“No one likes to be talked down to. You could have shown her a little compassion. She’s a widow, and she’s lonely. Her kids never visit, and she needs someone to pretend like they care.” Marissa turned to grab her phone and jacket from her desk. “Harry always cared and had time. He would listen to her for twenty minutes and she would leave smiling.”
“If I pretended to help her, it would be a waste of her money and our time. Compassion is not the best business practice,” I whispered. There was a reason I had to come in and save Dad’s business, and now this.
I didn’t love it, but time was money.
Marissa gestured to the outside door. “Do you think that is going to help your business?” She huffed. “Look,I know you’re experienced, but things are different here. To Harry, everyone who walked through that door was someone he cared about and knew.” She pulled her jacket on with force. “If you want to get anywhere with the people in this town, you had better start looking at them more as people and less like numbers.” She charged to the door.
“Where are you going?”
She growled. “To eat a cookie and go check that Mrs. Bates gets home alright.”
I was not going to come between her and cookies again. She stormed out.
I stood rooted to the spot in the empty office and pulled off my suit jacket. So much for a good first impression.
Chapter Seven
SCOTT
I wentto the filing cabinet and searched for a folder on Mrs. Bates. When I lifted the yellow folder from my desk, a few sticky notes fell out. I reached down and grabbed them off the floor. “Handshake/germs” was highlighted in green, “Gnomes” and “Jimmy” were in red.
Did green mean bad and red was good?
Who was I kidding?
I would never get out of this town.I needed a different plan. Maybe I should let Dad and Adam take it over. They might have more success anyway.
I yanked down hard on my tie to loosen it, took off my suit jacket, and unbuttoned and rolled up my sleeves. First impressions be hanged.
I opened my laptop to sort through my emails, hoping for a sense of normalcy. Sort, flag, or delete. I went down my inbox methodically and in control. I hovered over a reply from the Raymond & Johnson Law, my fingers frozen. Ithad been painful to inform them to disregard the last email, because I was, in fact, not looking for employment with them at this time.
After my disastrous morning and feelings of melancholy about my future, this would be pouring lemon juice on the wound. I took a long, deep breath and clicked open the email.
Mr. Scott Elliot,
It was good to hear from you again, and I'm sorry to learn that you are no longer seeking employment at our firm.
Perhaps the decision to work for your father will work in your favor.
We’re experiencing a hiring freeze. However, there is a particular property in Hillsdale, Idaho, that a client of ours has been trying to purchase for the last three years:20505 Janice Lane.
We have received an ultimatum to either secure the property by end-of-year or risk the client taking his business elsewhere.
The owner of this property will only deal with a local attorney. We have sent offers to Mrs. Carol Andrews with no success. She refuses to discuss any terms with us.
If you, as a “local,” can convince her to sell to our client by December 10th, a substantial bonus and a position in our firm is waiting for you at the beginning of the new year. This is a limited time offer.
Let us know if you accept these terms.
Clyde Johnson
I shot up from my chair, causing it to rock back loudly.
This was it.
This could solve everything. I reread the email. With the large bonus, I would dissolve my dad’s loan, and someone else could take on this firm without the same risk attached. It wasn’t like I knew what I was doing here anyway. This also might be my only chance with Raymond & Johnson Law. I paced back and forth in the small space, my emotions bouncing between excitement and fear.
I dodged around a pile of boxes stuffed with bluefolders. It would take me forever to turn this place into a well-oiled machine. If the lack of internet speed didn’t kill me, Marissa might. For a woman so small, she was packed full of fire.
