Page 24 of Chasing Shelter

I shook my head. “Not really, just helping Thea in a pinch.”

“That’s a good friend,” he said. “I’m Duncan. I work with Thea at the nursery.”

It was nice that he didn’t share that heownedthe nursery—a fact I knew thanks to Thea. Bradley never missed an opportunity to let people know his family owned the hedge fund he worked for.

“Hi, I’m Ellie. I’ve been meaning to come by Bloom. I just moved into a new rental property and really want to make a butterfly garden. Mind you, I don’t know what goes into a butterfly garden, but it’s the goal that counts, right?”

Duncan laughed, making the dark, almost-black beard around his lips twitch. “Good thing about coming into Bloom is that we can help you with that. I’m pretty partial to butterfly gardens myself.”

He must’ve recognized the skepticism on my face because he let out another laugh. “Hey, a man can’t like butterflies?”

Heat hit my cheeks. “Of course, they can. I just…it’s a case of opposites. Burly mountain man and delicate butterflies.”

“I’m gonna take that as a compliment.”

“You should.”

“Well, come by anytime. I’ll be happy to show you around and tell you what those butterflies love.”

“Thanks,” I said, warmth lighting within me. “I really appreciate it.”

“No problem.”

I gave Duncan a nod and started clearing the rest of the empty tables, wiping them down. By the time I finished, it was after noon, and I was beat. When I reached the counter, Thea held out a to-go bag for me. “Lunch for my savior. I had Walter make your favorite.”

“Tomato mozzarella panini?” I asked hopefully.

“You know it.”

“Thank you. This is going to be perfect.”

“I’m the one who should be thanking you,” Thea said. “You saved my ass today.”

I waved her off. “I was happy to help. Honestly, it was nice having a little purpose. Since leaving my job, I’ve felt a little all over the place.”

“Well,” Thea began, “what would you think about working here? Just until you figure out what you want to do permanently. I coulduse the part-time help, and you’re great with the customers. The pay isn’t bad—twenty-three dollars an hour.”

She obviously hadn’t seen me smack down the rude lady, but I also didn’t think Thea would begrudge me for that. “Are you sure you want someone with no experience?”

“Pretty sure I can teach you what you need to know in an hour or two. Plus, I like you, which is a hell of a lot more than I can say for Joey.”

I chuckled at that. “I’m learning he’s a little flaky.”

“Understatement of the century. So, what do you say?”

I mulled over the pros and cons for a moment and then grinned at her. “I’m in.”

Thea let out a hoot and did a little dance. “You are saving me, Ellie Pierce. Thank you so much. I’ll email you a preliminary schedule tonight, and you can let me know if it works. We’ve got two other fill-in folks, so it won’t be full-time or anything.”

“Part-time is perfect.” It meant some structure, but not so much that I wouldn’t have time to find my way, and I needed that.

“Okay, get gone before I find something else for you to do.”

I laughed again. “I need to work on my leg strength. Being on your feet all day is hard.”

“You’ll get used to it. Don’t worry.”

I hoped she was right because, right now, a hot bath in the middle of the day sounded like heaven. I gave Thea a wave, ditched my apron, grabbed my bag, and headed for the door. The bell jingled as I stepped into the sunshine. Even though fall had hit, it felt a little closer to summer with the sun out full blast.

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