The Tessa Randolph Collection, Books 1-3 by Paula Lester (best ereader for comics .txt) 📗

Tessa’s report. That was another thing she’d never have expected going into this job—that grim reaping came with paperwork.

The way Cheryl’s lips thinned let Tessa know her mother was onto her lie. But she didn’t push it. “If everyone’s ready, let’s move into the conference room. I’ve called this meeting to announce a few changes.”

Relieved that her mom’s gaze shifted to scoot everyone in the lobby to the adjacent meeting room, Tessa took the opportunity to stand next to her friend, Gloria, who bumped her elbow and grinned as they passed the threshold to the next room.

Cheryl continued, even before they were all in their seats, “I received word yesterday that our district manager, April, is leaving her position to take over the western district manager position. She’ll be moving from Chicago to LA within the week.”

Interesting. That didn’t seem like a promotion to Tessa but more of a lateral move. Maybe April fancied getting out of Chicago.

“As such, April’s position was vacant, and I have been promoted to fill it.” The centimeter that the corners of her lips twitched upward was Cheryl’s only outward indication of pride at the turn of events.

Around Tessa, people broke into applause, and she hurried to join in. “Will you be moving to Chicago?” she blurted out.

Cheryl’s smile widened. “Are you hoping for the answer to be yes or no?” But, immediately following the question, she waved a hand. “Don’t answer that. I don’t want to know. I think I’ll be staying here in Mist River, for the most part. More traveling will be required of me than before, but for now, this will be my home office.”

A chorus of congratulations and muttered well-wishes rang through the conference room. When it died down, Cheryl said, “Of course, this unexpected promotion meant my previous position was empty. But not for long. I’m happy to announce that, this morning, I requested that Gloria fill the job, and she accepted.”

There was more applause. Stunned, Tessa turned to her friend who beamed. “Thanks, everyone,” she said, raising her hands in the air and giving herself a couple little claps too. Then she dropped her arms. “Now. Party’s over. Everybody get back to work. No slacking!” She delivered the directive in a teasing tone.

The other reapers stopped by to shake Gloria’s hand at the door before heading out.

Now, Tessa realized that the conference room had been retrofitted. All of Cheryl’s things were here, even the framed Glamour Shot of her from middle school with an abundance of pink blush and heavy blue eye shadow. Had everyone seen that?

Soon, Tessa was alone with Gloria in the lobby. “So.” She crossed her arms. “Since you’re my boss now, does that mean we can’t have movie and ice cream marathons at my place anymore? Or makeup tutorials at yours?” Tessa tried to keep her tone light and teasing, but she was actually concerned.

Everybody knew that when one friend was promoted over another, it usually caused a chasm to open between the two. The dynamics of the relationship changed, and the friendship as it was before died.

But Gloria shook her head. “Don’t worry about that. We’re buds, and this isn’t going to have an impact on that.” She smiled, her perfectly applied ruby lipstick glistening as it caught the overhead light. “I’m planning to approach this job a little differently than your mom did. I see myself as more of a mentor than a boss.”

“Oh! That’s great. Because I’m in dire need of some mentoring right now.” Tessa wrinkled her nose. “I need help. Badly.”

“Business or personal?” Gloria asked.

Tessa thought for a second. “A little of both,” she decided.

Gloria tipped her head back. “Ah. Landlord trouble, right? Come on into my office, and we’ll hash it out.”

She’d already moved all her things into Cheryl’s old office. The only things that remained the same were the desk and the chair. Gloria wasn’t quite as neat as Cheryl. She seemed to have picked up everything off her old desk and put it on this one without any thought of giving it a new place. She had a few plants, one in the window and two in odd positions on the bookshelf.

Once they were safely inside with the door shut, Tessa’s new boss said, “Hit me with it,” and made a come on motion with her hand.

“So, Silas followed me to my assignment this morning. I’m not sure what he saw—not all of it. But enough to understand the guy was alive when I arrived and dead when I left.”

Gloria let out a low whistle and plopped into her office chair. “That guy is persistent.”

“Yeah. And he’s good at tailing people. He’s done it to me twice now, and I didn’t realize it either time. You know, we should really get better training when we become reapers, shouldn’t we? Like some kind of law enforcement drills or something.” Tessa crossed the room to look at some framed pictures on a bookshelf. Gloria with people who were probably her parents in front of the Cinderella castle at Disney World, Gloria in a cap and gown, and Gloria hugging another woman around the waist, all smiles. She pointed at the last one. “Who’s that?”

“We don’t have money for more training,” Gloria said without answering the question. “And, besides, people don’t usually follow us around. Your guy is only doing that because he’s specifically interested in you and what you’re doing.”

Tessa huffed and paced around the perimeter of the office. It felt odd to her—familiar but not. “Okay, so what do I do? I get the feeling he isn’t going to let this drop. He’d just going to keep following me around, trying to figure out what’s going on.”

“He knows you’re not telling him the whole truth,” Gloria agreed. “He can feel it. And it’s not fair to him to try and develop a romantic relationship with him that’s based on trust when you aren’t really being trustworthy.”

Tessa glared at her friend. “I’m trustworthy!”

“You’re lying to him. Every day.