the foster-care system. Eighteen and on the street. Exactly like her. Only he had been lucky and his foster family had let him stay until he finished high school. Sadie hadn’t been as lucky. She’d been put on the street the minute she turned eighteen, four months from graduation.
He was one of two people who knew her whole story. And she was the only one who knew his. Her instincts had been right about him. Given a chance, some guidance and sisterly affection, his loyalty had become a fierce thing. And she paid him well for all he did. He’d trained every new guy for years. He set the tone and enforced her expectations in guy speak that carried more weight than her rules and regulations. She trusted him like no other. This was why she hesitated to say what she’d brought him here to say. But she knew her hesitation was nothing but selfishness.
“I’ve been getting inquiries,” she said. “About if we would consider franchising. And Molly’s been logging at least five calls a week from the Columbia area asking if we take clients there. So there’s a potential market.”
“But you’re against selling a franchise. Don’t want to lose control over the quality.”
“Exactly. Here’s what I was thinking. Not a franchise, but a second office.”
“Uh-huh. Might work. Would keep you in charge.”
She sat back, tenting her fingers and pressing them to her lips. “I was thinking about offering it to you, Josh.”
He sat up from his sprawl. “Offering what?”
“To head up a new location. To be the manager. Get the whole thing off the ground. Hire the guys, train them, everything. You’re the only person I’d trust to do it, Josh.”
“Wow.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Wow. I’m, um— I don’t know what to think.”
“I’m floating it out there as an option. As much as I’d hate to lose you, I don’t want to waste your talents holding you here.”
“How would it work, though? I’d be the manager?”
“We’d have to sit down with Lena and a lawyer and work out the details. I wouldn’t be against giving you a franchise so you’d be the owner. I trust you.”
“I’ll think about it. My gut reaction is to say no because I don’t want to leave. But it would be a challenge.”
Sadie rose and walked around the desk. Josh stood also and she pulled him into a tight hug. “I wish you were my real brother,” she said.
“I am your real brother.”
She stepped back and wiped at her eyes. “I know. I’ll miss you if you go to Columbia. But I want it for you. I know you’ll do an awesome job.”
“I said I’ll think about it, Saff.”
She swatted at his arm. “Stop it. You’ll slip up one day and say it in front of the wrong person.”
After Josh left, Sadie took Jack for a walk around the block. An idea began forming in her head. She wasn’t the type to engage in a battle. It was far safer to ignore and evade. But this Marcus thing was starting to irritate her. When she got back, she called Lena.
“How much money is in the advertising budget?”
“None. You don’t advertise. I don’t budget for it. Why? What do you want to do?”
Sadie pulled open the bottom drawer and opened her stash of jelly beans. She needed a sugar high for this. “I was thinking of doing an ad thanking the people of Charleston for voting for us in the City Paper thing.”
“Uh-huh. I’m liking it.”
“A group shot. Of all the guys.”
“And you in the center.”
“Um. No. I stay out of the limelight.”
“Then I won’t approve the funds.”
“You have to. It’s my money.”
“Come on, Sadie. This is an awesome idea. Your gorgeous self, surrounded by all that hot beefcake, thanking the people of Charleston? Marcus will choke on his breakfast opening up the paper.”
Sadie picked out a cream and a strawberry jelly bean to eat together. While she chewed, she pictured the look on Marcus’s face when the ad came out. The image appealed to her after all his nasty comments. “You got names?”
Lena heaved a long, mournful sigh. “This is why I take you to those business association meetings. For you to meet people, build up a network.”
“I know. You got names?”
“Hold on.”
After scribbling down the name of a woman who ran an advertising agency, Sadie popped another jelly bean in her mouth. “I was thinking about going to see Abuelito this weekend. Would it be okay?”
“Better than okay. We can go together. He’d love to see you.”
“Can I wait until then? Should I go sooner?”
“There’s time. Not much, but time.”
Sadie ended the call and leaned back in her chair, propping her feet up on the desk and holding the jar of jelly beans on her stomach. Jack put his head on her thigh and sighed. She scratched his ears and let out her own sigh. “Oh, Jackie Boy. I don’t know if I know how to say goodbye.”
A brief rap on the door pulled her attention away from the jelly beans. Molly walked to the desk, holding out an envelope. “Mail for you. Looks personal.”
Sadie took the envelope. White business-letter size. Hand written and addressed to S. D. Martin. Her eye and breath caught on the return address: G. Rogers, Florence, SC. “Okay,” she said, dismissing Molly with a voice that sounded faint and tremulous inside her head. “Thanks.”
After Molly left, Sadie dropped the envelope. Florence. Where her mother lived. Rogers. Her mother’s married name. Grant, the baby her mother kept. The one she was pregnant with when she signed away her parental rights to Sadie. Throw it away. Tear it to shreds and burn it. She wanted—needed—nothing from those people. Still she remained frozen, her hands curled into fists framing the envelope. But how? Why? Had her mother told her new family about her? And how had he found her? Open the letter. Find out. Instead, she swept the letter into the top drawer. Out of sight, out of mind, right? She had a business to run here.
* * *
WYATT’S MIND KEPT going back to how Sadie had motioned for Josh to follow her once the meeting had ended. He was beginning to suspect Josh was much more than just another employee. The way he’d joked with Sadie about the dead cat, the way he’d passionately defended her against Marcus Canard and now the way they disappeared to her office together. Maybe Josh needed a little investigating.
He was on a tour of headquarters, following his preceptor, DeShawn, down the hallway, past Sadie’s office and the classroom and to the third door.
“This is where you’ll start every day. You’ll have an assigned group
