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“It’s goin’,” I said. “How’re things over there?”

“I need you back here. Can you please learn something from this and put it behind you?”

“I’m not sure what I’m s’posed to be learnin’,” I mumbled and sighed into my phone. “I’m tryin’, Theo. I promise. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong, exactly, but nothing is right either. Red is… God, that man is an asshole.”

“Ha! I told you!”

“I never argued that point, Devo, but him being here and you being there is really messing things up. I’ve had to add all your phone calls and meetings onto my list. Brady’s trying to help, but you know he has two other jobs. I even asked Vern to make some of your calls, but Calysta from Great Goods hung up on him.”

I grimaced. Man, was I glad Theo couldn’t see my face. “What’d he say to her?”

“I have no idea. I prepped him and basically told him what to say, but leaving him to handle it alone was my mistake because when I walked into your office at the tail end of the call, I could’ve sworn I heard him telling her how sexy her voice was. I tried calling her back because we really need to get our order in for all the essentials—toilet paper, hand towels, hand soap, you know?”

“Yeah.”

It wasn’t the end of the world. We could run to Costco in Idaho Falls for all that stuff, but Theo lived life by the book. Since he’d gotten sober, he stuck to a schedule and made spreadsheets for everything. It helped him tame the chaos, and all I was doing was adding to that chaos.

“I’ve left her two messages, but she hasn’t called back yet.”

Ooo. That didn’t sound good. “Text me her number,” I said. “It’s on my list, the one I taped inside my desk drawer. I’m just sittin’ here. I can call her.”

Hopefully, she’d answer, but Calysta worked from home. She had three young kids and was a single mom, so in the summer, sometimes she’d only work half days because she was on a never-ending quest to find things to do to entertain them.

“Thanks.”

“I’m really sorry, Theo. Truly, I am.”

“I know you are. I know you feel bad, but the problem is, sorry’s not really going to cut it. I need action from you, Devo. Do you understand that? This isn’t high school. It’s not a cute little protest downtown about some perceived slight you think you feel. This is a big deal. If, God forbid, you have to spend time in jail, I’m thoroughly screwed.”

Perceived slight? Really? Did he have my back at all? But I said, “I know. I get it. I’ll do better.”

“Thank you. I have to go. Red’s supposed to be watching the daycare kids, but they’re like little sharks. They can smell the fresh blood in the water. Last time I walked by there, they had him pinned to the wall.”

“Where’s Lacy? Isn’t it her job to watch them?”

“She’s in your office, trying to get the rest of the orders in. Hopefully, no one will hang up on her.”

When we ended our call, I dropped my head onto the checkout counter. I felt like a grade-A jerk for putting Theo in the awful position he now found himself in.

I really was a devil, wasn’t I?

“Everything alright?” Rye asked when I set my phone next to the cash register and sighed heavily.

“Yeah,” I said, sitting upright again. “Just a little hiccup at Ace’s House.”

“Red causin’ trouble?”

“Nothin’ too bad so far, but my boss is stressed.”

“Devo, you could go back to work. I can handle the store.”

“Thank you, but no. That wouldn’t be right. If the judge found out I didn’t fulfill my end of this thing, he might throw me in jail.”

Rye winced. “I feel bad we’re just sittin’ here though.”

“Yeah. What can we do to help Red?” That was the point of this whole thing, right? I was supposed to be helping Red even though I couldn’t stand him. “I’ve already cleaned. There was an inch of dust on every surface in this place. I tidied up all the displays, but what else?”