Free Athena's Daughter by Juli Page Morgan Page B

and Paul,
she’d gone downstairs and told Rondall he could take care of Wolf
until they left; she was done with them. The store was still
crowded despite the band’s absence, and Athena busied herself
mingling with the shoppers, making recommendations and trying to
drum up sales. It managed to distract her enough that she was
surprised when Rondall told her the band was gone. She tamped down
an unwanted wave of sadness, and nodded.
    “Glad it went so well today,” she told her
boss. “We made a huge dent in our stock of their albums, and sold a
lot of other stuff, too. I can’t wait to total up today’s
sales.”
    Rondall eyed her forced grin, and took her by
the elbow to pull her behind the register. “Okay,” he said, sotto
voce. “I don’t know what all the history is with y’all, but that
manager guy told me about the month-long job he offered you.”
    Athena was shaking her head before he’d
completed his sentence. “Don’t worry, Rondall. I told him I can’t
do it.”
    “That’s what he said.” Rondall cast an eye
around the store checking for eavesdroppers, and leaned closer to
her. “Athena, I don’t think you should be so quick to dismiss
this.”
    That was the last thing she’d expected him to
say, and she gaped at him in speechless surprise.
    “Look, honey, your job will still be here
waiting for you when you get back,” Rondall continued, laying a
hand on her arm for emphasis. “In all the years you’ve worked for
me, you’ve never taken a vacation day or a sick day. In fact, I can
only remember you calling in three or four days in the past seven
years, and those were when Elizabeth was sick. No, let me finish.”
He gave her arm a gentle squeeze when she opened her mouth to
protest. “This fellow told me how much they’ll pay you if you go
with them, and I hate to see you turn that down.”
    “But…but…” Athena attempted to marshal her
scattered thoughts. “I can’t just run off and leave you for a whole
month!”
    “For that kind of money you can.” He gave her
an amused smile. “I don’t think I’ve ever told you, but you’re the
best manager the store’s ever had. You took this place and turned
it around when both Eileen and I thought it had run its course. We
never would have made the changes you did that brought in a whole
new customer base and put us back in the black. And, too…” Rondall
dropped his eyes and cleared his throat. “With you running the
store, I had the time to take off and be with Eileen that last
year. That really means a lot to me, Athena.”
    She blinked away a sudden sting of tears.
Even though it was two years since Eileen Thompson died of a
swift-spreading cancer, the pain was still raw at the memory of the
gentle, caring woman who gave Athena the job that allowed her to
support Elizabeth on her own. Not only had Eileen hired her, she’d
taken Athena under her wing, and treated her like the daughter she
never had. It had been a balm to the wounds left by the cutting
disapproval Athena’s parents hadn’t bothered to hide.
    Athena swallowed a lump in her throat. “I’m
just glad I was able to be here so you could be with her.”
    “I appreciate it more than you know,” Rondall
murmured. “And so did Eileen.” He took a deep breath and
straightened. “And you deserve something good for all the hard work
you’ve put in. There’s no way I can afford to give you what you’ll
make with that band, so you should take them up on their offer. Do
that, and you can afford to get that house you’ve been saving
for.”
    And there was the rub; a house. Though her
salary rose throughout the years, she’d stayed in that run-down,
crappy apartment because it was cheap, allowing her to put a
portion of her money into savings with the goal of putting a down
payment on a house. She’d managed to squirrel away almost nine
thousand dollars, but she needed more than that to pay down to
where a mortgage payment would be affordable. To be able to