But…the time I spent at his home and socializing with him didn’t look good.
I’ve been determined to avoid that going forward.
One thing that will help with that at IES will be that Graham will be in Denver, and I will be here in Sapphire Falls.
Everett, I assume, will also be based in Denver. But when he comes to Sapphire Falls, if he’s close to my family, it will be obvious. My family, and all of their friends—okay, really, this entire town—has a hard time hiding their feelings. For better or worse. If my family knows Everett well and loves him, everyone will know that, especially anyone they hire from Sapphire Falls.
I blow out a breath. I am so tired of men being problematic in my workplace.
I probably shouldn’t work for Graham.
“This job with Graham is a bad idea, isn’t it?” I ask my mom as we pull into the driveway.
I have to remember that my mom and dad don’t know that Grahamownsthe company with Everett. Still, it’s a fair question even if Graham and I are just working for the same place.
There’s a rental car parked to one side, so Margot, Graham, and Everett are apparently here.
My mom looks startled. “Why would it be a bad idea?”
“Because everyone’s going to think I got the job because Graham is my brother. And I did.”
She laughs. “It’s not like you graduated with a degree in interior decorating and Everett is hiring you to lead a crew of astronauts to Mars. You’re very qualified for this job, Ginny. Your brother is intelligent enough to tell his best friend about you, and his best friend is intelligent enough to trust him. But of course, you’ll have to prove to Everett you can do the job. I’m sure he’s not going to hire you just based on Graham’s word.” She smiles and opens her car door. “Think of this weekend as a mini-job interview.”
Yeah, that’s a great idea. Not intimidating at all. And not at all a terrible idea.
I want to relax with my family for the holiday. I want to eat four kinds of pie. And maybe one kind of cake because, major pie holiday or not, that cake sounds awesome. I want to drink a lot of wine and watch a parade and some football.
Dammit.
I shove my car door open.
“You’re right,” I say. “Everett doesn’t even know me. So this weekend I have to make sure he knows meprofessionally. Just because he’s staying here for a holiday doesn’t mean thatwe’regoing to be friends or anything like that.”
I say it for myself as much as for my mother. She needs tonotstart treating Everett like another son. The cake and sheets are enough.
Mom frowns. “There’s nothing wrong with being friendly with your boss.”
Actually, there are many problems with being friendly with your boss. But beingpoliteto my new boss is perfectly acceptable. Actually, probably a good idea.
Polite. I can do that. For sure. But that’s it. I don’t want him to think that I’m trying to butter him up, or that I am expectingfavors. I can be polite and cool. Maybe even a little standoffish would be good. Nothing to put him off, of course, but I think I’ll stay away from the wine and maybe sit out any cutthroat games ofPitchorSettlers of Catan.
We head into the house, laden with bakery goods, and I dig for a good attitude. I don’t need wine. And I can stop at one piece of pie. And one helping of mashed potatoes. But I’m having two helpings of stuffing, I don’t care what my new boss thinks. But I won’t play board games because I’m very competitive, and I swear a lot when I do even if I’m not drinking.
If I want wine, I’ll make Harlow take me to Jefferson’s house and hang out on the couch with me, where we can watch too-early TV Christmas movies.
Or maybe I can convince Harlow, Jefferson, Graham, Margot, Carver, and Kaelyn to all go over there, and we can playSettlers of Catanthere.
No, that would probably be rude to leave Everett alone with my parents.
Dammit.
I come around the corner from the back hallway into the kitchen, and a tall, broad-shouldered man I am not related to turns to face me.
And I drop the three pies that I am holding.
“Clark?”
But yes, those broad shoulders and that dark hair and that mouth are connected to Clark Kent. The guy I spent the night with in Denver.
