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“Thank you,” I said, experiencing a little flush of pride. It was a lovely space, thanks to the starry-sky mural my friend Hazel had painted on the ceiling and the displays of crystals and candles and jewelry. In a week or so, I’d haul out the Halloween decorations and work on setting up the “haunted graveyard” scene I’d been putting in the store for the past couple of years, but right now, the only nod to the season was a vase of warm-toned mums that sat on the counter. Since we weren’t here to discuss the decor, however, I thought I’d better continue to the real reason why I was looking for an assistant. “I want someone to take over for me next spring when I go on maternity leave, and I figured it was better to get someone in here now so they could be fully trained and able to handle the store on their own.”
Maybe Melanie’s gaze flickered ever so slightly toward my midsection. I still wasn’t showing very much, so that could have been why her expression seemed faintly surprised. Not for the first time, I wished my auras hadn’t taken a powder. I could have learned so much from seeing my prospective assistant’s aura right then.
But it seemed I wouldn’t get that talent back until the baby was born — and maybe not even then — so I knew I had to do what I could with my gut instincts.
And those instincts were telling me Melanie Knowles seemed like a very nice person.
All the same, I knew I’d be remiss if I didn’t at least try to act businesslike, even though this was the first time I’d ever interviewed anyone for anything and I had absolutely no idea what I was doing.
Still, I knew enough to ask Melanie about her previous places of employment, and whether she’d ever had to work solo at any of them. She told me that mostly she’d been on a team of at least three people, then added, “But there was one time when two of them were both out sick, so I had to manage the shop on my own for the better part of a week until they were well enough to come back to work.”
That sounded good enough to me. After all, I wasn’t asking her to handle a busy store with hundreds of customers each day, but a place where I often had only a half dozen or so people come in over the space of the seven hours I was open.
“Any experience with managing inventory or placing orders with vendors?”
“Yes, I did some of that at Jezebel,” Melanie replied, naming one of the shops she had listed on her resume.
Well, I didn’t think I could ask for much more pertinent experience than that. Every store was a little different, so she’d still have to learn on the job, but otherwise, she seemed absolutely perfect for the position. And if she started now, in early October, she’d have plenty of time to find her bearings before I started my leave at the end of February.
“That all sounds wonderful,” I told her, then remembered Parker Booth’s comment about Melanie’s sick grandmother. “But…is it going to be difficult for your grandmother for you to move so far away?”
The bright, friendly expression Melanie had been wearing immediately disappeared. Her lips pursed, and then she said, “My grandmother passed away a month ago. That’s part of the reason why I’m looking for a place to start over.”
Oh, dear. I certainly hadn’t meant to bring up any painful memories. “I’m so sorry,” I murmured.
Her shoulders squared. “It’s okay. At least now she isn’t suffering anymore.”
There really wasn’t anything else I could say…well, except the one thing Melanie was probably hoping to hear. “How soon can you start?” I asked.
A faint flush touched her cheeks, and she looked much cheerier than she had only a moment earlier. “So…I’m hired?”
“You are,” I said. “I know it might take a while for you to find a place to live, so if you need to wait a week or so — ”
“Oh, that’s okay,” she cut in. “I was actually thinking of renting an Airbnb my first month here while I get acclimated. There’s a really cute one over on Oak Street.”
My friend Hazel’s Airbnb. I wanted to be startled at the coincidence, but told myself it wasn’t that big a deal, since Globe didn’t have that many vacation rentals to go around. The other ones were all owned by Josie’s best friend Mavis.
“Yes, it’s very cute,” I said. “A friend of mine actually owns that one. I’m sure I could get her to give you a good deal.”
“Oh, you don’t need to do that — ” Melanie began, but I only shook my head.
“No, it’s fine. Besides, she always gives a discount to people who rent the place for longer stays, and I know she doesn’t have any bookings right now.”
“If you’re sure….”
“I’m sure,” I said firmly. “To be totally honest, I’d love to have you start as soon as possible. Some close friends of mine are getting married a week from Saturday, and knowing someone will be here at the store to cover for me would help a lot in case they need me to run errands for them or whatever.”
“I can start tomorrow,” Melanie said, then added, “I mean, if we can get the Airbnb thing worked out before then.”
“Oh, I know we can,” I replied. “Just let me give Hazel a call.”
So, while Melanie looked on, I got out my phone and called Hazel, then quickly explained the situation. She was more than happy to accommodate me, since her next booking wasn’t until almost Thanksgiving, providing plenty of time for Melanie to stay at the cottage in the interim while she looked for a longer-term rental.
For just a second, I thought it was kind of too bad that I’d already given the upstairs apartment to Victoria for her studio, because it would have been a perfect place for Melanie to land. But no — Victoria was one of my closest friends, and the newly remodeled space had given her a place to work and also meet with clients, one that was centrally located in town and easy to find. Globe wasn’t exactly over-brimming with long-term rentals, but I thought I could get Josie on the case, maybe see if there was anyone she knew who’d had a house on the market for a while and might be relieved to have a rental income to cover the mortgage.
There were always solutions to every problem.
“Well, that’s settled,” I told Melanie after I ended the call with Hazel. “Come back tomorrow, and we can give you the keys to the Airbnb, and then get you started here at the shop.”
