Like it or not, this was where I needed to be at the moment.
“Listen, you need help, and I need a job. I’m plenty qualified, as you just pointed out, and I’ll stay out of your hair, and you already know I’m a hard worker.”
“And what about training for the Olympics? Are you going to do that in the evenings?”
I looked away for a moment before gathering myself. “You don’t need to worry about it. I’m not riding right now, and I give you my word that I will show up every day and work hard.”
His eyebrows cinched together as he studied me, as if he was trying to figure me out. “And you’ll stay out of my hair.”
“I will. I’m here for the job and nothing more.”
His jaw clenched at my words, and he gave me a slight nod. “Follow me.”
I tucked the keys to my Bronco in my small crossbody bag and walked behind him as he entered the large warehouse. Axel paused and pointed to the office in the back corner. “You’ll be back there.”
“Holy shit. Is that Wren Waterstone?” Coby Johnson wiped his hands on a towel and jogged toward me. He’d grown up in Rosewood River and we’d gone to school together, though he was a few years younger than me.
“Oh, hey, Coby. Long time no see.”
“Congrats on winning the world championships. That was something,” he said, shaking his head with a goofy smile on hisface. “I heard you had a pretty nasty accident recently, though, huh? You all right?”
I didn’t miss the way Axel’s eyes scanned me from head to toe, as if he was silently assessing my injuries.
I was fine now.
It had been a few weeks.
I’d won the Eventing World Championships just a few months ago, but then I’d followed up my win at the Worlds with a pretty disastrous fall at another major event last month. I’d spent five days in the hospital, and I was still recovering.
It was still hard to wrap my head around the fact that I’d been on such a high not that long ago, and now everything had changed.
“Thank you.”
“Get back to work, Coby.” Axel’s voice had a bite to it, and Coby nodded and waved a quick goodbye to me before walking away.
Axel led us to the back corner, and my eyes bulged at the mess. A small oak desk with a computer monitor had a pile of papers stacked on it, and a chair in the corner held a basket of files. The small window was covered with dark navy curtains with only a sliver of light coming through.
“Loraine left me in a mess when she took off without warning. I don’t even know where to tell you to start. I’ve had some help from family—they were pulling those files on the chair to try to get things organized and in some sort of system. That’s as far as we’ve gotten. The computer login info is in the top desk drawer.”
“Not a problem. I’ll figure it out.” I shoved my hands in the back pockets of my jean skirt as I glanced around.
“You know your way around, so I probably don’t need to tell you the kitchen is on the other side of the warehouse. There’s coffee and snacks. Everyone usually brings their own lunch, butif you need to leave to grab lunch, that’s fine. There are a few checkbooks in the top drawer if you want to go through those bills and get them paid. Just let me know at the end of the day what it amounts to and what our balance is. I like to keep on top of that. Let’s see, what else?” I waited for him to continue. “The hours are standard, eight to five. Did Brenner fill you in on all that and go over the pay with you?”
“He did.” I cleared my throat. “I brought a lunch, so I’m good to go.”
“All right.” He looked like he wanted to say more, but he didn’t. He turned and walked out of the office.
What more was there to say?
We were the best of friends our entire lives, until we weren’t.
And now we were complete strangers.
It was equal parts painful and comforting to be around Axel again.
I moved across the small space and yanked the curtains open, allowing the natural light to flood the room. I reached up and unlocked the window, pulling it open. The smell of pine and lavender flooded my senses and comforted me immediately.
I spent the next four hours going through the files in the basket, and then I got started on the pile of papers on the desk.
