Fresh Temptation

you’d let handsome men be nice to you instead of running them off. He gave you his card. You should give him a call.”
    “Between Isaac and work, when do I have time for that? I’m worn out in every way.”
    “Hmm. You don’t sound too happy to me.”
    “Okay, whatever. Maybe I don’t have time for happy. Can we drop it now?”
     
    * * *
     
    “What the heck?” Cara stared in disbelief at the chains around the door at Doyle Construction. She pulled on the handle, trying to get inside. The heavy chain rattled, but the door was locked tight. “What in the world is this?” She squinted to look through the glass door. “Mr. Doyle? You in there? You all right?”
    With her heels digging against the sidewalk, she tried again to pull the door open. Again, the chains rattled.
    She reached inside her purse for her phone just as two men in suits walked around the corner, meeting her at the front door.
    “You work here?” One of the men asked.
    “Uh…” She stammered.
    “It’s okay. Don’t be nervous. You’re not in trouble. Do you work here?”
    She looked him in the eye. “Yes.”
    The other guy snorted. “You don’t anymore. This is an IRS seizure.”
    Cara gasped. “What do you mean, I don’t work here anymore?”
    “Your boss owes the IRS a hefty sum in payroll taxes, ma’am.”
    “Oh my God.” She looked down at the chains. “So I can’t go back in there? At all?”
    “Nope. If you got some personal stuff in your desk in there we can probably talk about it but, for all intents and purposes, this business is shut down.” He smirked. “Did you ever wonder why he paid you in cash?”
    “Um…yeah. Was that not allowed?” she asked.
    The guys shared a look then turned to her. One answered, “It’s not ideal. He thought he was getting away with paying you under the table. Did he issue check stubs that showed your withholding?”
    Cara nodded. “Yes. Once a month or so he’d give us all a statement. I thought it was legit. Am I in trouble?”
    “No. Doyle’s in trouble.”
    Her eyes welled up. “But he was supposed to pay me tomorrow. What am I gonna do?”
    “He’ll undergo a full-scale audit and we’ll figure out what he owes us and what he owes his employees.” He frowned. “I hate to tell you, ma’am, but the audit’ll take a while and even then, you may never see that money. I’m sorry. It’s always the employees who get hurt the most in these situations.”
    “Okay,” Cara said. If the IRS agents told her anything else, she was too numb with anger and worry to hear it. She simply walked to her car and drove out of the parking lot, unsure what she was going to do next.
    When she got home, she yelled, “I’m back!” to her mom in the kitchen, then went right upstairs to Isaac’s room where he lay in bed. His tired eyes perked up when he saw her.
    “Mommy!” His voice was scratchy. He reached out for her with both arms. “Mommy Mommy Mommy!”
    Her heart melted at the sight of his smile. She dropped her purse to the floor and sat down on the bed beside him for a quick hug. “You croak like a frog when you talk.” She pulled away, smiling and ruffling his shaggy blond hair with her fingers. “You’re Mommy’s little croaky frog.”
    He laughed. “I’m not a cwoaky fwog.”
    “Yes you are.” She leaned down to kiss his cheek. “Did you have your popsicle after I left this morning?”
    “Yes. And some gwape Jeh-wo.”
    “Good.”
    “Can we go to the pawk now?”
    “No, baby. You need to get some rest.”
    “But aw I do is west.” His eyes got big. “I need to see Joey. He was s’posed to bwing me a wace caw.”
    “Joey and the race car can wait, sweetie. I know you feel a lot better but you’ll get sick again if you go outside to play too soon.”
    His little lips formed a frown. “No I won’t.”
    “Yes you will. You don’t wanna go back to the hospital, do you?”
    “No.”
    “Okay then. You stay here in bed. If you feel good later, maybe we can walk outside for a minute. But we need to make sure you get better so you can go back to the park and see your friends again.”
    “Gwammah said my tonsahs a gwow back if I weave bed for too wong.”
    Cara didn’t know how to answer. She despised the idea of lying to her son, and she didn’t know Patty had concocted this idea. But she also didn’t like the idea of him not getting enough rest after surgery. “Well, if you thought your tonsils would grow back, why’d you wanna go to the