penny just so they could buy her one single toy here. I’m about to go stomp all over that bubbling enthusiasm, that smile, that–
No. What I’m doing is fighting for the future of our store. I’m doing what needs to be done to preserve our well-deserved reputation as a business that can be relied on. And Winona is running around being all Mary Poppins, promising everyone that she can sprinkle them with fairy dust and make wishes come true.
I picture my father dealing with troublesome employees, and I summon up an appropriate level of anger and resolve.
Winona swivels in her chair to face me. “Come to eat crow? Because I have some excellent recipes.” Then she sees the look on my face, and her smile fades. She drops the pen and straightens up in her chair. “What’s wrong?”
“What’s wrong? I hardly even know where to start.” There’s a vicious bite to my voice. “Okay, how about this. You sent my ex-girlfriend diamond jewelry and now she thinks we’re engaged.”
“Ex?” she cries out. “I didn’t know!”
“Well, you should have known. It’s your job to know things like this.”
“But the list said…” She trails off, all humor drained from her face.
I plow on relentlessly. “You promised my niece a toy that’s pre-sold-out everywhere. The man who owns the toy company hates my guts, so I can’t even call in a favor with him. And you sent Henry’s assistant on a two-week vacation when I am working on a project that could shape this company’s entire future. I need all hands on deck, and we don’t have the time to train anyone else.”
“Oh, my God,” she whispers. “I’m so sorry. I Winona’d it.”
What does that even mean?
The color drains from her face, leaving her a sickly ivory. Every freckle stands out in sharp relief. She looks worse than Thérèse did right before they hauled her off to the emergency room. It should make me feel good; I’ve won. I’m getting what I wanted.
Instead, my breakfast is rising up in my throat. But I have no choice.
“Winona Jeffers, you’re fired.”
. . .
“Winona Jeffers is not fired.”
Our monthly board meeting this morning was tense and unpleasant, with my uncle slipping in snide comments about the bad press we’re getting because I sent out a correction about the “engagement” mistake. I’m the villain of the day, leading my girlfriend on and then cruelly crushing her.
And now I’ve returned to my office to find my sister sitting in my chair, drinking a cup of coffee and staring daggers at me. Of course my secretary Doreen, who absolutely adores my sister, didn’t bother to warn me.
“Hello, Alice,” Henry says cheerfully. “Always lovely to see you.”
“Hello, Henry, always lovely to see you too. My brother, not so much.” She skewers me with an angry glower.
“Henry,” I groan. “Why is this happening to me?”
He cocks his head to the side. “Karma, sir?”
I narrow my eyes at him. “I’ll remember that come Christmas bonus time.” No, I won’t. Henry earns his extremely generous bonus for putting up with yours truly. The threat makes me feel slightly better, though. And maybe I’ll make him re-organize my perfectly organized closet after work tonight.
I look around the office. “Where’s Tamara?”
Alice’s glare softens and melts into a smile at the mention of her daughter. “Ariel took her to pick out a new dress for her birthday. I told Tamara she could only have one and she acted like such a martyr. Forget politician, that girl’s going to win an Oscar someday.”
She shakes her head in amusement, sets down the coffee, and helps herself to a handful of the chocolate-covered espresso beans I have in a glass jar next to my computer. She accidentally drops a few of them on my desk. My antique desk, which has been in the family for generations.
I shudder and lean over the desk, trying to grab the beans. She slaps her hand over them, pressing them into the wood. “Anyway. As I was saying,” she continues. “She’s not fired.”
I pick up her hand. The heat of her skin has melted the chocolate.
“That’s Dad’s desk!” I snap at her.
“Technically Granddad’s desk, right? And it’s lasted all this time. It’ll be fine.” She picks up her coffee and takes a sip. “Mmm. We do make good coffee here.”
“Trust me. Winona is very very fired.”
She smiles at me, picks up another handful of coffee beans, and drops them directly onto the desk with a clatter. “Remember when you promised me that I could