Circle of Shadows

by Curry, Edna

  “I’m sorry, Tom, but I can’t give you permission to do that without talking to Ken. I really think we should consult him on such a big decision as this.”

  Besides, that would give her a chance to talk him out of doing it. There was no good reason to turn the whole store upside down on the whim of one man, who probably liked doing it just to have all the stores in his division arranged his way.

  Tom eyed her thoughtfully. “Ken was the one who suggested that the store needed resetting in the first place, Lili. He said if I agreed, to draw up the plan, set a date, and he would arrange for some help for doing it.”

  Lili flushed in embarrassment. “I see,” she said tightly. “Well, in that case, go ahead.” Why-ever had Tom asked her anything? Damn Ken anyway. He had decided this without even telling her. He was just as bossy and domineering as her father had been; he had turned her whole life upside down in a matter of weeks.

  “Who does the grocery ordering, Lili?”

  “Anna, usually, but she’s not working today.”

  “Would you ask her not to order anything but the bare essentials until after the reset? The less stuff we have to move, the easier our job will be.”

  “Yes, of course. I’ve already told her not to reorder any of our former wholesaler’s house brands, since we’ll be replacing them with your line. Anything else?”

  “If I could borrow one of the stock-boys for a while, that would be a big help. He could hold the other end of my measuring tape while I measure and write down the footage of each aisle, and make notes of what is where now.”

  “I’ll send Billy to help you, Tom.” Lili did so, then retreated to her office, but accomplished little. Several sales reps interrupted her work. To Lili’s irritation, each was already aware of her impending change of warehouse affiliation, and wanted to know how that would affect her dealings with them, or to assure her that it wouldn’t.

  The grocery industry’s grapevine was working fine. Miles might separate the various stores, but news and gossip, good or bad, traveled between them as fast as a company rep’s car, or delivery man’s truck, and usually by that method. As a rule, she enjoyed the camaraderie of that friendly gossip. Today it bugged her, and it was all Ken’s fault. No, she thought, a mixture of pain and grief surging through her. It was her father’s fault. He had set up this whole change that was turning her life upside down.

  She couldn’t blame Ken for wanting her store to conform to the rest of his corporation. She could hardly expect him to have two sets of rules, one for her, and another for the rest of the stores. No, it was up to her to fit in with the others.

  She flipped through the fat new Allied grocery order book Tom Harris had given her, and spot-checked a few prices. Undeniably, Ken was right; Allied’s prices were lower.

  She spent some time going through the manual for the ordering machine, and then ran through a practice order.

  She would put the first order in herself. Since this would be a slow week for ordering and stocking shelves, she had given Anna a couple of days off. It was just as well, since Anna was not likely to be pleased at this development.

  About five o’clock, Arthur stuck his head in her office to say, “Will it be all right if I miss that video tonight, Lili? Tommy’s playing T-ball tonight, you know.”

  “Miss what video?” Lili asked, frowning.

  “You know, the one Mr. Mills is coming to show us at seven o’clock tonight? Remember, he re-scheduled it when he couldn’t get the video a couple of weeks ago?”

  “Oh.” Lili stared at her calendar. Written on today’s square was “Ken’s video at 7.” How could she have forgotten?

  She frowned, knowing how important going to his son’s ball games was to Arthur. Since his divorce, it was one of the few things he did with his son. Surely that was more important than watching a video. “Of course, Arthur. I’ll explain to Ken.”

  “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 Harr
is’ 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.

  Chapter 9

  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 th
e 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.