Free Spurs and Heels by Heather Rainier Page A

to see you.”
    “Me, too. Darlin’, I’m not your boss, but please don’t push yourself too hard.”
    “I won’t overdo it. They just need someone to direct them and help out. If we can get it all off the five-highs and onto the sales floor, then they can stock it in the morning, but I’m looking at a mountain of boxes. That’s the part that has me worried because I know there’s Valentine’s Day merchandise in those boxes. It can’t stay back here.”
    “Cupid waits for no man. Don’t work too hard.”
    “Thank you. I’ll be careful. Bye.”
    Juliana sighed in relief. The worst part about all this was telling Ash she wouldn’t see him that night. She’d been worried he’d accuse of her of not being able to give up her workaholic lifestyle. She’d sat down with Leah and Evelyn earlier and talked with them, detailing a few changes she was making in operations. Juliana had Evelyn’s full backing in the changes, which shaved a full seven hours off of her work week. Leah was happy with the current status quo because it left her a lot of time to enact some of her changes, which still weren’t bearing fruit. That newsletter had to go. Leah hadn’t been recalcitrant about the changes so much as trying to figure out how she would accomplish it all.
    Welcome to my world .
    Being given more responsibility had helped Leah’s outlook some.
    Juliana had already called Doug to let him know. He didn’t keep up with her hours and had no idea that it’d gotten that bad, but he was still pushing for Juliana to let Leah make her changes while 70

    supporting Juliana as she turned over more responsibility to his daughter. She should have felt relieved, but there was a small part of her that wondered if maybe Doug hadn’t been hoping to see that happen anyway. He’d hinted that he had some changes in the works for the store, though gave her no details. Doug was always one to hold his cards close, not letting others know what he was up to until the last minute.
    It was a long evening for her, and by the time she fell into bed at eleven thirty, she was beyond exhausted, and her body simply ached.
    If Ash could see her now, he would fuss, and she’d have nobody but herself to blame. Using her arms and shoulders too much throughout the evening had made the pain in her back almost unbearable. During the evening, she’d hadn’t taken the pain reliever because it upset her stomach but took one right before she climbed into bed so that she’d be able to sleep.
    After waking up early, Juliana had struggled through getting herself ready for work then stopped to pick up breakfast tacos for all the morning crew that had agreed to come in and help put the stock away. She took another pain reliever while she ate because she had a feeling she was going to need it.
     
     
    * * * *
     
     
    Ash found her in the stockroom, on the top step of a tall rolling stepladder. Her smile faded when she saw his face. She lowered the plastic-wrapped dresses on the extension pole to the employee waiting below then slowly descended down the steps. Ash held his peace while she gave directions to the employee about what else needed to be gotten down, and then she beckoned him to come with her through the stockroom to her office.
    “I brought some lunch for you.”
    “Thank you,” she murmured as she opened her office door. The succulent smell of cheese enchiladas from Rudy’s filled the room.

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    “Oh, that is heavenly. Okay, you can fuss at me now,” she said as she closed her door behind him.
    “I’m not going to fuss at you, darlin’, though I do question whether or not you are living within your limitations right now.”
    “I’m used to doing that job. It’s easier for me to get up there and hand down what they need. Otherwise, they’d bring it all down at one time. I spent some time with Leah up there this morning, discussing the importance of separating the boxes by seasonal code before letting them stock the upper