Chapter 2

The next day, Allison woke up sore and exhausted. She’d always worked out regularly at an expensive gym, but what she’d done yesterday was a different kind of physical labor, and she wasn’t used to it. She was tempted to stay in bed, but then she rolled over and saw that her clock said it was seven thirty.

She had too much to do today. She had to go in at nine about that receptionist job, and then she needed to fix her toilet, since the running sound had driven her crazy all night. She also needed to see if she could get any more of the furniture up from the basement. Right now the house was mostly empty, and she wasn’t sure how long she could live like that.

So she closed her eyes and gave herself a mental pep talk—reminding herself that she just needed to live here for a year or two, until she got back on her feet and could get a job closer to the city. If she stayed in bed this morning, it would be like Arthur had won a victory over her, and she wasn’t going to let him do that.

With a groan, she heaved herself to her feet and headed for the bathroom.

She had no idea what a small-town woman might wear to an interview for a receptionist job at the local dentist. When she got out of the shower, she scanned the portable clothes racks she’d bought at Walmart the previous day, searching for something that looked simple and respectable.

She had very little in her wardrobe that fit that description.

Finally she settled on a long, sleeveless linen dress in a subdued tan. It was looser than most of her other dresses, and she didn’t think it looked designer or ridiculously expensive. She rolled up her hair in a bun at the nape of her neck and added lowish heels and a pretty pink and tan scarf.

Scanning herself in the mirror, she decided she looked as much like a Fielding woman as she possibly could. It was just eight thirty, so she poured her coffee into a travel mug and went to buy a local newspaper so she could look for more job postings.

She felt encouraged, though. Maybe this receptionist job would work out. Maybe she could start earning money so she could continue taking courses toward her college degree. Eventually she could graduate and find a job more like what she wanted—preferably in Charlotte. Maybe she could even save up enough money to open that jewelry shop she’d always dreamed of.

She might be tired and sore, but she was hopeful. She was finally doing something entirely on her own, and things were going to work out.

The receptionist interview was a bust.

She didn’t even actually get to interview. An overweight, middle-aged woman just scanned her application and told her she didn’t have any experience and wasn’t qualified.

So at ten minutes after nine she was back in her tank of a car, slumping against the seat and wondering if she should just give up on the day, since it had started so badly.

After a few minutes she shook off the disappointment and checked the job listings in the newspaper again.

There were only a few jobs listed at all, and most of them were ads for skilled workers like electricians or car mechanics. There was a fast-food restaurant hiring, but it was a half hour away from where she lived, and she hated the idea of driving that far for such a terrible job. In the suburbs outside of Asheville, there would be restaurants and shopping malls, but those jobs wouldn’t be much better, and she suspected the cost of gas for her Oldsmobile would eat up most of her earnings.

Maybe something would pop up in the paper tomorrow. She gave up for the moment and headed for the hardware store.

It was called West Hardware, and it was the largest store in town, taking up half a block of the four blocks that made up downtown Fielding. Behind it, backing up to the river, was an enormous yard with huge stacks of lumber and piles of gravel and dirt.

She experienced an involuntary shudder of anxiety as she walked down the sidewalk toward the door. She’d never been in a place like this before, and it was surprisingly intimidating.

Her only other choice, however, was to ask Rob to fix her toilet, after she’d told him she could do it on her own, so she squared her shoulders and walked in.

The place wasn’t nearly as large as a big-box store, but it was big enough to be confusing. There weren’t any helpful signs to tell her what aisle the plumbing stuff was on, and she had no idea where to start. She looked around blindly, feeling another cold rush of anxiety.

What the hell was she even doing here?

“The flappers are three rows to the right,” a male voice came from behind her.

She jerked slightly as she turned around to see Rob standing right in front of her. It was as if her thoughts had conjured him. Did the man have to hang out everywhere she went in town? “Excuse me?”

“You’re here for the flapper for your toilet, right?” He gave her a half-questioning smile. “They’re over here. I’ll show you.”

“Oh. Thanks.”

She followed him over to the aisle and couldn’t help but notice that he appeared even better-looking today. He’d shaved and was dressed in khakis and a blue button-down with the sleeves rolled up. He even smelled kind of nice—not expensive like Arthur always had but clean and faintly masculine.

They stopped in front of a huge selection of toilet parts that all looked mostly the same to Allison. Rob was reaching for something when a young woman came up to him.

“Rob, I need you to sign this,” she said with a smile that Allison could recognize very easily. The woman was young and cute and was obviously looking at a man she was interested in.

Rob silently signed the paper on the clipboard she handed him and turned back to Allison.

“You work here?” she asked, finally realizing what should have been obvious.

The corner of his mouth turned up. “Guilty.”

“You didn’t tell me yesterday that you worked here.”

“I thought maybe you wouldn’t come in if you thought you’d see me here.” His voice was dry, surprisingly clever.

She suddenly felt like an ass for being so surprised by his cleverness. There was no reason why this good-looking, laid-back man wouldn’t be smart and have a good sense of humor. He might work with his hands, but that had nothing to do with his intelligence.

She always hated it when people judged her, and yet she’d done the same thing to him.

The smile she gave him was more real than before. “I wasn’t that prickly yesterday, was I?”

He looked briefly startled but then chuckled. “Just a little prickly, which is totally understandable when some strange guy comes along and invites himself into your house.”

For the first time in days, she heard herself laughing too.

He grabbed the part she needed, which was fortunately only a few dollars, and carried it over to the counter against the front wall.

“Are you settling in okay?” he asked as he rang up the price and slid the part in a plastic bag.

“Yes. So far, so good.”

“I can come over this evening and help you with this.” He passed her the bag as she handed him a twenty-dollar bill.

She was almost tempted, before she remembered she wasn’t going to start relying on a man again. It had given her nothing but heartache and helplessness. She was in this town for the next year or two to learn to be independent. “That’s okay. I can do it. Thanks, though.”

“Just let me know if you have any trouble.” His eyes never left her face, and his appreciative expression triggered a shiver of excitement that ran down her spine. “I’m good at helping.”

“Hey, West,” another man called out, coming from the back of the store. “We’re running low on the red cedar mulch.”

“I know,” Rob replied, focusing over Allison’s shoulder on the man who had spoken. “We’re getting a shipment in tomorrow morning.”

Allison’s eyes narrowed as she realized something. “Your last name is West.”

“Yes. I told you that yesterday, didn’t I?”

“As in West Hardware?”

His eyebrows twitched up. “What of it?”

“So you don’t just work here.”

“I do work here. But it’s my store, yeah. Why?”

“No reason. I just didn’t know.” She was suddenly afraid he might think she was interested in him now that she knew he was a somewhat successful businessman. Maybe owning the hardware store was the top of the social ladder in Fielding. Reacting quickly, she gave him a little smirk. “So when you recommended I come here for this part, you were really just drumming up business for yourself.”

He laughed, his eyes warming with that appreciation she’d caught in them before. “That’s exactly what I was doing.”

She momentarily lost her breath as a wave of attraction washed over. This man might not be her type at all, but she couldn’t help but like how he looked, how he was laughing so naturally, how he was gazing at her.

She imagined herself kissing him, what his strong, rough hands would feel like on her body.

Suddenly realizing what she was doing, she snapped herself out of it. She was working on herself this year—figuring out who she really was, managing on her own—until she could get back to Charlotte. She wasn’t going to have a little fling with a blue-collar type, no matter how appealing he was.

“Well, thanks,” she murmured.

“I’m sure I’ll see you around.”

She’d turned to leave when she thought of something. “You’re not hiring here, are you?”

He’d been watching her walk away, but now his brows drew together. “Wasn’t planning on it. Why?”

“I really need a job.”

“You know a lot about the stuff we carry, do you?” His eyebrows had arched in a kind of questioning amusement.

She knew what that look meant, and her shoulders stiffened instinctively. “I could learn.”

“Maybe, but I’d end up with dozens of guys hanging around here, crowding the aisles, hoping to talk to you.”

She immediately understood what he meant, and she felt a little flush of pleasure that he thought she was pretty enough to attract dozens of guys to his store. Then she felt a little frustrated that he assumed she was nothing but pretty. “Maybe that wouldn’t be a bad thing. If they were hanging out here, they’d buy stuff.”

He laughed softly. “I can just imagine all the guys coming out of the woodwork.” Then he shook his head. “But I can’t hire you if you can’t actually help people find what they need here.”

“Maybe I could,” she said. “You don’t know whether I could do it or not.”

His face sobered as he moved out from behind the counter and walked down an aisle. Since she assumed he wasn’t just walking away from her midconversation, she waited for him to return.

When he did, he had two different items, one in each hand. He held them up for her. “Say I was trying to change a light fixture. Which one of these would I need?”

Allison stared at the two items in his hands. After a minute she let out a long breath, slumping slightly. “I have no idea.”

“I’m really sorry,” Rob said gently. “But I can’t just hire you to be nice, when you can’t do the job.”

“I know,” she admitted. “It was nice of you to at least take me seriously.”

Rob dropped the parts onto the counter and leaned back against it. There was someone else checking people out a few feet away, and Rob didn’t seem to care that the line was now up to four people. “They’re looking for a receptionist at the dentist in town. You should try for that job.”

“I already did.” Allison tried very hard not to sound discouraged. “I was told that I wasn’t a candidate since I don’t have any experience.”

Rob frowned. His eyes were resting on her, but he was clearly thinking. “You don’t know anything about cars, do you?”

“Not a thing.”

“What kind of jobs have you had before?”

She gave a huff of bitter amusement. “I got married when I was eighteen. I never had any jobs. I sat on charity boards. I was on the steering committee for a garden association. I volunteered at an art museum.” She gave a little shrug. “That’s about all the experience I have.”

Rob’s frown deepened.

“It’s fine,” she said quickly, worried he was starting to think she was truly pitiful. “It’s really nice of you to try to help me. I’ll keep looking.”

He shook his head and reached over to grab a business card from a small rack on the other side of the counter. He scrawled something on the back and handed it to her.

“Dora’s is looking to hire a new waitress,” he said. “Would you be willing to wait tables?”

“Sure. Anything. But I didn’t see an ad for Dora’s.”

“Trey hasn’t posted it yet, but he said he was getting ready to. Give him the card.”

Her brows drew together as she read the note he’d written on the back of the card. She’s your new waitress. Trust me. R.

“But you don’t know me,” she said, a little breathlessly. “You shouldn’t vouch for me like that.”

He gave her that little half smile again, the one that seemed to indicate he was pleased with the direction the world was moving. “I’m owed more favors than I know what to do with. I can use one of them on this.”

“But why?” She really wanted to know.

“Everyone deserves a chance.”

Her smile was a little wobbly as she clutched the card in her hand. “Thank you.”

“No problem.” He was clearly uncomfortable with too much gratitude and was making an effort to brush it off. “You sure you don’t want me to come over to help you with the flapper?”

She was more tempted than ever to accept, but once again she had the feeling that if she admitted she couldn’t do it, Arthur would somehow score another victory. “I’ve got it.”

She thanked Rob again and waved as she walked out of the store, feeling as encouraged as she had first thing that morning, but with more foundation for it now. She headed right over to Dora’s, since it was just two blocks away.

When she stepped inside, she asked for Trey, and a balding man with a potbelly and a dirty shirt came out from the kitchen. Allison handed him the card, not sure exactly what to say.

“Seriously?” Trey muttered, eyeing her up and down like she was an alien from a different planet.

Okay. That wasn’t the reaction she’d been hoping for.

“I could do a good job,” she said quietly. “I need this, so you can count on me to work really hard.”

Trey sighed, still staring down at the card. “Damn it, West,” he muttered.

Clearly he wasn’t speaking to her, so she didn’t say anything else.

Finally he looked up. “Fine. I’ll give you a try. I owe Rob big-time. But if it doesn’t work out, I can’t keep you on. The favor I owe him will only go so far.”

“Understood. I appreciate you giving me a chance.”

“When can you start?”

“Tomorrow. Or whenever you need me to.”

“Okay. Tomorrow’s good. It’s the early shift I need covered, so you’ll have to be here by six.”

She was so excited about getting a job that she only cringed slightly at the thought of getting up so early. “No problem.”

“Hey, Chelle,” Trey called out.

The redheaded waitress she’d seen yesterday walked over, looking tired and not very friendly. “What do you want?”

“She’s our new girl. Get her a shirt, will you?”

Allison had noticed that all the waitresses wore a dark blue golf shirt with DORA’S CAFÉ appliquéd on the pocket. She wouldn’t normally be caught dead in a shirt like that, but she gratefully accepted the one Chelle handed her.

The other woman didn’t smile. Maybe she’d warm up once she got to know her.

“You better wear more comfortable shoes,” Chelle said, glancing down at Allison’s little heels.

“I will. Thank you.”

Trey made a snuffling sound. He smelled like grease and smoke, which wasn’t a pleasant combination, but Allison was so relieved she didn’t even notice much. “Come back this afternoon,” he said. “You’ll need to fill out an application, and I’ll need your proof of identity and all the legal junk. But don’t come until two. We’re too busy before then.”

“I’ll be here at two. Thank you.”

Allison stopped at the small grocery store in town before she headed home. Since it was still just after ten, as soon as she got home she looked on the Internet for directions on how to fix a toilet. For the next two hours she followed them step-by-step, having to restart several times.

But finally she managed to change the flapper and stop the toilet from running all the time—so that made two victories for the day.

The next morning Rob walked into Dora’s, hoping to see Allison.

He ate at Dora’s almost every morning—and also several nights a week—so it wasn’t strange for him to be here.

It was strange for him to be so excited about it, though.

His whole body clenched a little when he saw Allison in the far corner, pouring coffee for the elderly couple who sat in that same booth every morning.

Allison wore the normal Dora’s shirt, but it looked different on her. She’d somehow made the shapeless shirt fit so it showed off her luscious body. She wore it with black cropped pants and ballet flats. He took a moment to admire her deliciously rounded ass before he realized he couldn’t just stand in the doorway and leer at her.

He took his normal seat at the counter, accepting the coffee Trey brought over for him.

“Thanks for that,” Rob murmured, nodding over toward Allison.

Trey gave him his typical scowl. “You owe me now.”

“I only owe you if she doesn’t work out. Otherwise we’re even. She seems okay, doesn’t she?”

“Yeah, I guess,” Trey said begrudgingly. “She was on time, and she’s been nice to the customers. She’s only been here thirty minutes, though.”

The cook called out something, so Trey had to go back to see what the issue was. Rob sipped his coffee until Allison came over to him.

She was smiling, and he was immediately drawn to what he could sense was soft and vulnerable beneath her polished appearance. “So it worked out, then?” he asked, stating the obvious so he could have something to say.

“Yes. Thank you so much.” She tucked a brown curl back behind her ear.

He waved a hand, brushing off her thanks. He liked to be needed—particularly by someone as gorgeous as her—but he didn’t like to be thanked excessively. “So how is it so far?”

“So far, so good,” she said. “Of course, I haven’t been here long, and it hasn’t gotten crowded yet.”

“I’m sure you’ll do fine.”

“What can I get you?”

He ordered his eggs, bacon, and toast, and she wrote it down and took the slip back to clip it on the rack in the kitchen with the other orders. He watched her as he waited for his food. She had on a particular expression—a helpful, friendly expression that wasn’t exactly like her normal face. It was almost like she was playing a role.

Maybe that was the way she was able to do a job that she must have assumed she’d never have to do.

He tried to think of something to say when she came over to him again. If she was ever going to be interested in him, he needed to get her to think about him as something other than the helpful guy across the street. He was usually pretty good at flirting—he’d never had trouble getting girls interested in him—but when he’d had his chance yesterday, he’d gotten distracted by her job issues. So she’d ended up grateful to him but not any more interested in him as a man than she’d been the day before.

He was usually good at this. He could think of something.

Allison took two more orders before his food was ready. She was smiling at him when she brought his plate over, but it felt more like her “waitress face” than her real smile. He needed to change that.

He was about to say something funny and a little sexy—he wasn’t sure exactly what it would be, but he was sure something would come out when he started to speak—when he noticed that the guy down the counter from him had an empty coffee cup and was starting to look annoyed by it.

So instead of flirting, he nodded toward the guy silently, trying to give Allison a significant look so she’d refill the coffee before the customer was rude to her.

Her expression changed as she read his silent signal. She mouthed “Thanks” at him and went to grab the coffeepot, then filled up every mug in the restaurant, including Rob’s.

Rob frowned as he ate. He’d missed his chance. Now more people were coming in, and Allison was too busy to chat with him.

While she was working was probably not the best time to get to know her anyway. She was going to be learning the job for a while, so she’d probably be kind of stressed. He was trying to think of some reason to invite himself over to her house when the bell on the door jingled again.

He glanced back automatically to see who had entered, and his entire body drooped when he saw it was his ex-wife, Dee.

She was pretty in the way a lot of women were pretty in Fielding. Her hair was teased out and dyed blond. She wore a lot of makeup, and her jeans were very tight. They’d been divorced for three years, and he found her so frustrating and annoying now that the attraction he’d once felt for her had completely died.

She’d obviously come in here to see him. She knew his habits just like everyone else in town. She plopped herself down on the stool beside him, smiling in her ingratiating way.

“What’s up?” he asked. He tried to be polite, even when he didn’t feel like it, since she would make a fuss if she decided he was being rude.

He felt Allison looking over at him as she took the order of a large family who’d come in. She’d be wondering who Dee was. He didn’t need anything else to turn her off.

“Cali didn’t get home until four last night,” Dee said, her red lips turning down into a pout.

“Was she with that boyfriend of hers?” Rob asked, scowling at the thought of his fifteen-year-old ex-stepdaughter having a boyfriend at all.

“Of course. I don’t know what to do with her.”

Rob couldn’t help but think that if Dee spent a little less time with her own boyfriends, she’d have more time to spend with her daughter, and that might help the girl to not act out so much. But he wasn’t married to Dee anymore, so there was only so much he could say. “Have you talked to her?”

“You think I haven’t talked to her?”

“I mean, really talk to her. Not scream at her when she comes home late.”

“I’ve done everything.”

Rob sighed. He’d been very fond of Cali in the six years he was married to her mother. The marriage had never been very good—he’d realized six months into it that it was a mistake—but he’d loved the little girl and had done what he could to be a father to her.

He had no real place in her life now, though.

“I don’t know what to tell you.”

“Can you talk to her?” Now Dee’s eyelashes fluttered in a familiar beseeching look.

“What do you want me to say?”

“You could at least try. She never listens to me.”

Rob shrugged. A glance over his shoulder proved that Allison was finishing up the orders from that large table, but she was glancing over at him occasionally.

She was wondering who Dee was. She was wondering what his relationship with her was.

It would be just his luck for her to decide he was taken and not give him another thought.

“I’ll try,” Rob agreed, hoping it would get Dee to leave. She hadn’t ordered anything yet, so maybe she wouldn’t stay long. “I’ll see what I can do.”

Dee reached over to rub his shoulder, sliding her hand over to the back of his neck. “Thank you so much, sweetie.” It was all Rob could do not to jerk away from her touch. Instead he carefully adjusted his posture so he could pull away from her.

Another large family had come in, and Allison had hurried to get them menus. It was getting more crowded in here now, and she was starting to look a little flustered. Her cheeks had gotten pink, which just made her even prettier.

Dee’s eyes followed Rob’s gaze. “She must be new,” Dee muttered. Then she straightened up and snapped, “Hey, new girl! I’ve been waiting forever. I need a Diet Coke.”

Allison turned quickly, having just offered the last menu to the table. Whatever her initial expression had been was quickly covered by her polite waitress face. “Of course. I’ll get it right now.”

Rob cringed internally, embarrassed by Dee, wondering why he’d ever hooked up with her. He’d been attracted to her, and she’d come on to him strong. It had been so easy to just go along with things. Plus, she’d always been very needy.

After the humiliation and helplessness of his first marriage, Rob had been looking to feel strong and in control of things, so he’d been drawn to her neediness. But he’d eventually learned that it was just another way to be used and manipulated.

Allison brought Dee a glass of soda, her eyes discreetly lowered as she murmured, “Sorry for the wait. Can I get you anything else?”

“No. I don’t want anything else.”

Allison glanced over at Rob’s empty plate. “Are you done?”

“Yes. Thank you.”

“I’ll get your check.”

He watched her as she went back to the kitchen. She still looked perfectly pulled together, but he could tell she was flustered underneath. She wasn’t used to the job yet, and he could imagine it was hard to be faced with the pressure of a lot of tables and less-than-polite customers.

“I’ve got to get to work,” he told Dee, standing up.

She was sipping her soda and looked surprised and displeased by his abrupt departure. “It’s still early.”

“I’ve got stuff to do. I’ll see about talking to Cali as soon as I can.”

He walked over to the cash register, so Allison brought the bill to where he stood.

“I’ll pay for her soda too,” he said, gesturing toward Dee. She would expect him to, and it seemed kind of cheap and rude not to. “She’s my ex-wife,” he added.

Allison’s face reflected enlightenment. It might have been his imagination, but he hoped he saw a little relief there too.

“Was everything okay?” she asked, accepting the cash he handed her.

“Yes. It was great. You’re doing a great job.”

She gave a little huff. “We’ll see.”

This was where he should flirt with her, think of something funny and clever and sexy to say.

What he said was “Did you get your toilet fixed?”

Just perfect.

“I did. I managed it on my own.” She looked pleased by this accomplishment, and he couldn’t help but be pleased for her. It would have been nice if she’d needed his help, but he admired her desire to be independent, to get by on her own.

“Good. Good.” He was searching his mind for something else to say when the bell rang to indicate that an order was ready.

“I better get going. Thanks for your help with everything.”

And with that, Allison walked away.

Rob sighed as his eyes lowered to her rounded little ass. He felt a surge of frustration that he was making so few strides in attracting her, but he shrugged it off, telling himself it was still early days.

At least she liked him now. That was better than two days ago.

He’d gotten a five back as change, so he folded it up and walked it over to his seat. Dee had taken her Diet Coke to another table so she could chat with a couple of guys she must know. Rob laid the money on the table and then, struck by the thought of how hard a time Allison might have today—her first day on the job—he grabbed the Sharpie he always kept in his pocket for work and scrawled a few words on a napkin, leaving it with the tip before he walked out of the restaurant.

That evening Allison could barely move.

She couldn’t remember ever being so tired, and her feet and her back were killing her. She’d thought she’d worn comfortable shoes, but they weren’t good enough to be standing up for so many hours. This weekend she’d have to go shoe shopping—searching for comfort rather than style.

Vicki had called to see how her day had gone, so Allison filled her in on how stressful waiting tables really was. Then Vicki told her all about the shopping she’d done that week.

Allison felt a faint surge of nostalgia. There was a lot she’d hated about being Arthur’s trophy wife, but she’d always loved to shop, and she might never have that kind of freedom in her life again.

“You seem sad,” Vicki said after a moment of silence.

“I’m not. I’m…really tired. I knew it would be hard, but it’s harder than I thought it would be.”

“But you got a job now, so things are going pretty well.”

“Yes. They are. I’m not complaining.”

“And you have a very cute neighbor across the street who wants to help you all the time.”

Allison chuckled, a little clench in her chest as she thought about Rob. “He’s pretty nice. But don’t be getting any ideas about him.”

“Why not?”

“He was raised in this town. He’s never going to leave it—and I’m only going to stay here for as long as I have to. Anyway, he’s got this ex-wife who seems to hang around him all the time. You know how that kind of thing goes.”

“You think they’ll get back together?”

“Who knows? It doesn’t really matter anyway. He needs to find himself a nice small-town girl, and I’m not looking for a relationship.”

“Why does it have to be a relationship? What about a roll in the hay with a hot country boy?”

Allison couldn’t help but laugh, trying not to visualize rolling around with Rob. “I can’t believe you just said that.”

“Just trying to get you to loosen up. I know what you’re doing is hard, but maybe you could have a good time occasionally while you’re doing it.”

“Maybe.” Allison didn’t believe it. She just wanted Vicki to drop the subject. “Anyway, I should probably start getting ready for bed. I’m about to fall over, and I have to get up at the crack of dawn.”

“Okay. Call me tomorrow and let me know how things are going.”

When she hung up, Allison managed to haul herself out of her chair (the one comfortable chair she’d been able to get up from the basement), where she’d collapsed an hour ago, and she picked up her water bottle and her dinner plate with the remnants of the sandwich she’d eaten to take them into the kitchen. She was starting to close the living room blinds when her eyes landed on Rob’s big brick house across the street.

His yard was perfectly manicured—every bush trimmed, every bed weeded, and not a dandelion in sight. It reminded her how messy her own yard was. She would have to work on it some this weekend, or the neighbors would start to hate her.

Rob’s truck wasn’t in the driveway. He had a garage, but she’d noticed he never parked there. It was probably piled full of stuff.

He must not be home. Maybe he was hanging out with his clingy ex-wife.

It didn’t matter. He might be kind and funny and handsome and sexy as hell, but he wasn’t for her.

She finished closing up the house and went to her bedroom to change. Her attention was caught by a folded napkin, which she’d laid on the dresser with her tip money.

She picked up the napkin and smoothed it out, reading the words Rob had written that morning.

You’re doing just great for a “new girl.” Don’t let anyone tell you differently. R.

She smiled and was still smiling when she went to bed a few minutes later.