The Inheritance (Forever Bound #1) by Bree Callahan Page B

Charity.” He gave a weak smile, and she left his office. She had to fight for the tears not to fall, as they wanted to creep out of the corner of her eyes. She clocked in and walked out of the backroom. Now, she had no other decision to make but what job to apply for. She had to find something else.
     
    ***
     
    When Derek got back to the office, he noticed Lily was already back. He headed to his office, and it wasn’t too long before she was at his door. “Did you have a nice lunch?” he asked.
    She nodded. “I did…you?”
    He smiled. “Refreshing. Thanks!”
    “While we are gone, I received a call back from the records office, and they said the property has been abandoned for a little shy of four years. They’re doing some more digging to find the owner.”
    “Hmmm…” He sat down at his desk. “I’ll have to talk to Jesse and see if he knows the statute of limitations on abandoned buildings. Keep me posted and thanks for the update.” When Lily continued to stand there, he turned his head to her. “Was there something else?”
    She nodded and her facial expressions turned solemn. “I really don’t know how to tell you this.” She sat down in the chair across from him. This was never good. He could see it written on her face.
    “Well, obviously something is bothering you. I want you to be able to talk to me about anything. You’re not just an employee. You’re a friend.”
    She smiled. “The lunch today with Brayton wasn’t just about going to lunch with him. I’ve been holding back with the truth because I was scared to admit it, but he is moving to San Diego, and I decided to go with him.”
    He gazed at her. This wasn’t the news he wanted or expected to hear. Lily had worked with him for nearly five years, and he couldn’t imagine finding someone that could handle the daily stress of the job as she could. Yet, he couldn’t keep her from following the one she loved, if that truly was what she wanted to do. “Wow. So, when do you leave?”
    “Brayton goes in two weeks, and I told him that I would come whenever you get someone hired, and I get them trained. I won’t leave you in the lurch, so you take your time to find someone to replace me.”
    “I don’t know that anyone can replace you. You’ve honestly been an amazing person to work with. I could never thank you enough.”
    She blushed and looked down at her hands. “Well…honestly…you’ve taught me a lot, Derek.” She looked up and in the corner of her eye, there was a tear. “I’m going to miss you and Belfast.”
    He stood up and walked over to where she sat. He placed his hand on her shoulder, and she stood up. Without doubting his choice, he hugged her. “You’re going to be missed, Lily.”
    She sighed, pulling back from the hug. “I…I have work to do.” She twirled on her heel and hurried out of his office. No doubt it was an emotional decision for her. He walked over to his chair and sat down, then picked up his phone and dialed the extension for human resources.
    “This is Amanda.”
    “Hey, Amanda. It’s Mayor Worthington. Lily is going to be turning in her two weeks notice, and I hope you can put out a notice that I’ll need another assistant.”
    “Oh…I’m sorry to hear that. I’ll put it out right away.”
    “Thank you!” He disconnected the call and stared at his computer. He hoped he could get applicants right away, because there was a lot of work to do and not a minute to lose.
     
    ***
     
    Charity cleared a table when she noticed the door of the diner open. “Good afternoon, have a seat and—“ Her words fell off when she spotted Damian. He grinned at her. “Have a seat and I’ll be right with you.” She took the dirty dishes to the opening where the dishwasher would handle them and took a deep breath to approach him. Once she did, she didn’t hold back any punches. “Are you following me?” she asked between clenched teeth.
    He chuckled. “I thought you’d see it that way. No,