“Is this seat taken?” a gentle voice asked from two steps away.
When Austen opened her eyes and turned her head, she wasn’t surprised to see Dee standing in front of her, shuffling her feet.
Relief flooded her. Dee had searched her out. That was a good sign, right? A lump lodged in her throat, so she nodded wordlessly and slid a little to the side.
Dee sat on the bench next to her, close but not touching.
The inches between them felt like a deep rift.
Should she be the first to reach out and—?
“Um, here.” Like a peace offering, Dee held out a familiar box that said, Good things come in pink boxes. “You left your purse with your wallet in the office, and I thought you might be getting hungry.”
Dee had obviously braved the long lines at Voodoo Doughnut, three blocks away from their office.
“Thank you.” Austen’s voice came out a little croaky. She opened the lid. The scent of chocolate and cinnamon wafted out, making her stomach growl again. Two of the baked goods were Chuckles—donuts with chocolate frosting, dipped in chocolate powder, and topped with peanuts, caramel, and chocolate drizzle. They were her favorite. She picked one of them up, but then held it without taking a bite.
Their gazes met over the box.
“Um, that didn’t go so well, did it?” Dee said quietly and pointed her thumb in the direction of the office.
“No, it didn’t. Clearly, there are a few things we should have talked about much sooner. I just thought it was all going great and…”
“It was. It is for the most part. Everything has been amazing. I should have put this one setback into perspective and not let it get to me so much, but…” Dee drew a deep breath. “After all the shit I had to take from my uncle and the rest of the family when the Disney deal fell through, any kind of screw-up really puts me on edge.”
Austen put the donut back into its box and took Dee’s hand. “That wasn’t your fault, and I will never do what your family did and put the blame on you if something in our company isn’t going well. I hope you know that.”
Dee held her hand tightly. “I know. It’s just… I want us to succeed. I want Feathered Friends to have a first year that will blow everyone’s socks off.”
Austen had a feeling she knew why. Dee’s father telling her she didn’t have a head for business probably still stung. “To prove to your family that you can do it without them.”
A hint of red tinged Dee’s cheeks. She lowered her gaze to where she was stroking Austen’s hand with her thumb, then peeked up again. “That’s part of the reason. Is that so wrong?”
Austen squeezed her fingers. “No. I’m all for showing your family how wrong they were not to appreciate you more.”
“But?” Dee asked.
“But don’t you think there’s a different way to do that? I kind of liked the thought of getting to start over together, and Feathered Friends being a place where you don’t have to be Attila but can be just Dee.” She studied Dee’s face. “I mean, you don’t really want our employees to be scared of you, do you?”
“No?” Dee made it sound like a question and lifted one corner of her mouth up into a crooked smile.
Austen suppressed a chuckle and nudged her with her elbow.
“No,” Dee repeated more firmly. She looked into Austen’s eyes. “I especially don’t want you to be scared of me or of disagreeing with me. I’m sorry if I got a little…intense earlier. I don’t want to do that with you. I guess I’m used to being in attack mode while at work because it worked for me at Kudos. Talking nicely to people,” she shuddered and made a face, but there was a playful twinkle in her eyes that lightened the mood, “is a big adjustment. But I’ll try to stop the shouting, okay? I just ask that you consider that sometimes, clear words are needed in business, even in a small company.”
“Deal,” Austen said.
Dee blinked. “Wow. That was easy.”
Austen grinned at her stunned expression. “See? Sometimes, you get better results when you’re not trying to intimidate people.”
“Never worked with you anyway,” Dee said. “Not even on the very first day, when you dropped that tree topper on me.”
“Hey, stop telling it like that! I didn’t drop it on you; you were rearranging the lights on the tree because you’re a control freak, and it fell.” The familiar teasing soothed Austen’s rattled nerves.
Dee shrugged. “Tomato, tomato. So, that’s settled, then.” She reached for the apple fritter in the box and took a big bite, a clear signal that she was all talked out.
A goose waddled over and tried to snatch the fritter from her hand.
“Mine!” With a possessive snarl that made Austen grin, Dee shooed the goose away.
Austen picked up her donut again, but before she could enjoy it, she needed to know. “What are we going to do about the Kickstarter?”
Sighing, Dee lowered her apple fritter. “Not much we can do about it. I’ll call them as soon as we get back to the office and explain that it was all an accident, but I’m not sure that’ll make any difference. Worst-case scenario, we’ll either have to postpone the parrot-friendly Christmas tree project or find funding for it elsewhere.”
“Even if we can’t launch it this year, it won’t be the end of the world,” Austen said, trying to sound upbeat but not sure if she managed it.
“No, guess not.”
Austen slid closer on the bench, and they rested against each other in silent comfort while they finally ate their treats. They shared the second chocolate donut. When Austen reached for the last donut—one with pink frosting and colorful sprinkles on top—Dee stopped her.
“That one’s for Courtney.” Dee looked away under the pretense of wiping her sticky fingers on a tissue. “I guess I, um, owe her an apology.”
Austen couldn’t help grinning. “Aww. I knew it. Deep down, you’re just this big old softie.”
“Am not.” Dee used her Attila glare on her, which was rendered less intimidating because a bit of chocolate marred the corner of her mouth. “I still think we should fire her. Maybe you could ask your friend Sally if she wants to come work for us.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Why not?” Dee asked. “You liked working with her at Kudos, didn’t you?”
“Yes, very much so, but I want you to be able to start over with a clean slate, and Sally just knows your…um…”
“My charming Attila side,” Dee supplied.
“Yeah. Plus your family still isn’t talking to you, and stealing one of their employees won’t help improve your relationship with them.”
Dee waved her hand in a dismissive gesture. “I don’t care.”
Austen tilted her head and studied her. Someone else might have missed it and seen only the unyielding stare of her gray eyes, but Austen saw the hint of vulnerability around her mouth that Dee hid from the rest of the world. “I think you do.” She tenderly wiped that bit of chocolate from Dee’s face. “For now, let’s give Courtney one more chance. And should it really become necessary to fire her, let me be the one to do it.”