Page 44 of Rich Girl
“Do you need a job?”
It’s in the way he asks me that. He throws down a challenge, and now it is up to me what to do with it. Do I continue with the charade, or do I confess I’m an idiot and I lied for no real reason?
I pull my shoulders back and prepare to do what I apparently do best. Lie.
“I do.”
Ray’s eyes round in surprise. He didn’t think I would say that. It’s too late to take any of this back. Besides, where’s the harm in it? I can skip out and disappear without ever looking back. No one would get hurt.
“I’d love to work at your shop,” I tell Evie. “And live in your house.”
I am suddenly scared. I know nothing about taking care of a house on my own. I have a maid back home. She cleans and cooks for me. I have someone to mow my lawn, and someone to take care of the pool. I can’t function on my own.
“Oh my God, this is amazing.” Evie is literally jumping up and down. “I’ve been stressing about finding help ever since Kathy told me she was leaving. Sebastian bought her this cruise she’s been dying to go on. I didn’t want to ruin it for her…”
Ray interrupts her. “The nephew, right?”
I don’t even know who Kathy is, so it’s nice that he fills in the gaps for me.
“That’s right,” Evie confirms.
Ray frowns at that.
“The hockey player?”
“Yes, Sebastian Roonie.”
I know even less about hockey than I know about flowers, but I can sense that there’s a reason Ray brought this up.
“That accident I was called in for this morning…”
He turns sideways to point toward the tow truck he drove by earlier. It is now safely parked in the yard of his shop, I presume.
“A bunch of players from the Sliders were involved in it.”
Both Carrie and Evie stare at him in shock. “What?”
“Yeah,” Ray continues. “They were in a limo. Not sure where they were going or coming from. But a couple of them are in bad shape from what I heard.”
Without a word, Carrie walks back to the stroller where she gently puts the baby back in.
“I need to go tell James about this. I wonder if he knows any of them.”
Now it is Ray’s turn to look shocked. “He knows the Sliders personally?”
Carrie blushes and glances away. It’s as if she regrets mentioning anything.
“Yeah, he, uh, he played hockey a while back.”
“In the pros?” Ray’s voice has gone up a few octaves.
“No, nothing like that,” Carrie shakes her head. “Anyway, I gotta go.” She looks at her friend. “Evie, I’ll call you.” She then looks at me. “It was very nice meeting you. I’ll see you at Evie’s shop.”
She starts pushing the stroller, making me wonder where she could be going. There are only a handful of shops here, and no houses, that I can tell.
“She parked her car at the fire department,” Ray tells me when he notices my confused expression.
“I have to go, too,” Evie announces in a rush. “I want to go and google the accident. I’m scared of calling Kathy for information on it. What if Sebastian is involved in it? Oh, my goodness!”
