I sip the iced tea. Nice and cold. Doesn’t do much to cool my temper. But this old battle isn’t worth fighting anymore.
“What was the inventory order?” he asks, flipping through the printouts. “I didn’t see it.”
“I don’t know. Dice signed off on it.”
“What?” He whips off his glasses with an outraged glare. “I’m gone a week and he pulls this stunt. Inserting himself where he has no place. I told you, in no uncertain terms, I expected you to oversee everything.You.Not him.”
“I’m the one who told him he could.”
“You had no right to do that.”
I bite back the retort on the tip of my tongue. “He knows the inventory. Dice knows the business.”
“How would you know what he knows or doesn’t know?”
“It’s obvious. Everyone sees it but you.”
“He’s not to sign off on anything else, you understand me? I’m not having him rob me blind.”
“You can’t be serious.”
“Do I appear to be joking, Charlotte? I hired him because you and your mother badgered me into it. I never understood the soft spot you both had for that boy.”
While my feelings for Dice are… complicated, I still believe in fairness. “It paid off. He knows how to draw in the people, not just the locals. That’s money in your pocket.”
“And I pay him accordingly. I don’t owe him anything more.”
“You should have put him in charge. Not me. He deserves more responsibility. Not to mention your trust.”
“Dyson Jones will never have either.” He slices the air with his hand like it’s final.
“Becauseof his mother?”
“I’m not getting into that with you. You know how I feel.”
“It’s not his fault.”
“It wasn’t his fault when he stole from my car.”
“Jesus, Maurice. He was twelve,” I argue. “He took two dollars for a comic book. He felt awful afterward.”
“Awful that he got caught.”
“He didn’t have anyone to show him. He had to raise himself.”
“Raised himself to be a manwhore.”
I push to my feet. I just can’t with him. “I’m leaving before this gets ugly. But for the record, you’re unfair and ignorant.”
“And you’re a bleeding heart.”
“At least I have one.”
My mom’s waiting in the hallway, concern etched in every delicate line of her face.
“Don’t worry about it, Mom. It’s just our usual.”
“I was hoping your coming home would smooth some of the waters. He missed you.”
