Page 116 of Baby, Be Mine

Henry’s eyebrows shot up. “Tell me how you really feel.”

I moved back into the bathroom and let the door shut. “I’m sorry.” I let my head clunk back against the door. “I’m fucking up left and right here.”

“Look, I don’t do the feelings thing.”

I laughed. “You don’t have to worry I’m going to break down. Or crack. Though the cracking part probably isn’t too far off.”

“Yeah, well…I don’tusuallydo the feelings thing. Emma is worthy of a little truth bomb for you. Don’t fuck it up.”

“There’s nothing to fuck up, Henry. She went back to her hometown to raise her kid.”

“She was doing just fine here.”

I gave him a bland stare. “No one was doing just fine here.”

“Okay, okay. You got that right. The problem here is that you’re expanding faster than you can catch up. It’s called growing pains. The restaurant you stole me from had the same problem. However, what my old place didn’t have was you.”

“Good thing.”

Henry snorted. “Actually, it was a bad thing. You actually give a fuck. When these restaurants lure you in with the, ‘It’s a family’ bullshit, they never really mean it. They just want you to work your ass off with no support so they can cash in. Oh, and they dump all the work on us. You’re the exact opposite.”

I folded my arms. “You lost me.”

“You work harder than three people and don’t delegate enough. Rami and Esther should be the front-end managers so you can handle the other stuff like schmoozing and buying. Gillian—she’s gotta go.”

My arms dropped to my sides. “She’s been with me since I opened.”

“I bet she sucked then too.”

“She’s always been here to help out.”

“No, she’s been here to get you. I can’t believe you’re so damn blind about it. You’re the meal ticket for her.”

“I’ve made it abundantly clear that I’m not interested.”

“No, you have your no dating people you work with rule. Women like Gillian think they’re always above the rule. Your loyalty is your best asset and your biggest fault. Not everyone deserves it, bro.”

Someone tried to open the door and I finally pushed off of it.

Stef stuck his head around the door. “Everything cool in here? Bloodshed?”

I laughed. “No bloodshed. Yet.”

“Did you piss yourself, Boss?”

I rolled my eyes. “No, Stef. Soda explosion.”

“Lame. Gillian is looking for you. I thought I heard you down here.” Stef went into the stall.

“Good. I was just about to go find her myself.” I glanced at Henry. “Thanks for the talk.”

“You best go get Emma.”

“Dude.” Stef called over the top of the stall. “We need her back really bad, Boss.”

“I can’t make her come back to Crescent Cove, guys.”

“Sure you can. Go get her.” Stef finished and flushed and came out of the stall. “Clintondale isn’t that far away. Like what, an hour and a half, tops?”

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