Read Who's the Boss? for Free Online

grimaced. Empty, of course. It would never occur to whoever had taken the last cup to make more. Automatically, her hostess skills leaping to life, she made the coffee. Then, because the room was disgusting, she cleaned it. Maybe, she thought as she scrubbed, she’d been looking at this all wrong. She was an organizer, and these men certainly needed her.
    Needed her.
    The mere idea stopped her cold. And warmed her heart. No one had ever needed her before.
    “How’s it going?”
    Caitlin, her eyes still misty, smiled at Vince as he came in. “Good.” She finished with the sponge on the counter and started sweeping.
    “Really?” He didn’t look convinced; he looked worried. “I should congratulate you. You made it past the dreaded two-hour mark without quitting.”
    She thought of her late car payments. Of her rent, which was late, as well. She tried not to think of the stack of bills she’d filed away under her kitchen sink so she wouldn’t have to look at them. “Oh, I’m not going to quit,” she said with certainty.
    “Well, that’s a relief. You’re like a ray of sunshine around here.”
    Caitlin glanced quickly at him, trying to decide if that had been a come-on. She’d become a pro at spotting them since she’d gotten curves at the tender age of twelve. But Vince simply smiled kindly. With that shock of deep red hair and Clark Kent-type glasses slipping down his nose, he was really kind of cute.
    But Caitlin had decided long ago, the cute ones were rarely harmless. “That’s me, just a ray of sunshine. I’m so bright you need sunglasses to look at me.”
    Vince laughed, but didn’t make a move to come closer. Unbearably relieved to find someone genuinely nice, Caitlin relaxed. “Is it always so...uptight around here?” She graduated back to the sponge and wiped down the table that had an inch of grime on it.
    “You mean Joe.” Vince shook his head and leaned back against the sink, watching her dean with fascination. “He’s just preoccupied. Ignore him. It’s the best way.” He frowned. “He didn’t hurt your feelings, I hope, because he would hate that. He just doesn’t have a wide focus. Work is pretty much all he concentrates on, and he really hates it when things get in the way of that.”
    “Well, someone should mention that work isn’t everything in life.”
    “You handled him well.”
    “If that was well done, I’d hate to see him when he isn’t handled properly.”
    “He’s a good guy, Caitlin. Really. He’s just under pressure right now. And he just lost Edmund—” He stopped, horrified. Color flooded his face. “I’m sorry. He was your father, so you know exactly how much Joe is hurting.”
    Yes, she knew and the thought of Joe mourning her father disconcerted and warmed her at the same time.
    Joseph’s grieving brought an image she hadn’t anticipated and didn’t know if she was ready to accept. “Which would explain how chipper he’s been.”
    Vince let out a smile. “Well... truth is, he’s just about always that way.”
    “But the rest of you—you and Tim and Andy—you’re all so nice and welcoming. How do you do it?”
    “Tim and Andy are really great. We’ve all been friends since...well, forever.”
    How wonderful those sort of ties must be. There was no one in her past with whom she kept in contact. “Tell me about all of you.”
    Vince laughed without embarrassment. “We were the proverbial school geeks. You know, the ones girls wouldn’t even look at? Luckily, we’ll get the last laugh. At our five-year reunion, we realized most of our school buddies are struggling with jobs like bagging groceries. Nothing beats this. Plus we still have hair.”
    She laughed. “And you’re fit. At my reunion, the cheerleaders had gotten fat.”
    “See?” He grinned. “We’re not fat. And we’re doing what we love.”
    They were, Caitlin realized with a spurt of envy. She’d never found her place. She’d never really been satisfied. Maybe that was