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personal things were on her desk. Her plants, the cacti and the aloe that

June liked, were all packed away.

What did you expect? She knows what’s coming. That’s really why you

called Beth.

June wanted to think she hadn’t taken the coward’s way out, but she

knew she kind of had. She knew Beth would go to Arabella and tell her that

she knew and that she was going to have to have a conversation as soon as

she got back. She could have called herself. She could have talked to

Arabella, but she didn’t have the lady balls.

Well, she was going to have to have them now.

Arabella stood up. She didn’t let June get more than a few feet into the

office when she dipped her head. “I know you’re mad at me. I’m…I just

wanted to say that I’m incredibly sorry. I’ve packed up my office.

Everything that I could file, I tried to file neatly so that the next person

could make sense of it. I made sure all the files that anyone might need are

in the shared folders. I don’t expect a reference. I would never ask for that. I

—”

“I’m going to give you severance,” June blurted, cutting Arabella off. It

hurt to see the pain on Arabella’s face. That pain was real, and June was

very sensitive to what other people were feeling. It cut through any

remaining anger she might have had and just made her feel utterly

exhausted.

Arabella blinked at her. “Why would you do that?”

There was only one answer and June never had a problem telling the

truth the way other people did. She always tried to be tactful, but she never

skirted away from it. “Because I have to. Because I know you need it. I

know you have people depending on you. I know that’s why you did this. I

also know you didn’t mean to do it to me personally. I get that things are

rough and that when they get that way, people get desperate. I know you

know that since you got found out, that means you don’t have a job