Zenith in Love (Zenith Series #5) - Leanne Davis Page 0,49

pulverized Jim.

The three hours passed quickly and all the clients were served before they shut the front doors and started closing up. Many volunteers stood around talking, smiling, and stretching. It was not easy work, standing three straight hours on the hard, concrete floor. Many were older and Jim worried about the distress it could cause them. But most admitted that they got something much more rewarding from it. The satisfaction of belonging to a movement, or earning credits for college or work, or being part of something bigger than themselves for the community was a huge incentive. Lots of people told Jim life was a challenge and the nightly news so bad that it felt good to join people in a locally positive, empowering and important way.

Those were the good things Jim extracted from his job. They included all of his job’s requirements. Seeing Kayla walk up, beaming, but not at him, just in general, Jim’s heart swelled in his chest. He worried she’d scoff at this kind of charity work. Or be blasé or rude or condescending. Kayla could have reacted with any number of negative responses. He’d seen a lot of people over the years who had been jerks or blasé about this work for those most in need. If he saw a side of her he didn’t like and couldn’t respect, it would show here. He hoped Kayla would not disappoint him.

“What did you think?” he asked. She was still smiling as she walked up to him. Anyone listening to them would hear only a casual inquiry.

“It was great. I mean… it’s not great there is so much need, but…” She shook her head. Jim wanted to grab her and give her a hug while holding her near him. He understood exactly what she meant. “I mean, I’ll come back next time. As often as I can.”

“I know what you mean. The other volunteers are great and it feels good to see people who need food the most getting it.”

She snapped her fingers. “Yes. That’s what I was trying to say, but in a clumsy and annoying way.”

“I’m glad you found something rewarding in it. As you can see, volunteers are always needed and welcomed here.”

“Yes. I wasn’t sure how many were needed, but it seems like a lot.”

“It’s rare when we don’t have a long line waiting for food, and rarer still when we can’t put all the volunteers here to work. Besides the front lines, we are always restocking shelves, cleaning the facility, or boxing up the deliveries we make.”

“You do more than that?”

“Yes. I’m here a lot. As often as I can be.”

Her gaze looked puzzled and he wasn’t sure how to interpret it.

“I can see how much good you do in the community and I totally undercut you. Making fun of you was so stupid and I’m sorry. I didn’t fully grasp how important and valuable your work is to so many deserving people.”

Jim fought the urge to hug her for that. He gave her a smile instead. “Thank you, Kayla. It’s nice to hear. Some mistake my meager salary as a lack of true success, but some things can’t be measured like that.”

“This is far more successful than Rob or me. I never realized how much Kathy got involved with the local community.”

“She is very involved. Yes.”

She lowered her voice. “I did gather that. Judith? My trainer? The way she adores Kathy, she could start dating her.”

Finally, Jim grinned widely because he knew exactly what Kayla meant. Judith wished Kathy were her daughter instead of the one she had. “Yeah. She really does enjoy Kathy’s nice manners and demeanor. She’s so quiet, sweet, helpful, and such a rare girl nowadays. She doesn’t curse and her voice is like an angel… do I have that right?” He did a fake smile and parroted Judith’s unique voice and verbiage.

Kayla’s eyes bulged and she puckered her lips. “Wow, you sure nailed her. And yes. She thinks all of that. Oh, Judith also mentioned I could be Kathy’s twin…”

“Not identical. But a fraternal twin, maybe.”

Her eyes popped and Jim laughed. She had to keep her voice down and could not really respond the way she felt. “I do have a type…” Jim went around her before she could respond and gave her a smile over his shoulder as he rushed out to help Martin. Jim grabbed the heavy bag of left-over potatoes from him to return to the store room. Martin was close to seventy