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The trouble was, he didn’t know what to do. He could just let her go, but there was something in him that didn’t want to do that.
He knew he couldn’t hold her. No one could hold another person, or change them, as much as they might like to. He’d learned that with his parents.
But Clara. She was different.
He pressed his lips together as he stared out, unseeing, at the blue-on-blue beauty of Lake Michigan and the wide expanse of the sky. There had to be a way. He could offer her more money. Of course. But he’d offered her more to move to the Cities. A lot more. He already paid her more than any administrative assistant that he knew was making anywhere. It couldn’t be the money.
Was it him?
People often said he was a difficult man to work for. He supposed that was true. He held others to the same high standard that he held himself to. But he didn’t ask anyone to do anything that he wouldn’t do himself.
Had he been unkind to her?
He supposed he’d taken advantage of her. He felt her large compensation package would keep her and hadn’t considered that it might take more.
But then again, maybe what he’d overheard was just office gossip.
He liked that idea. But there was only one way to find out. He wasn’t the kind of man to sit around. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed Clara’s personal cell phone number. It was the only number he had for her.
He tapped his fingers on his desk as he waited for her to answer.
“Hello?”
“Are you coming out to the Cities?” He probably should have tried to do some small talk, but he’d never learned how. He always cut to the chase.
“I thought I had until the middle of July to decide.” Did she sound annoyed? Scared? And what was going on in the background? It sounded like she was in the middle of some kind of concert or something.
“I’ve changed my mind.” He could hardly tell her he was scared to death of trying to do life without her in it. That she was the only bit of sunshine his soul ever saw. That she made him feel like he was almost human. He couldn’t lose her, and her words sounded far too much like she was planning on telling him no and just needed more time to get enough nerve to do so.
He made a spur-of-the-moment decision. The kind of decision his gut was famous for, the kind that had landed him multimillion dollar accounts, because he wasn’t afraid to lay himself out when he believed the winds were turning in his favor.
“I’ve decided we’re both going to work remotely from that little town you want to stay in. What’s it called? Strawberry Pie Place or something?”
“Strawberry Sands. It’s a lakeside town.” She paused, and his heart thumped hard. Was she going to say no? “You’re moving here?”
He hadn’t considered going quite that far. But in a snap, his mind was made up. That would work. That would absolutely work.
“Yes.” He said the word with confidence. This would give her what she wanted—to live near her family—and it would give him what he wanted, too: Clara. Working for him.
His mind immediately turned the questions into answers and a to-do list. He rattled it off. “I can work remotely as long as they have good internet, and I will make sure they do. I’ll have everything set up in two weeks. Send me the directions. I’ll drive in today, and we’ll have a meeting to hash everything out. I want the best place to set up shop. The staff you’ll need to hire. Office equipment you’ll need to purchase and job duties. We’ll end up traveling a lot together, as we’ll need to go to the Cities at least once per month for in-person meetings.”
“Today?”
“Yes.”
“It’s Saturday.”
Shoot. He’d totally forgotten. Man, she probably thought he was some kind of loser that he was in his office at this hour on a Saturday morning. Although she knew him from working with him for years and knew he worked Saturdays almost every week.
She just didn’t realize what the thought of her leaving had done to him. He thought of making up some kind of excuse that he’d had a date, but she bailed, but one of the things he’d sworn he’d never do was lie. His parents had lied to him enough. He valued the truth and tried to live it. He especially wanted to do that with Clara.
“You’re right. I’ll buy you dinner. There is someplace to eat there, right? Then we’ll talk.”
“Um... I have a stand...at the...Strawberry Festival.”
It was a slap in the face to be confronted with the fact that she had a life outside of his. For some reason, that made him feel left out and...lonely. That she had friends and fun and family, and he...was at his office on a Saturday morning trying to figure out how to keep his administrative assistant from quitting because she was the closest thing he had to a friend.
“Fine. We’ll meet there. Text me directions.”
