Page 50 of The Wish List
She tugged me into the kitchen, and I shook my head. “Toast and tea? That’s your dinner?”
“I love toast.”
“I know, Rosie, but you have to eat more than that.”
“It’s all I wanted. Do you want some?”
I wasn’t going to argue with her. “Yes.”
She put some bread into the toaster and poured me a cup of tea. She handed me the peanut butter with my toast, but hers only had butter. I made a mental note to check her butter supply. I would make sure she had bread as well. If all she was going to eat was toast, I needed to know she had the supplies for it. We carried our “dinner” to the sofa and sat down.
“Why such a late lunch?”
She sighed quietly, and I noticed she looked tired.
“My new boss is rather, ah, demanding.”
“Oh?”
“She has different ways of doing things. She’s very brusque. To the point. And likes things her way. She’s almost rude, if I’m being honest. I get the feeling she wants to make an impression.”
“Sounds like she has. A negative one.”
“I was lucky with Albert. He was a family man. He understood that with my being a single parent, sometimes I had to leave early, or if AJ was sick, I would work from home. He knew I always got the job done. Ms. Wells, as she prefers to be addressed, informed me she won’tcut me any slackfor my situation.”
“What ‘situation’ exactly?”
“Being a single mother.”
Anger flashed through me. “How is she possibly judging you on her first couple of days?”
“She wasn’t happy that I left on time yesterday. Or that I was fifteen minutes late this morning after dropping AJ off. The sidewalks were slippery, and I slipped on the ice. I missed the bus.”
“Are you hurt?” I asked, getting to my feet.
She shook her head. “Relax. Sit down. Other than my pride and a sore butt, I’m fine. I didn’t hit my head or any other vital part.”
I sat down, shaking my head. “Your ass is pretty vital. At least to me.”
She began to laugh, and I had to join her. “Thank you,” she said, wiping her eyes. “I needed that.”
“Did you explain?”
Rosie nodded, stood, and placed her hand on her hip. She pretended to stare down at me. “Life is filled with mishaps, Ms. Duncan. How we overcome them shows our inner strength,” she intoned in a nasal, holier-than-thou voice.
I blinked, amusement making my lips curl. “Your new boss, I presume?”
She flopped on the sofa next to me with a sigh. “She wasn’t pleased when I informed her my inner strength needed some ice and a Tylenol. She told me to settle myself and get to work.”
“Sounds lovely.”
“She loves to bark orders all day. Not only at me, but she does love to stick her head in my door and tell me what she wants done. Frequently. My old boss sent out texts and emails, the occasional call. He was polite and knew the word please. And he knew exactly what was happening in the department at any given moment. He never barked. She wants daily update reports sent before we leave for the day. And God help me if it is a minute before four. She informed me she wasn’t happy with my special hours.”
“Track it all,” I encouraged her. “You might need it for HR. It sounds rather bullying to me. And you can’t discriminate against a single mother.” I shook my head. “Better yet, quit and come work for me.”
She blinked at me and laughed. “Yeah, so not a good idea. I am not coming to work for you. I will not be that woman sleeping with the boss.”
I already knew she’d reject that idea. I pulled her to my lap and slid my hand up her leg. “There’d be perks, Rosie.” I covered the nape of her neck, drawing her close and skimming my mouth along her skin. “So. Many. Perks.”
