“No, I don’t need your help gardening.” Maggie grinned. “Well, I sometimes do, but I thought you could work with me on all of it. As my assistant. I can pay you with my advance, and you would have steady income and a reliable job for at least a year, maybe longer. I have no idea what the café pays, but I’d offer you the same rate I paid my assistants when I was teaching at the university.”
Lena stared at her. Assistant? With regular work hours? “But I don’t have any experience.” Her mouth was parched as if she hadn’t had a drink a moment ago. With shaking hands, she refilled her glass. A drop of tea splashed on her sketch of the flower bed, blurring the lines. She was too confused to care. “And I would help you anyway. You don’t need to pay me.” The moment she said it, Lena wanted to take it back. She could use the extra money. But what she’d said was true, and she’d help in any way she could.
“Well, I know I don’t have to…but I’d love to. My main requirements for an assistant are that we get along well, that they love to learn, and that they have a good work ethic. You are more than qualified on all points. I love your enthusiasm when you learn something new about a plant and how much you concentrate to get every detail of each drawing just right, even if it takes you several attempts. You don’t cut corners to get the work done, and that’s what I need most. We’ll figure out the rest together. Okay?”
“Okay.” Half a dozen questions about the details popped up in her mind, but none were a deal breaker. And she’d rather work with Maggie on whatever project she needed than run around the café all day. But following her heart and not her brain had led her to where she was today: no education to speak of, working three jobs, and struggling with debt. So this time she’d proceed a little cautiously. “I’d love to work with you. Would it be okay if I kept on selling my preserves at the farmers market? I would make the hours up to you in the afternoon and evening.”
Maggie sipped her tea and smiled. “Certainly. It pains me to see you stretching yourself thin in every direction, but I won’t keep you from it. But you don’t need to work in the evening to make up for anything. We’ll plan around your schedule.”
Lena blinked. Was there a catch? Or worse, was this some kind of charity project? Had Jess told Maggie about Lena’s financial problems? She studied Maggie’s expression. Open, relaxed, friendly. Not at all judgmental, condescending, or pitying. Even if Maggie knew about her financial problems, this offer was too good not to accept. She smiled reluctantly. “Thank you. I’m really looking forward to working with you. When do we start?”
“Tomorrow? Wait, no, tomorrow is a market day. See how easy this is?” Maggie winked. “Friday morning? You take today off to relax and sketch or do whatever you want to do.” Maggie finished the last of her tea and started to get up.
That Maggie remembered her schedule filled Lena with gratitude. “Friday it is. But I think I’ve sketched enough for today. Can I help you with the garden? What are you working on today?”
That wasn’t strictly true; she’d never get tired of sketching. But she needed time to think, and planting or watering the garden was the perfect task to let her mind wander.
The sight of Lena sitting on the wall behind the garage brought a smile to Jess’s face. She pushed the stroller faster. “Hey, what are you doing here?”
Laughing, Lena hopped down to join her. “Waiting for a cute girl to come and pick me up.”
Whoa. Had Lena called her cute? Grateful for the twilight that hid her confusion, Jess searched for a comeback.
“Hi, Ella, how is my cutest girl?” Lena stepped closer and leaned over Jess’s shoulder to peer inside the stroller even though it was too dark to make out Ella’s features.
Ella cooed and gurgled. Lena seemed satisfied with the response and looked up at Jess. “And hi to you too.”
A faint floral scent drifted over, and Jess smiled. She had missed this. For two evenings in a row, Lena hadn’t been able to accompany Jess on her walks. She’d kept to her usual route and tried to soak up the peace and quiet of the neighborhood and the park. As always, the birds had sung, and the flowers had scented the evening air, but Jess hadn’t enjoyed it quite as much without company. Maybe because she wasn’t too happy alone with her thoughts and the doubts that snuck in from time to time.
“You’re so quiet. Is it okay for me to join you on your walk?”
“Oh, sorry. Of course it is. I was just thinking about that actually. It’s been kind of boring the last two nights without you.”
“I would have preferred to be with you too. But I had already scheduled massage clients. At least they were both couples so I didn’t have to work as much myself.”
A warm tingling ran down Jess’s spine as she remembered Lena’s hands on her. Don’t go there. Think about something unsexy. Like work. “Um…Mom said she offered you a job?”
Lena elbowed her in the side. “As if you didn’t know. I’m still undecided if I should be mad at you or grateful.”
“What?” Jess stopped. “Why would you be mad at me?”
“I’m not mad. I’m just…” Lena frowned and looked down. Her fingers played with one of the long strings that hung down from the open neck of her blouse.
