A quiet snort leaves Josie before she continues, “what Monty is trying to say is that we would feel much more comfortable if you were to stay here instead of all this traveling back and forth.”
Wait, what?
“What?” I focus on Josie, looking for any hint of deception as I try to figure out what she means. She… Do they want me to live here? With them?
“As you know, I have talked about wanting to get my salon opened again as soon as the doctor gives me the all clear. Truthfully, I would only feel truly comfortable doing that if I had someone I trust to watch Hayes while I’m in my appointments.” Her hand moves from my back to my hand resting on the counter. She slips her hand in mine before she gives it a gentle squeeze.
Her hands are so soft. I don’t want her to let go.
“So you need to find someone who will watch Hayes while you work.” I reiterate.
“Yes.” Her reply is simple and to the point.
“And you’re letting me know that you’ll be looking for someone to do that job. So this is my heads up, right?”
Confusion flashes on her face, and she looks to her husband in search of an answer. For a moment, I thought I saw hurt flash across her features, but why would she be hurt if she’s letting me go?
“Nooo…” Monty begins, “What we’re saying is, we’d like to keep you on a permanent basis. We like you Evie. You’re great with the kids, and you do a great job.”
Ooh. OH. This wasn’t them firing me. This was them offering me my job- for longer.
“Well.” I start, unsure how to move forward with the next part. “I guess I grossly misread this talk.” I force a laugh and then cringe at how it sounds. Josie’s hand is still in mine, and I keep focus on where they are joined.
“We have the place above the garage where you can stay.” Josie begins, “It’s close, and you don’t have to worry about traveling. When you’re here you can use my SUV if you want to do something with the boys while I’m working.”
“I don’t understand. I thought you said that loft is for when your parents visit.” I don’t want to put their parents out when they come to visit. I couldn’t do that.
“It wouldn’t be a big deal, They would be fine staying in a hotel. Truthfully they don’t come up often enough that it gets used all that much. So if anything, you’d be doing us a favor by staying there and using it.” A smile forms on his lips, the movement kick starts my own as my mind begins to put the pieces together.
A place of my own. No roommates, with my own privacy. My own bathroom to take as long of a shower as I want without someone pounding on the door saying they need it.
“Are you sure?” I ask. I need clarification.
“We are.” Monty says.
A smile begins to spread across my face, but I tamp it down. Not wanting to appear too excited about this opportunity. This is the first time in a long time that I don’t feel my brain cycling through what can go wrong, and overthinking the situation.
“Let’s do it.”
Chapter Eleven
Josie
Seven Weeks Postpartum
Standinginmysalon,a smile spreads across my face. Since I showed Harper and Evie this place I have felt more excited to open back up. Evie and I have spent many hours here over the last week tidying everything up and getting the place ready for when I get the all clear and can start taking clients.
One afternoon we did an audit of everything I had in stock. I swear I saw Evie drool when I asked her what’s the best way to go about this. She found the perfect program to document everything. We got rid of anything that was about to expire and made a list of what needs to be ordered over the next couple weeks.
I have never seen my place more organized than it is now. I put up my newest art piece that the boys gifted me for Valentine’s Day. I cried when I looked at it. Evie was so sneaky about getting this done, I was so grateful for the time she spent with them to do it. It hangs proudly behind my counter next to my certificates.
Excitement sparks across my skin as I think about all the possibilities of starting back up with work. This work has always come so easily to me, I love being able to pamper the clients who come through my door.
My salon allows these people to have a safe place to relax and be taken care of. Which is something I always love doing.
The bell rings, alerting me that someone has walked through the door. I don’t need to turn around to know it’s Evie with Hayes. My breasts startedto ache about two minutes ago, so I figured he was going to wake soon from his nap wanting a feed.
“Hey, I’m sorry to bug you. Hayes just woke up from his nap and as soon as I finished changing him he started rooting around on my collar bone.” Evie talks to me, but her focus is on the guy in her arms.
