Page 40 of A Brambleberry Summer

“Thank you. You won’t believe this but I already have a job interview lined up!”

“Oh, that’s wonderful!”

Rosa knew Jen had recently finished the process to certify her Utah teaching license in Oregon and that she had started applying in the area.

“The first school I contacted called me today and want to talk to me tomorrow. It’s at Addie’s school, which would be ideal.”

“Oh, that is so exciting. Of course, you can have the day off. Or more than that, if you need it.”

“To be honest, I’m not sure if I should apply. If I found a job, I would have to quit working here before the tourist season is over in September.”

Rosa waved a hand. “Don’t worry about that for a moment. I have temporary seasonal workers who have asked for more hours, so I can give them your shifts if you get a new teaching contract. I’m just happy that you like it enough here in Oregon to think about staying for a while.”

Jen hugged her and Rosa was happy to note that she had started to gain weight again and seemed to have lost that frail, hunted look.

“It’s all because of you,” Jen said. “I can’t thank you enough for all you’ve done since I moved here. Giving me this job, a place to live. You have been amazing.”

Rosa was only happy she had been in a position to offer help.

“I have been grateful to have you and Addie here. You would have a job here at the store as long as you want, but it would be wonderful for you to return to teaching. You were made to be a teacher.”

The T-shirt customers came over to ask a question, distracting them from further conversation. The door opened and more customers entered, so Rosa moved to help them.

A constant flow of traffic moved in and out of the store over the next few hours and she was too busy to have another chance to talk to her friend about her interview.

Finally, things seemed to slow near the end of Jen’s shift. One of the other seasonal workers, Carol Hardesty, came in a little early for her own shift and Rosa was about to tell Jen to take off for the day when she suddenly heard a loud crash.

Rosa jerked up her head, instantly alert, to find Jen staring out the window, the shards of a broken coaster scattered at her feet.

Fortunately, it was a fairly inexpensive one in a design that hadn’t been particularly attractive, anyway.

“Is everything okay?” she asked, when Jen continued to stare out the window.

Her words seemed to jolt the woman back to her senses. Jen looked down at the mess, a dawning look of horror on her features.

“Oh, no. I’m so sorry.”

Rosa moved quickly to her. “You look frightened. Are you all right? Has something happened?”

“Yes. No. I don’t know. I just... I thought I saw...”

“A ghost?” Carol hurried up with a broom and dustpan and started sweeping in her no-nonsense way. “We get those here in Cannon Beach. Once, I swear I saw a man all wrapped up in bandages walking around the side of Highway 101. When I slowed down to see if he needed help, he was completely gone. Spooky!”

“Yes. It must have been...something like that.”

Jen looked like a ghost herself with her suddenly pale features.

“And the really creepy part is,” Carol went on, “when I mentioned it to a few people, I found out Bandage Man is kind of a legend around here. There was even a stretch of the old highway called Bandage Man Road. Weird, right?”

Jen hardly seemed to hear her, still staring out the window.

“You need to sit down for a minute.”

“Yes,” Carol urged. “I’ve got this mess and I’ll handle any customers. Don’t worry about a thing.”

Rosa guided a numb Jen to the back room she used as an office, which was also where most of the employees took their breaks. Jen sagged into a chair and Rosa crouched beside her, holding her hand.

“Who did you see? Was it the man you fear?”

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