Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 91937 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 460(@200wpm)___ 368(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91937 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 460(@200wpm)___ 368(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
“That’s okay,” I reply, looking around. “I wasn’t looking to drink this early in the morning.” I make a joke and laugh at it, hoping to crack a smile on his beautiful face. But his jaw just gets tighter, and I see his hand go into a fist. “I was wondering if you’re hiring.”
He stares at me for a second. “Nope,” he states without a second beat.
I nod. “Thought so,” I mumble. “Well, if it’s okay”—I ignore the need to turn and run out of the bar—“I can leave my résumé, and if anything opens up…” I grab a paper from the folder and hold it out for him, not sure he’s even going to take it.
I think he surprises even himself when he reaches out for it. “We aren’t looking for anyone at the moment,” he says, taking it, and for a split second, he looks sad telling me that.
“Have a great day, Brady,” I say, turning and walking out of the bar. I head straight to my car, get in, and only when I make it home do I let the defeat take over. I walk up the steps, practically dragging my ass. I know I should take a nap, but instead, I look around the house, wondering what else I could do to make it a home. The whole thing is so run-down it should be gutted. “You can do this,” I tell myself before walking to the kitchen when my phone rings.
“Hello,” I answer it right away, wondering if maybe it’s for a job.
“Harmony,” she says quietly, “it’s Ms. Maddie.”
“Hey,” I greet, and my stomach sinks, hoping like fuck she isn’t going to give me bad news.
“We sold out of the cakes in one hour,” she announces. “Do you think you can double up tomorrow?” A month after leaving Winston, I walked into the bakery, and when no one was there, I quietly asked Ms. Maddie if she would sell my cakes there. She was the donut queen, but she didn’t have anything else but donuts. She refused, but the next day I brought her a raspberry white chocolate cake. It took two days before I went back in, and I knew she was debating even hiring me since she didn’t want the headache of the Cartwrights. But she ordered five cakes for the next day. The only catch was I would have to deliver them before sunrise so no one would see me.
I close my eyes. “I can do that,” I tell her. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning,” I confirm, and she hangs up right away. “At least I still have that.” I look out the window. “It could be worse.”
CHAPTER 7
Brady
“What’s that?” My sister, Autumn, picks up the white paper behind the bar when she comes out of her office to the front. A small baby bump shows under her sundress. She’s about five months along, and if it was up to Charlie, her husband, she would be carried everywhere. Of course, Autumn being Autumn, she doesn’t listen to anything anyone says.
“It’s a résumé,” I answer, pouring a glass of whiskey and putting it on the tray for the server to take to the table that just came in.
“Harmony Cartwright?” she questions, her voice in a whisper, as she looks at the paper and then at me.
“Yup. You hungry?” I ask, hoping she just drops the piece of paper I should have put in the garbage.
“She’s looking for a job?” she asks, and I shrug, trying not to show her how irritated I am about this conversation. I’ve been trying to push down the aggravation I’ve had since she walked into the bar, asking me for a job. Then, I tried to tell myself it wasn’t my monkey or my circus, but she lingered in my thoughts anyway.
“Guess so.” I walk around her and head toward the kitchen. “You want something?”
“I’ll take a burger with cheese and bacon, ohh…” She puts her finger to her chin. “And fries with ketchup and vinegar.”
“Coming right up,” I say, walking to the kitchen that one year ago was empty and collecting dust until Autumn returned to town after being gone for eight years and decided to get it going. It started with a couple of hours at night, but then it blew up. Now people are coming in for lunch, and when we have tours in the back, they always want lunch, so now we have someone in full-time.
I get her a burger, and when I head out, she’s sitting at the bar looking at the piece of paper. “She took business classes and accounting,” she informs me as I place the burger in front of her. “Was she looking for office work?”
“I have no idea,” I finally say, annoyed at myself that I didn’t throw the paper out. “She came in, asked for a job. I said we weren’t looking now, and she left.”