Kate stares out the window. “I wonder what the holdup was. I don’t see anything.”
“It was probably cleaned up while we were sitting way back there. That would explain why we were sitting still for so long.”
“Probably.”
The rest of the ride back to Asheville is silent. She’s working on her phone. Thank God the ping noises stopped. I’m not sure how she deals with that. It would drive me up the wall.
All the cars, except ours, are gone when we pull into the back parking lot. Kate pulls out a set of keys from her bag as she opens the van door. I grab the delivery slips before stepping out. It takes her a minute to get the door unlocked. But as soon as it’s open, I follow her inside.
“Where do you want me to put these?” I hold the papers in the air.
She turns to see what I’m doing. “In the office is fine.” She checks over a large whiteboard they have on the wall by the coffee pot. I didn’t even notice it before. “I need to see if they’ve left any notes for in the morning.”
“Don’t y’all have everything on a digital calendar now?”
“It’s going to take some time for us to get used to that system. It’s brand new, and none of us are ready to give up the white board.”
To each their own, I guess. “I’ll be right back.”
The hallway to the office is dark. The light from the warehouse doesn’t make it through here, and I don’t know where the switch is to turn it on. Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I turn on the flashlight. The office door is open and the desk is cleared of any papers. I have a feeling Kai isn’t going to be happy with papers magically appearing on it. I add the van key before I forget it in my pocket.
Once that’s done, I head back toward the warehouse. Kate is still at the white board. She’s copying notes from the order she took before the deliveries. I think it’s sweet they are personalizing the bouquets that were requested. I guess it’s a perk of being part of the family. I don’t know all the details, but I’m pretty sure they all grew up together.
“Do you need anything else?”
She doesn’t turn around. “Can you make sure there’s nothing in the back of the van and lock it up?”
“Absolutely.” The air is colder as I push open the back door. The can is right outside and I pull open the door on the back. There are a few stems that fell off the flowers and I grab those before checking the lock. Then I head to the front doors and lock them by hand.
Hurrying back inside, I toss the stems in the trash. “Everything is locked up.”
“Thanks.” She sets the paper on the counter and heads toward the door. Grabbing the jacket she forgot earlier, she opens the back door. “You can head out if you want. I’m just going to set the alarm and head home.”
Nodding, I walk out the door. I’m not leaving until I know she’s safely in her car. As much as I would love to grab dinner with her. I feel like that’s not going to happen.
It takes a few minutes before she finally walks out the door. “Oh, you’re still here.”
“I didn’t mean to scare you.” I shove my hands in my pockets. Note to future self, bring a jacket. “I wanted to make sure you got out okay.”
“Um, thanks.” She looks everywhere but at me.
“Want to grab some food?”
She doesn’t answer for a few seconds, and I think she might say yes. “It’s actually getting pretty late. I think I’m going to call it a night and head home.”
“Okay.” I had to shoot my shot.
“Maybe some other time, though.” I feel like she’s tossing me a bone. Not that I blame her. I did tell her I could keep it professional. I’m failing epically in the respect.
“Sure. Sounds good.” I move to my car and open the door. “Night, Kate.”
“Goodnight, Xander,” she waves at me, “you did great for your first day.”
I wait until she gets in her car and drives off before I start mine. Working with Kate is going to be a lot harder than I thought.
Chapter Nine
Kate
