Page 11 of Help Wanted

Chapter 3

Kenley was cursing and casting violent, powerless spells in the direction of her old boss as she walked to her car. She would not cry again over another opportunity lost because of that vicious woman. She wouldn’t.

She pulled out her phone and called Rachel.

“It didn’t work out,” Kenley said as tears broke loose and ran down her cheeks. Damn it.

“Another one?” Rachel sighed. “I’m sorry, sweetie. Let’s go get a drink.”

“If we keep drinking every time I get turned down because I’m an alleged whore, we’re going to have to start going to meetings.”

“Fine, then come over here and we’ll bake cookies.” She offered a higher calorie option.

“See you soon.”

Kenley drove slowly, letting the drive take even longer. She hadn’t been lying when she’d told Zane it was nice to meet him. It was.

Despite his harsh demeanor, she’d found him to be adorable, in a manly kind of way. He had dark, shaggy hair that hung over his bright blue eyes. Kind eyes.

He seemed like the kind of guy she would have gone out on a date with, if she did such things. She wasn’t good at dating. She’d started too late.

Back in high school her mother had encouraged her to go out, knowing Kenley was spending most of her evenings and weekends at home with her. But it had seemed ridiculous to go to a party or a football game when her mother’s clock was winding down.

She hadn’t wanted to look back one day and regret not spending as much time as she could with the woman who had taken her in and loved her as if she were her own. And today, as she made her way to Rachel’s cookie factory, she realized she had been right.

“Damn it.” Kenley wiped the tear from her eye and pulled into the driveway. She’d unleashed the tears, good luck getting them to stop anytime soon. She missed her mother every day, but she could honestly say she didn’t regret giving up the dates, parties, or football games so they could share every minute they were given together. “Mom? Why is this happening?” she asked the empty car.

She would have liked to work at the marina. She would have liked to move to New Haven and start fresh, meet someone who would understand why she didn’t want to jump into bed after two drinks. Maybe this stranger could get to know her, and she’d tell him about her predicament. He’d be understanding and would help lead her into that next phase of her life. The sex phase. Maybe she’d be so good at it right out of the box he’d ask her to marry him, just because he couldn’t get enough. Did she even want to be married?

Sure it seemed ideal. Someone to count on. Someone committed to love you even in the mornings or during the flu. But she’d seen the other side. She’d seen her father utterly heartbroken as he watched his wife spend her last days in pain.

For some reason he’d signed up for marriage a second time. So maybe the good did outweigh the bad.

It would be nice to have someone to have dinner with each night. They could share stories about their workday. Maybe after dinner they’d snuggle in front of a fire with a glass of wine. They’d start kissing, and then he’d slip his hands into her sweatpants—not the ripped sweatpants with the missing drawstring, but a sexy pair she didn’t own yet.

“What are you doing? You look like you’re thinking about licking someone.” Rachel knocked on the glass by her head, startling her out of her unrealistic day dream.

Kenley got out of the car and hugged her friend. Rachel didn’t ask for details about the ill-fated interview. They made cookies and talked until Kenley felt better.

With a giant pile of cookies, Kenley went back to her temporary home and played dolls with her niece. After helping tuck her in and taking her turn with a bedtime story, she went out to the garage where her worldly possessions were stored. It took her three tries to find the box she was looking for, but she finally pulled out her photo album. She found a photo of herself when she was probably five. In the picture Kenley was wearing her mother’s heels and struggling to carry her briefcase.

She’d liked pretending she was going to work.

Feeling inspired, she hung the photo on the door of her makeshift room in the basement so it could motivate her in the morning.

As she curled up on the sofa she thought about normal things. How long would she have to sleep on her brother’s sofa? Why had she spent three hundred dollars on a ski jacket when she didn’t even ski? Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

But when she was done berating herself for her poor planning, she thought about Zane and the missed opportunity with him. If he’d just given her a chance, she would have proven herself. He would have been more than pleased with her performance.

This thought sparked a different kind of remorse. He was a big, muscular man. Strapping even, if virgins were allowed to use such a word.

She slipped off to sleep remembering the look on his face when she’d first walked into his office. For a moment he looked as if she’d made his day by just being there.

* * *

“I’m leaving today and I’m not coming back,” Sidney snapped as she flopped down on the sofa in his office. “I had her in the bag.”

“I’m sorry.” Zane had apologized twenty or more times since Kenley had run out of his office the day before. He knew Sidney wouldn’t abandon him. He was their mother’s favorite, and Sidney wouldn’t want to deal with the wrath if he told her Sidney was picking on him.