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We stopped by the door to apartment seven, and I handed him the key. “Welcome home, First Lieutenant.”
Dawson accepted the key and fit it into the lock. I met Hazel’s gaze as he turned the knob and stepped inside. The studio apartment wasn’t big, but there was room for a bed, a small sitting area, a galley kitchen, and a three-quarter bath.
Dawson dropped his bag to the floor. “There’s a bed! And furniture! Where did all of this come from?”
“Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow has partnered with us to help those who need basic furniture and household supplies. The thrift store employees have been taking in donations and storing them for us for use as needed. For those who come here with nothing, they provide the things you need to get you back on your feet. There’s also a voucher for clothing. Take it into the store and grab anything you’ll need for work. You have two sets of sheets and linens in the bathroom,” Hazel explained, showing him the supplies.
“This is too much,” Dawson said in amazement. “I would have been happy in my sleeping bag on the floor.”
“We know,” I said, staying out of the way while he investigated the kitchen. “But it’s Christmas, and that’s the season of giving in Bells Pass.”
Dawson opened the fridge and took a step back. When he closed it, he spun around to face us. “It’s stocked full of meals!”
“Compliments of The Nightingale Diner and Bells Pass Bakery,” I finished. “Just so happens Shep’s wife owns both. She’s extremely grateful that you’ll be working over the holidays to help her husband.”
“The massive number of meals in there makes that pretty clear,” he said, his voice full of awe. “I’ll make sure to stop in both places and issue a formal thank you.”
“I’m sure they would appreciate that,” Hazel said. “For now, we’ll leave you to check out your new digs.”
“If you need anything or have a problem, the intercom on the wall goes directly to my office,” I said, pointing at it. “If you don’t get an answer, you may have to hunt us down.”
“Noted,” he said with a nod. “I’m pretty handy so there isn’t much I can’t fix. Not to mention, everything is new.”
“That helps,” I agreed while laughing. “We’ll keep you posted going forward on when the construction will be completed, so we can start filling the place. Are you still interested in the janitorial position?”
“I am,” he said with a nod. “As long as my other job doesn’t keep me too busy.”
“Then there’s that other project Henry is working on,” Hazel said with a wink.
“I’m still confused about that,” Dawson admitted. “He was so secretive you would have thought he was James Bond. It doesn’t matter, though. I have a job where I can prove myself again, and that’s all I’ve ever wanted. I’m also happy to help you guys out here on anything free of charge. I’m just so damn grateful for this chance. I feel like I won the lottery or something.”
“We are so happy you’re the first one to move in, but you, and your work, have value,” Hazel said, patting him on the shoulder. “Never forget that.”
“Yes, ma’am, but the way I look at it, anything I do to help you here builds our community, and that’s payment enough.”
Hazel tipped her head for a moment before she nodded. “I like the way you think, Dawson. I couldn’t agree more.”
“Once we hear back from the VA on your housing stipend, we can work out a plan for the janitorial work,” I explained. “We will have wing managers as well, and they will work with other tenants and come to us with problems they can’t fix. You’re the first one here, so you get first dibs if you want that instead. Each wing manager will get a discount on their rent as well. Being a leader isn’t easy, so we will reward those who step up. We want this to be a strong community, which means we’ll need strong leaders.”
“Looks like that starts with you two. You make quite the team, and Henry told me they’re lucky to have you. Even if you do push back all the time, his words, not mine,” he said with a smile.
“We do,” Hazel said. “Early on we could see that if we didn’t, we’d get nowhere, so we drew our lines in the sand.”
“From the bottom of my heart, I thank you for that,” Dawson said as I rolled out the door with Star. “Have a great day. I’m going to sleep since I start work tonight!”
His enthusiasm was catchy, and I couldn’t help but grin. “Good luck!” I called as we headed down the hall to the elevator.
“Just think,” Hazel said as we rolled onto the elevator again. “That was just one of many happy people who will fill this space.”
I nodded, the smile still on my face. “It’s such a high to help someone start over in life. That said, we suddenly have a lot of work to do if Henry pushes this through at the council meeting tomorrow night.”
“I was thinking about that too, but even if they okay the last bit of construction on the units, that will take some time, and then we’ll have the final inspection to do on the first floor, too. We’ll need to have our ducks in a row, but I’m confident we have a solid month before more people move in.”
“I can’t tell you how glad I am that we did the final inspection on the second floor as soon as construction was done. That was the only reason we could move Dawson in.”
The door dinged, and I rolled off the car with Star in tow. “Do you think we should start moving people into the second floor now rather than wait?”
We’d discussed it in a hypothetical situation, but now that we had someone living up there, it was essential to readdress it.
