Page 18 of The Perfect Melody

“Come inside, we can fill out your starter paperwork.” I give her my back and head into the bar, knowing she’ll follow. The paperwork could wait, but she walked over here in the pouring rain—it’s only right I give her a few minutes to get warm before sending her back on her way.

I hold open the heavy wooden door for her, and she darts inside beneath my arm. She’s so short she doesn’t even need to duck. Mum looks up from her spot perched on a stool with a teal cushion at the bar, the menus in her hands forgotten.

“You came back.” She smiles at Cassie as if she’s welcoming an old friend rather than the dumb tourist who just trashed our family business.

“She wanted to help clean up outside,” I explain.

“Oh, that’s sweet of you. Are you all finished out there, or did the rain send you in?”

“Austin was just finishing up when I arrived.”

“Well, it was still good of you to offer,” Mum replies, determined to praise the woman for some reason.

“I’m going to change into a dry shirt, then I’ll bring out the paperwork. Do you have ID with you?”

Cassie fiddles with the strap of her rucksack. “Yeah.” She still looks nervous.

I suppose I could try to be a little more welcoming, though that’s hardly my default even on a good day. Toning down the bite of anger in my voice, I reply, “Great. Have a seat, I’ll be back in a minute.”

Mum shoots me a look over my surly attitude. What does she expect, for me to smile at the woman I just spent the best part of an hour picking up after? Mum’s not the one soaking wet and trying to figure out when she can fit building new picnic tables into her schedule. I do my best to ignore her obvious disapproval, but I can feel her gaze boring into my back as the door to the staff-only corridor swings closed behind me.

While I do whatever needs taken care of front of house, especially during busier times, I also spend a fair chunk of my time in the small back office. There’s no window, so I turn on the overhead light. My coat is draped over the back of the comfortable swivel chair behind the wooden desk, and my empty thermos stands next to the computer monitor.

I peel the wet cotton t-shirt from my body and hang it over the small radiator to dry. There’s a random blue roll on top of the filing cabinet in the corner, and I rip off a strip of the paper to dab myself dry. A towel would be better, but this will have to do. Luckily, the box of t-shirts with the bar’s new logo on arrived today. There’s nothing to be done about the wet denim of myjeans, so I suck it up and power on my laptop so I can print off Cassie’s new hire paperwork.

Forms in hand, I stride down the small staff corridor and back into the bar. Mum and Cassie sit at a table chatting away. At the heavy thud of my boots on the wooden floor, their heads turn towards me.

“Here.” I lay the paperwork and a pen on the table in front of Cassie. “Start filling that out while I photocopy your ID.” I hold out my hand expectantly, and she scrambles to pick up her bag. Expecting her to give me a driver’s license, my eyebrows wing up in surprise when she hands over a passport. I flip it open, my attention snagging on her photo. The woman before me is almost unrecognisable from the blonde on the page. Her hair colour and glasses are such simple changes that I’m amazed they make such a difference.

Mum stands and takes the passport from me. “I’ll do that. You stay and help Cassie with the paperwork.”

“I know what you’re doing,” I murmur low enough that Cassie won’t hear.

Giving me her best innocent look, Mum replies, “I’m sure I don’t know what you mean.”

I snort.Yeah right.

Mum’s been on at me to start dating again ever since my little sister, Aria, moved in with her boyfriend and his son. We met Eric and Toby last summer when Eric followed Aria here to apologise for being an idiot. Once they worked things out, the five of us spent a few days getting to know each other before they went back home to Riverbend. I’m happy for my baby sister and hope to find a love like she and Eric share one day but, as I’ve repeatedly explained to Mum, now is not the right time. While I appreciate her taking more of an interest in my personal life now that we’ve reconciled our differences over needing to update the bar, I could do without her pushing every woman she meets inmy direction. Cassie isn’t even a local. She’ll stick around long enough to work off her debt, then disappear back to wherever she came from, hopefully without destroying any more of my bar in the meantime.

Pulling out the chair opposite the tiny menace, I take a seat. “It’s all fairly straightforward, but let me know if you need any help.”

Cassie nods, already filling in her details. After a few minutes, she sets the pen on top of the forms and pushes the paper towards me.

I scan them in confusion. “You’ve put The Dragonfly as your address?”

“I thought it made more sense than putting my home address since it’s where I’ll be for the foreseeable future.”

The more I hear her speak, the more her accent intrigues me—it’s mostly English, somewhere in the home counties if I had to guess, but there’s a slight twang that creeps in now and again that almost sounds American. I suppose that would explain the ‘ma’am’.

“And your employment history? It’s blank.” According to the form, she’s twenty-four. Surely she must have had a job of some kind before now.

Her teeth rake over her full lower lip. “My previous work was all outside of the UK, but one of my old… supervisors lives in London. I can give you his number for a reference if you want?”

“You do have the right to work here, though?” I check.

“Yes.”

I sigh, running a hand through my damp hair. “Alright, put his number down and I’ll give him a call. Where did you work together and what was your role?”