Page 81 of Welcome Home, Cowboy
Perfect. Julie glanced at her watch. It would be fine. She’d make it to her interview with at least five minutes to spare and collect herself before impressing Mr. Banks so much that he had no choice but to offer her this job. She really wished she could talk to Lawson first.
Standing, Julie inspected her outfit of choice. Lean khaki pants and a fitted button-down blouse. She wore high heels and a scarf draped around her neck like a necklace. She looked the part. She just needed to walk and talk the part, too. Her interview curse needed to be broken today because she wanted this job as badly as she’d ever wanted anything in her life. Well, almost anything, she thought, thinking of Lawson.
The door opened and Julie hurried in that direction.
“I’m here. Sorry I’m late. Go knock ’em dead,” Beth said, talking quickly.
Julie paused. “I want the job, not a prison sentence.”
“Oh, you know what I mean.” Beth hugged her neck. “Good luck. Now go, go, go!”
Julie wanted to ask Beth if she’d heard from Lawson, but there was no time. He was just busy. He’d mentioned having a training exercise today. She wasn’t sure what that entailed, but he hadn’t seemed too concerned about it.
She slid into the seat of her car and drove five miles over the limit the entire way there. Any faster than that and she was sure to get a ticket. But maybe her luck was changing. She was back in her hometown, surrounded by friends and family. And she was in a relationship with a man who loved her. That made her a pretty lucky woman.
Parking, she gave her phone one last glance. No texts. She sucked in a breath and let it out. Shook out her shoulders. Then she pushed the car door open because she only had three minutes until her interview time.
The door came to an abrupt stop.
“Excuse me. Sorry,” Julie said, getting out of the car and praying she hadn’t hurt the person she’d just pounded her car door into. “I’m so—”
“Good afternoon, Ms. Chandler.” Mr. Banks straightened with a grim expression on his angled face. He looked at his watch. “Looks like our interview begins right now.”
She swallowed. This didn’t bode well for her. “Yes, sir. Are you okay?”
“I served five tours in Afghanistan and Iraq, Ms. Chandler. I’m tougher than your car door.”
“Of course.” She nodded, grabbing her résumé and locking her door behind her. She nervously walked beside Mr. Banks through the Veterans’ Center, conscious of how loudly her high heels clicked in the otherwise silent building.
“Hey, you two,” Allison said, turning a corner and walking toward them. “Looks like you started without me.”
Mr. Banks met her with a friendly smile. He hadn’t smiled like that at Julie.
Perfect. This was going as badly as every other interview she’d ever been on.
“Let’s have a seat in the kitchen. I can close the doors and give us privacy,” Allison said, leading the way. She gave Julie a sideways wink.
They all sat around a small wooden table.
“We’ve already looked at your résumé, Julie,” Allison started. “And, on paper, you have all the qualifications for this position.”
Julie’s gaze skittered toward Mr. Banks, who was focused on the black-and-white résumé before him.
“Why don’t you just tell us why you want this job,” Allison suggested, leaning back in her chair and pulling her hot cup of tea to her mouth.
“Oh, you know…” Julie’s body hummed with nervous energy. “I like to help people. It’s what I was born to do.” She turned to Mr. Banks and waited for him to look up. “I fell in love with yoga because it centers me. I feel calmer and things become clearer for me. Once I found yoga in college, my GPA went up to a 3.8.” She tapped the paper in front of him. “I graduated with honors. I taught yoga to adults and kids at the last athletic club where I worked, and after a year working there I stepped into a management role.” And into the owner’s arms, but she’d leave that part out. “I enjoyed every aspect of that job, down to handling the mundane tasks like making the employees’ schedules for the week.”
Mr. Banks nodded. “So, tell me then, Ms. Chandler. Why did you leave that job?”
Julie’s mouth opened to speak. Honesty was always the best policy, but no way was she telling her interviewer that she’d left because she’d given up all control to a man who’d pretended to love her. “Because I decided it was time to come home. Seaside is where I grew up, and I want to give back to my community. And to the men and women who fight for our country.”
Finally, Mr. Banks smiled, just like he’d done for Allison at the start of the interview. “You know I wasn’t a believer in your yoga program when you first suggested it. But I’ve spoken to a few of the people who’ve taken your class. They say it’s helped them.”
Hope began to spring up inside her. This interview was looking up.
“And it’s clear that you’re passionate about what you do. I think you’d make a great assistant director for the new wing of the Veterans’ Center.”
“You do?” she asked, sounding surprised. She shouldn’t be, though. She’d come a long way since returning to Seaside. And she’d made a difference in others’ lives with her yoga.
