Chapter 7
Everyone had clocked in correctly and had actually clocked out the same way.
Payroll only took her about half the time because she didn’t have to chase people down and ask them what they worked on certain days.
Since she’d already finished up the order for next week, she gave herself a little treat by leaving her office with her desk covered in paperwork.
She went to find Donald, her cook and friend.
“You look like you’re happy.” She told him about payroll and how she’d gotten the order finished up as well. “Good for you. I bet you even remembered that we’ll be closed on Monday of next week because I’ll be out of state.”
“I did remember that. And I’ve put the day of vacation on this check for you so that you’d have extra money, like you asked for when you got to your sister’s.
See? I do pay attention.” They both laughed, and he asked her if she’d gotten laid last night.
“No, not that it’s any of your business, but I might soon.
We’re just without a house right now, and it’s making things difficult.
Justine is going to take my condo and sell hers, so I’m having my place packed up right now. ”
“You told me that.” She nodded and asked if he had anything that she could munch on.
He handed her a plate of carrots and celery that he was chopping up, and she sat down on the chair next to the stove where he was working.
“I’ve been thinking about you and your parents.
What are you going to do if they come in here and start making an issue?
If they’re following you around, it wouldn’t take anything for them to follow you here. ”
“It’s just my mom I’m worried about.” She told him about how she had pushed her dad down the stairs when he didn’t do something that she wanted.
“Melbourne is going to see my dad today and convince him that he needs to press charges. There is no telling how long he would have laid there if he’d not had a phone to call for help.
And in order for her to have left the building that they’re staying in, she would have had to have stepped right over him to get out. ”
“That’s cold.” She agreed as he put cauliflower on her plate along with some strips of pepper that he was cutting up for dinner tonight. “What does your mate think about—I’ve been meaning to ask you about him for the last week. Do we know him?”
“You might have heard of him at the very least. He’s with the Walsh family.
His name is Melbourne. You remember me talking about Alex and Storm Walsh before?
They’re the richest people in the country, I’ve heard.
” He whistled and she nodded at him. “Melbourne and I bought a house the other day, and he debated on paying cash for it. That’s more money than I’ve got right now.
” It wasn’t, but Donald didn’t have to know that right now.
After finishing her snack, she was ready to get back to work. Going back to her office, she pulled her phone to her and called Melbourne. She could do the mind thingy, but she wanted to talk to him like this. In person would have been better, but she was happy that they could talk on the phone.
“I just left your dad. He’s going to be pressing charges.
There will be a warrant out for her arrest, and she’ll be picked up soon.
If nothing else, they can find her at the building where she has been staying.
” She asked him how her dad felt about that.
“He told me as soon as I was in his room that he’d been thinking about doing just that.
He also said that he’s afraid of her and doesn’t want to have to look over his shoulder all the time while laid up the way that he is. ”
“You’ve been busy. So have I.” She told him what she’d been able to accomplish, and he told her that he was proud of her.
“Also, I called in a mover and am having my place emptied and things put into storage until I can get it into the house. Are we still on for tomorrow? I’m excited to go shopping with you. ”
“Yes, if something comes up, I’ve got my brothers covering for me.
I don’t foresee anything coming up, but you never know.
They know how it is to move into a house with nothing more than the shirt on your back.
” She told him that she still had the list of things that they needed.
“Mom said that you should think about each room and go over using it. Then you can decide if you’ve gotten everything or not. ”
“I’ve even gone over some of the things that I had in my condo to know what to get.
The one thing that I remembered to write down was towels.
We’re going to need a lot of towels with us both working.
” He said that his mom was interviewing lots of people who could work for them, and she had a list of people that they could interview.
“I guess you’re right in us having staff.
I’ve never had any before, so you’ll have to help me out with that. ”
“It’s nothing to it. You just hire someone who is in charge of what they need to be doing, and it gets done.
” She said that made sense. “Mom said to make sure we hire as many pack that is around to help us out. They could use the income, and the entire pack could use the work as they’re a smallish pack. ”
“I have some of the pack working for me now. Or I guess us. I’m going to have to put that on my list of things to do, which is to get you on the paperwork of the things that I own.
” He said that he had her an appointment with the bank first thing in the morning.
“Good. I don’t know what it’ll take for you to get onto mine, but I don’t own that much.
I would imagine that you have a lot of things that you own. ”
“We do.” They talked about what they were going to be doing for the rest of the day, and she told him that she needed to get to it.
Just as she was going up front to open for the day, three cruisers pulled up in front of the building across the street from her and went into it.
She paused in opening the front door. The police were going to be in for a big surprise if they thought that she was going to come in easily.
They were in there for a lot longer than she thought they should have been, but when they came out, they were taking her mom to one of the cruisers that had been there.
She had her hands behind her, so she could only assume that she had been handcuffed, and Sammy actually felt some of her anxiety roll off her shoulders.
It was nice to know that she was in jail or soon would be.
For the rest of the day and into the evening, she ran errands and made a deposit to the bank when the lunch rush was over.
As she was putting the things away on her desk, she added several more things to her list of things to get tomorrow and was glad that she had thought of them.
It wouldn’t do them a lick of good to have a house without having the locks changed and extra keys made for it.
She was just getting ready to leave for the night when Donald reminded her again that she had to give him the menu for tomorrow’s special.
“You do it. I know you know me well enough that I’m not going to have a problem with whatever you make.
Just check with me on the price, and we’ll be fine.
” He told her that he was thinking of using the extra salmon and making salmon patties for lunch with hollandaise sauce, then for supper, they’d have beef tips.
He gave her a price on both items. “Sounds good. Especially the hollandaise sauce on the patties. That’s one of my favorites that you make. ”
“I know that.” She told him to call her when they closed, and she’d come in and do the paperwork. “I’ll do that. You need to hire an assistant to help you out when you want a day off. You’re working too hard as it is. Just hire someone already.”
“I keep thinking that I need to, but the thought of having to train someone on what I do every day is too daunting. Some days, when I come in here, it’s overwhelming, the crap that I have to do to keep this place running.
” He asked her if she was thinking of quitting the restaurant altogether.
“No. Not that. I might hire someone, as you said, but I won’t quit.
This is my baby, and I love her too much to just hand her over to someone else who might run her into the ground. No, I’m not quitting.”
After leaving for the day, she got a text message from Melbourne to meet her at the bed and breakfast. They had things to go over.
All for getting things out of the way for tomorrow, she made her way there just after she made it to the bank to sign papers.
As she was driving over, she had one thought in her head.
Getting the house ready for them to be able to live in.
However, as soon as she opened the door to the room she was to go to, she thought of being made love to tonight. The room was magnificent.
There were flower petals on the floor up to the bed, which was filled with different colored roses all over the pillows and blankets.
There were two fluted glasses with a bottle in an icy bucket that she thought was champagne on one of the bedside tables.
She could see a basket of fruit that held apples and grapes, a charcuterie with meats and cheeses on it, and a small basket full of crackers.
Stepping into the room, she could see other things around that reminded her of romance and sex.
The drapes were closed, and the room smelled of fresh roses.
There was a television on, but instead of something on it like a show, it was a roaring fireplace with the sounds of crackling wood burning.
Moving deeper into the room, looking for Melbourne, she found him coming out of the bathroom dressed in a robe of dark blood red velvet, if she wasn’t mistaken.
And he looked as handsome as ever, she thought.