“Back at the office. It’s important to make them bring the food to us so we can see if it travels well. Temperature is just as important as taste. We get more complaints about cold food than we do about what the guests ate.”
That made sense.
Marlise, Clarissa, and Annette weren’t back yet, but Dorothy was all smiles when they walked in together. “How is your first day so far?” she asked.
Rebecca forced a more enthusiastic smile than she felt. “It’s going great.”
“Great,” Jay echoed with a hint of sarcasm. He headed straight for his—well, their office, calling behind him, “I need to answer some emails. Let me know when the catering company arrives.”
Rebecca turned to meet Dorothy’s inquisitive stare, once again feeling like a fool because she tried to say the right thing, only to have Jay sabotage it.
Dorothy leaned forward conspiratorially. “Someone must be having a bad day. I thought the two of you would hit it off.”
“I don’t think he enjoys his job.”
Dorothy’s incredulous expression said she didn’t agree with that assessment, which made Rebecca curious. “So, he’s not always like this?”
“Like what, exactly?” Dorothy’s eyes twinkled.
“All business? Kinda bossy? Never mind. I shouldn’t have said that.”I’m so getting fired.
Dorothy laughed. “Don’t worry, honey. I love office gossip as much as the next person, but if I spread around everything I heard, no one would tell me anything. You’re free to be honest with me.”
Rebecca had already been too honest. And Dorothy hadn’t answered her question yet. They both glanced through the open door at Jay, but he was typing away at something and not within earshot.
Dorothy leaned forward again. “Jay’s a little skittish around beautiful women. Has been as long as I’ve known him. I’m thinking some girl broke his heart and he’s never recovered. But it’s only a theory, mind you. Clarissa doesn’t help with her pushy pursuit of him. They’ve worked together for five years, and she’s still hoping to sink her claws into him. I’ve never seen him give her even an ounce of hope.”
Rebecca’s mind whirled. Hadshebroken his heart? Surely not. Ten years had gone by. She doubted he’d thought much about her at all in the past few years. In the days and weeks after she called off her wedding when she was at her lowest, Jay never came back. He never called. Those weren’t the choices of someone who cared. No, she’d pushed him away, and he’d let her.
But more likely, this wasn’t about her at all. Maybe he was tired of this Clarissa person. Or maybe he’d just become a grouch.
“Rebecca, can you come here for a moment?” Jay called from his desk.
She answered his summons, coming to stand in front of his desk. “Yes?”
“Close the door, will you please?”
Rebecca put on a casual smile for Dorothy before shutting the door and turning to face him.
He closed his laptop and folded his arms, leaning back in his chair. “You haven’t told Dorothy about our history, have you?”
“Of course not.” Rebecca walked to the window and stared out at the courtyard, where two large blackbirds were fighting over a French fry.
“But you were talking about me.”
Rebecca would not dignify that question with an answer, nor would she back down from this fight he obviously wanted to pick. “Jay, you walked straight in here and told me to let you know when the catering company arrived. Which sounded to me like I wasn’t allowed to come in. So, yes, I stayed at Dorothy’s desk to chat. Is that a problem or would you like to send me outside until they get here?”
Whatever he’d been about to say in response never left his mouth. Finally, he closed it. She went back to staring out the window.
“I’m sorry. Can we start again?”
She almost said something snarky in response, asking how many do-overs they might need today, but instead, she nodded. She wanted to start over. Desperately. She wanted her friend back. Or maybe for the new versions of themselves to be friends. Was that so impossible?
