Something passes between us, and I hope like hell Tess and Holt didn’t pick up on it.
“I’m sure I’ll hear something soon.” Herhand tightens around her glass before she sets it down slowly and smooths her napkin over her lap.
“You should have told me.”
The minute the words are out of my mouth, I know I’ve gone too far. It’s not my place. I’m herboss.That’s it. Everything else is…well, it shouldn’t be anything.
“I just mean?—”
Her phone rings, saving me from whatever I was about to say, which no doubt would have buried me in front of my friend and my daughter, if I hadn’t already done that.
“I’m so sorry.” Lilly grabs for her phone. “I’ll just—oh.” She looks up. “I should take this, it might be?—”
“Go.” Tessa waves her away, and she jumps up from the table, offering us a small apologetic smile on her way.
I watch her go because I can’t seem to stop myself. The second she disappears into the living room, it feels different. Quieter.
Holt leans back in his chair and clears his throat.
I don’t look at him. I know exactly what he’s thinking, and I don’t want to deal with it. Not now.
“That’s so strange,” Tessa says, breakingthe silence. “Lilly is the perfect candidate for…well… for any job in finance,” she shakes her head. “She’s totally overqualified to be your assistant, Dad. I just thought it might be a good way for her to get a bit more experience right out of school. She should have a million offers by now…”
“And you're sure you want to let her go, Luke?”
I risk a glance at Holt then. He’s stroking his beard, watching me carefully as if he already knows something. Orthinkshe does.
"Because from where I’m sitting,” he continues with a grin, “things seem to be working out?—”
“Lilly?” Tessa interrupts him, her eyes darting to the door to the living room. We all turn to see Lilly standing there, holding her phone, her face white, her eyes wide. “What’s wrong?”
“I know why I’m not getting any job offers,” she says, her voice hardly more than a whisper. “It’s Barrett. He’s blackballed me.”
Lilly
I didn’t believe it. Not at first.
But Clara has no reason to lie to me. Especially about something like this. I don’t know her that well, besides seeing her at a few of Barrett’s family functions over the years. Clara and my ex are cousins on his mom’s side, but from what I could tell, there wasn’t much love lost between them. Something about Barrett being a terror to her when they were growing up.
That should have been another red flag. Like so many other things.
“That was Barrett’s cousin, Clara, on the phone,” I tell the room. “She wanted me to know that Barrett’s been bragging about having me blackballed in the finance community. From Calgary to Vancouver and everywhere in between, it seems. He has so many connections, and it turns out he wasn’t afraid to use them.”
“What?” Tessa jumps up from her chair. “He can’t do that.”
“He can.” I nod. “And it seems like he did.” I keep my eyes off Luke.
All at once, it hits me. I can’t get a job. I’m going to have to move to the other side of the country.
“Lilly?” Tessa’s at my side, her arm around my shoulder. I blink and try to breathe through the panic that’s overtakenmy body. “Come on.” Tessa starts to lead me from the room. “The guys can clean up in here. I think you should sit down.”
I want to protest and insist on finishing dinner, but the words won’t come. I feel like I’m underwater or moving through quicksand, and I can’t feel my feet at all as Tessa leads me to the couch and we sit down gently.
“It’s going to be okay.” She takes my hands in hers and squeezes until I look up. I blink a few times, and finally, I focus on my friend.
“But…how? I can’t get a job, and I don’t want to move to the other side of the country. I mean, I could probably find something in a small center, but I really wanted to work with a top firm.”
Tessa’s lips curl into a small smile. “Youareworking with a top firm,” she reminds me. “My dad is the best at what he does.”
