Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 80969 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80969 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
She offers a kind smile. “Well, Dr. Mathers will help you with that. And congratulations, by the way.”
“Thank you.” I slide off the stool, standing.
“Well, if you need anything …” She pauses, waiting for me to tell her my name.
“Carrie,” I fill in the blank for her.
“Carrie. I’m Sadie, which you’ve probably figured.” She gestures to her name badge. “And you’ve also probably already figured that this is my place.”
“It wouldn’t take a genius.”
I smile, and she laughs.
“Well, I just wanted to say, if you ever need anything—pie, decaf tea—you know where to find me.”
“Actually, there is something I need …” I glance at the sign in the window before looking back to her. “I don’t know how you feel about hiring pregnant women, but I really need a job.”
“Have you waitressed before?” she asks.
I bite my lower lip. “No.”
“When could you start?”
“Tomorrow,” I suggest.
She thoughtfully purses her lips. “How would you feel about working the breakfast shift?”
“I’d feel great.” And that’s the truth.
“Okay. Be here tomorrow morning at six a.m. sharp, and I’ll show you the ropes.”
“I’m … hired?” I ask, daring to hope.
Her expression softens, and she smiles. “You’re hired.”
My own smile is bigger than this town. “Thank you so much, Sadie. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it.”
“Work the breakfast shift first, and we’ll see if you still feel that way,” she jokes.
I laugh.
It feels light. I feel light.
“Okay”—I start for the door—“I’ll see you bright and early tomorrow morning.”
“Carrie,” she softly calls my name, and I stop and turn around. She takes a step toward me, her voice lowering. “I just want to say … I’m really glad you got away from … the door.”
The moment suddenly feels weighted with unspoken words. But also a kindred spirit. Like I’m finally talking to someone who understands.
Who knows what it’s like to live the life I had.
Who gets why I still feel the need to lie and hide exactly where my bruises really came from.
The shame that still lives inside me.
I give a small smile, my hand pressing to my stomach. “Me, too,” I say quietly. I’m about to turn away when something stops me, and I find myself saying, “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.” She smiles.
“Did the, um … did the … door you ran from, did it ever find you?”
“No,” she confidently tells me. “My door never found me.”
Carrie
I have a job! An actual job!
I would be skipping the whole way home if I wasn’t weighed down by the obscene amount of groceries I was carrying.
But I have no one to blame but myself.
I got a little carried away at the store, which luckily also sold bedsheets and bath towels. But I also realized that I needed some pillows for the bed, so I bought two of those along with the essentials—bread, milk, eggs, oranges for fresh juice in the morning, pancake mix, and bacon.
So, I’m carrying a lot of stuff home. There are no local buses or taxis.
So, my feet it is.
I’m walking up the street, not too far from my house. There’s no pavement on this part, so I’m walking in the middle of the road so that I’m visible to motorists. Not that any cars have passed me so far.
It’s looking more and more likely that I’m going to need a car because walking groceries home all the time is not going to be easy, the more pregnant I get.
But, hopefully, I’ll be able to get one soon when I start earning money from my new job.
I can’t believe I have a job. I haven’t worked since I was eighteen. After I left high school, I worked as a cashier at a local supermarket right before I met Neil. When I moved in with him, he had me quit my job.
Well, I’ll never be quitting this job. The only way they’ll get rid of me is if they sack me.
God, what if I’m really bad at the job and Sadie does sack me? I’ve never waitressed before. I mean, I know it’s a case of taking down orders and getting food from the kitchen to the customer, but what if I can’t remember who ordered what, and I mix things up?
No, it’s going to be okay.
Sadie is going to show me what to do, and I’m going to figure it out just fine. Because I need this job.
The baby and I need this job.
I can do this, no prob—
Ah, nuts!
One of my plastic shopping bags has broken, and my food is currently all over the road.
The milk carton has split open and is pouring out onto the road. The oranges are rolling off in every direction, and I don’t have a good feeling about the eggs.
I put my other shopping bags down and take a quick look at the egg carton, flipping it open.