Lacey tilted her head and asked, “For what?”
“When it goes out.”
“The announcement?”
“I know you have clients in the afternoon, so I’ll make sure it goes out before that. I just… I don’t want to be alone.”
“Yes, I’ll be there,” she said, wanting to cup Cameron’s cheek.
“Can we stop by the house so that I can pack a bag and then get in your car and go? I’ll drive. I just… I don’t want to be there, either, Lacey.”
Lacey nodded.
CHAPTER 37
River
She looked up and handed the teenager a bag of candy.
“Thank you,” the girl said.
“You’re welcome. Thanks for stopping by today. Come back and let me know if you liked the sour citrus one.”
“I will. Thanks,” the girl replied, and when she left, the shop was finally empty.
They weren’t closed yet, but people had stopped coming in around five-thirty, which meant that River had been able to breathe starting around five-forty-five.
“Want me to go count down the drawer?” Michaela asked her.
“We might still get another one,” she replied.
Then, River saw the look on Michaela’s tired face. She had a full class load in college and had been working close to full-time hours at the shop since things had gotten busy.
“Go count it down. I’ll close us up. What’s one more customer in the grand scheme of things?”
“Thank you,” Michaela said, sounding relieved.
“Hey, if you want to go full-time in the summer when you don’t have classes, let me know, okay?”
“Really? That would be great, yeah,” Michaela replied. “I applied for this internship, but can I let you know when I hear back about that?”
“Of course. Take some fudge home, too, if you want, or a few bags of whatever. I really do appreciate you taking on the bulk of the load while we’re this busy.”
“Thanks. And no problem. I don’t mind it. It’s a cool job. A lot of my friends have to work on campus as part of a work-study thing, and they’re in the bookstores or libraries or at the other campus shops. I get to be around candy all day.”
Michaela smiled and grabbed the cash drawer.
“Exactly how I feel,” River agreed.
Then, the door opened.
“There goes that plan,” Michaela said and went to put the drawer back into the register.
“No, you’re good,” River replied quickly, seeing who’d just walked in. “I’ve got this one. Just count it down for me, and you can head home.”
“I don’t need to clean up?”
“No, I’ll take care of it. Thank you.”
