“It’s already dirty, Dad.”
“Well, I don’t need to be called twice to come to dinner. Not when it’s Mom’s spaghetti.” He smacked his lips. “I’m ravenous.”
“I’ve had the sauce simmering all day. Just need to cook the pasta.”
Relieved not to go home to a houseful of noisy women, Leroyrolled down the window and yelled goodbye to his crew as Sophie drove off. It was nice to see her in such good spirits. Hopefully her workload was about to lighten.
“When’s your new office manager coming?” he asked as she drove up the knoll toward her house.
“Bree just called me. She said she’d be here tomorrow morning. Early.”
“Great.” He nodded eagerly. “She can have Sunday to get acclimated and then start work on Monday.”
“Yeah. And she said she’ll be arriving by motorcycle.”
“Motorcycle? That’s, uh, different.”
Sophie just laughed. “Who cares how she gets here, Dad? As long as she comes!”
He wasn’t so sure about that but didn’t want to rain on her parade. Hopefully this Bree person wouldn’t turn out to be some kind of wild child. If so, he’d have no problem letting her go.
Brynna’s plan to tell Jan and Mike that her mind was made up and that she was passing on the job offer quickly fell by the wayside. In fact, it seemed that while she’d been on her “think and pray” walk, they’d been plotting against her. Besides accusing her of leaving poor Sophie in the lurch, “slapping kismet in the face,” and being a coward, they both seemed determined to be rid of her.
“You’ll do Sorrentino’s while we do Yosemite,” Jan said when she got back to the RV.
“But I—”
“Just do it,” Mike cut her off. “Try it for a few days. What can it hurt?”
“What about Yosemite?” she pleaded. “I want to see—”
“You can do that anytime,” Jan said sharply. “I checked the map, and it’s only five hours from Sorrentino’s.”
“And Yosemite’s only four hours from here,” Mike added.“Which is why we’ve decided to take you on my motorcycle tomorrow.”
“Take me where on your motorcycle?” Brynna demanded.
“To Sorrentino’s.” Mike sat down in a camp chair. “Aren’t you listening?”
“You’re not listening to me!” She put her hands on her hips.
“Here’s the plan, Brynna.” Jan sounded like an authoritarian again. “Mike will drive you to Sorrentino’s in the morning. Meanwhile I’ll head to Yosemite. I want to arrive early and get a good campsite.”
“You’re just going to dump me there?” Brynna asked, turning to Mike.
He answered with a shrug.
“It’s all settled then.” Jan turned to Mike with a soft smile, continuing to ignore Brynna.
“You bet. I’ll join you at Yosemite by midafternoon.” He winked at her.
“So you two will be long gone, and I’ll be stuck at Sorrentino’s.” Brynna could see where this was going.
Mike nodded. “What a great place to be stuck.”
“What if it doesn’t work? What if Leroy throws me out?” Even as she said this, she couldn’t imagine sweet Leroy doing such a thing. But then, she had hurt him ... One could build up a lot of resentment in thirty years.
“You can call me if it falls apart,” Jan assured her. “We’re only five hours away.”
