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Rhomi was intrigued.Okay. I’ll call ya soon.
While she sipped her favorite fall drink, she perused the other job sites but didn’t see anything new. It was the weekend, though, so maybe Monday would bring some new listings.
When the drink was finished, she packed up her laptop, tossed her cup, and headed out to her car.
Plugging her phone in, she waited for the GPS system to boot up, and then she called her mom and backed out of the parking spot to head to her apartment.
“Hey, Mom.”
“Hi, honey. How are you?”
“Meh. What’s going on?”
“Well, your dad got a promotion.”
“Really? That’s very cool. What kind of promotion?” Her dad was a bank branch manager.
“Regional manager.”
“Sounds fancy. Does it come with lots of perks?”
“You bet,” her mom said with a laugh. “Including relocation.”
Rhomi blinked a few times. “Relocation? Where is it?”
“Outside Philly.”
“You have to move? Philly’s not that far.”
“It’s far enough, and you know how your dad hates traffic, plus the tolls are pretty expensive. The company agreed to pay our moving expenses as well as housing for a few months until we find a new home.”
“Well, congrats to Dad, though.”
“Honey…”
“What?”
Rhomi hit the blinker and rolled to a stop at a red light.
“You were going to move into our house if you couldn’t find a job.”
“Yeah.” She really hadn’t wanted to do that. She’d moved out when she was nineteen and had enjoyed living on her own for the last five years. She was grateful her parents had offered to let her move in with them if she couldn’t get a job in time, but truthfully, it had been the very last thing she wanted to do. “Oh, crap, I see what you’re saying. You’re going to sell the house.” Rhomi turned onto her street and accelerated. “But it’s not like I’m going to be jobless forever, and besides, houses don’t sell crazy fast even in this market.”
“Yes, that’s true, and you’re welcome to stay. But your dad would like you to come and work at the bank. You can move with us, and you’ll have a job you can slip right into.”
“I never really wanted to work at the bank with Dad,” Rhomi pointed out. “Plus, I love New Jersey.” Her two best friends—Darcy and Reagan—were here too, and there was no way she wanted to break up the group by moving out of state, even if Philly wasn’t that far away.
“You’d be in a different department than your dad. There’s a receptionist job open with room for advancement, plus they pay for college too, if you’d like to go. It would just be nice for you to come with us. You know how your dad likes to have us all near each other.”
“Yeah, I know,” Rhomi said. Rhomi had an older brother who died when she was little. She didn’t really remember Ray because she’d been so young when he passed from an infection. Since he died, though, her parents had been overly cautious with her, always wanting her close so they could watch over her. She loved that they cared so much, but all that attention had been stifling. It had been a relief when she moved out, so she could have her own space and breathe.
“I’m not going to move, Mom. I don’t really want to work at the bank. It’s one thing to move into the house with you guys until I get full-time work and am able to get an apartment again, but it’s an entirely different thing to uproot myself for no good reason.”
“Being with your family isn’t no good reason,” she said with a sniff.
“I’m not trying to upset you, Mom, I’m just being honest. I’m staying in New Jersey.”
“All right.” She could hear her mom smile at the end of the phrase. “It will work out for you, I’m sure. And of course, you can stay at our house when your apartment lease is up. Hopefully it sells quick because it will be helpful for us, but you can stay however long it’s available.”
