“You’re siblings?” She ran her eyes between them.
“Yeah.” The girl held out her hand. “Stacia Kohler. I go to UMass. I’m only here for the summer, but I’d be happy to work with you to outline the basic requirements if Frank says it’s a go.”
“It’s a go,” Sam said over his shoulder.
“Well, I need to know who has signing authority for TGG, because we’ll require legally binding signatures for the contract.”
Both Sam and Stacia pointed to Frank.
“Sure. If you can work with Stace to develop a general list of requirements, we can try this out. I assume it’s a set number of hours each week at minimum wage.” Frank glanced around the desk at the guy with black hair. “Mark, can you put together some type of—” He turned his attention back to Bella. “Is this by school year or by semester?”
“School year.”
He turned back to Mark. “A nine-month guideline of expectations, things we can teach them, that sort of thing?”
“Sure.” Mark looked up at Stacia. “Stacia can help me this weekend.” He smiled in a way that made Stacia blush.
Stacia put her hand on her hip and narrowed her eyes. “Okay, but I’m still not going out with you.” She turned her attention back to Bella. “Stop by my desk when you’re done with Frank and we’ll pencil in a date to go over things.”
Bella went over the documentation with Frank and set up a time to discuss modifications to the application with Stacia. By the time she left the office, she had also received recommendations from Stacia for a bakery and a CPA office that might be interested in becoming part of the program.
When she got in her car, Bella picked up her cell phone to call Caden and saw that she’d missed two calls from Kelsey Trailer, her old boss. She hadn’t spoken to Kelsey since she left for the summer. Kelsey had extended an offer for Bella to return to her old job. She refused to believe that Bella really wanted a change. Who wouldn’t? Bella was as stable as the day was long. She arrived early for work every day, missing only two days out of the last two years, and she stayed until her work was complete each afternoon. Bella had been good at hiding her secret hankering for something more fulfilling—in fact, she wasn’t sure she really believed she’d ever make the change. Until last spring, when it all clicked.
Bella knew Kelsey wanted an answer that Bella wasn’t ready to give. She called her back before calling Caden.
“Bella, how’s summer in Wellfleet?” Kelsey asked.
She pictured Kelsey behind her desk, her blond corkscrew curls framing her face, wire-rimmed glasses firmly balanced on the bridge of her nose, and a warm, hopeful smile on her thin lips.
“It’s beautiful, as always.” There was no doubt in Bella’s mind. She wanted to be at the Cape, and she realized, she was proud to have made that decision before meeting Caden. Since she had no offer for permanent work here yet, she needed to keep the door to her old job open, even as a last resort.
“I’m just going to cut to the chase here, Bella. Jay quit, so there’s no reason for you to quit. There was no reason before, but I understand why you wanted to get away from seeing him every day. So, what do you say?”
Bella digested the new information. “He quit?” For a split second she wondered why he’d quit, but she quickly realized that she didn’t really care. She still wasn’t keen on the idea of going back to work in Connecticut or to a school where she’d dated a coworker, even if he was no longer there. She was excited about the prospect of the work-study program—and then there were Caden and Evan. The truth was, she couldn’t imagine not being with them. She closed her eyes for a beat to get ahold of her emotions. Separate mind and heart. Separate mind and heart.
Nope. Didn’t work. They were tied together in a knot only an experienced boatman would be able to disassemble.
“Yes. He gave his notice last week, and I waited to call in case it was a momentary lapse in judgment. But he’s serious. So does the offer look any better to you now?”
“I…Kelsey, I need to think about it.” Five years she’d worked there, and in those five years she’d made close friends, and she’d bonded with families and students. She had a life there that was comfortable and safe.
I have a boyfriend here who holds my heart in his comfortable, safe, reliable, strong, sexy, loving hands. Yeah, great separation there, Bella.
“That’s fine, but I need to know before August fifteenth. We have another teacher on the line, and she needs a decision so she can move forward one way or another.” Kelsey sighed, and when she continued, her voice held the emotion of a friend rather than a boss. “Bella, we all love you. You know that. Don’t let one bad relationship throw you off course. You have a career and a family here.”
Bella promised to give her a decision by the fifteenth, which was only two weeks away. She had a meeting with the Barnstable County school board on Wednesday, and now she felt like there was a fire under her butt. She drove down the road to the Chocolate Sparrow and called Caden on the way.
“Hey, babe.” The smile in his warm voice eased the tension in her chest.
“Hi. I’ve got good news for Evan. You know that company in Eastham, The Geeky Guys? They want to talk to him about shadowing them to learn more about programming.”
“Really? That’s awesome, but what about Jamie?”
“Jamie’s only here during the summer, so it works out perfectly. If Evan’s interested, of course.” She told him about the people in the office and the technical things Frank had mentioned as prerequisites.
“I’ve been reading about HTML and other technical things that I’ll never have a use for, in those books we got at the bookstore.”
She loved that. “You have?”
“I have to do something to keep my mind off of you at night.” He spoke seductively quiet. “Not to mention, this way I won’t become the loser dad who is totally oblivious to Evan’s interests.”
“You’re such a good dad. Did you talk with him about the beach?”
“Not yet. I don’t want it to be obvious that you mentioned it. Besides, he’s in a very teenage mood right now. This opportunity should turn that around, though. I think you just got ten degrees hotter.”
Bella laughed. “You’re so cute.”
“Cute? Totally not what I was going for. Do I have to come over dressed as another Village People, YMCA guy?”
“You’re already a cop. Wasn’t there a cop in that group?” She narrowed her eyes and grinned, even though he couldn’t see her. “Maybe tonight we’ll play cops and robbers.”
“I’ll bring my handcuffs,” he said in a teasing voice.
“Don’t bother. I have my own.” She said it just to hear his reaction. She did have a pair of pink fuzzy handcuffs that she’d bought in Provincetown as a gag one night with the girls, but she’d never used them with a man. Come to think of it, she thought they were in her house in Connecticut and no longer at the Cape.
She was met with silence.