your references checked out,” Joe told Reily. He added with barely veiled exasperation, “Your old boss is quite the talker, isn’t he?”
Knowing Abe, he had probably relayed Reily’s entire life story. “Sorry about that. I hope he didn’t talk your ear off.”
“Close, but he had nothing but praise for your skills, so I guess you’re hired.”
The stress of the day seemed to drain away and a well of pure relief gushed up inside of her. “Thank you so much, Mr. Miller. You have no idea how much I appreciate this.”
“It’s Joe,” he said, but if he felt even a hint of satisfaction for more or less saving her life, it didn’t show. “You can start tomorrow. We open for lunch at eleven, but you’ll have some paperwork to fill out so be here no later than ten.”
“I will.”
“We’re open Monday through Thursday from eleven to ten, and Friday and Saturday till 2:00 a.m. We’re closed Sunday.”
“I’m available whenever you need me. The more hours the better.”
He nodded sharply, then turned and disappeared back through the door.
“I know what you’re probably thinking,” Lindy said, and Reily turned to her. “But he’s really a great guy once you get to know him.”
He could be the biggest jerk on the face of the planet and she wouldn’t care, as long as he was a fair and decent employer. Besides, it was temporary.
“Are you and he… together?”
Lindy laughed. “Definitely not. We’re just good friends. I’ve known Joe my whole life. And even if I was interested, he’s emotionally unavailable, if you know what I mean.”
“I know exactly what you mean.” She’d dated a few guys just like him. They weren’t worth the heartache they inevitably caused.
She untied her apron and handed it back to Lindy. “Thanks for putting in a good word for me.”
“Here,” Lindy said, snatching two ten-dollar bills from the tip jar and pressing them into Reily’s hand.
“You don’t have to do that.” Reily tried to give them back, but Lindy shook her head.
“You earned it.”
Shelving her pride, she stuffed the bills into her back pocket. “Thank you.”
“Tomorrow we’ll see about getting you some clothes. I’m guessing you wear a medium in tops and a size five in pants.”
“How did you know?”
“I worked in the women’s department at the JC Penney in Denver when I was going to college. I know women’s fashion. If I ask around, or maybe pull a few strings at the thrift store, I can get you some clothes to hold you over.”
“I’m not the type to take a handout, but under the circumstances, I’ll take all the help I can get.” If the rest of Paradise was even half as nice as Lindy, this temporary detour might not be half-bad. Although she did have reservations about her new boss. She had never worked with anyone so… grumpy. Or maybe she just needed time to get to know him, and vice versa. He was cute enough, not that she was looking to hook up while she was in town. Her only goal was to make the money she needed to get to Nashville. If that meant hanging around this tiny town for six weeks, it was a sacrifice she was more than willing to make.
Chapter Two
Joe sat in a booth across from the bar with a cup of coffee and his laptop, watching his new employee. She sat on a bar stool with her back to him, head bent as she filled out an application and a tax form. Though he wouldn’t normally hire a total stranger, especially one just passing through, P.J. seemed to have taken quite a shine to her, and Joe trusted his judgment.
She was dressed in the same clothes as the night before, which he took to mean that she didn’t have anything else, and her long, pale blond hair was pulled back in a ponytail that hung halfway down her back and swished when she walked. She was a spunky, high-spirited young woman who had spent most of her life clinging to the short end of a very rickety stick—according to her former employer, that is. He claimed that Reily, who was orphaned as a youngster and raised by an aunt, had been best friends with his daughter since preschool and like a surrogate daughter to him and his wife.
Information Joe really didn’t need to know. He didn’t care where she came from or how she was raised, as long as she was a hard worker. He wasn’t normally in the business of saving people. Not anymore. He’d learned the hard way how futile a venture that could be. It just so happened that she needed a job and he needed a bartender. Simple as that. If she hadn’t come along last night, he would have posted a help-wanted sign in the window this morning. It was nothing more than a case of her being in the right place at the right time.
“So who’s the girl at the bar?”
He looked up to find Jill, one of his waitresses, standing beside the table. Considering she was usually at least ten minutes late for her shift, he was surprised to see that she’d showed up early.
“Her name is Reily. I hired her last night. She’ll be taking over Mark’s shift until he’s back to work.”
Without invitation she slid into the booth. “She doesn’t look familiar.”
“She’s not from around here,” he said, and he left it at that. If Reily wanted the other employees to know her life story, she could tell them herself.
“If you were looking for someone, you should have called Ed. He’s been out of work since he lost his job at the Dairy Bar.”
If her latest loser boyfriend couldn’t handle a job scooping chocolate chip mint, he’d never make it in the fast-paced world of bartending. Besides, from what Joe had heard, Ed had lost his job because he was dipping into the register as well as the ice cream. And since it was his bar, and he could hire whoever he pleased, he didn’t feel he owed Jill or anyone else an explanation. So he didn’t give her one. Instead he turned his attention to the spreadsheet on his screen.
“So, I was thinking of taking Hunter to the lake Sunday, and I thought you and Lily Ann might like to come with us. The kids never get to play together.”
That’s because Lily Ann was afraid of Jill’s six-year-old son. After the one and only playdate she did have with him, she’d come home covered in scrapes and bruises from his overly rough play.
“I have things to do around the house,” he told her.
She reached across the table and put her hand over his, giving it a firm squeeze, which quite frankly creeped him out a little. She had a reputation for latching on to any single man willing to tolerate her child. She wasn’t unattractive, but she wasn’t exactly pretty either, and she had an air of desperation, a neediness that clung to her much like the odor of the cigarettes that she chain-smoked during her break. And though she was a decent waitress, their relationship had never progressed past the bar doors. And never would. Not that she hadn’t tried. He didn’t doubt that if he asked her out, she would dump loser Ed in seconds flat.
“I
