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“But you love me,” Lavena pointed out without a shred of doubt in the matter.
Kas rolled large, dark eyes. “Maybe.”
The rest of the trip went on in silence. Walls of brush and winding asphalt kept us company the deeper we plunged into the wilderness. I tried to read the paperback nestled in my lap and failed for the ninth time. Instead, I was left watching the rushing scenery and wondering if the new shipment would be arriving that weekend and if Kaila would know what to do with it once it did. A few times, I almost reached for my phone before remembering there was no service in the middle of nowhere and there wouldn’t be any at the cabin. I could probably call the shop from the landline, but I didn’t want Kaila to think I didn’t trust her abilities, which I did, of course. But what if she put the wrong dress on the wrong mannequin or put a thousand-dollar gown in the window to get sunbaked?
“You look stressed enough to throw up,” Lavena observed, snatching me away from my near panic attack. She darted anxious glances between me and the road. “Are you going to throw up?”
I laughed before I could stop myself, although it sounded tight and winded. “I’m not going to throw up. Your mom hasa new shipment coming in this weekend and I know Kaila can handle it but—”
“But you’re a control freak who needs to make sure everything is exactly right,” she finished with a tiny smirk.
I frowned at the word,control freak.“Your mom trusts that as manager ofLe Hush, the store would run smoothly, and I intend to make sure it does.”
Lavena rolled her eyes. “Mom has like a hundred shops. She’ll be fine if things fall apart for one weekend.”
The very thought of things falling into chaos in my absence made my stomach hurt. My nerves itched with the need to call or text Kaila. I knew I’d left a thorough list and had walked her through it twice, and even had her walk me through it a few times, but the uncertainty made me shift.
“Uh oh, better pull over, Lavena. I think she actually might hurl.”
I reached back with my book and smacked Kas on the thigh. “I’m not going to hurl!”
“Children!” Lavena yelled over my squeal and jerking back when Kas made to wrench the paperback out of my hand. “Don’t make me pull over.”
I saw it on Kas’s face before she could open her mouth. “Don’t say it!” I threatened, pointing my index finger at her.
“Kami’s going to hurl!” she drawled, enunciating each syllable.
I smacked her a few more times before she snatched the book from my fingers and yanked it out of reach.
“Hey!” I made to lunge for it, restrained partially by my belt, but she pulled back, smirking like a demon cat. “Lavena!”
“I’m not getting involved,” the blonde replied without missing a beat. “You’re both grown adults. Figure it out.”
It was Sasha who came to my rescue in the end. She wrestled the book from Kas and passed it back, earning an elbow in the side for her efforts.
“I will pummel you,” she threatened the other woman.
“Do it when we stop,” Lavena shouted over the ruckus. “Because if I hit Bambi’s mother because you two are being idiots, I will make you eat her raw.”
“Ew!” Sasha and Kas simultaneously cried.
“Then settle down.” She wiggled her shoulders and relaxed against her seat. “Enjoy the scenery or something. Have a snack.”
“Yes, mommy,” I teased, regaining my seat properly and adjusting my belt comfortably across my chest.
Eyes that were too similar to Darius’s peeked up over the gold rims of her sunglasses at me. “I like it when you talk dirty to me, Kami baby.”
I burst out laughing, despite the tightening in my chest.
We lapsed back into a comfortable silence broken only by Kas’s muttered curses every time she failed a level onCandy Crush.
“It’s rigged,” she declared each time. “Why do I bother?” Yet she went right back to trying again, filling the car with the faintest tinkling.
I tried to read again. I opened to my saved page and stared at the same cluster of words until they bled together. My brain was too twisted around all the ways the shop could fall into disarray and refused to focus on anything else. I had to keep reminding myself Kaila was my best employee and she knew what she was doing. It wasn’t as if I hadn’t left her to watch over the shop before. She’d just never received a shipment before on her own. I always made sure to be there, to properly catalogue and categorize the pieces. Maybe that made me controlling, but these weren’t cheap dresses at some clearance mart. Each gown costmore than an average person’s yearly salary and each piece was custom made so even the slightest damage could be a complete write off.
Willing myself to take a breath, I silently cursed Lavena for her bad timing. She’d chosen the worst weekend to take off. Ultimately, there was no other choice but to accept my fate and hope for the best. Kaila had been with me for almost three years. She knew the drill. I left her detailed notes. I’d done all I could to prevent any casualties.
I hoped.
