She gave him a sympathetic smile. “I know things are tight, but you should buy some new work clothes, Chase. You dress like an eighty-year-old man. We all got new school clothes this year. It’s time you did, too.”
Technically, he dressed like a forty-five-year-old man. At nineteen, he hadn’t even owned a button-down shirt, let alone slacks. He’d reluctantly donned Dad’s clothes for the job interviews, and then kept on wearing them after he got the job at AutoBest. Beth was right. He should buy something new. But it was the wrong realization to have when he was about to lose his job.
She must’ve read his mind. “Here, take this and go shopping tomorrow after work. I’ll cook dinner.” She dug in her jeans pocket and pulled out several crumpled bills.
He smoothed them out as she handed them to him. “What’s all this from?”
“I resold all those stupid Pokémon cards I bought for a dollar last month at a yard sale.”
“Are you fleecing all the kids in the neighborhood, Beth?”
“They know more about their value than I do. It’s all legit, I promise.”
He started to hand the money back, but she insisted. “Let me do this for you.”
