"We have meetings in the morning," Greg told me.
"Is Hunter going to be there?" I could feel the scowl form on my face. Greg's look confirmed my suspicions. "You all were supposed to help with the kids," I said. This was a usual topic of conversation whenever I was with my brothers.
"Get Garrett to do it." Greg's tone was dismissive. I looked across the hall to Garrett's office. Through the glass walls, I could see him studiously ignoring us.
"You've handled it thus far," Greg said with a sigh. "It isn't as if anything's changed."
"Yes, it has. All the college-aged kids are back at school after spring break. It's just me."
"You're so dramatic."
"Adrian can help," Archer said.
"Adrian is not a babysitter," Greg countered. "He's supposed to be learning about how to run a company. That's why I procured an assistant for you."
"Yes, and she's just a fantastic assistant—very organized and efficient," I said.
"I detect a hint of sarcasm," Archer said, snickering.
"I think I need to fire her," I told Greg.
"No," Greg said. "You're not going to make Adrian do that menial work."
"She's incompetent, disorganized, and she eats candy," I countered.
"The horror," Greg said. "Marnie highly recommended Josie. I know you hate surprises, but give her a chance."
"I'm the CEO. I make the decisions here. This ismycompany."
"That I invested in."
Dealing with Greg was so frustrating. "I'm going to fire her anyway."
"Do not," Greg warned. "Garrett and I talked about it. Garrett was adamant that you needed an assistant."
I clamped my mouth closed. If Garrett had decided that I needed an assistant, I didn't really want to blatantly cross him by firing her. He had a habit of screwing you over if you didn't do what he wanted. I had a suspicion that he was one of the reasons the younger boys were being shipped off to us instead of dumped in the desert, which was what usually happened in polygamist cults.
"The only reason you hate her is because she said something mean about your PowerPoint!" Archer hooted. "You need someone to keep your ego in check. This will be good for you. It will give you something to fixate on," Archer joked.
"Go home, Mace," Greg said, disentangling Henry from Archer.
"I just need to finish up my presentation," I said.
"Have Josie do it," Archer called out as he and Greg left.
Henry played on my phone while I typed out some more notes. But I couldn't concentrate over the clang of the specialized cleaning machine the custodian was using to remove the printer toner stain from the floor. The racket made me even more furious with Josie.
A thought came to me, cutting through the noise and frustration: just because I couldn't fire Josie didn't mean I couldn't make her quit. After today, she seemed like she was on her way to quitting. I smiled, the headache lessening. Then maybe we could regain some order.
9
Josie
"This was the worst first day ever," I said to Marnie over the phone. It was on speaker in my lap while I tried to maneuver the truck and tiny house combo through the town to the general store. At least it wasn't raining. "I think Mace is going to fire me." I was on the verge of tears.
"It's fine. Don't worry about it," Marnie said soothingly. "Everyone's first day is rough."
"No, you don't understand." I paused and sneezed. The acrid smell of the toner stung my nose. I hadn't been able to remove all of it. I had tried to blot it with paper towels in the restroom but just succeeded in smearing it around on my shirt.
