Page 79 of His Own Heaven

“So is a healthy work/life bal—”

“It’s about Ashley,” she said in a rush, cutting him off.

Toby put both hands back on the steering wheel, his grip tightening until his knuckles blanched. “Lucy—”

“I think she’s skimming.”

Blinking slowly, Toby said, “You wanna repeat that?”

Lucy rubbed her forehead as if she had a sudden headache. “I think Ashley is skimming the till in the café,” she said, sounding tired, resigned.

Anger pulsed under Toby’s skin and he gritted his teeth.God-fucking-dammit.“Do you have evidence?”

“Yes, I’ve spent most of this week going through your financials and while the rest of the business adds up, the café is woefully over budget. If she’s not skimming then she’s grossly mismanaging the place.”

“But you think she’s skimming,” he said, more to confirm what he was hearing than ask her opinion. “Why?”

Lucy shrugged. “Because she’s smart. Smart enough to make it look like mismanagement in the event she ever got caught.” She pushed her fingertips against her forehead again. “Everything I’ve found so far is highly suspicious, but circumstantial.”

“Like what?”

“Invoices for goods and services that don’t seem to have ever existed. Everyday items used in the café invoiced at far greater prices than the industry standard. But without catching her in the act, I don’t know that any of it would stand up in court.”

Toby swore. “That’s why you installed the new security system after hours. So she wouldn’t know about it.”

“Yes.”

He swore again. “I’m not sure if I should be impressed or pissed off.”

“Which way are you leaning?” she asked hopefully.

“Right now, pissed off.”

Lucy turned to look out the window. “Would you have preferred I didn’t tell you?” she asked quietly.

Fuck. He reached for her hand again. “No. You’re right. I needed to know. But why didn’t you tell me this at work? Why wait until now?”

“You’ve been on site at the McMillan job for most of this week and rarely in the office, and honestly, I think she’s on to me. She keeps making excuses to come into the office and hovers around my desk like she’s trying to see what I’m working on.

“And when I spoke to the postman the other day about why he left the post at the café instead of the office, he said Ashley asked him to, told him she was helping out. And when I’ve tried to talk to you around the garden centre, she always seems to just pop up out of nowhere and interrupts us.”

Toby frowned. She was right. Ashley had appeared around every corner lately. But why? “Why would she do this? And how long has she been doing it?”

“Best guess, since your last office manager left.”

“It doesn’t make any sense.”

“How well do you really know her?” Lucy asked, genuine curiosity colouring her tone.

“I’ve know her since she was a kid. I worked for her parents. They owned the garden centre before me,” he said. “They were the only ones willing to give me a chance after—”

Turning her body towards his again, Lucy said, “After what?”

Toby took a fortifying breath and slowly let it out again. “After I did something stupid.” He almost laughed when she used his own trick against him and just stared at him, silent, until he filled in the blanks.

“It was my first job in the industry and I was working for a woman whose nursery specialised in Australian natives. It was a busy place and she hired a lot of people.” He grimaced. “A lot of men. Young, naïve, horny men.”

“I think I get the picture,” Lucy said, her brows raised. “How old were you?”

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