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I wiped my sticky fingers on a napkin and took a sip of my drink to wash down the last of the pastry. “People aren’t going to like me coming in and taking over such an influential job, Harper. Even if it is only temporarily.”
She made a dismissive sound. “Girl, I got my editorial job two years after I started working for Rock America. People were pissed then, they can be pissed now. I’m not half-assing anything just to please anyone. Ninety percent of them are replaceable anyway.”
By the time I got down to the magazine, Harper met me at the elevator on the floor Gordon shared with several other editors and a few of the full-time writers. The two assistants, as promised, were already with her, iPads at the ready to start taking notes of anything I might need.
“This is Tracy,” Harper introduced the tall, thin older woman who looked like she was the sort of person to get even the biggest task done easily. “And this is Jane.”
Jane was a smaller woman with the type of perfect skin every woman wished she had. Her complexion was a soft nutmeg color, and her lashes were so long without the use of a single swipe of mascara. I might have been jealous of her perfection and beauty if she hadn’t put me so at ease instantly. I knew immediately who I was going to have for my office assistant and who I would be asking to help with anything outside of work I might need.
In Gordon’s office, I found the desk in pristine order. I wasn’t sure if it was just because that was the way the man normally kept it or if Harper had cleaned it up, but something told me the man was too anal for it to be the latter. Sometimes I had a tendency to work in clutter, however, but it was an organized mess only I could understand.
“Thanks for doing this, Lucy,” Harper said as she hugged me. “I don’t know what I would have done if you didn’t. You don’t realize how much you’ve saved my life.”
“I’m only doing this because I love you,” I reminded her, hugging her back. “But I’ll admit I’m a little intrigued by this side of the job.” I leaned over the computer keyboard and opened up a few files. “Wow, these are some deep articles.” Apprehension filled me, not because I didn’t think I could do the job, but because I knew people were going to be pissed
that I was editing these powerful topics.
I glanced up at Harper then shot a quick peek at Jane and Tracy. Jane gave me a warm smile, but Tracy had a hard look on her face. Yeah, I was definitely going to keep Jane closer than this piranha. “Harp, are you sure about this?” I asked her after dismissing Tracy from my mind.
“One hundred percent sure,” she said in a firm tone I had only ever heard her use with Shane and her two children a handful of times over the years. “Now, I have to get back to work myself. Jane and Tracy will make sure you settle in, but if anything comes up you can’t sort out yourself, just text me.”
She backed toward the door. “Oh, and Shane is bringing the kids to pick me up for dinner tonight. With the twins staying the week with us, I thought it might be fun if we took you out to celebrate your new temporary position.”
“Sure,” I said with a smile as I took the seat behind the desk. “I’ll call Harris and make sure he can join us.”
“Yay!” She grinned. “You’ll be saving Luca from Shane for a few hours. I don’t think the poor boy can sneeze without Shane being there to ask what he’s been sniffing.”
Picturing my little brother suffering Shane’s wrath for the entire week just so Luca could spend time with his favorite person on the planet made me laugh. With all the trouble that little beast had caused over the years, I was sure Shane’s treatment of him was Karma’s way of paying him back. It was amusing, but at the same time, I wanted to save Luca from every little thing that might make him unhappy.
“Then I’d definitely love to have dinner with you guys tonight.”
“Great. I’ll let Shane know, and you make sure Harris is available.” With a wave, she left, closing the door behind her.
As the door shut, closing me in with Jane and Tracy, I felt a new tension creep through me, but it was more excitement than apprehension now. “Okay, ladies, let’s see how badly I can fuck this up.” Jane laughed at my joke, but Tracy didn’t even bat an eyelash. Her face became colder, and I figured she was mentally cheering for me to screw up this chance.
I smiled at her, accepting the silent challenge that was in her eyes. Pulling out my phone, I texted Harris really quickly before pulling up the small list of things that needed immediate attention for our wedding plans. “Tracy, I’m going to need you to book me an appointment with these two caterers. The one my fiancé and I interviewed yesterday overcooked their chicken with the samples they let us try, and I can’t serve my wedding guests dry chicken. We’re both free Saturday morning, and please emphasize to them that we need the appointment for this Saturday, not next.” Her eyes widened at the menial task, and my smile turned cooler. “Here are their numbers. Please make sure they know that it’s for Harris Cutter and Lucy Thornton. And if they give you any issues, let me know.”
“Right,” she gritted out.
“That will be all for now,” I told her and then turned my gaze to Jane, dismissing the other woman. “I’m assuming that everything Gordon was working on is right here?” I nodded toward the computer.
“Yes, Miss Thornton. He was very meticulous and kept very well-labeled files for every writer and their topics.”
“Great. Then I shouldn’t have any issues in that regard.” I pulled up the three files that Gordon had worked on the day before according to the time stamp. “Perfect. I think that will be all, Jane. I’ll yell if I need anything else.”
“Can I get you something to drink? Coffee, tea?”
My stomach rumbled, reminding me I had skipped lunch in my rush to get over to help Harper after my class finished. “Would it be possible to get a sandwich or something? I haven’t eaten since breakfast.”
“I could send out for something,” she offered. “Mrs. Stevenson has an account at the deli down the block, so anything we order is charged to the magazine.”
“That would be great. Something light. Have you and Tracy eaten yet?” She shook her head. “Order for the three of us then, please. I’ll eat at my desk, though.”
My phone vibrated with an incoming text, and my heart lifted when I saw that Harris was all for having dinner with Harper and Shane later. As crazy as everything seemed with my new workload, school, and our wedding, oddly enough I didn’t feel stressed or pressured. The work turned out to be more challenging than I had anticipated, but I loved every second of it.
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“Are you ready?” Harris called from the bedroom.
