The Atonement (The Arrangement, #3)(10)

Tara passed me a slip as Brendan moved closer.

Finally at his station, he hid the cupcake and turned his attention to me, a too-bright smile on his lips. “How was your trip? Looks like you got some sun.”

“Yeah, a little bit.” I scribbled down my signature on the slip and passed it back. “I want to leave twenty-five dollars in each account. Transfer everything else into this account and then withdraw it all except for the twenty-five in there, too. I’m not sure how much that is exactly.”

Tara stared at the slip, then began signing into her system. Once she’d pulled up our account, she stared at me strangely, then turned to Brendan. “How much do you have in your drawer?”

“Not much. Mrs. O’Leary cleared me out. How much do you need?” He leaned over to check the screen. “Yeah, I don’t have that much. I can give you a thousand, maybe.”

“I just took in the deposit from Leo’s, but it’s mostly twenties.” She looked back at me. “Do you want this in hundreds or…”

“Yeah, as big of bills as you can do it, please. I don’t mind a few twenties, though.” It wasn’t as if we were talking about massive amounts of money. Even with our savings accounts, it would be less than five thousand.

“We’ll have to get into the vault for it,” she said, wincing.

“That’s fine. I can wait.”

She nodded toward Brendan, who grabbed his keys and jogged to the back.

“How are you feeling?” I hated making small talk when I had so much else going on, but it felt rude not to at least ask.

She seemed to relax at the question, rubbing her belly again. “Growing by the hour, it feels like.” She laughed, then raised a brow. “You aren’t leaving us, are you?”

“Hm?” The question caught me off guard.

“Taking all your money out and hitting the road.” She chuckled awkwardly.

“Oh.” I sighed. “No, not at all. Just a big expense. Hey, Peter hasn’t been in, has he?”

She looked worried then. “I don’t think so.”

“Just making sure. He said he’d let me know if he made it by before I had the chance, but I hadn’t heard from him. I guess if the money hasn’t already been withdrawn, that answers my question.” I waved off the question. “Anyway, I have a few things to take care of in my office. Will you let me know when you have the money ready?”

“Sure.” Her smile was small and decidedly unsure, but she gave it and I walked away.

In my office, I pulled up and checked my email, scanning through things I could ignore until I returned and responded to the few urgent matters. Next, I picked up the phone and dialed my boss’s office number.

“This is Tina.”

“Tina, hey, it’s Ainsley Greenburg.”

“Ainsley, hey.” She paused. “Are you already back from vacation? I thought I still had Mackenzie covering your branch…”

“I’m still out for the next week. Actually, that’s why I’m calling. I wanted to see about taking a few extra days off.” She was quiet for a moment, the silence dragging out, so I added, “I have the time. And I’ll work out whatever schedule the branch needs with the staff. I’m sure Kenzie or Becca wouldn’t mind covering.”

“What’s going on? Is everything okay?”

I nodded, though she couldn’t see me. “Yeah, it’s just a family thing. With my kids.”

“Well, how long are you asking for?”

“Maybe an extra week, I’m not really sure. I’d like to put in for all of the week after next, and then we can check in that Friday to see where I’m at.” Guilt weighed on me. “I know this isn’t convenient. Trust me, I do. But you know me. You know I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important. My family needs me right now. I haven’t ever asked for time off like this, not even when I had the kids. I come to work no matter what I’m dealing with at home. But this is important.”

She sighed heavily, and I could hear her typing something. “Yeah, okay. I know. It’s fine. We’ll manage. I’ll call Mackenzie to see if she can still cover for you for a few more days, and then maybe some of the other managers can cover a day or two. But keep me in the loop, okay? I’m counting on you to be back the week after that unless I hear from you.”

“Of course.”

“And make sure to put in the request officially, so I can approve it.”

“I’m doing that right now.”

“Thanks, Ainsley,” she said, though she didn’t sound thankful at all.

“Thank you so much.”

“Hey—” She stopped me just before I was able to hang up.

“Yeah?”

“I just wanted to say I hope everything’s okay with the family.” Her tone was softer then, almost apologetic. “Keep us posted, okay? Let me know if there’s anything I can do.”

So, I wasn’t too deep in hot water after all. “I will. Thanks, Tina.”

A knock on my door startled me as I ended the call and, when I looked up, Tara was standing in the doorway with an envelope in her hand. “Here you go.” She passed it to me.

“Oh, you didn’t have to bring this out here. I would’ve come and gotten it.”