"How is Henry?" she asked, worry on her face.
"He's fine."
"I just want to apologize—" she began.
I grimaced. "It's fine. I have a tendency to overreact. I just… my brothers are all I have."
She looked up at me. "I understand if you want to fire me."
"I can't really afford to fire you," I admitted. "I need someone to watch Henry."
"What about inventorying the snacks?" she asked.
"What—no. Let's forget about that."
Tara knocked on the doorframe and stepped inside. Josie's eyes narrowed when she saw the marketing director.
"You have the visit to the hydroelectric plant," Tara reminded me, "with the city officials and the economic development director of the State of New York."
"Yes, I'm heading over in a few minutes," I replied.
"I thought maybe I should come along," Tara offered. "I am the director of marketing, and I think it would make a great advertising piece."
"That's a good idea. But I need Josie to watch Henry while I'm there doing the tour. Why don't you tell her what you need, and she can interview officials for quotes and coordinate with the photographer who's coming on-site to take pictures?"
Tara jerked back like I'd slapped her. "Josie?" she said, her voice rising an octave. "She wrecked your office, almost burned down the building, and made Henry sick."
I turned my palms up. "I don't understand what the problem is," I told Tara. "Josie can handle it."
"Can she?" Tara seemed skeptical.
"Can you?" I asked Josie.
"Absolutely!" she said. "I won't let you down."
* * *
Josie wassilent in the car ride to the hydro plant.
"Do you still want me to quit?" she asked after we had been driving for twenty minutes.
"Of course not," I said, glancing quickly at her then back to the road. "I shouldn't have acted so horribly to you. It was unprofessional."
"I shouldn't have given Henry the sweets. I didn't mean to make him sick." She turned around in her seat to look at my younger brother. Henry had fallen asleep in his car seat. "What did the doctor say?"
"That he should eat a salad," I said wryly.
Josie laughed. She had a great laugh—it was sort of a snort, and it sounded genuine.
She pulled a small notebook out of her purse and flipped it open. "So for the marketing stuff. I've looked through your marketing collateral. I think you need a brochure or commercial or something to highlight green energy. It shouldn't be for just the hydroelectric plant but for all the buildings in the complex."
"We have something Tara put together," I said.
Josie barked out a laugh. "That isnotgood, like at all. It's a small flyer with some random pictures and words."
"It's not that bad," I protested. I could feel her glare at the side of my head.
"Except it is that bad. You need to tell the story of your business—that you care about people's health and their environment."
