California Girls(90)

There were a couple of seconds of silence, then she saw the three dots that told her he was typing.

Imogene isn’t talking to me. She’s pissed and let me tell you, it’s hard to fight with someone when you live in a boat. There are no corners to retreat to. While I won’t admit you’re my favorite, you are a terrific daughter. I just hate to see you taking a chance like you are. What if something goes wrong?

She thought for a second. What if something doesn’t?

Point taken. I love you, Zennie, and I miss you. You’re right—I should be there for you. But really? A baby?

She sniffed. Yes, Dad. A baby. Let it go.

It’s gone. Love you, baby girl. We’ll talk soon.

She smiled. There were more tears—of course—but these were the happy kind. There were still multiple issues—Gina, her mother, work, telling her coworkers, actually being pregnant for eight more months, delivering the baby, recovering, eating kale—but they were doable, she told herself. Everything was going to be just fine.

*

Ali spent the first part of her vacation week working on her notes for her conversation with her boss when she returned to the warehouse the following Monday. She wanted facts and figures easily accessible. Once that was done, she had lunch with Finola, helped her mother empty a few cupboards and spent her evenings and nights with Daniel. The man was a god in bed and she didn’t care who knew it.

On second thought, she did care, which was why she didn’t mention the shift in their relationship to anyone, but she knew and that was enough. Their time together was amazing. He was funny and kind. He always wanted to know what she was thinking. He wanted her with him and he liked her sleeping with him.

Glen had never wanted to spend the night at her apartment and he hadn’t wanted her staying over with him. Ali hadn’t figured that out until recently. They’d usually had sex at her place and then he left. She wasn’t sure how they were supposed to have transitioned into an actual marriage, she’d thought when she’d put the pieces together. Had Glen expected them to have separate bedrooms or something? Not that she cared—the only significance was that there was another check mark on the list of reasons it was never going to work.

Thursday morning she headed for the motocross track. She had a lesson that afternoon but she wanted to spend the morning getting more familiar with Daniel’s business. She was meeting him for lunch, but before that, there was much to explore.

The tracks themselves were open seven days a week, as were the extra trails. The rentals and concession stands were only available on weekends during the winter months. In a few more weeks, they would stay open every day through the summer.

Ali walked into the huge garage area. Guys with bikes could rent space to do repairs or they could use the on-site mechanics, for a price, of course. There were plenty of tools, a lot of light and advice available.

She went through the swinging doors into the back where the parts were kept. This was her world, she thought with a smile. Long rows of metal shelves filled with parts for the rentals or for owners doing repairs. Only as she walked around she saw the layout was disorganized at best. Multiple-piece components were not clustered together, and refurbished parts were mingled with new. Some of the closest shelves were dusty from disuse while the parts she knew had to be used nearly every day were in the back. In a word, Daniel’s parts inventory was a mess.

She walked to a nearby computer and discovered it wasn’t password protected. She got into the inventory system and did a quick printout. After that, she played around and discovered that she could easily change inventory numbers, meaning theft would be a snap.

“Oh, Daniel,” she murmured. “We so need to have a talk.”

She took pictures and measurements, then started studying the printout. When he showed up with sandwiches and sodas, she’d taken over a desk in the back and had papers spread out all over.

“Homework?” he asked, his voice teasing.

She looked up. “Is it lunchtime already? I’ve been working.”

“I can see that. Want to tell me about the project?”

“Give me a second and I’ll meet you in your office.”

She retreated to the restroom to wash her hands, then grabbed her notes and joined him in his office.

“You look serious,” he said, sounding more intrigued than annoyed.

“You have a big inventory problem,” she said as she sat down and stuck a straw in her cup of soda. “No wonder you always need me to rush you parts. Your computers aren’t password protected and anyone can get into your inventory control. For all you know, hundreds of parts are just walking out the door every month. There’s no system for how parts are stored. If I didn’t know better, I would say you simply throw them on whatever shelf is available.”

He shifted in his chair. “It used to be like that, but I’ve made some improvements.”

“No, Daniel. I’ve made some improvements.” She shifted her chair to his side of the desk and showed him what she’d been working on.

“First I listed your parts by sales volume. Like every business, 20 percent of your inventory makes up 80 percent of your business. You need to keep those up front where they can be found and distributed easily.”

They went through her notes. She talked to him about doing spot checks and making people sign out parts.