Rosewood Lane (Cedar Cove #2)(29)

“As you know, we review employee performance twice a year.”

Janice squeezed her hands between her knees. “Is there an area where I can improve?” she asked.

If there was, Zach didn’t know what it would be. She was about as perfect an employee as he could find. “No, no. You’ve done an excellent job.”

“Thank you.” Her eyes shone at his praise. “It’s a pleasure to come into work each day. I like my job.”

She made it a pleasure for Zach to come into the office, too. Janice was organized. Her desk was orderly and she kept his appointments running like clockwork. When he arrived at the office in the morning, Janice was there to greet him, the coffee was made and the mail was on his desk. It was a stark contrast to his life at home. With so many committee appointments, Rosie often left the dinner dishes on the table or stacked in the sink overnight. The house was a continual mess, and even the most mundane tasks just never seemed to get accomplished. Still, Rosie was his wife and he loved her.

“I’d like to give you a ten-percent raise,” Zach told Janice. “The other partners are in agreement.”

“Ten percent?” she repeated as if she’d misunderstood him. “After just six months?”

“We’ve learned that if we want to keep good employees, we need to compensate them adequately. We’re happy with your work here at Smith, Cox and Jefferson. We hope that you’ll be part of our team for many years to come.”

“I’d like that very much.”

Zach didn’t have anything more to add. He stood, and Janice did, too. He walked her to his office door.

“I can’t thank you enough,” she said.

“I’m the one who should be thanking you.”

“A ten-percent raise,” she added excitedly, covering her mouth with both hands. “This is just great.”

Before he could react, Janice threw her arms around his neck and gave him a hug. As soon as she realized what she’d done, she blushed and hurriedly left. Zach figured it was just an impulsive gesture from a warm, emotionally generous woman.

But Zach enjoyed that little hug, and found himself smiling for the next few minutes.

At five-thirty, when the workday was technically over, he remained behind to finish up some paperwork. He wasn’t in a hurry to get home these days. Rosie was generally busy with some volunteer project or other, and Allison and Eddie were involved with their own friends and activities. Janice was closing down her computer as he walked out of his office at six o’clock.

“I didn’t know you were still here,” he said, glancing at his watch.

“I wanted to review these numbers one last time before I put the Mullens Company report in the mail.”

He smiled at her. It was exactly this attention to detail that had earned her the raise. “Good night, Janice.”

“Good night, Mr. Cox, and thank you again.”

As Zach turned off Lighthouse Road

and headed toward Pelican Court

, the smile left him. It was doubtful Rosie would have dinner ready. In all likelihood, she was preparing for some function outside the house. She never seemed to plan ahead for such events, and as a result she went into panic mode, shoving something that passed for dinner onto the table. Most likely, the meal would consist of some packaged crap she’d bought at the grocery store, something that could be slapped together without any effort. Some nights she brought home dinner from the deli. There was nothing he liked less than Chinese food that had been sitting under lights all afternoon. The deli-roasted chicken wasn’t half-bad, but he was as tired of that as he was of pizza.

Zach parked the car in the garage and loosened his tie as he entered the kitchen.

“You’re late,” Rosie said, rushing to place silverware in the center of the table. “Dinner’s ready.”

“What are we having?”

She reached for a container on top of the garbage can and read the label aloud. “Lasagna.”

“Is it cooked all the way through this time?” The last entrée she’d served was still frozen in the middle.

“It should be. I had it in the microwave for twenty minutes.” Then without a pause, she turned her head and yelled for the kids. “Dinner!”

“Are you going out?”

“I told you this morning I have my book club tonight.”

“Did you read the book?”

“Who has time? But I want to hear what everyone else has to say.” There was a decided edge to her voice, as though she disapproved of him questioning her about her activities.

Zach picked up the mail and sorted through it. He stopped at the VISA bill, which he’d paid off a month earlier. Slipping his finger under the flap, he slit it open. To his dismay he found a three-hundred-dollar charge from Willows, Weeds and Flowers.

He asked Rosie about it.

“Oh yes, I forgot to tell you. I used the card to buy flowers for the ladies’ auxiliary luncheon at the hospital.”

“Three hundred dollars for flowers?”

“The committee’s going to reimburse me.”

“When?”

“Don’t take that tone of voice with me, Zach,” she snapped. “I’m sure I’ll have the check by the end of the week.”

“That card is for emergencies only.”