“We all did.” I turn to see Indira and Nora, who worked her weekly shift yesterday, and my eyes well up with tears. “You guys, I…This is…Thank you for being here.”

“We couldn’t let you cross the finish line alone. What time is your meeting?” Indira asks.

“In about five minutes,” I say, blowing out a nervous breath.

“No matter what happens with Xander,” Cinderella says, “we want you to know how proud we are of you and how hard you’ve fought.”

“Working here has kept me young,” Nora says.

“And hot,” Eliza adds, bumping her shoulder against Nora’s.

“You didn’t just give me a job,” Cinderella says, getting choked up. “You gave me a home, a safe space when I needed it.”

Indira puts her arm around Cinderella’s shoulder, and Eliza steps in on her other side. We all move together in an awkward group hug that I wish didn’t feel so much like goodbye. Because no matter what happens, everything is going to change.

The alarm on my phone chimes, and my stomach clenches.

Cinderella offers me a sad smile. “Go give ’im hell, boss.”

—

Xander is ten minutes late. He walks in, looking out of place in a white linen suit. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s hopping a jet for a private party on a yacht in Bimini after this meeting.

“Lawson. Josie,” he says, approaching our table in the newly remodeled café.

“Xander, good to see you.” I stand and shake his hand, filling my voice with false cheer.

Josie remains seated in a counter–power move that I admire. More proof of her badassery.

“We’re going to have to make this short,” Xander says, grabbing the power back. “But I know you’re both eager to hear the results. And I’m happy to say both stores had impressive sales this quarter—”

“About that,” Josie says. “Ryan and I would like to make a counterproposal.”

Xander laughs, although he isn’t amused. “You don’t know my decision yet.”

Hades appears from wherever he’s been hiding and makes himself at home in Xander’s lap. I expect Xander to freak out—black cat, white suit—but instead, he starts to pet Hades. And my cat—the damn traitor!—starts to purr, tilting his head back in an invitation for Xander to stroke the fur between his ears.

Without hesitation, Josie launches into the speech we prepared, explaining how our numbers went from good to great because we started working together; that the combination of our strengths surpassed anything we could do alone.

Then it’s my turn: “That sharp increase you noticed in my sales over the last month—that’s because of Josie. She had incredible ideas for maximizing Happy Endings’ efficiency, from our organizational structure to our strategy for placing orders. It’s been a game changer.”