grip. That “witch” just happened to be the love of his life. His personal life—and how he chose to raise his daughter—was none of Jill’s damned business.
His eyes must have said it all because Jill blinked and jerked her hand back across the table.
“Well, I better get ready,” she said with forced cheer, sliding out of the booth. “Let me know if you change your mind about Sunday.”
He wouldn’t.
At ten-fifteen on the nose, Lindy walked in from the back. She stepped behind the bar, poured herself a cup of coffee and spoke briefly to Reily. He couldn’t hear what was said over the low croon of Randy Travis on the jukebox, but whatever it was evoked a bright smile from Reily. Lindy crossed the bar and slid into the seat across from him.
“Morning, boss. I see your new employee showed up on time.”
Her observation surprised him, since she was a diehard optimist. “Did you think she wouldn’t?”
“No, but I think that you thought she wouldn’t.”
He couldn’t deny that until she’d walked through the door he hadn’t been 100 percent sure Reily would show. In a way he almost wished she hadn’t. His life was already complicated enough without adding a needy stranger to the mix.
Lindy grabbed a packet of sugar from the dispenser on the table, tore it open and dumped it in her coffee. “It was a nice thing you did for her.”
He winced. “I didn’t do it to be nice. You’re the one who’s been nagging me to hire someone.”
“I saw the new schedule in back. You gave her forty hours.”
He shrugged. “She’s covering Mark’s shift.”
“Joe, you never start a new employee out at forty hours.”
“Her references were good.”
She rolled her eyes at him. “Why can’t you just admit that you did it to be nice?”
“Because I’m not that nice.”
“Then you’re really not going to like my next suggestion.”
“If I’m not going to like it, why bother telling me?”
She shot him an exasperated look. “She stayed at the Sunrise last night.”
He shrugged. “Makes sense. It’s close by and it’s cheap.”
“Well, she can’t stay there indefinitely. Not for six weeks.”
“Why not?”
“For one thing, it’s a supreme waste of money, and second, those rooms don’t even have a microwave. What she doesn’t spend on the room, she’ll waste buying meals here or at the diner.”
“Why do you care how she spends her money?”
“Because she seems like a nice person and she’s in a tough spot.”
To hear her old boss tell it, her life had been nothing but one long string of bad luck. Her current situation was no major departure from the norm. “I gave her a job. Isn’t that enough?”
“I was thinking, you have that apartment above your garage—”
“Absolutely not.” Giving her a job was one thing, but offering her a place to live was out of the question.
“Why not? It’s been sitting there empty since—” Lindy caught herself before she actually said the words. She may have been one of his best friends, but there were certain topics of conversation that were off-limits even for her, and that was one of them. “Well, it’s been a long time, and Reily could really use a decent place to stay.”
“If you’re so worried about her, ask her to stay with you.”
“In my tiny one-bedroom? Besides, it’s not as if I’m asking you to welcome her into your house. And if you take a minute to consider it, I think you’ll agree that it’s the charitable thing to do.”
That didn’t mean it was smart.
“You haven’t known her long enough to dislike her, so I can only assume that her looks are the issue here.”
“Her looks?”
“You may live like a monk, but you aren’t one. I’m sure you’ve noticed that Reily is very pretty.”
Of course he had. He may have been celibate for the last two years, but he wasn’t dead. Although sometimes it felt that way. But he’d noticed Reily the minute he saw her standing by the bar last night, looking shell-shocked and desperate. Something deep inside of him had stirred. An itchy, restless sort of feeling that he hadn’t experienced in a very long time. Until then he’d nearly forgotten what it felt like to be attracted to another human being. He thought that part of him had died, but apparently it had only been sleeping.
All the more reason to stay the hell away from her.
“She’s not my type,” he told Lindy.
She smiled. “Then letting her stay in the apartment shouldn’t be a problem.”
The really sad thing was that two years ago he wouldn’t have hesitated to offer her the space. He would have wanted to help her, because that was the sort of person he’d been. It was a stark reminder of how much things had changed since then. There were times when he would do anything to be that man again, but it was a risk he just couldn’t take. For Lily Ann’s sake he had to keep his head on straight. They had both been hurt enough.
But by helping Reily, wouldn’t he be setting a good example for his daughter? Besides, he could see that Lindy wasn’t going to let up. She would nag him until he caved.
He mumbled a curse and shook his head. “I suppose you expect me to let her stay there for free.”
“Not at all. Besides, I think she’s the type of person who would insist on paying some sort of reasonable rent.”
She was probably right. Desperate as Reily was, she didn’t strike Joe as someone who would accept a handout. Not if what her old boss had said was true. He had told Joe that she was one of the hardest working, most responsible young women he knew.
“Hypothetically speaking, what would you consider reasonable rent?” he asked Lindy, not that he’d make his mind up about anything just yet. “The last tenant paid eighty a week, but that was a long time ago.”
“Maybe… sixty dollars a week.”
His brows rose.
“It’s not like you’re hurting for money, and it sounds as if she could really use a break.”
She was right about the money. Renting the space had been convenient during the bar renovations when his income was nonexistent, but now business was booming. Sixty a week would more than cover the utilities.
He
