Page 15 of Resisting Fate
He waited while she spoke in a smooth professional tone, then hung up, and smiled. “Work stuff?” he asked.
“Yeah. I’m only working mornings at my regular job. I’m an admin at a construction company, and this is their slow season. Anyway, I just wanted to pick up some extra cash for the holidays. Now I can. I start the day after Thanksgiving.”
He read between the lines. “Things are tight? How much do you need?” Checkin was doing so well they were looking for investors to take it to the next level. He could easily help her out.
“I’m fine,” she said firmly, her expression tight. “Just for a little gift spending.”
In that instant he knew everything was not “fine.” His natural impulse to help a woman in need made him consider offering her a job instead of a handout. He sensed she’d respond better to that, and they could use an admin at Checkin. Theirs would be out until after the New Year. Patty’s daughter just had her first baby and she’d gone up to Vermont to be with her. The filing had been piling up, and he and Logan hadn’t done any of the data entry for weeks now.
He clamped his mouth shut. If Missy worked for him, with this intense attraction, it would be like shooting himself in the foot. Why put temptation in front of him every day for weeks that heabsolutelycould not act on? It would hurt Checkin’s chances with investors if it looked like he had a pattern of acting inappropriately with women he employed. Not that he ever had, but his reputation already had a blemish on it through no fault of his own.
Six months ago, Ben had helped out a college friend by hiring his cousin Ashley to work sales and marketing for Checkin. It didn’t work out. After three months with zero results, Ben let her go. Then she accused him of sexual harassment. He’d been sick over it. That was not him, and if his mother had been alive to hear about it, he would’ve died of shame. He’d been raised to treat women with respect and he did. He was a total professional. He’d never even been alone with her. Half the time she worked from home and probably hadn’t even been working. Logan had loyally stood by him. Eventually, Ben was cleared of all charges, but the damage was done. His reputation was sullied even to have been accused and, if he was really honest, it changed him too. He was a lot more mistrustful of women in general.
The harassment charge was his dark secret, though word had leaked out through some business channels, which was the whole reason Logan was taking the lead for the investor meetings in January.
He gave Missy a small smile. “Good luck with your new job. What’ll you be doing?”
Missy’s cheeks flushed pink. “Uh, just a temp job.”
“What kind of temp job?” he asked, curious why she was blushing.
She cleared her throat before mumbling, “Customer service.”
“Get in here!” Claire exclaimed, appearing in the foyer. “Jake and I have a big announcement.”
“Coming!” Missy called, sounding immensely relieved. Odd.
He followed her through the house toward the sound of a crowd. “Think she’s pregnant?” he asked Missy under his breath.
“Wouldn’t be surprised,” Missy said.
They reached the back of the house, where a large conservatory was filled with people. Claire stood on a chair, and Jake whistled loudly, bringing a hush to the room. Claire looked down at him. “Thanks, honey.” She stretched her arms wide and beamed. “Jake and I bought a house in Connecticut with land for horses—”
“And dogs!” Jake put in.
“Yes!” Claire said on a laugh. “And dogs. And hopefully kids soon, though I’m not pregnant—”
“Yet!” Jake held up a finger. “Though we’re practicing every chance we get.”
“Jake!”
He grinned, looking up at her adoringly. “What?”
Claire shook her head at him, smiling. “It’s only a half hour away from Clover Park, and I cannot wait to have everyone over. We move in January.”
Missy and her friends cheered the loudest.
“Oh, that’s so nice,” Missy said in a breathy choked voice. “A family and home.” She rushed forward, where her friends had gathered around Claire, the women exclaiming excitedly to finally have Claire living nearby. She normally travelled all over the world to her movie locations. Sounded like she and Jake were putting down roots, settling down.
Ben couldn’t imagine that life for himself. He knew all too well the pain of losing someone close, with his mom’s long battle with cancer, and never wanted to feel that kind of pain again. Missy seemed really choked up about the family and home thing. She’d said she didn’t believe in long-term. Now he wasn’t so sure if he believed her.
~ ~ ~
The homeless shelter in South Norfolk, a forty-minute drive from Clover Park, was new for Missy yet familiar at the same time. Cinder-block walls, cheap vinyl flooring, the long communal tables in the dining room, the smell of disinfectant in the air. None of it said “home” to her, but it had been her salvation as a teen living on the streets, running low on cash and food.
She’d met other teen girls who’d turned to prostitution to survive, but she couldn’t stomach the idea. She’d run away at fifteen to escape her new “uncle,” a man who believed living in the same house made her fair game. Her aunt hadn’t protected her, probably because she resented being her guardian after Missy’s parents died. Missy had made her peace with it. Her early life—orphaned at ten, running away at fifteen, bouncing through shelters and then foster homes, married young to an abusive husband, all of that hell—had only made her stronger. She knew beyond a doubt she could take care of herself, knew she was a survivor. And she gave back so other people in similar difficult circumstances would know they could survive too.
Normally she volunteered at church on Thanksgiving for the handful of people who showed up there for a hot meal, but this year the church had decided to bring the hot meals to the few people who needed them. She went straight to the kitchen for her three to seven p.m. shift. The place was already abuzz with activity. She quickly located the sign-in and was greeted warmly by a woman in her fifties wearing a canary yellow track suit, her dark hair neatly tucked into a hairnet.
