I hum in delight. “It’s perfect.”
She grins and pumps her fist. “Nailed it for the new girl.”
“Do you know Mark?” I ask, super un-casually.
She scoffs. “Everyone knows Mr. Torres.”
“Okay, well, how doyouknow him?” If I’m making alliances here, I want to ensure I’m making the right ones—though I don’t really doubt my gut that Irene is good people.
“I was his marketing manager. See all the signs around town?” she asks, gesturing to the hostess stand behind us.
I nod. “Yeah. Your doing?”
“Mmhmm. I have a freakin’ bachelors in business analytics with a minor in advertising, okay? I know my shit. Mr. Torres grabbed me for a never-ending internship five years ago, and I, like an idiot, strung along with it for four whole years. Four,” she says firmly, and I cringe, commiserating. “All because my dad’s in town and he loves it here, but he’s also sick and you know how it goes…” She trails off sadly, and I do know how it goes.
“Anyway, I finally grew my ovaries and asked to be hired on, and he let me go. Guess he got what he needed out of me,” she says with a shrug.
Crazy-girl makes a huge racket in the back of my mind and I temper my reaction. “I’m really sorry. That’s bullshit.”
She nods. “It is.”
“Well, the haunted hot spring doesn’t come with any staff, and I’ll definitely need some help with marketing in the next few months. Would you be open to some contract work? I mean, I know you’re really busy—”
“No, yes! Yeah, of course,” she exclaims. “Hell, I’ll drop a shift or two. They’ll figure it out. You just say the word and I’m there. Well, notthere. I really don’t like that place. But I will work remotely and show up in person for important meetings.”
I giggle. “Okay. I don’t even know the status of things, but I’m hell-bent on making this work, so Iwillneed a master marketer in the near future.”
“I’m your girl,” she says, pointing two thumbs at herself.
“Great, do you want to give me your number?” I ask, holding out my phone.
“Yeah! And I can tell you all about the boysenberry you’re missing out on,” she says as she types in her info.
She hands me back the phone with a big smile, the tired lines under her eyes disappearing for a moment. This is what she loves, what she lives for. I get that. I gether.
I look down and shoot her a text. “There. Now you’ve got me.”
She pulls out her phone when it dings and scrolls through it, her smile only growing.
There’s a loud, incessant ringing somewhere behind us. “Cherry! Order up!”
“Oh, shit. Okay. Great. Yeah! Okay, see you later,” she says in a flurry as she picks up her serving tray and runs for the cook window.
I can’t stop my grin as I watch her go. I look down and send her a gif of infinity blueberries, zooming in forever. She’ll laugh at it later.
I sip my latte as I run back to my car and start it up. My map leads me farther down Main Street until the houses and businesses fade away and I’m climbing into the mountains once more. Two switchbacks and a steep incline later, I’m finally here.
My heart sinks before I can even park.
“What. The. Fuck.”
three
Haunted Hot Spring
Idrink my hot latte as I stare at the abomination.
Overgrown.
