Barefoot Season. Сьюзен Мэллери

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ had a raise since I left.”

       “Tell me something I don’t know.”

       Michelle wanted to ask if her mother had been doing this on purpose. If her goal had been to destroy the inn. She doubted her friend would have an answer.

       “I’m giving you a raise now. Retroactive three months.” She named an hourly salary. “Better?”

       Damaris nodded. “You’ve always been a good girl. None of this is your fault.”

       “What have you figured out? About the inn?”

       “I hear things. People don’t get paid. Checks bounce. No one blames you.”

       Michelle glanced at the tray. Damaris had made her a roast-beef sandwich. Her favorite. There were chips and a small salad and a chocolate milk shake.

       She reached for the glass and scooped out a spoonful of whipped cream. “Thanks.”

       “Someone has to take care of you. You’re too skinny. How will you ever get a man?”

       For the first time since arriving home, Michelle laughed. “I don’t think getting a man is my biggest problem right now.”

       “A man would help.”

       Michelle thought getting through the night without having nightmares and waking up in a cold sweat was probably a better first step, but she didn’t say that. The information would only frighten Damaris.

       The other woman poked at the papers on the desk. “Is it bad?”

       “I haven’t figured that out yet.” She stuck a straw in the milk shake. “Do you think my mother screwed up on purpose?”

       “I don’t know. She wasn’t the type to have a plan. I think maybe it just happened.”

       “What about Carly? Did she help or hurt the inn?”

       Damaris shrugged. “I don’t like her very much, but I don’t think she did anything wrong.”

       Not exactly what Michelle wanted to hear. Carly’s low salary made her suspicious and their past made her want to show her the door. The deal with the bank was a problem, but more than that was the fact that Carly didn’t even know how to work the computer system. Her carefully handwritten notes proved that.

       If Carly wasn’t stealing, then it was all Brenda.

       “How long has Carly worked here?” Michelle asked.

       “Practically since you left. One day she was here. Pregnant. Brenda gave her one of the rooms. After Gabby was born, she moved into the owner’s suite and Brenda took the two bedrooms on the second floor.”

       Michelle wanted to ask what had happened to Allen. If Carly had been alone and pregnant, he’d obviously left. But why?

       “The customers like her,” Damaris said grudgingly. “She’s good with them, but she’s not the boss of me.”

       That made Michelle grin. “What are you? Five?”

       Damaris chuckled. Then her humor faded. “Are you going to fire her?”

       If wishes were horses, Michelle thought. “Not today.”

       “Soon?”

       “That eager for her to be gone?”

       “It goes back to the ‘boss of me’ thing.”

       “I’m the boss of you now.”

       “Good. I like that.” Damaris stood and walked around the desk. “Give me a hug. I’m going home.”

       Michelle stood, then winced as the fire surged through her and she nearly lost her balance.

       “What’s wrong?”

       “Nothing. My hip.”

       “Don’t you have something you can take?”

       “I’d rather not.” She’d rather drink.

       Damaris put her hands on her hips. “You were always stubborn. You must get that from your dad. Take something. I’ll wait.”

       Determination gleamed from behind her glasses, telling Michelle this wasn’t a battle of wills she was going to win. Besides, by the time she got back to her motel room, the pill would have worn off and she would be able to drink as much as she wanted.

       “Fine,” she grumbled, then reached for her backpack. She fished out the prescription bottle and swallowed a pill. “Happy?”

       “Always.”

      * * *

       Michelle kept Carly waiting for two days. Despite the fact that they were spending their workdays in the same building, they seemed to be skilled at avoiding each other.

       Carly spent her time alternating between wondering if she should start packing up and praying she didn’t have to go. She was able to fake it enough with Gabby that her daughter didn’t seem to notice anything was wrong.

       Ann had asked to come in late, so Carly was in the gift shop at lunch on Thursday. Several customers were browsing the book section while a teenage girl and her mother sighed over the dolls. Carly rang up a teapot, then wrapped it.

       “I hope your friend loves it,” she said as she handed over the package. “It’s beautiful.”

       “I think so, too,” the middle-aged tourist said. “Have a nice day.”

       Carly gave her a friendly wave, then turned and nearly ran into Michelle, who had apparently crept silently into the store. Carly had to jump back and steady herself on the counter.

       “You have a minute?” Michelle asked.

       Carly glanced toward the customers. “I shouldn’t leave them.”

       Michelle eyed the few people looking around. She pointed to the alcove by the rear storage room. “What about there?”

       Carly nodded. She could see the cash register and know if anyone was ready to check out.

       She crossed to the doorway. Michelle followed more slowly, her gait uneven, her hip obviously troubling her. Carly wanted to ask how she was, but held the words inside. For all she knew, she was about to be fired. Again. Showing compassion in the face of that seemed to be giving away the grain of power she had left.

       She hadn’t decided if she was going to plead her case or accept her fate with dignity. Two nights of sweating her bank balance had done nothing to improve her lack of a bottom line and going through the Seattle paper hadn’t given her much in the way of job options.

       As Carly leaned against the door frame, she saw that Michelle looked more tired than she had when she’d first arrived. Lines of weariness and pain pulled at her mouth. Dark smudges shadowed her eyes and there was a gray cast to her skin. Her long hair СКАЧАТЬ