What did I have to lose? Other than making an idiot out of myself since I didn’t know anything?
“No, don’t apologize,” I told her pretty cautiously. “I just… I don’t know anything about camping or fishing, but… if you’re willing… I can try. I’m a fast learner, and I know how to ask questions,” I threw out, watching her facial features go from open to straight-up calculating. “I’m punctual. I work hard, and I almost never get sick. It takes a lot for me to be in a bad mood.”
She lifted a hand and tapped her index finger against her chin, her pleasant face thoughtful, but it was her slightly widened eyes that gave away her continued interest.
But I still wanted her to understand the extent of what she’d be dealing with by hiring me so that there weren’t any surprises or anyone ended up disappointed.
“I haven’t worked retail in a really long time, but I did used to have to deal with people a lot at my, uh”—I did quotations with my fingers—“last job.”
Her mouth puckered, eyes sliding toward the teenage girl—Jackie—before flicking back to me and ending up with a tight nod.
She wasn’t going to bring up Kaden in front of her, I guess, and honestly, that was totally fine with me. The fewer people that knew, the better. The Joneses had bet on me keeping my word about not talking about our relationship, and they’d been right.
But I only didn’t want to talk about him because I didn’t want to be Kaden Jones’s ex-girlfriend for the rest of my life, especially not if I didn’t have to. Damn, I hoped his mom got hot flashes tonight.
“I just want you to be aware of my absolute lack of knowledge.”
Clara’s mouth twitched. “The second to last employee I hired lasted two days. My last one was here for a week before she ghosted me. The last ten before that were the same story. I have two part-timers that are friends with my dad who show up once or twice a month.” Clara’s chin went high, and I swear she winced. “If you can show up when you’re scheduled and do something, I’ll teach you as much as you’re willing to learn.”
Yeah, that was hope blooming in my chest. Working with an old friend? Doing something that my mom would have killed at? Maybe this wouldn’t be such a bad thing. “I love learning,” I told her honestly.
I’d spent so much of my life seeing hopeful, cautiously optimistic faces, that I recognized her expression for what it was: that.
She must really be desperate if she was willing to hire me, old friendship or not.
“So…” Her hands wrapped around the counter. “Do you want to work here then? Doing odds and ends?”
“As long you don’t think it will be awkward.” I paused and tried to smile at her brightly. “I’m a good listener; I know business is business. But if you get tired of me, will you tell me? If I’m not doing a good job? And real talk, I have a room booked for a month, and if things are going okay, I’ll stay for longer, but I don’t know yet for sure.”
Clara glanced at the teenage girl who was too busy staring at me intently before nodding. “I’ll take it as long as you show up and, if you don’t feel like coming in, you’ll at least give me notice?”
“I promise.”
“I have to warn you though, I can’t pay you much hourly.” She gave me an amount that wasn’t much over minimum wage, but it was something.
And with someone I liked and had known me before, it was fucking fate slapping me in the face.
And when fate pushed things into your life, you should listen. I had my ears ready. My future wide open. I had no clue what I wanted to do anymore, but this was something. This was a step. And the only way you could move was by taking that first step, and sometimes it didn’t matter which direction you took it as long as you did.
“I can teach you how to use the register, and we can figure out what other things you can do. Rentals. I don’t know. But it isn’t going to be a whole lot of money; I want you to know that. You sure that’s okay?”
“I’ve never wanted to be a millionaire,” I told her carefully, feeling something that felt an awful lot like relief crawl over my skin.
“Want to start tomorrow?”
Some more of that blooming hope flowered in my chest. “Tomorrow works for me.” I had exactly nothing going on.
I held my hand out between us. She slipped hers forward too, and we shook on it, roughly.
Then slowly, we both smiled and she dipped her chin down and asked, with her mouth twitching again, her dark eyes bright, “Now that that’s over, tell me everything. What have you been doing?” Her face fell, and I knew what had come into her mind again—the same thing that loomed over just about every relationship I had with people who were aware of what had happened—my mom.