at me for a long moment. "Take care of yourself, Peach. And Rory. He’s a damn fine cook. Pretty good kidtoo."

I reach for the handle of the building’s front door and slide out from between him and the wall. The handle gives, and the second I get inside, my kneesmelt.

17

Travelingthe world for a few years made me a fan of reading. Sci-fi to classics, I’d try anythingonce.

InThe Art of War, Sun Tzu said, “Know thyenemy.”

Mine ismath.

Sunday afternoon, nothing in the spreadsheets spread across my granite kitchen island adds up. I shift off the bar stool, going to refill my water and tugging at the waistband of my sweatpants. After my workout and shower this morning, I figured I might as well be comfortable for the brutality I was going toface.

I know what makes for great beer. How to run social media accounts, interact with customers and fans, and build a following people want to be partof.

But looking at budgets and variances is making my eyescross.

“Morning, sunshine,” Monty’s gruff voice says when I break down and callhim.

"I've been reading the shit from Deacon’s files for three hours,” I gripe. The sound coming down the line has me frowning. “It’s notfunny.”

“It’s a little funny. I like seeing you apply yourself to something other than poker andwomen.”

I grab one of the sheets and pad across my apartment past my bookcases. I lean a hip against the floor-to-ceiling windows to read the paper in the sunlight. “Okay, for one, it looks like it says our profits aren’t growing thisquarter."

"That’scorrect."

I stare out the window at the street below. "Why the fuck not? The craft brew industry is growing, taking a bite out of the big producers all across thecountry."

"Sales are rising. Profits aren’t. The economy has been tough, and distributors are squeezing our margins. It’s happening in all of manufacturing, Logan. Every product industry is facingthis."

I'm pacing before he finishes. "That'sunacceptable."

There’s a long pause before he answers, voice laced with disbelief. "You've been working here a week—you agreed to fill in only until the board meeting, I might add—and you're going to fix every problem wehave?"

"Come on, Monty.” I rub a hand over my scruff. I haven’t trimmed it in a few days and probably won’t for a few more. “We’re not just some manufacturer. We create something inspired that people love having with friends and in their homes. With the new beers we introduced, we should be in our prime. Not bitching aboutmargins."

A pause. “Is this herinfluence?”

“What are you talkingabout?”

“The woman who’s helping you. The one you bailed on poker forThursday.”

I shake my head, thinking back to the evening I spent at Kendall’s. “I’m not under anyone’s influence,Montgomery.”

“I’m just saying I’ve never seen you quite so… invested in thecompany.”

“Desperate times. Don’t get used toit.”

But as I hang up with Monty, I’m not sure that’s true. I want to make things right. I also want to make thingsbetter.

A text comes through. It’s a pic of a familiar face and nearly bare head with a gold smile and sunglasses, the man making an obscene gesture into the camera, and thesun.

Nellie:Just got to the Riviera! Can't believe you turned this down,bro.

Ishakemy head and textback.

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