Page 44 of Kaden & Keegan
“I see you every damn day,” he countered, his ire rising. “Here. At home. You’re every-fucking-where I am, Gage. That not enough for you?”
The second those words were out of his mouth, Travis wished like hell he could pull them back, swallow them down. He hated the pain he could see in Gage’s eyes.
“No, actually, Trav, it’s not,” Gage bit out. “But hey, you do you, and I’ll take care of the rest.”
Travis didn’t get a chance to apologize or argue his point, because Gage spun around and stormed off, heading right for the doors leading to the employee parking lot.
He was tempted to go after him but changed his mind. He didn’t have the energy to fight with Gage right now. And this thing between them—the temper, the frustration—it would dissipate soon enough.
As soon as Travis found that bitch and put the hell they’d all suffered behind them.
*
“Oh, my heavens, Bristol, I don’t know how much longer we can go on like this,” Renee Bridgewater said from her spot at the small table in the daycare kitchen.
“I know.” And boy, did she.
For the third time this week, Jennifer, one of her part-time afternoon teachers, had called in sick, leaving them in a state of chaos because they’d been depending on her to show up since Bristol was already down one teacher. It was Friday, so she should’ve expected it. Fridays were the worst.
Always on time, always reliable Maggie had called in that morning, offering to come in despite her obvious illness. She would have, too, if Bristol hadn’t demanded she stay home. No sense getting everyone else sick. She knew Maggie would have to be at death’s door before she ever called in, so Bristol had known it was bad. The woman never missed a day if it could be helped.
Unlike Maggie, Jennifer wasn’t punctual or loyal. She was the one who called in about three, sometimes four times a month. The young woman lived at home with her parents and had a penchant for going into Austin on the weekends and not returning until … well, until she felt like it. And sometimes she set out for those long weekends early by skipping out on them on Friday, like she’d done today.
Unfortunately, this was the last straw. Bristol needed to be able to depend on her employees, and the other teachers didn’t deserve to be overworked and overrun because someone would rather be partying or didn’t feel like coming in to work because they were nursing a hangover.
“I’ll put an ad in the paper,” she promised Renee. “See if we can get someone in here.”
Renee nodded. “You should do that, yes. While you’re at it…”
Bristol glanced at the older woman, raised an eyebrow.
“I know you’re good friends with Kayla, which is why I think she’s avoiding talking to you, but that girl would be a great addition here.”
Bristol frowned. “Kayla? Kayla Spivey?”
Renee nodded.
“Why would she want to work here?”
“Well, for one, she just got her degree in early childhood education. And two, she’s been looking to find a place closer to home.”
How in the world did Bristol not know this?
“Why didn’t she tell me that?”
Renee shrugged. “Some friends don’t like to take advantage.”
“She could never take advantage of me. She’s one of my closest friends.”
“Don’t have to convince me,” Renee said. “And now you know, so maybe you can reach out to her. I think she’d be a good second-in-command. Someone you could rely on so you can take a day off every now and then. Maybe sneak in a vacation once every three or four years.”
A day off? Vacation? Bristol wasn’t even sure what that looked like. Aside from weekends, she spent every waking hour here at the daycare. Sometimes weekends too, depending on what needed to be done. And there were definitely times she would’ve preferred to stay in bed, today being one of them. After last night…
Nope. Not going there.
“I’ll call her,” Bristol decided.
“And you should still put an ad in the paper,” Renee added. “We could use a helping hand around here. Someone to replace Jennifer. Maybe full-time, though.”
