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“You are way too observant and a little bit scary. You know that, right?”
“Speaking of.” Callie pulled out the red envelope and tapped the end against the tip of her finger. “I assume you knew about this given it was open and on your desk?”
Juniper dragged her Tic-Tac box out and popped a few pieces.
Crap. She’d meant to slip that into her desk drawer before going home last night. Of course, Callie would see it when she straightened up her files in the morning. “Yes, but I have all that taken care of.” She played it off with an air of unimportance hoping Callie would catch on and give it up. No need to worry anyone with her problems. Yet.
“Why didn’t you tell me you needed money?”
Callie cranked an eyebrow up and it had the opposite effect on Juniper’s shoulders. She slumped and swallowed hard. There were too many things on her plate and she still had plenty of time to get everything squared away with the bank, reserving it for this morning’s main focus.
“I’ll handle it. There’s nothing to worry about. Not with the new client that we’ve signed on. His deposit coupled with Stewart’s will pay half of the loan. The contract secures the rest before that payment is due. See, nothing to worry about.” But a knot in her stomach said otherwise.
Callie seemed to buy her calm bravado in the face of foreclosure.
“And besides,” Juniper plowed on. “How exactly does the employer ask the employee for money anyway?”
“I don’t know, maybe something like, ‘Hey Callie, can you help me so we don’t get shut down?’”
Callie rounded the reception desk and pulled Juniper around to face her with both hands on her shoulders. All the times they would pow-wow under the bleachers as kids trying to escape physical education in High School and the girl pep talks when a boy would break their young hearts came to mind. Callie got that same fierce look in her eye and straight, tight set to her cherry-glazed lips. “You know I’m your friend, right? Since high school, right? Remember me? I was the crazy girl that always had your back.” Callie’s lush black curls bounced with vigor as she drove home her point.
Juniper nodded. “But you have kids to support, a family now. I really appreciate it, you know I do. Vows from Juniper will live to see another quarter.”
“You have friends you can reach out to, you know.”
Juniper pulled away and made her way to the empty kitchen for a refill. “I don’t see the need to cry wolf just yet.”
The large windows from the front of the shop extended to the side and bathed the kitchen with a river of early morning light.A curtain light sunlight drifted in, heating the small kitchen making her happy. Warmth and light did that for her and nothing could break her happy bubble if she didn’t allow it. But it was fragile right now, damn fragile.
A spark of sunlight against metal caught her eye and her gaze zipped to her rival’s front door. Suddenly the coffee in her mouth turned bitter on her tongue.
She nudged Callie’s shoulder. “I wonder why Mr. Siggs is at Banners’ place.” The aforementioned man in a black cap exited from Banners Brides and waited on the cusp of the sidewalk to cross the street.
She’d been so wrapped in everything for the Blackwood wedding she’d forgotten to call the bank. An oversight that could cost her.
Or maybe not. He was heading her way now.
“Mr. Siggs,” Juniper called as her bank officer shuffled through the front door with a tinkle of the bell.
“Ms. Winter. Good day. Ms. Callie.” She took his offered hand and smiled as Callie offered a sticky bun.
She showed the way to her office for privacy. “Mr. Siggs, I tried calling you yesterday. I’m glad you decided to come by. Thank you for working so hard on getting me the extension we talked about a few weeks back. It was such a relief. But I think there’s been a mistake.” Callie stepped in and handed her the envelope. “This arrived yesterday, but I believe you’ll agree that it was an error on the bank’s part considering our last conversation.” She hoped and silently prayed she was right but the bleak look on the older gentleman’s face told a completely different story.
“Ms. Winter. There’s been no mistake, I’m afraid. I’m sorry to inform you that the extension you were promised has been canceled. You see, no extensions are being granted at this time. There was a terrible mix-up at the office and I was left uninformed. In fact, you should have received that envelope much earlier than yesterday. By the time the change in policy from the head office came through the pipelines, it was too late and the wrong notifications were sent. And in your case, delayed. As you can see it was a clerical mistake. I’m sorry for any inconvenience.”
Fuck me.
She couldn’t believe the words coming out of his mouth. Inconvenience? Sorry? This man got to go home at night and sleep like a fucking baby, his job as secure as a bug.
Anger seeped into her veins. She wanted to wrap her fingers around the fat man’s throat and shake.
No. She couldn’t think like that. He had a job to do and it wasn’t his fault she couldn’t pay.
But still, this went beyond any inconvenience and toppled her over into pure panic mode.
“I see. How long do I have then?” She fought to remain professional. “Is it true, I have the end of the month?”
For a brief second, she considered throwing herself at his feet and begging but what good would that do?
