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“Soon, I’m guessing. I’ll probably do the interviewing for him since he’s overseeing the renovation. It’ll be operational later this month.”
“That’s a lot. Your hut. Your life. It’s a big change.”
“Did you start looking for a new job yet?” he asks.
My heart hammers. “No. I’m the worst about staying put, even when it sucks. We all were. Change is scary.”
“Sometimes you don’t have a choice.”
“Right. When your hut decides to run off with a gal named Calinda.”
He laughs brusquely.
We’re quiet a moment, and then he says, “I could get you a job at the new bar. Lila too, although she might like something else at the hotel. When we were stuck in the dark at Mom’s house, she mentioned she might like to look after a toddler, if that helped.”
That’s a big deal. “Really?”
“Yes. I know Lila hates me, but—”
“She doesn’t. We talked about it. She’s just scared. She’s been through a lot.”
“Her ex definitely couldn’t give her any trouble all the way in La Jarra.”
“Where would we live?”
“Mom has an extra bedroom. And there are apartments. I could even move back in with her and let you two have mine. I think we could figure that part out.”
“Is this the right thing?” I clutch at the concrete curb.
“It solves some of the problems. You wouldn’t work for me, technically. Clay would be your boss. If we broke up, you would still have a job.”
A car passes by, its headlights momentarily blinding me before it moves on.
“Tillie?”
“You think this is a sure thing?”
“You can at least apply. Clay will sponsor the work permits. There’s no way he’ll have enough staff locally. If anything goes wrong, you can always go home. Or if you love it here, we could work opposite shifts. I can’t imagine—”
I interrupt him. “Yes.”
“Yes?”
“Yes. I’ll apply. And I’ll talk to Lila. We’ll see what happens. Okay?”
I can hear the smile in his voice. “Okay! I’ll get you the paperwork. It’s going to take a while. Even without the storm, these things take some time.”
“I understand.”
“Tillie, it’s going to work. I’m sure of it.”
“How long would we get to be there?”
“At least the seasonal permit, which is eight months. But we’ll probably go for the full nine years. After eight years, you can apply to stay, with or without me being involved.”
“Unless we get married.”
He laughs. “Unless we get married.”
