Mary’s heart leapt once she saw who was calling her.
She tapped the screen and said, “Hannah!”
“Hey, Mary, how are you?” Hannah asked. She sounded okay-ish.
Mary couldn’t hold back any longer. She blurted out, “How is Lucile?”
“On the mend,” Hannah sighed, “Thanks to a small miracle.”
Mary fell back in her chair. “I’m so relieved to hear that.”
“Thanks,” Hannah replied. “I really appreciated your text yesterday.”
Mary smiled. “The whole team has been crossing fingers and lighting candles.”
“Well, it must have helped,” Hannah said, “because even the doctors are amazed she’s pulling through so fast.”
Mary rubbed the back of her neck. “Would it be okay if we sent her some flowers and a card?”
“Of course!” Hannah replied. “She would love that!”
“Great,” Mary said, grabbing a pen. “What room should we send it to?”
“Presbyterian, room 134.”
Mary wrote that down. “Okay, thanks!”
“I’m calling about Lex,” Hannah explained before Mary could ask another question about Lucile.
Mary pursed her lips. “Oh?”
“I have the impression you two got off to a rocky start,” Hannah said.
The clock on Mary’s cabinet drawer seemed louder than usual, Mary thought. She stared at it while she replied, “Yeah, I guess that’s true.”
“Lex didn’t tell me much last night,” Hannah continued, “It’s more of a feeling.”
Mary let her head fall back against the chair. She was still pissed off at Lex. She was even a little angry at Hannah for sending Lex here. And yet, she had not called her boss last night.
Sure, it had been tempting to pick up the phone and tell Hannah her cousin’s behavior was unacceptable. That she didn’t want to work with that kind of person. That she would resign if this was the new direction Hannah was taking Leroy in.
But she hadn’t. One reason Mary had kept her mouth shut was Lucile’s condition. Mary didn’t want to cause Hannah any more distress. There was something else that had stopped her from picking up the phone, though.
Lex had locked herself up in the bathroom for over an hour before sneaking out of the building after their fight. Karen had seen it all and had told Mary about it. Lex’s weird behavior had made Mary think there was more to her story than she knew.
“Mary?” Hannah asked. “What happened?”
Mary sandwiched her phone between her cheek and her shoulder. “Nothing, just the usual hiccups,” she lied.
Hannah was quiet for a few seconds. “I get the feeling you’re both keeping something from me. You don’t have to. I’m fine.”
It surprised Mary that Lex hadn’t spoken to Hannah about the fight. It would have been an excellent opportunity to spin things her way. Mary had sort of expected her to try to get away with it one way or another.
“Anyway, I think I might have an idea on how to help you two get along,” Hannah announced.
Mary grabbed hold of her phone again. “Eh, how?”
Hannah sounded very pleased with herself now. “By getting you out of the store.”
“Out of the store?” Mary repeated.
“Yes! The day-to-day stuff can make one focus on the details too much, you know? Obsess about the differences rather than trying to find common ground?” Hannah continued.
Mary got up from her chair. She had no idea what Hannah was talking about.
“I have tickets for Retail Experience Expo,” Hannah explained. “I can’t go because of my mom and I thought maybe you should go.”
Retail Experience Expo was the biggest retail conference in the country. It was *the* place to go to if you wanted to stay ahead of the competition. The tickets were expensive, though, and usually reserved for C-level executives.
The words tumbled out of Mary’s mouth. “Wow, that would be amazing.”
She could practically hear Hannah’s grin now. “I thought you would say that. It’s perfect for you, isn’t it?”
Mary had goosebumps all over her body. “It is.”
“Great, so you’ll go?”
“I’d love to! But what about the store?” Mary asked, her shoulders dropping. “And Lex’s training?”
“Karen can manage the store for a week, can’t she?”
Mary hesitated. “Yes, but …”
“And you’re taking Lex with you!”
Mary froze. “What?”
Hannah giggled. “What better way to find common ground than at a conference with the greatest thinkers in our industry?”
Mary covered her mouth to stop herself from saying something she would regret later. There was no way in hell she would go on a trip with Lex Emsworth.
“What do you think?” Hannah asked. Her voice was a little uncertain now.
Mary looked up at the ceiling, widening her eyes. “Eh.”
How could she explain she did not want to go to the fair with Lex? Hannah might think she was being difficult or obstructive.
“Don’t worry about the train tickets and the hotel,” Hannah offered. “Suzy will set you up with a comfortable schedule and a great room.”
Mary considered coming up with an excuse. What if she said she just remembered an important doctor appointment? No, that was lame.
“Great, thank you,” she said, resting her hand on the desk for support.
“Cool,” Hannah said, “I’ll call Lex and ask her.”
Mary straightened. So Lex hadn’t agreed yet? That meant there was hope! She doubted Lex would be keen to go on a trip with Mary. And she was probably a lot better at saying no to Hannah.
“Okay, I will wait for news before I start planning,” Mary said smoothly.
“Oh, I’m sure Lex will want to go,” Hannah chirped. “You can start packing!”
“Right,” Mary said, pinching the bridge of her nose.
“Will text you as soon as I have confirmation!” Hannah said.
Mary plopped back down in the chair. “Thanks, bye!”
She hung up and looked at the clock again. She had about 30 minutes left until the rest of the team arrived, Lex included. Mary inhaled slowly, rubbing her stomach.
All this tension was making her body ache in weird places. She hoped Lex wasn’t out for a confrontation again today. She didn’t know if she could take it. It was only Thursday of the first week with Lex and she felt more stressed than ever.
Lex’s job was to help out in the café today, Mary knew. “Maybe I can try to avoid her as much as possible?” she wondered. “Yeah, that seems like a good plan for now.”
*****
Later that day, Mary walked into her grandma’s part of the house. She was absolutely exhausted. She had spent the whole day trying to avoid Lex. Mary couldn’t remember ever being this relieved to be away from work.
She would have to face Lex again sooner rather than later, she knew. Hannah had texted Mary within an hour after their call. Lex had agreed to go on the trip to Washington. By noon, the whole trip had been scheduled.
Mary sighed and called out, “Grandma?”
She didn’t wait for a reply and barged straight into the living room.
“Hey, careful!” Elza yelped.
The door had bumped into something and Mary quickly pulled it back.
“You almost knocked me over!” her grandmother shrieked.
Mary peeked around the corner. Elza was climbing down a chair, her hands wrapped tightly around its back.
“I’m sorry,” Mary said, stepping into the room. “I didn’t know you were …” She glanced at the chair and back at Elza.
“It’s okay. I didn’t fall,” her grandma replied and straightened.
“What are you doing?” Mary asked, closing the door behind her.
“Putting up crystals,” Elza said, moving the chair aside.
Mary looked up. Sure enough, there was a small crystal dangling from a thin thread pinned to the white ceiling. It was an odd, decorative touch, she thought.
“It cleanses the room,” Elza explained, holding up another shiny crystal.
“The air?” Mary asked, frowning at the thing.
Elza chuckled. “No, dear, the negative energy.”
On any other day, Mary would have smiled about her grandma’s weird projects and beliefs. Tonight, she was just too damn tired. She sighed instead, “Can I have one then?”
Elza quirked a thin, dark eyebrow. It stood in stark contrast with her tousled, white hair. “Why do you need one?”
Mary put her hands on her sides. “I’ve had a really bad week.”
Her grandma strolled to the couch. “What happened?” she asked as she sat down.
Mary followed her and lowered herself into her favorite, wicker chair. “I can’t stand the new store manager.”
Elza crossed her legs. “The person replacing you?”
“Yes,” Mary replied. “She has no clue what she is doing. And she’s so rude!” Mary shook her head in frustration. “I’ve never met anyone so annoying, to be honest.”
Her grandmother giggled. “Don’t hold back, honey.”
Mary’s cheeks flushed. “I’m sorry. You know I usually don’t say stuff like that.”
“No, you don’t,” Elza agreed. “Why has she gotten under your skin so much?”
“I just feel like I made a big mistake. I should have asked who was going to replace me before accepting this new job,” Mary rambled, waving her hands around.
Elza tilted her head to the side. “How so?”
Mary slapped her hands on her knees. “Hannah should have told me she was going to put this woman in charge of my store!”
“Your store?” Elza asked.
“Yes!” Mary repeated. “My store!”
Elza nodded slowly and smoothed out the fluffy blanket lying next to her.
Mary pulled up her legs and wrapped her arms around them. “What?”
“Nothing,” Elza said, her tone playful. “Just that I didn’t know you bought the store. When did you do that?”
Mary glared back at her grandmother.
Elza continued unperturbed. “Hope you didn’t take out an advance on your inheritance … I plan on staying alive for a bit longer.”
“Grandma!” Mary balked. “Seriously!”
“What? Is that so weird to ask?”
Mary threw up her hands, nearly falling out of the chair. “Yes! I would never do anything like that.”
Elza wagged a finger at her. “And yet you think you get to decide what Hannah does with *her* store.”
“Ugh!” Mary blurted out, wrapping her arms around her legs again.
She knew Elza had a point. Plus, no one had forced her to accept the promotion. Mary had to let go of the store and the team. She just didn’t know how she was supposed to do that with Lex Emsworth around!
Elza got up and crossed the room to where she had left the chair. “Sounds to me like your job is to train this lady the best you can and then move on.”
“It’s not that simple!” Mary whined.
Her grandma held up the second crystal in front of a reading lamp. “Why not?”
“Because I’ll be stuck with this woman day and night next week!” Mary sighed in a final attempt to convince her grandma of her horrible fate. “I have to go on a trip with her!”
Elza stepped to the side of the room and peered at the ceiling. “You have to share a hotel room?”
Mary uncurled herself. “Thank goodness NO.”
Elza stuck out her arm above her head, falling way short of reaching the high ceiling. “Not day and night then.”
“You’re being difficult,” Mary grumbled.
But she knew her grandma was right again. Gosh, she was being a bit of a drama queen about all of this, wasn’t she? This wasn’t usually her style. This whole situation forced her to take a look in the mirror and she did not like what she saw.
“I really need to accept Hannah appointed Lex as the new manager,” Mary thought in resignation. She tugged at the little ring in her ear. “And I need to stop second-guessing my own choices.”
“Can you hold the chair, dear?” Elza asked.
Mary pushed herself up, determined to stop whining. “Want me to put it up there?” she offered.
Elza hesitated. “Okay, but don’t touch it.”
“Afraid I’ll ruin it with my negative energy?” Mary asked, her tone sarcastic.
“Yes,” Elza replied, tapping the tip of Mary’s nose affectionately.
Mary’s heart swelled in her chest when she met her grandmother’s gaze. She smiled and climbed onto the chair.
“I’ll make sure not to touch it,” she promised.