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“Where, Katherine?”
“She’s working on her mural,” she admitted with a guilty flick of her fake lashes up to me and then back to her computer screen. “She seemed pretty determined. Although,” she paused, and then made a face like she was kicking herself.
“Although, what?” I asked.
“Dr. Brady,” Carla said, popping her torso through the connecting door. “A word?”
I squelched the urge to kick the mahogany desk. I turned my attention to Carla. “Yeah?”
“In private,” she added derisively.
Katherine looked like she was going to explode, and Maxine seemed like she wanted to be anywhere but there. I tapped the desk at Katherine’s eyeline. “Don’t go anywhere.” I pushed away from the desk and followed Carla through the door, down the hallway, and to her office.
Carla, who had looked infinitely calmer since our retreat, now had concern pinched between her black brows. Her lipstick today bordered on violet, and despite her apparent concern, she looked as put together as always. Her heels clicked on the tile floors as she swept through her office door. “Have a seat, Amos.”
I could count two times in my life I had felt antsy—once when June had been in a tree, and then this moment. It was like termites burrowing under my skin. “What is it?” I asked, ignoring the offer to sit. I leaned against the doorframe. Most of the employees were heading out for the evening anyway, so I didn’t bother to shut the door.
“Are you in a relationship with June Matthews?” Carla asked, getting straight to the point.
I sighed, folding my arms and crossing one leg over the other. “Yes.”
Carla looked pained. “Since when?”
I shrugged. “I’d say… the retreat.”
Her brown eyes bugged. “Are you fu—” she stopped herself. “Are you for real?” I gave another shrug. “Are you telling me,” she said slowly in a clear attempt to calm her voice, “that you engaged in a relationship of asexualnature at acompanyretreat?”
“Yes.” I shifted my gaze in question. “Was that against the rules?”
Carla’s face went as purple as her lipstick. Narrowly avoiding a full conniption fit, she gritted out, “Did that need to be said?”
“Carla,” I drawled, letting some of my annoyance slip out in my tone. “June and I are both consenting adults of commendable intelligence. I think we can be trusted to make our own decisions about interoffice romance.”
“June,” Carla said fiercely, “is not fair game. And you know that.”
I felt a twinge of amusement at Carla’s protectiveness over June. I wondered if June knew how our office manager felt about her. I was aware that most of the people in our center considered her something of an office sweetheart. They had jumped to her defense many times in the past when I’d made the mistake of complaining about her. But I didn’t know Carla shared their sentiments. “You paired us together,” I pointed out.
She brought two hands to her nose, closing her eyes like she needed to gather her composure. “Please tell me you aren’t going to chase her away, Amos. WelikeJune.”
“I’m not planning on letting her get away,” I smiled faintly.
Carla sighed, resigned. “Fine. As long as you know how I feel about this. Which is that Ido not supportanything that jeopardizes her position here.”
“Got it,” I nodded.
She regarded me suspiciously for a second more, and then she dismissed me with a wave. “Fine. Go.”
I shoved off the doorframe and took long strides right back down the hallway. Maxine had left, as I assumed she would, but Katherine stood by the front door. Her posture shifted nervously, and she drummed her fingers uncertainly on June’s white purse. As I approached her, she turned wary eyes on me. Round two of June’s protectors,ding, ding, ding.
“Where is she?” I asked without preamble.
Katherine handed me June’s purse. “I asked her to text me back, but she hasn’t,” she rushed to say, as if she’d been holding the words like a pent-up breath. “The guy was weird, Amos. I shouldn’t have left her.”
I took the purse with forced calm. “Address. Now.”
Twenty One
June
