Page 46 of September

“Yes, really. What did you know?”

“About him being fired? Nothing,” Molly replied as she sat down. “I wasn’t on any of the emails he sent, and I didn’t hear the shouting match there was, either. I must have been in a meeting.”

“Was Andrew involved with Jordana?”

Molly leaned forward, nodded, and said, “I only found out about it from himafterJordana was fired. I guess they’d dated at the other company and stopped when he got here, but they started up again about a year ago. He had no idea that she was sleeping with someone else. He thinks there’s a distinct possibility that the baby might be his and not the other guy’s.”

“Why do I feel like I’m suddenly living in a soap opera? She was his boss.”

“I know,” Molly said on a sigh. “Had he told me earlier, I would’ve told him to knock it off. It wasn’t smart. Now, he’s lost his job, too, and if that babyishis, neither of its parents has a job right now. On top of that, Jordana left him for the roaster guy.”

“There’s a reason I try to stay out of this office crap,” Juliet noted as she stared at the screen in front of her. “What am I going to do about Carly? I’ll be getting home late Friday night or Saturday morning and leaving either Sunday night or Monday morning, depending on how long the drives are between locations.”

“I can help if Gwen isn’t always available.”

“I know. And thank you, but it’s not about that. It’s that I won’t get to see her or spend time with her. I hate that.”

“They told me they’re hiring Andrew’s replacement, so it won’t be forever.”

“It’s still months; months with her staying with other people the majority of the time and only seeing me one or two days a week. She’s a rescue with abandonment issues. She needs to know I’m not going to leave her.”

“You’d never do that. You’ll figure this out,” Molly said. “Maybe I can take a day off and do a store visit or something where you are, bringing her with me for a midweek visit. Or, you can try to find a hotel that lets you have pets there. More and more do that now with emotional support animals and service animals.”

“She’d be stuck in a hotel room from six in the morning until after five at night.”

“Want to grab a drink after work, and we can try to figure out how to do this?”

“Maybe.” Juliet sighed. “Can I let you know?”

“Sure,” Molly replied with a sympathetic nod.

“You know what else sucks, though?”

“What?”

“My crush on Gwen.”

“Why does that suck?”

“Because if I’m gone all the time, when can I possibly take her on a date if she says yes when I ask her?”

CHAPTER 14

“So, things are going well?” Elisa asked.

“Yes, things are going well, but there are no things.”

“What?” Elisa laughed.

“We’re in that initial flirting stage, the ‘will they, won’t they’ stage right now. We haven’t even talked about going on a date or anything like that,” she replied.

“But the flirting is going well?”

“Yes, very well. I’ve already kind of seen her boobs.”

“What?” Elisa laughed again.

“She’s been in some thin shirts a couple of times, relaxing, so no bra, and I’ve gotten a nice outline view of them.”