Linda made a reproving sound as soon as the other woman was out of sight. “Do you really believe that story?”
“Why would she lie?”
“Maybe because she’s hungover?” Linda pointed out.
“Even so, if her mother really is injured, the only person I’d be punishing by preventing Cassie from taking a longer lunch, is the old woman.”
“She doesn’t have a mother.” The words came from Tyler, and both women paused to stare at him in shock. He never offered an opinion when it came to the workings of her shop.
In fact, most days he barely managed to hide his boredom. He sat in his chair, read his newspaper, and did the crossword. Occasionally—when there were no customers around—he would saunter around the place, rolling his shoulders and stretching his arms and legs, and did a few of those on-the-spot jumps that people filled with restless energy like to do when they were forced to remain still for too long.
“What do you mean by that?” Vicki asked when it appeared that he would say nothing further on the subject of Cassie. In fact, he barely seemed aware of their stares. He was in the process of folding his paper into a smaller square, so that he could do the crossword.
He paused while reaching into his inside breast pocket for the silver pen Vicki knew he kept there, and his head came up to meet her stare. He seemed to mull over something for a moment before he shrugged and spoke. “I mean that the woman is a habitual liar. And you keep falling for her shit.”
“You can’t categorically state that she has no mother,” Vicki protested. “You know nothing about her home life.”
Tyler gave her a look that told Vicki that he knew more than she thought he did, and she glared at him as a repellant thought occurred to her. “Did you do background checks on my employees?”
Tyler stared at her mutely, his lips thinning.
“Did you?”
His gaze flickered to Linda who was also staring at him with wide eyes, and he heaved a huge sigh.
“I didn’t do so personally, no.” He darted another discomfited look at Linda. “But the company investigated their backgrounds, yes. I’m sorry, Ms. Linda, it’s policy. We had to ascertain that there were no immediate threats to her safety.”
“Uh, well…I mean, my life is an open book and all that,” Linda mumbled, but one look at the woman told Vicki that the knowledge that they’d taken a close look into her life creeped her out. And who could blame her? It was invasive. An unforgivable violation of her privacy.
“Look, it’s not my place to comment on anything to do with your business.” And the look in his eyes, told Vicki that already had serious regrets about getting involved now. “Which is why I haven’t said anything before. I thought you would have fired her long ago for being a terrible employee. But I’m getting sick of her shamelessly using her mother as an excuse for her lack of punctuality and absenteeism, when she has not, in fact, had a living mother for nearly ten years.”
“Are you sure?”
Tyler didn’t bother responding to Vicki’s uncertain question, merely gave her a long measuring look, before shaking his head, and redirecting his attention to his crossword.
“I gave you the information, do with it what you want,” he muttered.
Vicki and Linda exchanged glances. The other woman still looked freaked out by Tyler’s earlier admission, but her gaze was pointed, and Vicki knew what her opinion on the matter was.
“Kettle’s boiled,” Cassie announced, coming from the back office/kitchenette with a steaming mug of something in her hands. One of her unofficial duties was to make tea or coffee for Vicki and Linda, but after the first week, she would simply put the kettle on, make herself a cuppa, and consider her duty done.
There was no denying it, the woman was lazy, insubordinate, lacking in any motivation whatsoever, and terribly unreliable. Vicki really should have let her go long ago. But she had kept hoping that Cassie would see the error of her ways. And had told herself that firing a woman with an ailing mother to support would have been heartless.
Now—while she may not be entirely happy with how Tyler had acquired the information—she had no real excuse to delay the inevitable. Other than the fact that she was a complete wimp when it came to stuff like this. But in the end, the young woman was doing her business more harm than good. Just a week ago, Cassie had called in sick on a day when Linda and Vicki had been swamped trying to fulfill an order for a surprise birthday party. They’d really needed the extra pair of hands. But thankfully Josh had jumped in to help as much as he could. And even Tyler had been roped in to assist with the general fetching and carrying.