“Okay.”
The morning passed in a blur of paperwork, meeting the employees, and learning the various operations of his company. It wasn’t a difficult one, but of course it was still new to her.
He did take her out to lunch, but even then, everything remained centered on business. She asked him a lot of questions, and he gave her pointed, on the mark answers. They talked about ways to increase efficiency, all the while having salad and soup. Then it was back to work for more of the same.
By the end of the day she had a fairly decent handle on how to streamline some of the processes, and a lot more questions, which she’d jotted down in her notes file.
“I’ll take you to each of the shops this week. Though the processes are the same, each shop works independently,” Carter told her as they met up in his office at the end of the day. “Plus, I want you to meet with management at the other shops and all the employees so they get used to coming to you instead of me with questions.”
“Sounds good. It’ll likely take me a week or two until I’m comfortable enough to answer some of the questions myself. But I’ll be happy to field them, just so they get used to coming to me.”
He nodded. “And I’ll be doing a lot of redirecting, because my managers at the other shops—and staff at this one—are used to bringing every problem to me. I want that to change.”
“Right. Unless it’s a question about which carburetor goes in an ’03 Tahoe. I don’t know the answer to that one. Not off the top of my head, anyway.”
“If anyone comes to either of us with that question, they’re fired.”
She laughed. “Noted.”
He picked up his phone. “It’s five thirty. Go ahead and take off. I’m sure you’d like to get home and check on your mom.”
“I called her several times today. After the fourth phone call, she said I was annoying her.”
He cracked a smile. “Is that right? That must mean she’s doing well on her own.”
“I think she’s been dying for me to get out of the house so she can gain back a little of her independence. I can’t say I blame her.”
“Well, you are a free spirit. So is she. I’m sure you can appreciate how difficult it would be to have someone watching you like a hawk, babysitting your every move.”
“I’d hate it. I know she does. In fact, she insisted on making dinner tonight. It’s the first time since her accident. I hope she doesn’t overdo it.”
“I’m sure she won’t.”
Molly stood. “I’m going to head on out. Thanks for a great first day, and for the job. It’s actually been really nice to work again.”
“You’re welcome. Thanks for offering to help out.”
“You have a good company here, Carter. With my help, it’ll be even better. I can’t wait to dig in.”
“So I’ll . . . see you tomorrow?”
“Sure. See you tomorrow.”
At home, everything was as normal as it could be. Her mom was excited to put dinner on the table, and seemed to be full of energy. She told Molly and her dad that she’d wandered around the house, gotten her exercise, and rested when she was tired. She hadn’t overdone, and she felt good.
Molly was relieved.
After dinner, Molly went to her room and went over the notes she’d taken during the day, thinking about some of the upgrades she’d like to make. She wanted to ask Carter a few questions, but didn’t want to call him.
Work time was for work and calling him at night was . . .
Something she wouldn’t do if it was work related.
Their relationship was in flux right now, and that was her doing. That night a couple of weeks ago they’d been snuggling on the sofa, she’d felt comfortable. A little too comfortable, too familiar, which had dragged her back to the past, a place she never liked going.
The feelings had overwhelmed her. But they hadn’t just been feelings from the past. It was the feelings she had now that had caused her to panic, made her pull back from him.
Since then, she’d missed him. Seeing him today, working with him today, but unable to touch him, kiss him, or do anything about the emotional pull she always felt when she was around him somehow felt unnatural to her.
She knew she had to do it to maintain a level of professionalism at work, but she didn’t have to put him in that no touch, no contact zone after work.
She picked up the phone, and on impulse, punched his number.
He picked up on the second ring. “Hey, Molly.”
“Hi, Carter. What are you doing?”
“Watching some TV.”
“What? Not tearing up a room?”
He laughed. “Nah. A new employee started at work today, and she wore me out. I have nothing left to give to the poor house.”
She rolled her eyes. “I hardly think so.”
“So what’s up?”
Now that she’d called him, she didn’t have a plan formulated for what she was going to say. So she was just going to have to go with her gut. “I was wondering if you wanted to go do something.”
“What? You aren’t tired of me?”
“Shockingly, no.”
“That new action movie came out last weekend. It even has romance in it. You wanna go see it?”
She relaxed her shoulders, relieved he’d made it so easy on her. “I’d love to.”
“Hang on a second. Let me check my phone.”
She waited.
“There’s a showing at nine. Is that too late for you?”
“No, that works. How about you pick me up about eight thirty?”
“That’ll work. I’ll see you then.”
She took a shower, did her hair and makeup, then got dressed and went downstairs. Her parents were playing a board game at the dining room table, and she smiled at seeing her mother up and about again.
Her dad looked up from the game. “You look pretty.”
She looked down at her jeans and sweater, happy that he noticed.
“Thanks. I’m going to a movie.”
“With Carter?” her mother asked, with the kind of smile only a woman would give you when she knew you had a date.
“Yes, Mom. With Carter.”
She distracted them both by talking about the game they were playing, so she didn’t have to endure questions about her relationship with Carter. She’d filled them in over dinner about her workday, but fortunately they’d left the questions business related, which had suited her just fine.