Page 89 of Steadfast
For a few minutes I sat at my desk thinking up angry replies, telling Jude exactly what he could do with his money.
“Sophie?”
I lifted my head quickly to see Denny watching me. “Yes?”
“Your eleven o’clock appointment is here.”
I jumped up from behind my desk, finally noticing that my client Mary and her daughter Samantha were standing behind Denny. “Hi!” I said quickly to the mom, adding a wave at her toddler. “Thank you for coming in today.”
“Anytime,” the young mother said, putting a hand on her daughter’s silken head. “She’s all healed up from the procedure. It took her only a day to feel better, I swear.”
“Children are amazing,” I agreed. “Shall we step into the conference room and talk?”
“Sure.”
I led the way, feeling gloomy because I’d failed this family. I’d found them some funding for the follow-up care for Samantha’s cochlear implant, but not enough. We were still a few thousand dollars short. The only news I had to share with Mary today was yet another entry on another foundation’s waiting list. Until something came through, the young mother would face mounting interest payments on her credit cards.
That’s when a wonderful idea occurred to me.
I whirled around. “Good news! I’ve found a private donor to help cover your out-of-pocket costs.” From across the room I saw Denny’s head pop up in curiosity. But I just ushered Mary and Samantha past him, closing the conference room door. “Let’s schedule Samantha’s activation date!”
* * *
“Doyou want to talk about it?” Denny asked the next evening as he put on his overcoat at the end of the day.
“About what?” I asked, looking up from my computer screen.
He shrugged. “About whatever is causing you to make that kicked-puppy face all the time.”
“What face?”
“It’s like this.” Denny grabbed the lapels of his coat and scrunched his face into a pathetic frown with droopy eyes.
“Ugh. No. I do not look like that.”
He smiled. “Okay, notjustlike that. But still…” He cleared his throat. “Want to have crepes for dinner? My treat.”
That did sound good. Except I’d bought three chicken breasts to roast at home with baked potatoes. I started to say that I couldn’t make it, but somehow I said, “Fuck it,” instead. “Sure. Let’s go.” If my parents hadn’t figured out how to feed themselves by the time I got home at seven o’clock, I could still cook for them. They wouldn’t starve to death in ninety minutes.
We took Denny’s car to The Skinny Pancake, which was a Main Street Montpelier cafe not too far from the hospital. Denny ordered the lumberjack—a ham and cheddar crepe. I got the crepedilla because it was always fun to try to pronounce it.
Right after we sat down, Denny addressed the elephant in the creperie. “I just want you to know that whatever the hospital decides in January, I’m sure we’ll both end up with good jobs.”
I cringed. “Well, just try to remember the little people when you sit down behind the desk inside your new office.”
“Sophie,” he warned. “They might not choose me.”
“They should,” I said, voicing my fears. “You have a masters and more experience. It’s okay, though. I’ll find something. I kind of thought Norse would have made a decision by now. Why do you think he hasn’t?”
He took a sip of coffee. “I think he was trying to put in for more budget. Maybe he thought he could offer us one-and-a-half jobs? It wouldn’t be ideal to stay part time, but it looks savvier to hunt for a job when you already have a job.”
Ugh. “Which is a kind way of pointing out that I should have already begun my job search.”
He grinned over the rim of his mug. “Graduating is a natural breaking point. Nobody would expect you to job hunt while taking finals. Orme,” he added quickly.
Apparently I wasn’t the only one who assumed he was a shoo-in. “Hey Denny—have you ever hired a private investigator?”
He looked a little startled at the sudden change of topic. “I have not. But once in a while the social work office needs to recommend someone, so there’s a file at work with names in it. I could find it for you.”
