Golden Lies by Barbara Freethy

Author:Barbara Freethy [Freethy, Barbara]
Language: fra
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Contemporary
Published: 2011-08-06T12:14:16+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

The store clerks chatting behind a counter stopped the instant they saw him. Good, but not good enough, Wallace thought. They shouldn't have been wasting time in the first place. Their business was to serve the public, not to entertain each other. He stopped in front of the counter, eyeing the name tag on the younger woman, Megan.

"May I help you, Mr. Hathaway?" she asked nervously, sending a pleading look to her cohort, a man who quickly busied himself with the countertop display.

"What time do you begin work?" he asked. "Ten o'clock."

"What time is it now?"

"Ten thirty."

"Exactly. I assume your duties do not include pointless conversation with other store clerks?"

"No, sir. But there aren't any customers right now."

"Whether there are customers present or not does not mean you should shirk your duties. Am I clear?"

"Yes. It won't happen again."

"See that it doesn't." He strode briskly away. Now that his presence had been noted in the store, everyone got busy. He walked down the aisles, surveying the displays, making mental notes that he would later dictate to his secretary. He made the same inspection on each subsequent floor, stopping at times to speak to the department managers. Some had been at the store for decades, but he didn't allow any friendliness to creep into his voice. There was a line between them. He liked it that way. lie trusted no one, not even those who reported to him on a daily basis. They served a purpose, but that was the extent of the relationship.

As he headed toward the executive offices, he couldn't help but worry about what would happen to Hathaway's when he was gone. Paige needed to step up to the plate. Maybe she didn't have it in her. He hated the thought of his store going into anyone else's hands, including Victoria's, but he had to admit that so far his granddaughter was a dismal failure as an only heir.

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