“Izzy, you know I wouldn’t even suggest something if I didn’t think you were a good fit for the job. The only thing you have to do is drive there and meet Justin himself. He wants to check people out personally, because he hires people who might not get jobs easily elsewhere.”
“Like ex-cons?”
“And people who are older or former stay at home mothers, or people with no education or even a few who are completely over-educated. He likes to provide stability for those who can’t find it elsewhere. It’s not glamorous and it’s real hard work, but I think you’ll be a good fit. Just…try to be real with him.”
Izzy snorted. “Right, because that comes naturally to me.” He was notoriously sarcastic and glib, and that wasn’t one of his best qualities.
Mrs. Rossi looked at him thoughtfully again, then smiled slightly and shook her head. “You know what, I think you’ll get along with him just fine.”
* * * *
Izzy drove up the long winding road that the GPS on his phone had told him was the right way. He would’ve never found the place without it. He’d never really driven on these sort of narrow mountain roads, and it freaked him out whenever a car passed him and he had to drive to the side and face a drop, short as it might’ve been. He kept reminding himself that this was the foothills, not actual mountains, but it didn’t help much.
He’d passed an orchard on the way and there had been plenty of people working there. It seemed like a lot of produce came from these hills, and something about that made him feel excited. Maybe it was the thought of being a part of a bigger thing. He’d never really been part of anything, except prison population.
Finally, he saw a large sign announcing the way to the greenhouses, but he knew he had to drive to the house itself to see his hopefully future boss. He turned right where the greenhouses would’ve been to the left, and continued on the driveway up a small incline that opened into a nicer view of the area.
He could see the glittering glass or whatever the greenhouses were made of in the distance. He wondered how they managed with water, since they were in California after all.
The driveway suddenly ended in a large circular parking space by a large, farmhouse looking building. There were what must’ve been stables on the other side of the yard, because Izzy could make out horses inside paddock fencing farther away.
He glanced at the rearview mirror and sighed. He looked like he did, because he’d early on figured it was worth it to cultivate the look that seemed to get him where he wanted to be. He had tattoos and a general bad boy look that had worked so well in his past life. This one, not so much. Oh well.
The only thing that made him get out of the car when he saw a guy who was maybe in his mid-thirties come out of the house was the fact that Mrs. Rossi had thought this was a good idea.
“Well, here goes nothing,” Izzy murmured, his stepdad’s voice chuckling something about him really being nothing in his head. He ignored the voice, turned off the engine, and forced himself out of the car.
He’d worn his one nicer shirt, a pale blue button-down with the sleeves rolled up, with his best jeans and his Converse. He didn’t own many pieces of clothing to begin with, but if this Justin fellow had employed the unemployable before, he’d probably understand, right?
“Hey, you must be Istvan?” The guy with blond hair and an easy smile said as he waited for Izzy to walk to the front steps.
“Yeah, Istvan Kostas, but everyone calls me Izzy, nice to meet you.”
When he got close enough to shake the guy’s hand, he could see that the easy smile was only half of the story. His gaze was assessing, taking in everything Izzy was putting out, and it made Izzy nervous.
“Justin Abbot. You’re not afraid of dogs, are you?” he asked as they shook hands, looking over Izzy’s shoulder.
“Not in the least, I love dogs.” Izzy turned to see what had caught Justin’s attention.
There was a slim teenaged girl with long braids and denim overalls walking toward the house from across the yard. She had several dogs walking around her as a pack. None of the dogs ran ahead, they were clearly obedient, because they could also clearly tell that Izzy was a stranger and the car wasn’t familiar, either.
“Oh wow,” Izzy said spontaneously, because frankly he’d never seen such a thing. Well, of course on TV on those dog training reality shows, but not in real life.
“That’s my baby sister Lettie and her pack. She rehabilitates and trains shelter dogs. Adopts them out.” Justin waved at the girl. “You can let them go, Izzy likes dogs.”
“Okay!” she called back cheerily, said something to the dogs who all ran forward as if literally let out of a gate.
There were two mutts in different sizes, one a bit shaggier than the other, one German shepherd, two pit bulls, and that seemed like some sort of a Chihuahua mix.
Instinctively, Izzy knelt down to greet the dogs and got kisses from the bravest of them. It made him laugh and he patted them with abandon. He loved dogs. He knew it was the unconditional love thing he couldn’t resist, but he also couldn’t have cared less.
“Aren’t you great doggies,” he cooed at them, flushing slightly when he glanced at Justin who seemed amused.
“Heel!” the girl said in a calm, firm tone as she got close, and the dogs immediately went to her, organizing like little soldiers next to her.
“Hi, I’m Izzy,” he said awkwardly, not sure how to greet the girl.
The feeling seemed to be mutual. “Hey, I’m Lettie. This is my current pack. Only Goggles there is a regular, the rest are rehab dogs.” She pointed at one of the pit bulls that wagged its tail when hearing its name.
