Circle of Shadows (11 page)

“Thanks.” He disappeared.

Lili hoped all the others
remembered to come. With Anna out, and Arthur not coming, Ken wasn’t going to
be pleased.

She was preparing to leave for
her dinner break when Ken appeared in her office doorway, carrying a portable
television in one hand and a DVD player in the other.

***

Ken thought she had never looked
lovelier, though there was an ink smudge on one cheek, and her hair was a bit
tangled as though she’d been running her fingers through it. It was obvious
that she spent more time working than looking in a mirror. He liked that very
much. Most of the women he knew spent way too much time and money on
themselves, and worked as little as possible. “Hi, Lili. Where do you want me
to show this? In the coffee-break room?”

She glanced up. “Hi, yourself.
Yes, I guess that would be the best place. Here, let me help you.” She took the
DVD that was about to fall from his hand. Then, leading the way down the
corridor to the break room, she held the door open for him.

“Just put it up here,” she said,
clearing a spot on the table at one end of the room.

She watched him set everything
up, and check that the video worked. Then she helped him rearrange chairs and
explained that Anna and Arthur wouldn’t be able to make it.

“Too bad. Perhaps I should leave
the video, so that they could view it later. They’re really both in critical
jobs here, and it’s important for them to see it.”

Lili nodded. “Of course.”

“Did Tom Harris show up today?”

Her lips tightened and her voice
became guarded. “Yes, he was here.”

Ken straightened and glanced
sharply at her. “It’s almost six. We’ve got time for dinner before the others
arrive for the meeting. Let’s go down the street, and you can tell me what he
had to say while we eat.”

“All right.”

“Now,” Ken said after they’d been
served fragrant broasted chicken, “suppose you tell me what Tom Harris had to
say that has you so upset.”

“I’m not upset…” she protested,
looking up at him in surprise.

“Lili, it’s written all over your
face.”

She flushed, obviously
embarrassed. “He’s planning to change the whole store around.”

He narrowed his eyes. Hadn’t they
discussed that? He couldn’t remember. “It needs resetting. Didn’t you tell me
it hadn’t been up-dated since your father put in new shelving at least six
years ago?”

“Well, yes, but…” She drew a deep
breath, toying with her chicken.

“But what?” Ken watched her
nervous gestures, trying to focus on what was really wrong here. He had the
feeling that she was leaving something out, something important.

“Couldn’t it have waited a few
weeks? I mean, so much is changing so fast.”

“It’s easier to do it all at once
than to do it piecemeal.”

“I wish you had told me what you
were planning. Or don’t I have any say in the running of the store at all?” The
bitterness in her voice gave it a ragged edge and tore at him.

So that was it. Both he and Tom
were invading Adams’ Foods, and Lili still felt it was her own exclusive
territory. Well, it couldn’t be helped, and she would just have to get used to
the idea of him being the boss.

He reached across the table to
cover her hand with his. “I’m sorry. I told you we were changing to Allied. I
thought you understood what was involved in changing wholesalers. Each wholesaler
has its own set of numbers for each item in the store. So we have to change all
the numbers on the shelves before we can order through their computers.”

“I know that.” Lili shifted
impatiently, pulling her hand away.

Raising an eyebrow, he asked,
“And you understand that it makes more sense to reset the store before we
change all the numbers, because if we do it afterward, the re-numbering would
have to be done twice?”

“Yes, of course.”

Ken frowned. “Maybe I’m just
dense, but I think I’m missing the point here, Lili. Suppose you explain it.”

“Explain what?”

“Why you were upset about Tom
Harris’ visit.”

“Oh.” She looked at him, then
away. “I guess it was because I didn’t know what was going on. I mean—I felt
like such a fool.
I
told Tom that I’d have to check with you before giving him permission to draw
the plans for resetting. Then he said that you had already
okayed
it.”

“Oh,” he said softly. “I don’t
blame you for being upset. I guess I didn’t explain things very well the other night.
I’m sorry. I will try not to embarrass you in the future, Lili. Please don’t
blame Tom.”

Her smile returned. “It was
partly my fault, too. I rushed off after dinner the other night when my phone
rang. I never gave you a chance to finish telling me about it.”

The rest of the evening went
smoothly.

Ken carefully surveyed each of
the employees as they watched the video, then discussed it over coffee and
cookies. Lili made a point of using each one’s name as she spoke to them, and
Ken shot her an appreciative glance.

He knew that meeting with her
employees underscored his new role in Adams’ Foods, yet she was going out of
her way to help him get acquainted with them and remember their names. He
smiled. Maybe that meant she wasn’t really as angry with him as she thought she
was. Hope surged into a warm tightness within him. She was stirring him up like
no woman ever had.

When Ken arrived at Lili’s office
door late Monday afternoon, Lili’s heart skittered. He was casually dressed in tan
slacks and a patterned sweater in various tones of brown and beige. Today his
eyes seemed more green than hazel. He had never looked more virile and
appealing.

She was feeling nervous anyway,
at the idea of resetting the store. She didn’t need this unwelcome reaction to
him.

Smiling at her, he asked, “Have
you eaten?”

“No.”

“Good. I told Tom we’d meet him
at Lander’s House at five.” He glanced at his watch. “He should be there by
now.”

She slipped on a jacket against
the evening chill. He took her arm companionably, sending her pulse racing.
Walking out through the store with him she saw that Anna was working at the
till while Sally was out on her supper break. Arthur’s son, Tommy, was buying
some bubble gum from her and came towards them as they neared the door.

“Hi, Lili,” he said, giving her a
gap-toothed grin.

“Hi, Tommy.”

“Have you seen my Dad?”

“I think he’s taking a delivery
right now, Tommy. He should be back in a few minutes. Do you want to wait for
him?”

“Oh.” Tommy’s bottom lip
trembled. “No, I can’t. My Mom’s waiting in the car. I
gotta
go.” He spun toward the door.

“I’ll tell him you stopped. Have
a nice evening, Tommy,” she called automatically.

Tommy turned back, his luminous
brown eyes serious in his young face. “Sometimes we do, and sometimes we
don’t,” he informed her, then dashed out the door.

Ken, Lili, and Anna all looked at
each other, then burst out laughing.

“He’s such a card,” Anna said.

“Yes, but he doesn’t mean to be,”
Lili said. “He was so solemn. We’re going for supper, Anna.”

Anna nodded assent, barely
glancing at Ken.

“She doesn’t care much for me,
does she?” Ken asked ruefully as they walked down the street.

Lili shrugged. “It’s just her
way. Try to overlook it, if you can. Anna thought the world of Dad, and has
worked here ever since I can remember. She blames you rather than him for the
changes.”

“I see.”

Lili glanced sharply at him. “Dad
depended on her very much. Anna was his right arm in a lot of ways. She was
raised on a farm and worked like a horse. She never complained about the long
hours or low pay. Dad let her down, as well as the rest of the crew when he
sold us all out.”

Ken looked down into her face as
he turned towards her, holding the restaurant door for her. He saw bitterness
written on her features.

A coldness settled in the pit of
his stomach. Would he ever be able to overcome the legacy of resentment Robert
had sold him along with the shares in the store? Both Anna and Lili had seemed
so much warmer and friendlier toward him at his housewarming party. Were they
both really this upset over changing wholesalers and resetting the store? The
warm, pliable woman he’d kissed in the moonlight had disappeared.

Tom Harris was waiting for them
amid a cloud of pungent tobacco smoke. An ashtray on the table in front of him
already held several cigarette butts, testifying not so much to their lateness,
as to Tom’s speed in smoking them. He rose when he saw them approach.

Ken shook off his thoughts and
extended his hand to Tom. “I see you’re still on those cancer sticks. When are
you going to get smart and turn over a new leaf?”

“Never, I hope, Ken. I like these
cured leaves better.”

“Always the joker, Tom.”

“It keeps me sane. Evening,
Lili.”

Tom’s voice had taken on a more
cautious note on greeting her, Lili noted. She vowed to be extra polite to make
up for her earlier cold treatment of her new Allied representative. After all,
she would need to be on good terms with him if she wanted good relations with
her new wholesaler. As they ate, she made an extra effort to keep the
conversation light and pleasant.

After dinner they returned to her
office. Tom spread out the plans he had drawn for the reset on her desk. They
pored over them, with Ken and Lili asking questions and Tom explaining details
until all were satisfied they knew what was going where and why.

“Do you have the help all lined
up, Ken?” Tom asked.

Ken nodded. “Both of the pop
bottling companies will be sending new shelving and their own people to reset
their space. And I have assurances from at least six other companies that
someone will be here to represent their company. All of the managers from my
other stores will also come, some tomorrow and others on Wednesday.”

Lili stared at Ken in surprise.
“Really? I mean, that’s great! I didn’t realize we’d have so much outside
help.”

Ken frowned at the relief evident
in her face. “I told you we’d have help doing this.”

“Yes, I know, but ....”

He looked at Lili. “But you still
don’t quite trust me, do you?” he asked softly.

Lili flushed and tried to put conviction
into her voice as she denied, “Of course I do.”

Ken sighed and said, “Well, let’s
get started. If we get a head start tonight, things will go smoother in the
morning.”

Since Sally was back at the till,
Lili went to get Anna and two of the stock-boys to help them, and work began in
earnest. Ken instructed, with Tom deciding which sections of which aisles
should be reset first.

Marking one grocery cart “spots,”
Tom took it and began working at one end of the aisle. He took two of each item
from the shelf and put them in his cart to be used to judge the height and
width of the ‘spot’ needed for that item in its new location on the shelf. Then
Lili and Ken followed Tom with other grocery carts, emptying the shelves and
lining up the filled carts out of the way.

Lili was pleasantly surprised to
see Ken rolling up his sleeves and working beside the others. Somehow she had
pictured him as only the boss driving the Mercedes, not as a working partner in
her business. Now, reluctantly, she was having to revise that view. As the
hours flew by, he worked tirelessly. Once as she paused to stretch and sip some
coffee, she found herself admiring his strong arms and rippling muscles as he
bent to his task, remembering them bare as he’d swum in the pool.

He glanced up and caught her
gaze, sending her a warm and encouraging smile that was anything but
businesslike. Lili felt her cheeks grow hot. She turned back to her work,
trying to still the flutter that smile had caused in her stomach.

Anna was parking a full cart as
Lili went to get another empty one. “What a lot of work for nothing,” Anna
grumbled, frowning and stretching tired muscles.

“It is a lot of work. But we’ll
have lots of help for at least the next two days,” Lili assured her. “And I
think you’ll like the new arrangement after you get used to it. Go take a break
and look at the plans. They’re on my desk.”

“Thanks, Lili. I could use a cup
of coffee.” Anna smiled gratefully, and strode off to the back rooms.

Lili went back to work. She
looked up supplies and began cleaning some of the empty shelves. Ken helped
her, and Tom followed, ‘spotting’ the clean shelves with the new items that he
had planned for those shelves.

Lili found herself all too aware
of Ken working beside her, close enough for occasional touches, for constant
looks and thoughts. She was barely able to keep her mind on her work. Was he
affected by it at all, she wondered?

It felt warm and cozy, working
together under the fluorescent lights in the almost empty store. Few customers
wandered through this late, and those who did curiously asked what was going
on. Although occasionally one of them would have to find something for a
customer, Lili had to admit that Tom’s method of resetting one aisle at a time
and at the slowest time of the week, was working well. It wasn’t causing as
much disruption as she had feared.

By ten o’clock, Ken called a
halt. They closed up the store, and Ken took them all down the street for a
late snack. Even Anna thawed a bit, smiling at Ken as she said goodnight. Tom
was staying over at the motel, and left, saying his wife was expecting him to
telephone her.

Lili had walked down to work that
morning since the June weather had been gorgeous and she hadn’t expected to be
here after dark. Ken insisted on driving her home in his silver Mercedes, and
she sank back into its luxurious plush seat with a sigh of pure pleasure.

“Tired?”

“Yes,” she smiled. “But it’s more
from stress than work.”

“I’ll pick you up in the morning,
since we’ll be short of parking space with all the extra people coming. We have
to leave some spaces for our customers, you know.”

“All right,” Lili agreed, pleased
at his thoughtfulness.

At her house, he slipped his arm
around her shoulders as he walked her to her door.

“I’ll see you in the morning,”
she began, then stopped short as he leaned down and took her in his arms. He
bent his head and his lips took hers, gently at first. Then the kiss deepened
until the warmth that swept through her threatened to engulf her, taking all
ability to think with it. Her arms moved up around his neck all by themselves,
and her fingers wrapped themselves in the crisp hair at the back of his head,
coaxing him even closer.

“Lili, you’re driving me wild,”
he murmured.

His lips moved to the soft,
sensitive skin along the side of her neck, then hungrily back to her lips once
more. One hand lowered on her back, bringing her so close that she could feel
the firm bulge on his need between them. The fingers of his other hand slipped
under her blouse and pushed aside her bra. He teased her breast, saying softly,
“I’ve been aching to do this all day.”

The sound of his voice brought
her back to her senses. This had to stop. Whatever was she thinking? She pushed
against his warm chest. “Ken, please...”

He released her and ran a shaky
hand through his hair. “You’re right, of course. We’d better stop this while I
still can. Until tomorrow, then. Goodnight, Lili.”

It wasn’t a good night for Lili.
She lay awake for hours trying to sort out her mixed feelings for Ken without
success.

Early the next morning, Ken
picked Lili up. While she and her crew did the opening the store chores, Ken
and Tom began directing the other helpers as they arrived.

Lili dreaded the whole process.

The chaos that reigned as Lili
looked out over her store later seemed to bear out her fears. Everywhere she
looked men and women were busily moving things on or off shelves. Grocery carts
were piled high with groceries everywhere, leaving only a few carts for the
customers.

Lili had been relieved when Ken
treated her as though nothing had happened last night. This way, she, too,
could maintain a businesslike front, although her emotions erupted in turmoil
whenever he came near her. She had been introduced to so many new people this
morning that she had given up trying to remember names. Instead, she
concentrated on answering questions as best she could, and doing whatever was
asked of her at the moment. All she asked was to get through the day somehow.

Tom and Ken seemed to be
everywhere at once, quietly answering questions and directing what should go
where, often consulting the plans Tom had painstakingly drawn.

In spite of several grumbling
remarks she’d heard earlier, her employees all seemed cheerful and willing. In
fact, they seemed to be enjoying all the bustle and action, and the change from
their regular routine.

Lili was pleasantly surprised to
find that Ken could follow as well as lead and looked comfortable following
Tom’s directions. She was constantly aware of where Ken was and what he was
doing. From the number of times she found him working beside her, and the
intent looks he sent her way, she knew that he was aware of her, too. She
remembered what he’d said the night before, that he had been wanting to kiss
her all day. Was he thinking that again today? His glances seemed to say that
he was. The knowledge brought back some of the warm turbulence in her midriff
that his kisses had raised the night before.

As though her thoughts had
conjured him up, Ken appeared beside her. “It is rather a mess at the moment,
isn’t it?” he said, guessing her thoughts. “Tired?”

“A little,” she admitted,
thinking that had to be the understatement of the year.

“Let’s quit for today.” He
glanced around for Tom, spotted him in the next aisle and waved at him,
calling, “Tom? Pass the word, dinner at Lander’s House down the street.”

“Come on, guys, let’s eat. Ken’s
buying! Pass it on.”

Ken seated himself beside Lili,
and she was grateful for his presence. He tactfully used each person’s name as
they talked, helping her get acquainted with the many new faces. She was
finding it harder and harder to be angry with him, when he went out of his way
to make her feel comfortable and a part of his organization.