“I have pipes that need cleaning, among other things.”
“Oh um, well.” She made a face and then cringed at her reflection in the rearview mirror. Mascara from last night streaked down her cheeks. Crap! She’d forgotten to wash it off. “I don’t…I think the number you’re looking for has an eight instead of a seven at the end. This is Cinderella Cleaning Company.”
A long pause and then, “I know. I need things cleaned.”
“Look, sir, I clean houses and offices.”
“Fantastic!” He seemed overjoyed at the idea. Was he drunk? “I have a very old house that needs a bit of attention. I won’t be in residence, but there will be someone there to help you out. I’m afraid I would need you round the clock for an extended amount of time.”
“I’m not really a live-in maid,” she said, as visions of being locked in the attic Jane Eyre-style filled her head.
“It’s only for a few days. I’ll pay handsomely.” The man started coughing again. “Five thousand a week.”
“Dollars?” she shouted, dropping the phone into her lap and staring at it in shock before picking it up again.
He chuckled on the other end. “I didn’t think you’d be interested in alternate forms of payment. Although I do have some chickens. Doubt I could get more than one good egg out of ’em, though. Five thousand? Good night, they’d probably explode. Ah, but then again, chickens need love, too. I believe mine simply enjoy the act of lovemaking more than the production of eggs. That’s all there is to it.”
Jane stared at the phone then put it back near her ear. Was he talking about chicken sex?
“At any rate…” he sighed. “I’d like to hire you, if you don’t mind. We can go over specifics tomorrow when I send a car for you.”
“I haven’t said yes yet.”
“You will.”
“Why?” She drew out the word slowly.
“Because you need an adventure,” he said so quietly she almost didn’t hear him.
“Who the hell is this?” Her skin prickled with awareness as she nervously glanced out the window. Was he watching her? How creepy!
“Eh, think of me as your fairy godfather.”
“Thanks, but no thanks.”
“Fifteen thousand dollars a week.”
“Good-bye.”
She hung up the phone with shaking hands.
Within a minute, it started ringing again.
She let it go to voice mail.
This was crazy. Right?
He could be a homicidal maniac. Luring maids or house cleaners into his home with the promise of money.
But still.
She couldn’t deny she was tempted by the idea of an adventure. Or that she could use a break from the hamster wheel that was life with her sisters.
Especially after this morning.
Her phone beeped alerting her to his message.
She should just delete the message, but coffee first. Coffee always first. With a sigh, she got out of the large cleaning van and made her way into Starbucks, walking purposefully toward the counter, only to be cut in front of the minute she got close enough to order.
And like an idiot she allowed it.
Just like she allowed her sisters to walk all over her.
With a grimace she stared down at her phone and nearly threw it against the wall when a text from Essence popped up on her screen.
We’re going to be home late! Drinks after work! Save food for us?
Irritated, she didn’t answer.
They didn’t have money for drinks after work—every night of the week! It was bad enough that her sisters were probably going to stay until happy hour was over—but they always bought drinks for their friends, too.
With a groan, she tossed her phone back into her purse.
Jane ordered a large black coffee and headed back to the van. But the minute she turned the key in the ignition she knew something was terribly, horribly wrong.
The van shuddered, made a crazy choking sound and puffed out enough black smoke to kill a person.
“No, no, no,” She said aloud. She’d just taken it into the shop and the mechanic had warned her if she didn’t fix a few things the engine would die. But the few things had turned into close to five thousand dollars’ worth of work. She didn’t have that kind of money.
Tears stung her eyes.
Her van wasn’t a want—it was a necessity for her to actually run the business.