Beneath a Southern Sky - By Deborah Raney Page 0,23
immediately put his hands up as if to ward off her apology. “I grew up on a farm myself,” he assured her. “I know how it is.” His warm, casual manner instantly put her at ease. “I wonder if I know your parents. Do they farm around here?”
She nodded. “Five miles south of town. Erroll and Margo Haydon?”
He wrinkled his brow. “Hmm, that doesn’t ring a bell. I’ve only been in Bristol a couple of years, but I know most of the farmers around here by now.”
“Well, my dad doesn’t have livestock, just crops.”
“Oh, I see. And does your husband farm too?” he said, looking over her application, as though he might find the answer there.
She swallowed hard. “No. He—I-I’m widowed.” Oh, please, God, don’t let me cry.
He looked up from the papers in his hand. “Oh. I’m so sorry.” He looked as if he were going to say more, then, apparently sensing that she was close to tears, he turned the subject back to the interview. “I guess you know from the ad that we’re looking for a receptionist—someone to answer the phones, schedule appointments, handle the mail, some of the bookwork, that sort of thing.”
He glanced over her application again and asked her to clarify a few of her answers. His relaxed manner calmed her nerves, and she began to enjoy the interview.
“This is a small-time operation,” he told her, resting his elbows on the desk and tenting his hands in front of him. “I have a high-school girl who helps out after school—you met Jennifer.” He nodded toward the front of the building. “Then there’s Travis Carruthers. Dr. Carruthers just graduated from vet school last spring. And our technician is Carla Eldridge. She assists us in surgery and with all the medical procedures. We have a groomer, Doris Kline, who comes in once or twice a week, but that’s pretty much the entire staff. You’ll find we’re a very laid-back bunch. It won’t take you long to get the hang of it.”
She nodded, trying not to get her hopes up, but she couldn’t help feeling optimistic at the implication of his words.
“Your application looks good, Daria,” he said, looking directly at her and smiling. “If you’re interested, I’d like to offer you the job. I would want you to be here by nine each weekday morning, but as long as you get your hours in, we can be pretty flexible. You’d be free to take a late lunch or leave early if you need to. Jennifer works every weekday after school, so she’s here to answer the phone after three o’clock. As far as I’m concerned, you could even take some of the bookwork home with you. All I ask is that you let one of us know what’s up.” He mentioned a salary figure she thought she could make do with.
The baby began to squirm against the yellow blanket again, and Dr. Hunter, flashing his boyish grin, craned his neck to look over the desk at her. “How old is she?” he asked Daria. With a slight grimace he added quickly, “It is a little girl, isn’t it?”
She laughed. “Yes. This is Natalie. She’ll be nine weeks old tomorrow.”
“Wow. She’s so tiny.”
“My mother is going to keep her while I work,” she explained. “I-I’m living with my parents right now, but I’m planning to start looking for an apartment this weekend. I’m hoping to find something here in town or maybe over in Clayton.”
“You know”—he tapped a pencil on his desktop, thinking—“I just talked to someone this week who had an apartment to rent… Now, who was that? Oh, I remember. Kirk and Dorothy Janek. They’re an older couple who own a large home over on Maple. They rent out the upstairs. Real nice people. I think you’d like them. I’ll give you their number if you’d like.”
“Oh, thank you. That’d be great.”
He found the number in the phone book on his desk and scratched it down on a notepad that advertised worm medicine. He handed it to her, then rose from his chair. She followed suit.
“If you’d like to think about the job for a few days and get back to me, that’d be fine,” he told her.
“No.” She didn’t want to appear too eager, but she wanted this job. “I’ll take it. When would you like me to start?”
“If you want the truth, this very minute.” His smile told her he was kidding, but just then Natalie let out a howl.