“Perhaps it would be best if we wait for Ms. Masters to return.”

Theo Cardigan looked down the slope of his patrician nose at me, just in case his shitty attitude didn’t drill home his disdain for dealing with ‘the help’.

“That’s fine by me,” I told him and packed up the leather document holder I’d brought into the conference room. “Ms. Masters will return to the office in approximately two and a half months, I’ll pencil you in for then.”

“I’ll just give her a call myself,” he threatened.

“You do that, Mr. Cardigan.” It didn’t matter to me either way. I promised Poppy I’d hold down the fort in her absence, but I wasn’t about to beg some condescending jackass to listen to me in order to help his business. “Do you plan to do that now, or once you’ve left the building?”

He sputtered his outrage. “Your boss will be hearing from me young lady.”

“Yes, Mr. Cardigan.” I stood with my back pressed against the oversized door to keep it open. “Right this way,” I told him in a tone that said, ‘don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out’.”

He grumbled under his breath throughout the short trip down the long hall and all the while we waited for the elevator. “Good day, Ms. Breckenridge.”

Yeah and fuck you too, Theo. With him gone, I had an extra fifteen minutes to call back the event stager I’d hired to handle setting up the church and reception area for the wedding. She’d left a frantic message for me that I’d gotten seconds before Theo strolled inside with his expensive suit and well styled hair.

“Talia, it’s Ashley and we have a bit of a problem.” She outlined the broken floorboards, the cracked step from a recent storm and a rogue hornet’s nest found in the center of what was supposed to be the dance floor.

“Crap.” I circled back from the reception area to the main receptionist on the executive floor. “Vanessa I’m going to be out of office for the rest of the day, please reschedule anything on the schedule, and double up if you have to later this week so we don’t fall too far behind.”

Vanessa’s long pink nails flew over the keyboard as she wrote up notes while I spoke. “Got it. Is everything all right?” I didn’t make friends with many people in the office because I never planned on staying, but Vanessa was as sweet as she was beautiful.

“Yes. No. There are a few problems with the wedding venue, and I need to handle it myself.” Because there was no one else to do it. Blake and Poppy were taking ‘hands-off’ to a new level, and Luke only did what he was asked, or tasked with by someone else. “Can you get me the number of the best concrete repair person in the city, an exterminator and a landscaper as well. Ask them ahead of time if they can do last-minute work, and then forward me their information. Please,” I added because I wasn’t a tyrant.

“Uh, sure. Maybe you should give me the address so we don’t have to go back and forth.”

I smiled at her. “Thank you, Vanessa. Go home at five, no excuses,” I shot over my shoulder as I went to my office and changed from heels to sneakers, removing my blazer to leave my arms bare and grabbing all the crap that was now essential to my life. “See you tomorrow,” I told Vanessa as I stepped on the elevator.

Today was one of those days where all the technology that makes life so easy, smartphones and Bluetooth and calendar apps, messenger services and all that shit, became nothing but a nuisance. The phone hadn’t stopped ringing from the moment my ass settled behind the steering wheel, but I didn’t bother to look at it. Today’s priority was the wedding site, which we only had a few weeks to get it in order, or else the backup church in town and the hotel ballroom would have to suffice.

Ashley was frantic, but well put together when I arrived on site. “Oh Talia, I’m so sorry to interrupt your day, but everything seemed to happen at once.”

“It’s better to know now and deal with it, right?” She nodded nervously and stayed by my side while we dealt with contractor after contractor who showed up with a wide smile, eager for the rate hike for a rush job.

“So, everything will be ready by the end of the week?” I understood Ashley’s disbelief, being financially handicapped myself, it strained credulity to believe people would pay that much money for something as ridiculous as a wedding. But people with money were different, a lesson it seemed the universe was determined to drill into me at every opportunity.

“Yep. Problem solved. Crisis averted.” By the time the guys had come to inspect, gave quotes and finish estimates, the sun had slid behind the horizon and the area was mostly black since none of the lights had been strung yet. “Call if anything else comes up,” I told her and slid into my car, exhausted with at least an hour of driving ahead of me.

Yep, what a glamorous life I had.

As I got off the pitch black two-lane road and back on the high way, I listened to my messages. Eight were from Poppy who’d gotten an irate call from Theo, so I called her back first.

“What the hell, Talia? Theo said you were rude and not very helpful.” I ignored my annoyance and tamped it down, reminding myself this was her business. Her family legacy.

“I wasn’t rude, he just didn’t want to deal with your assistant, and he made it known from the beginning. He threatened to call you despite being informed you were on medical leave, so I told him to do it.”

“Dammit, Tal, he owns fifty sporting goods and apparel across the country, and he’s interested in our new line.”

Shit, I nearly got hit by a motorcyclist with his lights off, barreling down the interstate at one hundred miles an hour. “Then maybe you should have found someone actually capable of doing this job in your absence.” Dealing with assholes like him only reminded me of how far I was in over my head.

“You can do this, hell you have been doing it.”

“Poppy, be serious, I’m your assistant and they all know that. Rich pricks like that don’t want to make deals with a glorified secretary. Which is why my providing him with information was deemed rude and useless.” The angrier I got the heavier my foot became on the pedal until I was inching towards ninety miles an hour. “Do I need to reschedule with him?”

“No,” she sighed. “He’s insisting I handle the meeting.” Which she should have done in the first place, though I didn’t say as much.

“I offered that too, when you returned from medical leave.” I’m sure he failed to mention that as well. “Anything else?”

“We missed you at dinner last week.”

“I had something else to do.” We’d never been so disconnected, and I didn’t know how to feel about it, or what to do about it other than retreat.

“Is this about Luke?”

“If it was about Luke, what would skipping out on a few hours at dinner do?” He was mostly useless anyway. Okay that wasn’t fair, he wasn’t useless, but his job as CFO meant he didn’t have as much time as an assistant. “I had a lot of work, and then other plans, no big deal.”

“You never miss dinner.” She was right, I’d always made it a priority, because I was always so excited to spend time with Maple and Poppy at the end of the week. But with more people around, it didn’t have the same intimate feel, and it wasn’t like I wanted to spill the secrets of my life in front of strangers.

“It was one dinner Poppy, and you had your whole family there.”

“Not my whole family,” she said with a hint of a sniffle. “What’s going on, Talia?”

I shrugged even though she couldn’t see me. “Nothing other than work.”

“Bullshit. You’re still mad about the Luke thing, I know it.”

“I have to go, Poppy.”

“No, you don’t,” she argued. “You just don’t want to talk about this, but we need to. Shit is different between us, weird and I don’t like it.”

“You have other things to worry about right now, namely taking it easy for that kid. I’m helping by doing a job I’m not qualified for, and that means we can’t hang out the way we used to. Now I really have to go,” I told her as I pulled onto the shoulder.

“But we’re not done yet.”

“Poppy, the cops have pulled me over. I have to go.” I ended the call and grabbed my license and registration before the uniformed officer tapped on my window.

This day just kept getting better.