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Six! Angela pulled out her cell phone and navigated to her calendar even though she already knew what her schedule looked like. She was off at Sweethearts, which meant she hadn’t asked Nate to watch Cory for her. She quickly texted him to see if he could, and he answered right back.
Sorry, Angela, but I’ve got a meeting tonight.
Crap, what was she going to do about Cory?
“Ms. Bouler, is there a problem?” Mr. Cooper’s voice cut into her thoughts.
Angela slipped her cell into her pocket. “No, sir.”
“Good.”
He spoke for another few minutes. Angela went over every possible scenario she could think of as to what to do with Cory. She could call Vicki, but she probably had to work tonight. There were evening child-watch programs, but if Cory thought he was too big for a babysitter, he’d definitely balk at the idea of her leaving him at an evening day care.
The meeting finally ended and Angela hurried out of the conference room instead of staying behind to talk more with the group about logistics.
Mr. Cooper followed her out. “Angela, a second.”
She skidded to a halt, took a deep breath, then turned and faced him. “Yes, sir.”
Mr. Cooper’s expression was still pinched and disapproving. If Angela hadn’t known him to light up with joy whenever they helped a kid, she’d wonder why he even worked in their office. “You seemed distracted in there,” he said. “Are you going to have a problem with helping to improve this office?”
“Not at all.”
“Then why were you staring at your phone?”
“I’m not sure if you’re aware, but I’ve recently had to take temporary custody of my nephew. He’s thirteen and I don’t have anyone to watch him tonight. I texted a friend to see if they could help out.”
Mr. Cooper’s eyebrows drew together. “I understand that, but I need your full commitment on this project. If you want to be a case manager one day, then you need to make sure your personal life doesn’t interfere with your work here.”
Angela gritted her teeth. Her commitment had never been a question before. She had the best volunteer participation rate and it wasn’t as if everyone didn’t know she was the one to step in with other people’s volunteers when they were having trouble.
“I’ve always been committed to what we do. I know what these kids are facing and that’s why I want to be an advocate for them.”
“Then you above anyone understands why I don’t like for my employees to bring their own family problems to work?” The cool reprimand cut her to the quick. Mr. Cooper was unmarried with no kids of his own so he wasn’t very flexible when it came to family emergencies from his employees. Their advocacy work was his entire life, and maybe unfairly, he expected it to be the same for his employees. She didn’t usually deal with him directly and thankfully Tamara was more understanding.
Don’t take it personally. He’s like this with everyone. That knowledge didn’t make her feel any less guilty for coming in late. “I’ll work everything out with Cory.”
“Good. I’ll see you at the six-o’clock meeting. On time.” He turned and walked away.
Angela balled her hands into fists and bared her teeth to the back of his head. Taking a deep breath, she turned away and walked back to her office. It was still early. She had time to find someone who could watch Cory while she worked late. At least this would keep her mind off of Isaiah.
Yeah, right, you’re thinking about him right now.
Angela huffed out a breath, pushed Isaiah from her thoughts and focused on the myriad of challenges ahead.
* * *
For the first time in the years he’d volunteered for the Gators’ basketball camp, Isaiah was glad to see the day end. He rubbed his tired eyes and yawned while he walked to the storage area in the back of the center to put up the balls. He didn’t have to help with the cleanup at the end of the day, but he always wanted to show his thanks to the camp counselors, who put up with the hassle of securing the facility and keeping the public, who continued to use the facility while the Gators held camp, separate from the players and the kids in the camp.
