Sisters by Choice (Blackberry Island #4)(18)

She pulled Heather out of shipping to help with the surprisingly large crowd of people who had shown up for the 10 a.m. fair. Sophie looked at the twenty-five or thirty people in the parking lot and thought maybe she should have hired an office manager first. Or put some thought into the job fair. She wasn’t even sure how many people she needed and for what positions.

Sophie yelled for Bear as she dragged a rolling dry-erase board into the main part of the warehouse.

“How many people do you need and why?” she asked, pulling the cap off a marker. “You said an inventory person.”

“I said inventory control. There’s a difference. We need at least three more stockers and pickers. You know, at some point you’re going to have to look at robots.”

“Not today.” She wrote down inventory control manager, stockers-slash-pickers. “Do you really think we’ll find someone who has experience with inventory control during a job fair?”

“If we don’t, you can tell the employment agency. At least this way, there’s no fee.”

Sophie liked the sound of that. “Okay, who else?”

“We need more people in shipping,” Heather said. “At least two.” She hesitated. “I know I’ve only been working here a couple of days, but I’ve kept track of how many orders I can fulfill in a shift and even if I get faster we need two more people.”

Sophie smiled at her. “I trust your assessment.” She added shippers to the list.

“A janitor of some kind. You need people on the phones for order processing.” Bear thought for a moment. “Is the person on the phone an order taker?”

“We do all that online,” she said. “And we have customer service. I use a call center for that so it’s taken care of. Any problems they can’t resolve are routed to us but there aren’t very many.”

“Still, someone needs to have the responsibility. If it’s not a full-time job, then it needs to be lumped in with something else.” Bear frowned. “How did you do things back in California? Don’t you have your org chart? We can just duplicate that.”

“I don’t have one.” She frowned at him. “I’ve been too busy to deal with hiring people until now. I was here until ten last night, unpacking cases of cat food. How do you think everything gets on the shelves?”

“That’s not your job, Sophie. You’re not focused on what’s important. Just because you can do every job doesn’t mean it’s a good idea to spend your time that way.”

“There isn’t anyone else.”

Bear sighed loudly. “That’s what the job fair is for.”

They glared at each other.

Heather cleared her throat. “So, um, are these all the positions that are open?”

Sophie looked at the list on the board. “For now.”

“Who’s doing the interviewing?” Heather asked.

“I am.”

Bear rolled his eyes. “Of course you’re doing it yourself. Why ask for help when you’re so damned capable? Desks are getting delivered later today. You can put them together and drag them into place and while you’re at it, give the place a new coat of paint.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Your attitude isn’t making me like you more.”

“Good to know. I’m beginning to think you were successful in spite of yourself and not because of any skill set you have.”

“You did not just say that.”

“I did and we both know it’s true.”

Heather took a step back. “The kids don’t like it when mom and dad fight.”

Sophie forced a smile. “We’re not fighting. Bear’s being a big ol’ butthead. There’s a difference.” The man clearly didn’t understand how much work was involved with a company like CK Industries. No one knew the business as well as she did. No one cared as much.

Amber walked into the warehouse. “There are people waiting out there. They’ve formed a line. I didn’t think you expected me to wait in that.” She paused expectantly. “I’m here.”

Sophie wished there was an alternative to hiring Amber, but couldn’t figure out what it might be. At least her cousin was walking a little more quickly and without help.

“Great,” she said. “You wanted to answer phones, right? So why didn’t you show up before today?”

“You never called me and told me to start.”

“But you knew I didn’t have anyone working here. You knew I needed help.”

Amber sighed. “Do you want me to answer phones or not?”

Sophie waved toward the offices. Amber walked into the first one, then turned back. “There’s no desk.”

“Yes, but there’s a phone.”

As if on cue, the phone started ringing.

Sophie pointed. “That would be for you.”

“But there’s no desk. There’s no paper or pen or computer and there’s no desk.”

The phone continued to ring. Heather jogged over and picked it up. “CK Industries, this is Heather, can I help you?”

Amber folded her arms across her chest. “I’m not working without a desk or supplies. It’s ridiculous. Why are you hiring people if you’re not ready for them? This is no way to run a business.”