Page 21 of Pining for You

“We have mini skid steers, but sometimes we can’t rely on them if the terrain is sloped or too rocky, and sometimes the property owner doesn’t want that type of equipment on their lawn, so you have to load up a wheelbarrow and haul it around using sheer muscle power. The job’s yours if you want it.”

“Can I think about it?”

He huffed out a breath. “Of course. But don’t leave it too long to decide. I need to fill the position and soon. My guys are overworked and getting tired. That’s when accidents happen. I don’t want any of my guys getting hurt because you can’t make up your mind.”

That wasn’t fair! If he couldn’t find decent help that was on him, not me. Still, the pay wasn’t something to be sneezed at. “I’ll have an answer for you by Monday, okay?”

“Why Monday? You got something else in the hopper?”

I gave him a level stare. “I don’t like to jump into things without doing some research.” I thought about it, and couldn’t resist tweaking his tail. “Like maybe your competition are looking for help and maybe they’d pay better.”

He narrowed his eyes at me. “They’re always looking for new hires but it would mean driving almost an hour there and back which ends up costing gas money, along with wear and tear on your vehicle and your sweet time. Either way, my offer stands until Monday morning at 8:00 am. After that, if someone else comes along who is willing to put in the effort, you’re outta luck.

Sounded like he had more of a case of beggars can't be choosers, but if he was going to be my boss, there was no reason to antagonize him further. “You’ll have my answer by then.”

9

CHLOE

“So what did you tell him?” Amanda asked. She picked up my hand and started removing the glittery deep-red polish she’d applied at our last session.

“Chloe? Did you take the job?” Amanda persisted.

“I told him I would think about it.” I frowned as the last vestiges of color disappeared from that nail. I loved having long nails. Was proud that I’d finally trained myself to stop biting my nails, a bad habit I’d reacquired the day I’d come home to find the police on my doorstep.

I also loved sitting across from Amanda as we caught up with each other’s lives. We hadn’t been friends when I’d first sat down at her station. We’d bonded when we discovered we’d both recently moved back to Port Paxton thanks to a ruined relationship. We’d since met up for coffee in between nail sessions, or texted each other when one of us couldn’t sleep in the middle of the night.

“I mean, I should take it, right? The money’s great. It’s full time, so I won’t need to juggle jobs. It comes with benefits and even a pension plan if I stay long enough.”

“Sounds great. So what’s the problem?”

“It’s never been my life’s dream to wield a chain saw for a living. I can do it, sure.” For now. I wasn't getting any younger, but I kept myself in good shape. “I should take the job, because I’m not going to find anything that pays better, but I want to be doing what I trained to do.”

“Sounds like you’re trying to talk yourself into it even though you don’t want the job.”

Before I could say anything more, Amanda said, “Orrr maybe you’re afraid that working with a guy you’re dating might jinx the relationship. Maybe you’re afraid it’ll create a power dynamic between you because he’s your boss?”

I snorted. “I shouldn’t let whatever is going on with Brad and I interfere with my decisions about my future, but…” It did. There was something growing between us, something I’d been trying to deny. It was more than a friends-with-benefits relationship. Damn it, I couldn’t be falling in love with him. I couldn’t do that again. But he made it so easy.

“We’ve talked about this before. You got divorced and humiliated in a very public setting and ended up divorced in a very public way.” Amanda was one of the very few people I trusted enough to tell about Tony. “You came back to Port Paxton because your parents supported you until you could find a new job to pay off all the debts your douchebag ex left you with. I get that. But now, it’s time to start thinking about Chloe. What does Chloe want with the rest of her life? What job do you want to do? Have you thought any more about going back to school and training as something?”

I floundered to answer her but ended up huffing out, “That’s just it. I liked my job at the planning board. But I’m not going to convince anyone in any planning office here to hire me, not with my association with Tony in my background. No one’s going to trust me to be near their accounts, or handle their money in any other business. They all think I was in league with him.”

“Are you sure they won’t trust you? Have you applied to any offices? Has anyone actually said they wouldn’t hire you given—”Amanda caught her bottom lip between her teeth, her nail file pausing in its journey before she continued, “—your history with douchebag?”

“Not locally, but yeah, I have. In Kitchener, Guelph, London, Peterborough, Oshawa. I got a call back from a place in Peterborough before I moved back here, but they wanted a police history done and at that point, I was still trying to clear my name, so I had to withdraw my application because I wasn’t sure I’d pass.”

“And the others?”

“I’ve never made it to the interview stage.” Which in this economic climate wasn’t uncommon. I had friends who had sent in hundreds of applications and never gotten a nibble. I shrugged in frustration. “You know I don’t want people around here knowing about my past. You know how small towns are. They’ll never let me forget that I’m associated with a con artist. It was bad enough in Guelph, amongst people I thought were my friends.”

Amanda nodded. “Believe me, I know how small towns are.”

“What I’m really worried about is if they could go after my father. Or Grandpa Frank. They’ve both worked hard building up their businesses and if people start questioning their integrity? I couldn’t live with myself knowing I may have destroyed their credibility. Neither of them can afford it.”

“Have you talked to either of them about it?”

“Of course, I have. Dad told me not to worry about. He’d handle any…” I cleaned up my father’s precise words, “idiots that came after him about Tony. Grandpa Frank said the same, but still…”

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