The phone was still ringing, and I braced myself for the inevitable.
Voice mail, here we come.
But then a familiar voice answered, sounding not quite right. "Uh… hey, Maisie."
Was he sick?My irritation turned to concern. "Are you okay?"
"Uh, yeah. I'm fine."
I was happy to hear it, but less happy that he wasn't here. "So…did you oversleep?"
"Well…Iwassleeping, but…"
I waited, but he never finished the sentence. Finally, I asked, "But what? Is something wrong?" Silently, I ran through the possibilities.A failed alarm? Some sort of accident?I felt the color drain from my face.Oh, no…not a death in the family?
After a long silence, he finally replied, "No, I'm good."
I released a long, unsteady breath.Well, that made one of us."So…whereareyou?" I glanced at the mess beyond the fence. "You were supposed to open today, remember?"
He paused for a long moment, and I swear, I heard him suck in a breath. "Yeah, about that… I'm not coming in."
I stiffened. "What? Why not?"
"I, uh… got another job."
My grip tightened on the phone. "Since when?"
"Since, uh…yesterday. Sort of."
Sort of?What didthatmean? "And you couldn't call?"
"Sorry," he mumbled. "It just…came up fast."
"Seriously?"What the hell was going on?"Wereyouthe one who knocked over the bikes?"
"Me?" He sounded surprised. "No."
His denial landed with a thud. Was hereallysurprised? Or just faking it? I could barely choke out a response. "Okaaaaay…do you know who did?"
"Uh…no?"
I shook my head. "Was that a question?"
"No." His voice quavered. "I mean…no, I have no idea."
Was he lying?I couldn't say either way.
Already, I was in solution-mode, trying to plan several weeks ahead. Currently, the shop was open six days a week from nine until seven – closing only on Wednesdays. Once I got over thishump, I had been planning to add another employee and open seven days a week if the cashflow allowed.
I bit my lip.Trevor's defection wasn't a good sign.This, combined with this morning's unproductive phone call with the bank, was a perfect one-two punch to send me reeling.
I was still trying to figure things out when Trevor mumbled, "Maybe it was the wind?"
I couldn't help but scoff. "So thewindknocked over the bikes?"
His voice grew quiet. "You never know…"
Idiot.Not him.Me. This morning was the very first time I'd let someone else open on my behalf.
