One Snowy Night (Sweet Home, Alaska #1) - Patience Griffin Page 0,45

to take you to Anchorage.”

Sparkle smiled at Rick over Piney’s head.

“You have to promise me that you’ll get plenty of rest.”

Sparkle hugged Piney. “I will.”

Suddenly Piney spun around to address Hope. “We’re going to have our chat now,” she said.

“O-okay.”

Piney glanced over at Rick and Sparkle in the dining area but lowered her voice to be doubly sure they wouldn’t be overheard. “Hope, I hate to do this to you, but I have no choice. Sparkle’s medical bills are piling up. I’m just not sure what I can do about them.” She paused, looking pained. “I’m so sorry, but I’m going to have to let you go.”

“What?” Hope had worked at the Hungry Bear for seventeen years, even through the decline of Sweet Home. “What am I going to do for a job?”

Piney reached over to the bulletin board, pulled down a sheet of paper, and handed it to Hope. “Your answer is right here.”

Hope looked down at the advertisement—Home Sweet Home Lodge was looking for a housekeeper. The hourly wage was higher than Hope was making now, but there was no relief in what she was staring at. There was no gratitude. “I can’t do that.”

“You don’t have a choice, buttercup,” Piney said firmly. “When God shuts a door, He opens a window. In this case, the window leads to the lodge.”

“And begging Donovan for a job?” The paper crumpled as she shoved it back at Piney. “No, thanks.” There had to be some other way out of this predicament.

“What did I tell you years ago?” Piney said. “You’ve got to pull your big-girl pants up and do what has to be done.”

“That’s all I ever do,” Hope complained. It had been one bad break after another . . . the accident, Izzie and Beau dying, getting thrown out of the house, Mom and Dad’s divorce, the constant worry about money, Ella’s drinking. And now, Hope was out of a job.

Piney looked at her with pity in her eyes. “Do you want me to talk to Donovan for you?”

Hope crossed her arms over her chest. “Absolutely not.” Why couldn’t her life be like a romantic comedy—like Sparkle’s—where some rich guy stumbled over her doorstep and they ended up happily-ever-after, with three kids and a dog? Nope, Hope’s life was more like a Greek tragedy.

Piney smoothed the paper, laid it out on the counter, and pulled out her phone. “I’ll dial him for you.”

“No!” Hope reached for the phone, but Piney slipped behind the counter.

“Hello, Donovan. This is Piney.” She smiled over at her, as if Hope hadn’t hit an all-time low.

And then Piney did the most awful thing. “Hold on,” she said. “Hope wants to speak to you.”

Hope stepped back, but the magazine rack stopped her and Piney caught up. Hope fumbled with the phone and thought about hanging up . . . accidentally-on-purpose. But she had no choice, did she? She had to take care of her daughter. They had to survive. She shoved her pride down, one more time. She was pretty good at it by now.

“I see you need a housekeeper.” No hello, no greeting at all. She wasn’t in a hi-how-are-you kind of mood.

The silence on the other end went on for so long, Hope began to wonder if Piney was just pulling a prank on her. She held the phone away from her ear. “So, all this is some kind of joke?” she said to Piney.

“Hope?” came Donovan’s deep voice.

Hope rolled her eyes, put the phone to her ear, then turned her back on Piney, as if to have a private conversation. “What?” She wasn’t feeling very pleasant and was sure her tone conveyed it.

“I hesitated because I need someone full time at the lodge. As much as I’d like to give Ella a job, I need more than someone after school and on weekends.”

This was pure torture. Her pride went down in one large lump and she wasn’t sure she was going to be able to speak. But she did. “Not Ella. Me.”

“Don’t you already have a job?” Donovan asked.

Hope looked over her shoulder and glared at the woman who’d been a surrogate mother to her for the last seventeen years.

“Nope. Not since ten seconds ago. Piney fired me,” Hope said.

“Laid off,” Piney shouted so Donovan might hear.

“Po-tay-to, po-tah-to.” Hope was still out of a job and would have to grovel to Donovan to get a new one. Everyone knew there were no jobs available in Sweet Home, the reason the place was