Chapter Eight
Walking around my trailer, my stomach is tied in knots. First days are always bad, but this one is worse because I have no freaking idea what I am doing. All I’ve ever done in my life is wait tables. Working in an office is something completely different, something I’m not sure I will ever be able to do right.
Climbing up the steps, I look down at my outfit once more. It’s not fancy, but it’s the nicest I have. A pair of black slacks and white button up I bought from Goodwill before moving down here. Neither fit me perfectly with the pants a bit tight in the hips and the shirt more than a little loose around my breasts. My feet are encased in a pair of black ballet flats, Lucy bought for me the day before I moved. At the time, I had no idea where I would wear them, but they definitely come in handy today.
Deciding it’s too late to worry about my clothes, I open the door and the aroma of freshly brewed coffee hits me. I look around and see a fresh pot of coffee brewing with a box of donuts sitting beside it. My feet automatically carry me in that direction as my belly starts to rumble.
“You must be Gypsy,” a female voice I’ve never heard before says, causing me to stop in my tracks.
I look over my shoulder to see a middle-aged woman with bright red hair. Judging from the green and brown coloring of her eyes, I can guess she is Chance’s mom. She’s absolutely beautiful. Older yes, but no less stunning. She’s slim, with only a little extra flesh around her hips. Her face carries a few wrinkles, but they do not distract from her beauty.
Taking in a deep breath, I force my mouth to move. “Yes, I am.”
She smiles, walking my way. She stays quiet as she pours us both a cup of coffee. She places two donuts on a napkin, handing me one, then turns to look at me. Her eyes travel from the tip of my toes to the top of my head. Finally, she nods her head.
“I can understand what my son sees in you,” she says with another brisk nod. “You’re a knock out.”
“Thanks.” Smiling shyly, I tilt my head to the side.
“It’s the truth.” Lifting her hand, she reaches in my direction. “I’m Sylvia, Chance and Adam’s mom.”
We quickly shake hands. Then, she turns back to the coffee pot. Handing me a cup, she motions toward the donut and walks over to the table and takes a seat. I set the cup down and doctor my coffee with sugar and cream before grabbing it again and heading over to the table. Once I sit down, she looks across the table at me.
“I’m glad the boys found someone to help out around here,” she says, bringing her cup to her lips and blowing over the steaming liquid. “I don’t mind coming in from time to time to help out, but I do not want to be their assistant full time, and I figured they would be asking me to come back if they didn’t find someone soon.”
I sip my coffee before replying. “I don’t know much about working in an office, so they will probably still be calling you.”
She shakes her head. “There’s not much to it, just answering the phone, taking messages, and filing paperwork alphabetically. If you can do all that and keep this place cleaned up, you’ll do fine here.”
“I think I can handle all that,” I say with a nod. That doesn’t sound hard at all; I just hope it’s as easy as it sounds.
We stay quiet, finishing off our coffee and donuts. As soon as we’re done, she motions for me to follow her into the front office. Sylvia heads straight to the desk and plops down in the chair, hitting the power button on the computer. She waits until the startup screen pops up and turns to look at me.
“We keep the schedule and contact list on the computer, but it’s easy to learn so don’t be nervous,” she says, looking up at me. “But everything is also kept in our desk calendar and an old-style rolodex. If you mess up on one, you will always have a backup.”
“Okay,” I reply, looking over the desk. “I think I can handle that.”
“First of all, let me teach you how to log on,” she says, explaining passwords and such. “Everything is written on a post-it in the top drawer, so don’t worry if you forget.” I don’t think I will need it, I have always had a good memory, but I’m glad it’s there just in case. I’d hate to think I’d have to call Chance, Adam, or even Sylvia because I can’t get into the computer.
She is just logging on when the front door opens and Chance walks in. He is carrying a bag in one hand and a drink carrier with three cups in the other. Using his foot, he kicks the door shut and walks over to the desk.
“What are you doing here?” Sylvia asks while giving him a questioning glance. “I thought you boys were starting a job in Elizabethtown?”
He shrugs, walking our way and dropping the bag on the desk. “It’s Gypsy’s first day, figured she should get a donut at least.”
His mother opens her mouth, but he doesn’t give her a chance to speak. “I needed to pull Gypsy’s car in anyway. It would have been rude if I hadn’t at least come in to say hello.”
Ignoring their conversation, I rush across the room and open the door. Sure enough, my piece of crap car is sitting near the fence, just right to the side of the office. It’s sitting on the back of a bright red car trailer. I rush down the steps and head toward it. By the time I reach the car, Chance is by my side.
“How much do I owe you?” I ask, looking from the car to him.
He shakes his head, looking utterly confused. “What are you talking about?”
“How much do I owe you for towing it here?” I ask again, not sure what he isn’t understanding.
“Not a damn thing,” he says, stepping back and holding his hands up. “It took Adam and I about five minutes to get it on the car trailer. Then, I just hauled it over here. It didn’t cost a cent, so you don’t owe me anything.”
“Oh,” I mumble, looking back at my car. “I need to see about getting it fixed. Do you know a good mechanic I could call to see how much it’ll cost to get it running again?”
Even as I say the words, I wonder how the hell that is going to happen. Granted, I will be making a steady paycheck now. Still, fixing this junker is going to cost a bundle. I’ll have to save forever to cover the bill.
“I hate to tell you, Gypsy,” he says, rubbing a hand over his whiskered chin. “Adam knows a little about cars. He thinks the motor is gone. I’m thinking replacing it will cost more than the whole car is worth. You’re welcome to call the guy I use to work on my trucks, but I trust Adam’s judgement.”
“Crap,” I whisper, turning away from the car. “I guess that means I need to start looking for something new.”
Chance smiles, wrapping an arm around my shoulder. “I may have some good news for you. Mom bought a new car a few months ago. She just left her old one parked here and took the new one home. I don’t know why she didn’t put a for sale sign on it, but she didn’t, and it hasn’t been driven since then. She recently told me it was time to let the old car go, and she’s willing to sell it.”
Turning me around, he nods his head to a gold Ford Taurus, not much different than Aunt Diane’s. “It’s not much to look at, but it runs like a top.”
As we walk closer, my eyes run over it. The car is older, but there isn’t a scratch on it. The rear passenger door is missing its handle, but that seems to be the only issue. Compared to my car, it looks like a Lamborghini.
“How much does she want for it?” I ask, knowing it will be out of my price range.
He smiles, squeezing my shoulder. “Since you work here, she is willing to take payments. They can come directly from your check.”
Before I can say anything, he leads me back inside. My heart pounds with excitement as he walks me over to the desk and grabs one of the coffees he brought in.
“I was just telling Gypsy about your old car,” he says, letting go of me to grab another cup and hand it my way. “You said you wanted three-thousand, right?”
Taking a sip of my coffee, I listen to them go back and forth. It sounds as if this is a done deal, with or without my approval. Not that I mind; I just hate that this feels a bit like charity to me. Considering it's either this or borrow one of the company trucks, I really don’t have a choice. At least with this, I would be paying for the car.
“So, do you want to take it for a drive?” Sylvia asks, standing up from her chair. “If you want it, I figure we could take a hundred a week out of your check, and you’d have it paid off in no time.”
“I don’t need to drive it; I trust you and Chance. If he says it’s a good deal, then I believe him.” I pull in a deep breath and smile. “Why don’t we do a hundred and fifty a week, so I can get it paid off even sooner?”
That will leave me only one-fifty to spend on groceries and such. I won’t have much spending money, but that’s not a big deal. I’ve never been one to toss around money. Plus, this way I would have the chance to have it paid off before I go back to Macon.
“Well, then that’s settled. We’ll head over to the courthouse as soon as you get your first paycheck and get the title changed over,” Chance’s mother says, leaning her hip against the desk. “I’ll put a lien on it until it is paid off.”
I nibble on my bottom lip, trying to figure up how much that will cost me. I’ll just switch insurance from my old car to this one, so that shouldn’t cost a ton. Tax, title, and license is another thing. Even with what little I have saved and my paycheck, I may have to borrow a little money from Jarrod to cover the cost. He won’t mind though; he’s been trying to talk me into letting him help me get another car forever.
“I wasn’t sure what kind you would like, so I bought a few of all that they had,” Chance says, opening the bag and pulling out a box of donuts.
I blink at the quick change of subject, but get it together enough to shake my head. “I’ve already had one.”
“Don’t you know the early bird catches the worm? I brought her donuts already.” Sylvia smiles, grabbing her coffee from the cup holder. “You’ll have to find something different to impress the girl.”
Chance takes a donut out of the box and takes a bite as Sylvia walks around to the front of the desk. His cheeks turn pink, as she leans forward and places a kiss on one, picks up the box, and carries it into the kitchen. We stay quiet, listening to her move around in the other room. She comes back a second later, holding a few napkins in her hand.
Handing him a napkin, she sets the others on the desk, and looks at her son. “You need to be getting to the job site. We have a lot to get done today and so do you.”
He wipes the sticky remnants of the donut off his lips and asks, “Can you pull up the invoices for the Martin place job?”
Sylvia sits down at the desk, clicking some buttons on the computer as her son walks around to stand behind her. He stares at the screen for a minute then shakes his head. He mumbles something under his breath before grabbing the mouse and clicking on it. He does this twice more, causing the printer to start up. He leans down and places a kiss on his mom’s cheek before straightening up and shaking his head.
“I received a call from the owner this morning. He’s complaining about the cost, saying that my foreman keeps adding onto the estimate every day.”
“That’s a big job. We can’t afford to lose it,” Sylvia states as she jumps up from her seat, with a worried look on her face. “We also can’t nickel and dime them to death or they’ll find someone else to do it.”
“You’re not telling me anything I don’t already know, Mom,” Chance responds as he walks around the desk and heads for the printer. “I’m gonna take these over and see what the hell is going on.”
I have no idea what they are talking about, so I keep my mouth shut. My eyes are locked on them though, taking in the easy camaraderie between mother and son. It’s easy to see they have worked together for years and do it happily.
After grabbing the papers from the printer, he smiles at Sylvia. “You better take it easy on my girl, Mom.”
“I think Gypsy’s exactly what this office needs,” Sylvia replies, sitting down at the desk again. “I won’t do anything to scare her off.”
He smiles at her then leans down to press a kiss to my forehead. “I’ll be by later to take you out to dinner. We’re gonna finally share the best burrito in all of Kentucky.”
“What?” I whisper, my cheeks flaming. “Why?”
“We’re gonna celebrate your first day,” he says, shooting me a wink. “No better way to celebrate than by eating awesome Mexican food.”
I have no idea what is happening. This has to be the strangest morning of my life. Somehow, I have gotten a new car that is about a billion times nicer than my old clunker. Two people, one of whom I’ve never met before, brought me breakfast. Now, I’m being asked, no told, that I am going to dinner with a hot guy. It’s all just too much.
“Okay,” I whisper, not quite meeting his eyes.
He smiles at me once more and says, “See you later, Gypsy Girl.”
With that, he turns away and walks out the door, not even giving me a chance to respond.
I’m not even sure what I would have said to him, but I’m guessing he wouldn’t have liked whatever excuse I came up with to get out of going with him. I am sure to be a nervous wreck the whole day worrying about going out to eat with him.
There is obviously nothing I can do about it now. I’ll just figure out a good excuse to get me out of it, if I still feel this nervous, by the time we close the office for the day. I stare at the closed door for a second before turning to see Sylvia smiling at me.
She lets out a girlish giggle and says, “Yeah, you’re going to be really good for this place.”