Page 40 of Worth the Fall
NEW BEST FRIEND
BROOKLYN
Working at Sugar Mountain Resort the past few weeks had been overwhelming and exciting. I’d trained with Sierra the entire time, learning the ins and outs of the job, and this was the first full week that I’d been on my own.
Sierra was officially gone and living in Cherry Cove. I promised not to call... too much. But she had told me her phone was always on while I was still learning the ropes.
The job duties were vastly different than what I’d been doing at Kleinfeld’s, but I loved it. It was challenging, but in a way I admired and couldn’t wait to tackle and make my own. This was going to be such an awesome place to work, and I had known almost immediately that I’d never want to leave.
The staff, who technically worked for me, had been slightly hesitant at first, but they’d all seemed to come around lately. I felt like I had Maribel to thank for their quick change in attitude. A couple of the younger part-time employees seemed irked that the job hadn’t at least been offered to them, but I chalked it up to their generation and didn’t take it personally. They wanted opportunities handed to them, even when they weren’t even remotely qualified.
A tiny brunette girl waltzed into my office while I was digging through emails and surprised me. I jolted and made an embarrassing sound in response. Who got frightened by a child?
“You’re not Miss Sierra,” the little human said.
“Nope, I’m Brooklyn.”
“Where’d Miss Sierra go? Is she in the bathroom? I can wait.” She plopped herself onto the chair across from my desk, folded her tiny arms in her lap, and stared at me.
Sierra hadn’t warned me about any small visitors.
“Miss Sierra doesn’t work here anymore.” I delivered the news as gently as I could, but her little mouth popped open in shock, and her eyes grew wide.
“Is she coming back?”
“If I say no, will you be sad?”
“Definitely.” Her response was quick and honest.
“Well, I don’t want to make you sad,” I said because if she started crying, I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do.
“But you have to tell me the truth anyway. Daddy says we don’t tell lies.” She looked at me with those big brown eyes and sucked in a dramatic breath. “It’s okay, Miss Brooklyn. I can handle it.”
Daddy.
All the pieces snapped together instantly. She must be Thomas’s daughter.
“Is Thomas your dad?”
She nodded her head and smiled so big. “Yep. He’s the best dad in the whole world. Don’t you think so?”
A small laugh escaped from my lips as I took her in. She resembled her father, but she must look more like her mother had.