Give Up On Me by Tressie Lockwood Page B

kids are like family. We have to look out for them, Janae.”
    “We don’t have the money.”
    He frowned at her. “I didn’t raise you to care more about money than about people.”
    “You know me better than that,” she snapped back at him. “We. Don’t. Have. The. Money! I can’t pull it out of my a—”
    “Janae.”
    “Well it’s true. I keep the books, and I promise you I’m not being stingy or whatever’s running through your head. George wants overtime, but there’s nothing to give him.” She sat back in her chair and folded her arms over her chest. “By the way, when were you going to tell me about the apartment complex?”
    Guilt flashed at her from the chocolate brown eyes. “I was getting around to it. Don’t worry. I’ll work it out soon.”
    “Uh-huh.”
    He rubbed his nose, his gaze blurring as if he was deep in thought. “What if I give up my salary except for a few basics?”
    “Basics like food?”
    “Janae, please, try to work with me on this. Think of the kids.”
    She groaned. “All right, let’s try to brainstorm over lunch.”
    “Good. We can go to my favorite restaurant.”
    “Um, no. We can eat right here. If you’re going to cut your salary yet again, you’re going to start learning to budget better.”
    “But I didn’t bring my lunch.”
    She almost laughed at how he sounded like a little kid. “Not to worry, Dad. I brought lunch for both of us.”
    He looked doubtful until she walked to her mini-fridge and pulled out the goodies Matt had given her from his hotel restaurant. She lay out butter basted lobster, crispy sweet potato, and spicy rice. Too bad he didn’t give her any green veggies. From her stockpile, she provided them with paper plates, napkins, and plastic cutlery.
    “Oh wow, this looks as good as what I would have ordered at the restaurant. That Matt is a good man. Hold on to him, Janae. We might be able to eat good like this more often.”
    “I’m not using him for leftovers, Dad. That’s tacky. We can heat this in the microwave. Unfortunately, I didn’t bring anything to drink, but I can run down the hall to the soda machine. What do you want?”
    “No, stay right there. I’ve got something.” He disappeared from her office and returned with a bottle of wine.”
    “Dad, drinking on the job?”
    “This is non-alcoholic. It’s one of the products Bennett manufactures at one of his other holdings. He offered it to me when we met.”
    “Sounds good. Let’s break it open. I bet I have some cups around here, too.” Janae pressed the buzzer on the phone. “Monique, we’ve got some good food here, and there’s extra. Feel free to come in and fix yourself a plate.”
    “Thanks, Janae, but I’m good. My boyfriend is picking me up for lunch.”
    “Okay, well, have fun.”
    Finding herself starving and ready to eat, Janae piled her plate with food and sat down. She shoveled a big bite into her mouth and groaned when her cell phone rang. The number looked unfamiliar, so she let it go to voicemail and continued stuffing her face. When her meal was half devoured, she set her plate aside.
    “Okay, let’s get down to business, Dad. I want to help George and Annie, but I’ve got nothing. Have you come up with something that doesn’t mean you starve to death?”
    They kicked around ideas, her dad making suggestions and her shooting them down. When she came up with something, he shared information about another employee that might be adversely affected. They ran around in circles, getting nowhere.
    “Be honest with me, Dad. How likely is it that you’ll get the apartment complex back online?”
    He dropped his fork to his plate and set it down. “It’s not going to happen. This kind of thing happens sometimes.”
    “That’s bullcrap, Dad. We had an agreement. I didn’t like that jerk, Larry, but we were desperate. I had a feeling he was shady, and it turns out I was right, wasn’t I?”
    “Yes, you’re always right, Janae.”
    She sighed.