The Calendar of New Beginnings by Ava Miles Read Free Book Online

work for. I always end up winning them over in the end. But honestly, Taylor Brennan makes all the others look like cupcakes.”
    “She still giving you a hard time?” Matt asked, pouring himself a whiskey. “Jane is driving, so I’ll join you.”
    “Yeah,” Moira said, taking a measured sip even though all she wanted to do was knock it back. “I think Taylor is trying to push me out. I’m going to have to start looking for a new job.”
    Her brother put his arm around her. “I was afraid of that. Based on everything you’ve told me, there isn’t anything more you can do.”
    “No, I think she made up her mind about me in our first meeting,” Moira said, taking another sip of the whiskey, remembering the frigid way Taylor had asked her to summarize her hiring suggestions in the company for the last six months. “I hate female bosses who see other women as a threat. It’s so freaking old school. A cliché. Shouldn’t smart, confident women support one another?”
    “She’s obviously insecure as hell and doesn’t want anyone else catching on,” Matt said with a sigh. “Male managers do it too. Hence the Napoleonic syndrome. I saw it all the time at my old law firm.”
    Moira was so pissed off she wanted to kick something. “I’ve made a good name for myself at Peterson Engineering.” Heck, she’d been promoted three times in the past five years and now served as the human resources director. “Part of me wants to tough it out just to spite her, but I’m done with all her late-night and weekend texts, last-minute deadline changes, and demands for information she could access on her own.”
    “She’s a bitch,” Matt said, and then glanced over his shoulder. He was probably checking for Danny, who was talking to Jane and Caroline in the corner with their mom. “You’ll have no trouble getting another job.”
    “I know,” she said, and this time the burn in her throat was from something other than the whiskey. “I’m going to get a forty percent increase on my salary too. I’m ready for six figures.”
    “You go, girl,” Matt said, thrusting out his tumbler. “To bigger and better things.”
    “What bigger and better things?” Natalie asked, appearing beside them. “Oh, no. Whiskey, Moira? Weren’t you going to drive home to Denver tonight?”
    She gave her older sister the fish eye as she clinked her glass with Matt’s and then took another sip. “Caroline can drive.”  
    Sure, they’d taken her car, but it wouldn’t be the first time Caroline had driven it back to Denver. Moira’s phone vibrated again, making her see red. She slammed her glass on the table and dug it out of her pocket. Sure enough, Taylor had texted her again, asking if she’d received her last four texts—in all caps this time—noting that she needed the references for the computer programmer candidates they were hiring. Like the company would end if Taylor didn’t get them on a Sunday night.
    Natalie leaned in and peered at the screen. “You weren’t kidding about her being a bitch. By bigger and better, did you finally decide to look for another job? I’ve been hoping you would. That woman has it in for you.”
    “Yeah, she knows she can’t fire me. I have one of the strongest performance ratings in the company. But enough is enough. I can’t keep working with someone like that. Excuse me while I call her back and tell her how it’s going to be.” Maybe it was the whiskey talking, but the words felt right. And it felt liberating to finally walk away.
    The mountains seemed to wrap around her when she stepped outside into the O’Briens’ backyard. The calm that washed over her told her this was the right thing to do.
    Being as diplomatic as possible, she told Taylor that she was leaving Peterson Engineering for personal reasons, and would tender her official notice tomorrow morning. Rather than try to talk her out of it, Taylor said she’d prefer for the notice to be effective immediately. After