Spurs and Heels(Divine Creek Ranch 5)(24)

“I do. You’ve got a store to run. Will there be people there to help

you? What about Leah?”

“Yes, I’ll have help. I’ve called in two other workers to come in,

so I won’t be here alone. I didn’t ask Leah because she’s covering for

me tomorrow evening so I can be there for the wedding.”

“She okay about the change in her duties?”

“She does seem a little disgruntled, and I think you may have been

right in your assumption the other night, but I can’t talk about that

right now.”



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“I understand, darlin’. I hope you don’t have to work too late.

Have you eaten supper?”

She wanted to kiss him for not lecturing her at the moment. “Yes.

I was afraid you’d be upset. Thanks for understanding.”

“How are you feeling? Is your back still bothering you?”

“Yes, it’s twinging painfully. I think a nerve must have gotten

damaged, but it’s okay otherwise. My wrist feels fine, awkward but

fine. I’m sorry I won’t get to see you.”

“Me, too. Darlin’, I’m not your boss, but please don’t push

yourself too hard.”

“I won’t overdo it. They just need someone to direct them and

help out. If we can get it all off the five-highs and onto the sales floor,

then they can stock it in the morning, but I’m looking at a mountain of

boxes. That’s the part that has me worried because I know there’s

Valentine’s Day merchandise in those boxes. It can’t stay back here.”

“Cupid waits for no man. Don’t work too hard.”

“Thank you. I’ll be careful. Bye.”

Juliana sighed in relief. The worst part about all this was telling

Ash she wouldn’t see him that night. She’d been worried he’d accuse

of her of not being able to give up her workaholic lifestyle. She’d sat

down with Leah and Evelyn earlier and talked with them, detailing a

few changes she was making in operations. Juliana had Evelyn’s full

backing in the changes, which shaved a full seven hours off of her

work week. Leah was happy with the current status quo because it left

her a lot of time to enact some of her changes, which still weren’t

bearing fruit. That newsletter had to go. Leah hadn’t been recalcitrant

about the changes so much as trying to figure out how she would

accomplish it all.

Welcome to my world.

Being given more responsibility had helped Leah’s outlook some.

Juliana had already called Doug to let him know. He didn’t keep up

with her hours and had no idea that it’d gotten that bad, but he was

still pushing for Juliana to let Leah make her changes while



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Heather Rainier

supporting Juliana as she turned over more responsibility to his

daughter. She should have felt relieved, but there was a small part of

her that wondered if maybe Doug hadn’t been hoping to see that

happen anyway. He’d hinted that he had some changes in the works

for the store, though gave her no details. Doug was always one to hold

his cards close, not letting others know what he was up to until the

last minute.

It was a long evening for her, and by the time she fell into bed at

eleven thirty, she was beyond exhausted, and her body simply ached.

If Ash could see her now, he would fuss, and she’d have nobody but

herself to blame. Using her arms and shoulders too much throughout

the evening had made the pain in her back almost unbearable. During

the evening, she’d hadn’t taken the pain reliever because it upset her

stomach but took one right before she climbed into bed so that she’d

be able to sleep.

After waking up early, Juliana had struggled through getting

herself ready for work then stopped to pick up breakfast tacos for all

the morning crew that had agreed to come in and help put the stock

away. She took another pain reliever while she ate because she had a

feeling she was going to need it.





* * * *



Ash found her in the stockroom, on the top step of a tall rolling

stepladder. Her smile faded when she saw his face. She lowered the

plastic-wrapped dresses on the extension pole to the employee waiting

below then slowly descended down the steps. Ash held his peace

while she gave directions to the employee about what else needed to

be gotten down, and then she beckoned him to come with her through

the stockroom to her office.

“I brought some lunch for you.”

“Thank you,” she murmured as she opened her office door. The

succulent smell of cheese enchiladas from Rudy’s filled the room.



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“Oh, that is heavenly. Okay, you can fuss at me now,” she said as she