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Ellen should’ve been stressed out of her mind. She’d only received one call on her driller opening, and it was from some headhunter who wanted to charge her for filling the position. He said he had a website that matched job openings with job candidates, that he specialized in rural areas and he’d “only” take half her driller’s wages for the next three months plus a hefty fee from her for his services.
She couldn’t afford that and was pretty sure whoever she hired wouldn’t be able to, either, so she’d told him she wasn’t interested. But she wasn’t as frustrated or upset as she would’ve been if she hadn’t already been happier than she could ever remember. She was looking forward to seeing Hendrix after he got off work, she’d finally been able to fix the leak under her sink this morning before she left the house and the weekend felt as though it was full of promise.
She’d worry about her business later, she told herself. She’d done all she could for now. After all the hard work it had required to get to where she was, she deserved three days of simply enjoying the latest developments in her life.
That meant Hendrix, of course. It was shocking how finding someone she enjoyed as much as she enjoyed him could make everything else seem inconsequential. She still had all the same challenges she’d faced yesterday, and yet she couldn’t quit smiling.
She stopped to see if Talulah needed any help opening the diner—Fridays were her busiest night of the week—and Talulah remarked on Ellen’s mood the moment she walked through the back door.
“Wow! Look at you grinning from ear to ear,” she teased. “You must be having a good day.”
In lieu of a wave, Ellen lifted the soda she was still nursing after having a burger at Rocko’s next door. She hated to patronize his establishment after what he’d done to her, but she’d been hoping to talk to him and had been unable to reach him by phone.
He hadn’t been there, though. That meant she couldn’t inspect his tires while his truck was parked in the alley, either.
She hoped he’d show up while she was helping Talulah, and she’d have the opportunity to do both of those things before heading home to make dinner for Hendrix. She hadn’t heard from him since he left early this morning, but she knew he was busy and figured he would’ve let her know if he wasn’t coming.
“It’s Friday,” she told Talulah. “The weekend’s almost here.”
Talulah was frosting a lemon cake that also had lemon filling. “It’s the arrival of the weekend that has you so excited? What do you have planned?”
Ellen averted her gaze. “Nothing special. What doyouhave planned?”
“Work. You know Mondays and Tuesdays are my weekend,” she said with a laugh.
“Right.” Ellen felt slightly embarrassed over the gaffe. Her head was definitely in the clouds. “Well, weekends are good for your business...”
“That’s true.” Ellen looked up at her again. “Any potential candidates for your new driller?”
Ellen set her purse and her drink on the stainless-steel counter farthest from where Talulah was working. “Not yet.”
“With a smile like that, I would’ve thought you’d filled the position.”
“Do we have to talk about work?” Ellen asked while running hot water into the sink so she could wash the dirty pans scattered about the kitchen.
“No. I was just trying not to talk about your personal life.” She sent Ellen a knowing smile. “I wanted to wait until you were ready to tell me about Hendrix.”
Ellen poured in some dish soap, creating massive suds. “You know about Hendrix?”
Talulah winked. “I own the property next to yours, remember?”
“That doesn’t mean you notice every little thing I do,” Ellen grumbled.
“You live alone. I check your place to make sure you’re okay, and so does Brant. He called me after he left this morning to tell me Hendrix’s truck was parked in your drive, and he was pretty sure it’d been there overnight.” She turned the cake around to be able to reach the other side. “Was it?”
Ellen winced as her friend looked up again. “Do I have to answer that question?”
“No,” Talulah replied with a chuckle. “But not answering tells me the same thing.”
Ellen put several pans in the hot, soapy water. “Do you think anyone else noticed he was over at my place?”
“Who can say? Brant and I have reason to look, since we care about you and want to make sure you’re okay, and no one else lives quite as close to you.”
“So...there’s a chance.”
“I guess, but it’s not that big a chance considering everyone’s been talking about Hendrix helping you drill that well. Brant called me again over his lunch hour to tell me one of his brothers said something to him about it after he got to work, so I know the Elway boys have heard.”
“Word must be traveling all over town.”
