Abby patted her thigh affectionately. “You don’t have to apologize for it, Nic. That’s why I gave it to you. I had hoped you wouldn’t shove it into a dark closet and forget about it.” She stabbed a forkful of eggs. “This is delicious, by the way.”

“Thank you. It’s the cheese that puts it over the top.”

“Mmm.”

“So, who were you with last night?”

“Marcos? He’s a friend from college. We have dinner occasionally.”

“Do you think he’s worried about you? I mean, you just kinda disappeared on him.”

Abby blinked at her stupidly. “I…I texted him,” she lied. Damn. She hadn’t considered that Nic would remember Marcos. She couldn’t very well tell her that Marcos had been in on the plan all along. The plan to find her and then go home with her. And that plan had worked to perfection.

Nic stared at her. “Oh. I guess I don’t remember you getting your phone out.”

“Yes, yes. It’s fine,” she said quickly. “So? How’s work? Have you been busy?”

“It’s starting to pick up. I’ve been busy with lining up our orders for spring. We’ve got three commercial nurseries that we order our flowers and plants from. I’ve been doing that for the last week.” Nic gave her an apologetic smile. “Sounds kinda boring, I know.”

“Boring? No. If I described my day of poring over sales reports and analytics and such, it would put you to sleep. Which is what it’s been doing to me.” She picked up her coffee cup. “I’m actually quite bored with my job. It’s challenging and stressful—both things that should keep you on your toes—but I think I’ve lost interest.”

“How long have you been there?”

“Since college. My first job.”

“You’ve got job security, at least.”

Abby shook her head. “No, job security doesn’t exist in today’s world. Maybe at mom-and-pop shops but not when you work for a multi-million-dollar corporation. There’s no loyalty. You can be the biggest asshole in the company, but if the profit margin is on target, you’re gold. And the reverse is true. You could be the most-loved person on your floor, but that doesn’t hold any weight when it comes to the bottom line.”

“So, it’s like looking over your shoulder all the time?”

“Kinda, yes. And truthfully, now that I’ve become a manager, some of the stress has eased. Because if things go wrong, you have underlings to blame,” she said with a laugh. “Of course, that only works for so long. Ultimately, it’s your team. If it continues to fail, it has to be you and not the team. I’ve got a good one, though, so there’s never any problems.”

“Who picks them?”