Page 29 of Ella and the Enchanted Bookshop

“That are getting us nowhere!” I interrupted. “The business is failing, Casey! You’ve claimed for years that these conferences are for ‌business. But since you’ve been attending them, we’ve not implemented a single new strategy. And now that–”

“Oh, so now that you’ve taken two years of credits over the course of five, you think you have the right to lecture me about business practices?” she snapped. “Save it for someone who actually cares what you have to say!”

“But that doesn’t change the fact that we’re running out of money!” I insisted.

“So what do you insist we do?” Casey retorted. “Feed the horses less? Fire Derrick?” She would have included Brianna, except that Brianna had quit the week before after getting a better job at a coffee shop. “You might want to rethink that raise you wanted so much.”

Anger knotted in my stomach. “How about you cancel the…” I pulled my phone out and checked the screenshot I’d taken of our bank statement that morning. “Ten thousand dollar conference!”

As I spoke, my phone chimed with the sound of an incoming text, and I glanced at the screen. It was from Asher.

“Do not open that text!” Casey hissed. “We’re not done with this conversation, and I am not paying you to flirt with the rich boy!”

Something inside me snapped. “So what if I’m flirting with the rich boy?” I challenged her. “What right do you have to object to my dating life?”

“I have every right if it’s affecting your job!”

“My life apparently is my job!”

“Then there’s your answer!” she snapped.

I let out a humorless laugh. “I don’t know who you think you are to control my life, but you are not my mother. You never even tried to be. And I am most certainly not your slave!”

She leaned back and folded her arms over her chest, her eyes shrinking to slits. “You’re right. You’re not my daughter. You’re just an employee who lives in my house. Which means I can throw you off my property any time I want.” She leaned forward. “And if kicking you out of my house isn’t enough of a threat, I can ban you from ever setting foot on this property again. You don’t like my leadership? Fine. I’ll make sure that you’re free of it. And that you’re also free of your room. Your job. And your horses.” She smirked. “And that would include Nevada.”

I knew better. I really did. But the threat to take my childhood horse–the one I’d helped my father deliver as a foal–the one who was still with me after my parents had gone–was more than I could take.

“They were mine first!” I said through gritted teeth.

“Perhaps.” She inclined her head before taking a sip of her coffee. “But by law, they’re mine now. Which means–”

My phone began to ring. It was Asher.

“Don’t you take that call,” she warned me. “I’m not finished–”

Ignoring her, I whirled around and made my way to my room as I answered his call. “Hi, Asher.”

“Whoa,” came his voice from the other end of the line. “You okay? You sound like you’re on the war path.”

I closed the door–probably harder than was necessary–and locked it behind me. Then I grabbed a fuzzy autumn-themed blanket off my bed, wrapped it around myself, and sank down onto the floor of my bedroom.

“Casey.”

“Ah,” was his response. “So you haven’t kicked her to the curb yet?”

I laughed almost hysterically. “I wish I knew how to without leaving the horses to her whims.”

He paused for a moment. “You don’t think she’d let them starve or neglect them, do you?” No doubt he was thinking about Tomcat.

“I don’t know.” I pulled my ponytail out and ran a hand through my loose hair. I really needed a shower. “I don’t think she would neglect them on purpose. But knowing her, she’d assign horse duties to Harper and Jaelyne. Jaelyne can’t stay focused on chores to save her life, so she’d get halfway through feeding time and run off whenever something distracted her. And Harper just wouldn’t do it. Or she’d do the worst job possible.” I paused. “Derrick would do his best, but she won’t give him enough hours to do what needs to be done.”

He sighed. “I can see your point. I’ll do my best to brainstorm, but my guess is that you know better than both of us what really needs to be done.” He paused. “On what I hope is a brighter note, I’ve just gotten the notification that a package should be sitting on your doorstep at this exact moment.”

I got up quickly and unlocked my bedroom door. Casey was nowhere to be seen, so I hurried out to the porch in my socks, hoping desperately that neither of my stepsisters had decided to pick it up. Much to my relief, a small shipping box was sitting behind our pot of yellow chrysanthemums. Snatching it up, I ran back to my room and locked the door behind me once again.

“I don’t suppose this is some expensive horseshoe for Tomcat,” I said while I cut the tape on the box. “Or that I’ll be getting three more in the near future?”

He laughed. “It won’t make sense at first, but it should soon.”