"A Credit to Love" Chapter 2, Part 1

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Caitlyn arrived early to the store the next morning, the upcoming confrontation with Kara heavily on her mind.  She’d had to terminate other employees before, even assistant managers before—it was part of the manager’s job—but it never got any easier, and knowing that Kara was saving for her upcoming wedding made it harder yet.

“Wow, Cate, you’re early.”  Kara moved to the computer to clock in.

“Hang on a sec, Kara.”  The younger woman looked up in surprise.  Caitlyn continued as gently as she could.  “There was a problem with the tills last night.” 

Kara’s eyes widened.  “How bad?”

“A million dollars.”  The assistant manager laughed, and then realized her manager wasn’t.  “Are you serious?”

    Cate nodded.  “The customer called last night, absolutely livid, as you can imagine. And your name was on the charge slip, Kara.”

Kara’s eyes closed for a moment and she put her hands on the counter.  Caitlyn wished she would say something—anything.  No answer forthcoming, she knew she would have to continue.

“Kara, I’m sorry, but I’ll need your keys.”  The younger woman sighed, bit her lip, and began to rummage through her purse.

“When will I get my last paycheck?” She asked softly. 

“I’ll have to call Carl, but it should be within the next couple of days—probably Tuesday, I would say at this point.” 

Kara nodded silently as she worked the key off the ring.  She had tears in her eyes as she handed it to Caitlyn.

“I’m sorry, Cate.” 

Caitlyn touched her arm for a moment.  “I’ll be praying for you, Kara.  Please let me know if there’s anything I can do.”  Kara departed in silence, and Caitlyn realized that no one else was scheduled to open that morning.  Hurriedly, she double-checked the tills from the night before, made sure all the displays were presentable, and opened the security gate right at 10 a.m.  Customers were soon milling around as she dialed the phone numbers for several of her staff members.

“Alex, it’s Caitlyn.  Any chance you can come in this morning?” Alexandra Dohrman was a high school student who normally closed two nights a week and worked the short day on Sundays.

“What time do you need me?” 

“Any time starting five minutes ago works for me.  No one else is here until 2 or later.”  Caitlyn knew that Alex was smart enough to figure out who was missing from the schedule, but the teen didn’t ask, and Caitlyn didn’t offer any information over the phone.

“I should be there by eleven.”

“Great, I’ll see you then.”  Caitlyn dropped the cordless phone into the pocket of her half-apron and moved away from the cash registers, glancing around the store to see if there was anyone needing assistance.  A nervous man about Cate’s age was lingering near a display of porcelain bisque figurines.

“Welcome to Dawson’s, sir.  Is there something I can help you with?”

It was her, Greg realized immediately.  The voice was too similar.  He glanced at her nametag and saw that it read Cate and identified her as the manager.  He wondered at the unusual spelling, then realized she was still standing before him expectantly.

“You’re the manager here?” He asked, nearly shaking his head at his own stupidity.  The answer was obvious.

“I am.  Is there something I can help you with?”  There was no trace of impatience or irrtation in her voice, despite the fact that she’d asked the question twice now.  For a brief moment, Greg wondered what it would be like to get to know this woman.  It won’t matter once she finds out who you are, he told himself.

“Yes, ma’am.  My name is Greg Tanner.”

Where had she heard that name before, Cate wondered.  She was still trying to place it when the man before her continued softly.

“We spoke on the phone last night.”

It was him—the lawyer whose credit card Kara had mistakenly overcharged.  Now that he mentioned it, the voice did sound familiar.

“Mr. Tanner, I want to apologize again for . . . “

He cut her off.  “Actually, I’m the one who’s here to apologize, Mrs. . . . “

“Jordan,” she supplied, “but it’s Miss.  In any event, call me Cate.”

“Cate, I was terribly rude last night, and I’m sorry.”  The gentle, humble tone of his voice surprised her.

“I forgive you, Mr. Tanner.”

“Please, it’s Greg.”

Caitlyn felt emboldened.  “May I ask you a question, Greg?”  He nodded.  “Why did you feel the need to come in and apologize in person?  You have our number here.”

“Because I wanted you to see that I was sincere, Cate.  What happened last night was not your fault, yet I took it out on you, and there was no excuse for that.”

“Thank you, Greg,” she said softly.  A customer waiting at the cash register caught her eye.  “I’m sorry, but I do have things to attend to.  If you’ll excuse me . . . “

“Of course.”  He extended his hand, and Caitlyn shook it.  “Have a wonderful day, Cate.”  He stood for a moment and watched her move back to the counter, wondering absently where the rest of her staff was.  Greg shook his head and moved back into the mall.  The stores were beginning to fill, even at the early hour, and he wanted no part of the mob scene the day was sure to bring.

Caitlyn watched him leave, listening to the customer’s complaint about the selection of collectible bears and making a few notes on a scrap of paper.  The particular line the customer wanted wasn’t one that Cate had ever heard of, but she would see what she could do about ordering the pieces.  They would not, however, be in stock for Mother’s Day, and the customer made no secret of her displeasure.

“You call yourselves a gift shop?”  The woman huffed.  “It’s only the most popular line of bears in the world.” 

Either the woman was mistaken or someone’s marketing department was a bit exuberant, but Caitlyn knew better than to respond.  She repeated her commitment to ordering the pieces as soon as possible, and the woman was soon on her way, passing Alex as she muttered under her breath on her way out the door.

“What was that about?”  Alex asked as she moved to the computer to clock in.  Cate just shook her head and went to prevent a couple of pre-teens from destroying a display of glass figurines.  Despite their claims that they were “just looking,” Caitlyn had to stop herself from using a line she’d used with her three-year-old niece only two weeks earlier—we look with our eyes, not our hands.  The girls scowled at the store manager, and she watched them warily from her spot near the gift wrap display, which had a few bows out of place. 

Satisfied that the girls were doing no harm to the display, Cate went to the back room to bring more stock forward.  She had just returned to the sales floor with an armload of gift bags when she heard a crash.  Alex’s head snapped up from where she was showing glass angels to a customer, and she met Cate near the candles. 

Caitlyn nearly groaned.  Two large jar candles lay shattered on the floor in front of the wooden hutches.  The same girls she had spotted at the front of the store were standing agape.  One reached for the candles on the floor.

“Please don’t touch them,” Cate said softly.  Her voice was calm, but held authority.

“You’re lucky we didn’t get cut.  My aunt Tamara’s a lawyer, and she’d sue you.”

“Yeah, right.”  Caitlyn turned to Alex and silenced her teenage employee with a look.

“Girls, please step back from the candles.  I don’t want anyone to get cut, but I need to clean this up.  Alex, please go to the back and get me a paper bag and the vacuum.  Gloves, too, if you can find them.”  Alex gave Cate an apologetic look before retreating to the back room. 

“Do we have to pay for those?”  One of the girls—the one without the lawyer aunt, Cate noted—was looking fearfully between Cate and the mess on the floor.

“Of course not.” Her friend interjected before Caitlyn could respond.  “They shouldn’t have them in a spot that they were so easy to break.”  The first girl wanted to argue, and Cate did, too.  A quick look told her what had happened.  The girls had taken the candles off the shelves by the lids (despite a sign telling people to lift the jars by the necks, not the lids) and had taken a step or two, at which point gravity had taken over, sending the large jars crashing to the floor.  It happened at least monthly, and the jar lid in the hand of the first of the girls bore evidence, as well.

“Girls, are your parents around?” Cate asked.  She could see Alex returning with the cleaning supplies she’d asked for and hoped the teen would stay quiet.

“Why?  We didn’t do anything wrong, and we’re not paying for the stupid candles.  Let’s go.”  The more argumentative of the two girls started toward the front of the store.  Her friend, who still had the jar lid in her hand, looked at Cate with fearful eyes.  “C’mon Ashley!”

“Ashley?”  Cate asked softly as the frightened girl looked at her.  “Can you tell me what happened?”  The girl shook her head.  “Honey, you’re not in trouble.  I just want to know what happened to the candles.”  Caitlyn’s voice was calm as she gestured to the glass on the floor. Alex had arrived with the cleaning supplies.  “Thank you, Alex.  I think there are some customers up front who could use your help.”  She never took her eyes from Ashley, as she donned the rubber gloves and began to put the larger pieces of glass into the bag.

“We just wanted to smell them.”  The girl’s voice was so soft Caitlyn had to strain to hear her over the chaos of a Saturday morning at the mall.  “I wanted to get something nice for my mom, but Tiffany . . . “ Her voice trailed off and her eyes lowered.

“Is Tiffany your friend?”  Ashley nodded.  “Did she break the candles?”

She shook her head.  “We each had one.”  The girl’s eyes darted to the front of the store, where Tiffany was nowhere to be seen.  Horror filled Ashley’s eyes.  “Tiffany had candles.”

Understanding was nearly immediate for Caitlyn.  “Did Tiffany take some candles she didn’t pay for, honey?”  The girl was on the verge of panic, and Caitlyn didn’t want that.

Ashley nodded, and her eyes filled with tears.  “She said she didn’t have any money, and that no one would notice if she took a couple of little ones, because it was so busy.”

 “Where are your parents?”

“I slept over at Tiffany’s house last night, and her step mom dropped us off so we’d stay out of the way.  Her grandma is coming over tomorrow, and everything has to be perfect before she gets there.  Andrea said we would just make a mess if we stayed.”

Caitlyn mentally shook her head as she continued to clean up the glass.  It sounded like the poor girls had been dumped off at the mall and left to fend for themselves.   Cate couldn’t fathom the idea of leaving two children that young alone for the day—and now they had been split up, as Tiffany was nowhere to be seen.  Ashley slowly reached over to set the candle lid down on the shelf.  “I need to go find Tiffany.  Maybe she’ll bring the candles back.” 

“I hope so, honey.”  Caitlyn had done the best she could with the broom and dustpan, and was ready to go for the vacuum.  “Please tell her I want to talk to her when you find her.  My name is Cate, by the way.”  Ashley fled the store, and Caitlyn picked up the paper bag full of glass went to the back room.  A quick sweep of the area would pick up enough of the glass to avoid a hazard until the girls who closed the store could do a more thorough cleaning.  She pushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear, wondering what the rest of the day would hold.  It had been an eventful morning already.