Page 41 of Love is a Game

She furrowed her brow. “Say what?”

“Sadie, I know your parents. They’re good people, but I would guess staying in their guest room has been a challenge.”

“I wouldn’t say a challenge,” she began, but when he looked over at her again, she knew her expression must have given her away. “Okay, yes. It’s a lot. It’s just hard to feel like an adult when your mom packs you lunch, you know?”

“Yeah, I kind of went through that when I moved back too. You sleep in your old bed on those same sheets you had at sixteen and it really takes you back.”

She laughed and held up a hand. “I have new sheets at least. I don’t know. It’s been fun golfing with my dad and seeing all of Julie’s artwork, but every time I come home, I just feel this wall between me and the rest of my family. I wish I could be as open with them as they are with each other.”

“What do you mean?”

She thought for a moment and then said, “Take tomorrow, for example. It’s going to be a really rough day, but I can’t tell them that, and I can’t vent about it afterward. They’ll tell me that if my job is so hard, I should just quit. They’ll probably find a way to pin it all on my boss even though he’s just doing his job. We’ve had that conversation so many times before and it’s not worth it, so I just have to deal with it on my own.”

“You can tell me about it,” Andrew offered.

She bit her lip, considering. His opinion of her probably couldn’t get any worse. She sighed. “I have to fire someone.”

“Ah. That is rough.”

“It’s not like he doesn’t deserve it,” she went on. “He’s received warnings about his behavior and nothing has changed. It’s not fair to the other employees there to keep him on, but it still doesn’t feel great.”

She felt better after saying the words out loud.

“I know how hard it is to be the bearer of bad news,” Andrew said.

She kicked at a clamshell by her feet. “It’s not my favorite part of the job, that’s for sure.”

“What is your favorite part?” he asked.

“Oh, um . . .” The question caught her off guard. She tried to think of a response to that, but her mind went to all of the lonely nights in hotel rooms and the fact that she couldn’t even have a houseplant, let alone a pet, because of all the travel. She thought about the people she called friends, all of whom were coworkers she rarely saw outside of work. Even Archer, who had been such a valuable mentor when she was first hired, seemed to be more and more of a burden as the years passed. Still, it was always exciting to arrive at a new location.

“I like the challenge,” she finally answered. “They send me to places that are struggling, and I’m supposed to identify the problems and figure out how to fix them. Sometimes that means letting people go, which is hard, but sometimes they send me to locations that are on the verge of being shut down and I turn things around.”

“I bet that feels good to make a difference.”

“It does.”

He looked at her as if he were waiting for more, but she couldn’t think of anything else to add.

“And anyway,” she finally said, “this isn’t what I’ll be doing forever. When my boss was promoted to the head of our division, he brought me with him, even though I didn’t really have the right experience or qualifications. I felt like I owed it to him to stay for a few years, but hopefully I can move up in the company soon, do the job I really want to do.”

“Right. I remember you saying something about a promotion when I was there for dinner.”

She nodded and sucked in a breath through her teeth. “Yeah, that was the other reason I was upset earlier. I didn’t get it.”

“I’m sorry.”

She felt his gaze on her and turned to meet his eyes. His features were softened into an expression of seemingly genuine compassion, and a part of her wished he would put his arms around her and tell her that everything would be all right. The thought made her stomach twist.

“Thanks,” she said, turning back toward the water. “I’ve already applied for another position, so we’ll see.”

“What are you going to do if you don’t get a promotion soon?” he asked.

“What do you mean?”

“How long are you willing to stay in this job you don’t even like? I know you want to keep working at Maddox, but you have to take matters into your own hands eventually, right?”

Sadie stopped walking and crossed her arms. “First of all, I will get promoted. It’s just a matter of time, so I don’t need a backup plan. Second of all, I didn’t say I don’t like my job.”

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