At ten minutes past five, Quinn sat in a chair in the center of a semicircle with six out of eight of Evie’s employees. The group was not a happy one, the vast majority slouching on chairs, legs spread, eyeing Quinn like she didn’t belong. The men in the group looked similar, all rough, outdoorsy types. Hard working. The skin on their hands cracked and calloused. Unmanicured, dirty fingernails. All of them wore ball caps except one, whose long, sandy colored dreads were pulled back into a loose ponytail.
The two women, if they were, in fact, two women, were complete opposites from each other. The first appeared nervous and shy. She wore a patterned pencil skirt and a white, button-up shirt. She looked to be in her mid-twenties. The second woman Quinn first mistook for a man. She wore no makeup, dressed in what appeared to be men’s clothing, and had no shape to speak of with exception to two small gumdrop-shaped breasts poking out from beneath her shirt.
At a quarter past the hour, Quinn made her first executive decision, deciding she’d given the no-shows more than enough time to arrive. “Thank you all for coming. I realize you’ve heard the rumors about me inheriting Evie’s business. It’s true. I found out yesterday. I wanted to meet with you today to give you the chance to get to know me, and me the chance to get to know you.”
Crickets.
She cleared her throat, continued. “Can you all tell me what you do for Evie?”
No one spoke up. Quinn pointed to pencil-skirt woman. “Why don’t we start with you and then go around?”
The woman batted her eyelashes in rapid succession like some kind of nervous tic. “I’m Felicity, office manager and Evie’s assistant. I mean, I used to be Evie’s assistant until she ...”
“It’s nice to meet you, Felicity,” Quinn said. “Evie was very fond of you.”
The man hunched over his knees in the chair next to Felicity grunted out a quick, “Rowdy.”
“What do you do here?” Quinn asked.
Rowdy snorted a laugh, flashing a less-than-impressed look at Quinn, like he found her question to be superfluous. “I’ll make this short and simple for you. I’m Rowdy. These others are Axel, Ian, Al, Carl, and Lin. Felicity works in the office. The rest of us, the ones who are here, bust our asses outside doing the dirty work.”
Felicity’s face reddened, and she sagged in her chair.
“I’m sure Felicity did a great deal for Evie,” Quinn said. “Office work is important too.”
“If you say so.”
Quinn let Rowdy’s negative attitude slide. For now. As the ringleader of the group, her challenge was obvious—win him over and win over the rest. Pleasantries out of the way, the meeting entered phase two with rapid fire questions. Would they be closing? Was she planning to sell the business? Were their jobs secure? Quinn’s efforts to squash their concerns with the truth fell flat. Not only didn’t they trust her, they didn’t believe her either.
At five thirty, just as the meeting was deflating, Ruby pushed the door to the office open and waltzed inside. Jacob followed in tow. Ruby sent him to play in an indoor playhouse in the corner, a wooden floor-to-ceiling structure Evie had constructed just for him. The playhouse looked like it had previously been owned by Tarzan.
“What are you doing here?” Quinn asked.
“I heard you called a meeting and thought I’d join in,” Ruby said. “If you don’t mind having me here?”
“You heard I was having a meeting?”
Ruby tipped her head. “Felicity called me. I don’t mean to be an interruption. Carry on.”
Carry on? With Ruby listening in, Quinn was at a loss for what to say next. She was too preoccupied, wondering what Ruby’s true intentions were by being here. “I ... umm ... was just answering some questions everyone had about the future of the business.”
“And how would you say it’s going?”
“It seems to be ... you know ... it’s going.”
“Mind if I have a short word with everyone?”
Although concerned about Ruby’s idea of “short words,” Quinn allowed it. “Go ahead.”
Ruby discarded her jacket on the table and walked to the center of the circle. “You’re all sitting there like a bunch of crybabies who have just dropped their lollipops in the sand. Whether your sad faces are over the loss of my precious granddaughter or your precious jobs, I’m willing to bet it’s the latter. Either way, Evie’s business doesn’t deserve to suffer for your foolish behavior.”
She had their attention.
“Suck it up and listen to what Quinn has to say, or you’ll answer to me,” Ruby continued. “Now, I know you all have your doubts. Some of you have called me. Some of you are flapping your gums in public, sharing your feelings about Quinn, a woman you don’t even know. Oh yes, I’ve heard. I’ve heard it all. I’ll say this one time and one time only—if you value your job, it stops now.”
“I’m sorry,” Felicity said. “I shouldn’t have—”
“Felicity, I’m not talking about you, dear. Calm yourself.” Ruby’s head craned around, stopping for a few seconds to glance at every other person in the group. “Quinn may not know how Evie ran things yet, and she may be different than what you were hoping for, but she knows how much this place meant to Evie, and I’d be willing to bet she’d give everything she had to keep it going.”
“I would,” Quinn said. “And I will.”
“You heard the woman,” Ruby said. “To keep things going, she’ll need all of you. You’ve been here, you’ve worked here, side by side with Evie, most of you for several years. Right now, you’re afraid. Even you men. Don’t bother denying it either. I certainly don’t fault you for your feelings. We all have them. Embrace your fear and then toss it aside. It’s all you can do.”
“What you’re asking,” Lin said, “it’s a lot. With Evie gone, we’re still trying to get our bearings.”
“You don’t need to ’figure out’ a damn thing. Get off your derriere and get back to work. You know who your clients are, and you know the routine. It’s business as usual. Burying my granddaughter was hard enough. I’m not going to sit here and watch her business get buried too.”
“And if we can’t?” Lin challenged.
“If any of you don’t have the backbone to stick around, I would encourage you to bow out now. Get up and get out. If you stay, you agree to give Quinn a fair shot. You agree to help her with anything she needs. Have I made myself clear?”
No one spoke. Ruby pressed further. “I need a commitment from each of you. Today.”
Felicity raised a hand high in the air.
Ruby rolled her eyes. “For goodness sake, child. This isn’t a grade-school classroom. Use your words.”
“I’m in?” Felicity squeaked.
“Speak up.”
“I’m in!”
The second time around Felicity’s words resounded with a forceful boom.
“Good.” Ruby continued to rack up verbal agreements from everyone in attendance, all except for one. “Cat got your tongue, Rowdy?”
“I ... ahh ...”
“I ahh what?”
“I don’t know, Ruby. You needing an answer right now, it doesn’t give me time to think.”
“I’m not leaving here without a commitment. Everyone else made one. You don’t get a free pass just because you ran things.”
“Like I said, I don’t know.”
“You’re done here, Rowdy,” Ruby said. “Get up, and get out.”
His eyes expanded. “You serious?”
“This isn’t the time to be half-assed with your decision. You either commit to Quinn, or you don’t.”
Although Ruby was being harsh, Quinn kept quiet. She’d deal with Rowdy later. Rowdy stood, his monstrous hands flinging the desk chair back. The chair slammed into the wall, nicking a two-inch chip into the beige paint. He flung the glass door open so fast when he went through it, Quinn thought it might shatter.
Ruby turned to Quinn. “Now then, is there anything you’d like to add?”
Quinn looked at Felicity. “Aside from Marissa, who else didn’t show up for the meeting?”
“Gage.”
“And what does he do?” Quinn asked.
“Same as us,” Lin said.
Ruby gave Quinn’s shoulder a squeeze. “You did say the meeting was mandatory, correct?”
“I did.”
“What do you intend to do about the no-shows?” Ruby asked.
“I’m not sure yet.”
Ruby pulled Quinn to the side, said, “You’re the boss now. It’s your call. The decisions you make today are important. They solidify you as one of two things—a person your employees respect, or a person they’ll abuse like a doormat.”
Quinn cleared her throat. She wanted to be firm, yet diplomatic in her approach. “Felicity, get me Marissa and Gage’s phone numbers please. I’ll give them both a call tonight. I’d like to at least give them the opportunity to give me an explanation. Chances are they didn’t take me seriously. If true, they’ll both be fired.”
Ruby nodded, pleased with Quinn’s decision. She called to Jacob. He came running. Quinn gave him a quick squeeze and walked him to the door.
“You’re going to do a great job, Quinn,” Ruby said. “I just know it.”
Quinn stepped outside. “I need to tell you something.”
Ruby reached a hand into her purse, pulled out a Tootsie Roll, handed it to Jacob and asked him to wait in the car. “What is it?”
“It’s Roy. He’s trying to leave town.”
Ruby drummed her fingers together. “Is he now?”
“We stopped by his place today—Bo and me. He was packing his truck. Said he was going to Wendover for a few days.”
Quinn relayed the rest of the story, telling her about Roy confessing to being at Evie’s the night of the murder, about how the police were still watching his house.
“I’m glad you told me,” Ruby said when Quinn had finished.
“After what you did for me in there just now, the least I can do is keep you in the loop. Like I said, the police are watching, so please, don’t do anything.”
In a way, Quinn felt guilty, like she was playing both sides. Telling Bo about Ruby’s intention for Roy. Telling Ruby about Roy’s intentions to flee. She was conflicted about which decision was right, or whether they were both wrong altogether.
Ruby patted Quinn’s hand with her own. “I understand your concern, Quinn. But we don’t want that slime leaving town. And believe me, police or not, he’ll try.” Ruby slipped an oversized pair of round sunglasses over her eyes and opened her car door. “Leave it to me, and don’t you worry. Roy’s not going anywhere.”