Page 123 of Fairy Godmothers Aren't Cheap

“How have you been here for two hours and you’re still clean?” Gabby complained, scrubbing her hands down the front of her dirty jeans, like it would make her as clean and tidy as Samantha. “Haven’t you been helping?”

Samantha glowered. “Um,yeah. I’ve been doing tons.”

“Well?” demanded Josie.

“All of this grass is going to die if it doesn’t get watered.”

I felt my jaw loosen. Oh, no.

“But it’ll be the city’s by then,” Tamara said. She patted the shoebox. “Also, Randy left this for you.”

Samantha’s eyes lit up. “I thought these were lost in the mail! I must have used our old address.” She ripped open the box, pulling out a pair of old-fashioned, stitched leather shoes.

“Are those used?” Gabby asked, mouth creased into a look of disgust. “That’s disgusting. Think of all the foot germies.”

“They’re gorgeous,” Samantha said, trying one on. “Vintage.” She pointed a toe, showing off the shoe. They were nice, even if odd and old. She took the shoe off again and put it back in the box. “You have to water in the sod or it’ll be dead in two days. Less if it’s hot.”

“It’ll die that fast?” I asked. That couldn’t be right. I scanned the two lots. How could we even water this much grass? And why hadn’t I thought about that? I’d been so focused on getting this done and handed over that I hadn’t considered anything beyond the time I’d be freeing up to spend with James.

I did some mental calculations. Tomorrow was Thursday, which was my deadline with Estelle, and I also had an appointment to turn the park over to the city.

A park with already dying grass.

The kids would be back to playing in dirt within a year. “Ugh. What do we do? How do we water all of this?”

Samantha waved her phone. “Taken care of. Forget Estelle or whoever. I’m your real fairy godmother.” She gave a flirty little twist of her torso and winked at me over her shoulder while blowing a kiss. “The city’s coming by with a watering truck in forty minutes as an act of good faith, since the property isn’t actually theirs yet. So, I suggest you get the rest of this sod in place before he turns it into a mud pit. Also, he’s off shift at eight-thirty, and won’t water a second past then.”

* * *

As the city’struck sprayed water over the park in the waning sun, I resisted the strong temptation to run through the spray to clean myself off.

The volunteers and families with children were starting to trickle home as the sun lowered in the sky, filled with tired smiles and goodbyes.

It had been nice spending the evening with my friends again. I sagged onto one of the new benches, admiring the park. My body ached, and I wondered if I’d even be able to drag myself out of bed tomorrow morning.

From my back pocket, my phone rang, and I stretched a protesting arm to retrieve it.

It was Joan. Surely to nag me into working tomorrow even though I’d booked it off?

“Hello?”

“Char? Something unusual has come in, and I think you’d be perfect for it. Can I put your name forward?”

My heart sank. When it came to temping, I felt so done.C’est fini, as the Québécois would say.

“I know, you’re looking for change,” Joan said hurriedly when I remained quiet. “And this isn’t temping.”

That made no sense. She ran a temp agency.

“Great benefits and pay. It also follows your interests. It’s an international company who’s opening a hub here. They saw you on the news and tracked you down to my agency somehow. They’ve requested an interview.”

“They saw me on the news?” I pushed myself more upright, every muscle in my body protesting. The only time I’d ever been on the news was when the police said I’d helped identify genuine artifacts in the museum’s pottery heist.

“Yes, and they were impressed. They need someone who knows about pottery artifacts or collectables or some-such, and is willing to travel.”

“But…” I began, feeling the pull of interest. There was a job like that opening up here? In Calgary? What were the chances? “Okay, you have to tell me every detail.” Working with Joan for as long as I had, I knew she had some super serious skills when it came to upselling a job and making it sound exotic and niche. I worried this was truly a retail position in disguise.

“I don’t have them yet. Can I set up an interview for you for tomorrow?”

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