CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
“How’d your meeting go?” Sebastian asked his sister later that night after dinner. Harper had been tucked into bed, and he’d read her two stories before she finally dropped off to sleep.
Now, he and Brie were washing and drying dishes by hand.
The kitchen had a dishwasher, but it was old and wasn’t working properly.
Sebastian didn’t have a clue how to fix it.
Harper and Brie lived in a small, somewhat shabby duplex that had seen better days.
Brie had ended up with it in the divorce.
Sebastian had been glad she hadn’t had to move Harper out of the only house she’d ever known, but much of the place was in desperate need of repairs or upgrades and unfortunately, Brie didn’t have the money to hire anyone to do them.
Sebastian had offered. Or, more accurately, begged and pleaded, but Brie had only allowed him to pay for a few fixes that directly impacted Harper. Damn her for being so proud.
Brie sighed, her gloved hands dangling in the warm, soapy water. “Well, I don’t know.”
“Okay?” he said, not entirely sure what that meant. How could she not know if the meeting had been good or bad?
She glanced over. “So, I met with Pete and Kathy.”
“Your director and department manager, right?
“Yeah. It turns out, Kathy is going to be retiring soon.”
Sebastian grimaced. “Shit. She’s been so accommodating about your schedule too. Are you worried about who will take over after?”
“I was at first,” Brie said. “Because you’re right. I don’t know what I would have done otherwise. The fact that I can do the transcription from home and attend most meetings virtually has been a godsend with Harper.”
“But?”
“But Pete wants to offer me Kathy’s position.”
Sebastian brightened. “Oh shit, really? That would be amazing.”
“Would it? I mean, yeah, I definitely could use the extra money”—she gestured around the kitchen, water dripping onto the cheap peel-and-stick tile floors below—“but I’d have to work on-site at the hospital a lot more. How in the hell am I going to make that happen?”
“Well, what kind of timeline are we talking?” Sebastian asked.
“Kathy is retiring at the end of June. They want to have someone lined up and ready to train by April. Pete said they’ll try to hire internally first, but if no one gets the position, they’ll open it up to the public.”
Sebastian frowned. “Damn.”
“Yeah.” She plunged her hands into the water again and started furiously scrubbing a plate.
“I mean, I think Harper will be going to kindergarten in the fall. We have to assess where she’s at this spring, but at least as of now, that’s what the plan is.
But even then, she’s still going to have a ton of appointments, and I don’t know how I can do it all.
But then when I think about what I could do for her with more money, I’m torn, you know? ”
Sebastian frowned, polishing a glass before putting it in the cupboard. “Okay, let’s take this one step at a time. Do you want the job?”
“Yeah, but Harper—”
“Set your concerns about Harper aside for a minute,” he said.
His sister gave him a look.
“I know, but just for a minute. Close your eyes and imagine you didn’t have Harper to worry about or bills. Imagine some scenario where it was only about your happiness. Would you want a management position?”
Brie made a face but closed her eyes. “Yeah,” she said slowly.
“I think I would. I like what I’m doing now but it can be kind of …
isolating. I would enjoy being in an office more and I’m good with people.
When Kathy was out with a broken foot a few years ago, I ran a lot of the day-to-day departmental stuff with Pete overseeing and I liked that. ”
She opened her eyes. “But it still doesn’t change the fact that I can’t do it all. I can’t take on more responsibility at work without shortchanging Harper.”
“Okay, but that’s a logistical issue,” Sebastian pointed out. “You want the job and it would benefit you and Harper.”
“I suppose.”
“So logistics are easier to work around than it being a bad fit or forcing yourself into a job you’d hate,” he pointed out.
“Says the guy who is struggling with his own logistics,” she shot back, flicking water at him.
He laughed and snapped her with a towel, the fabric glancing off her upper arm. “Yeah, but I might have a solution to that,” he admitted.
“What’s that?”
“Catherine O’Shea.”
Brie squinted. “The hockey mom?”
“I think she’s a little more than a hockey mom,” Sebastian said. “But yeah. Connor O’Shea’s mom.”
“What do you mean? How would she help?”
“Well, she came into the shop today. Connor had given her my card and rather than call, she stopped in.”
“Okay,” Brie said slowly, passing over another clean dish with a frown.
“She wanted to scope out my work and discuss hiring me to do the florals for the Harriers Foundation’s events.”
“Oh my God! That would be amazing, Seb!”
“It would,” he agreed. “But I told her I didn’t think I could commit to it at this time.”
“What? Are you crazy? You can’t turn someone like that down.”
“With where the shop is at with staffing and my responsibilities to you and Harper, I can’t accept it,” he admitted.
She winced. “I am sorry. I hate that we—”
“No, listen to me, Brie,” he said. “I am not blaming you. This is a choice. One I willingly make. I would make it every time. When I talked to her about my staffing struggles, she suggested I consider her niece. She’s not a florist but she’s an art student with retail experience and availability.”
Brie pursed her lips. “Sounds like Catherine got what she wanted twice over then.”
Sebastian shrugged. “Sure, maybe. Although all I agreed to was considering her niece for a position. I won’t hire the young woman unless I think she’s a good fit.”
“It’s still beneficial to Catherine.” Brie’s tone was a little cynical.
“It is, but she also offered to arrange a playdate for Harper and her grandkids and invited her to an arts and crafts thing at the children’s hospital. I don’t think her offer had a selfish motive.”
Brie scoffed.
“Seriously. She—she reminds me of Mom in a lot of ways.”
Brie gave him a skeptical look. “Yeah?”
“Yeah. I mean, you know how Mom is. She’s always willing to help out someone in need. The neighbor broke a leg? She’ll go buy groceries. Someone had a baby, she’ll cook some meals. That’s just the kind of person she is.”
“And you think that’s the kind of person Catherine O’Shea is too?”
“I really do. And you heard what Connor said about wanting to help when we had lunch with the team.”
“Sure, but—”
“No, listen, Brie. I’ve been thinking about it all afternoon and evening and something she said stuck with me.
About people needing community. You and Harper don’t have a community.
Sure, your manager is great and you have me, but who else is there?
Mom and Dad have helped in every way they can and I know they would do so much more if they lived closer and could be more hands-on, but they have Dad’s limitations to contend with too.
You don’t really have friends who can pitch in.
You don’t know your neighbors. You’re trying to manage this all alone.
Why not let Catherine and the Harriers help out a little bit? ”
“I find it really hard to believe that a bunch of rich, bored ladies would care except for the PR aspect.”
“Well,” Sebastian pointed out. “They’re not all ladies, necessarily. Remember, the team is pretty inclusive.”
“Sure,” she said. “But my point still stands—”
“Does it? Or are you just so stubborn you’re willing to refuse help from anyone?”
“Well, excuse me, but my husband fucking bailed on me and my sick kid. I don’t exactly find it easy to trust anyone,” she snapped.
“Hey, I get that.” Sebastian put his towel down and held out his arms. “And I’m sorry if I pushed too hard.”
Brie huffed but when he kept staring at her, she stripped off the gloves and wrapped her arms around his waist.
“I know you’ve been through a lot,” he murmured against her hair. “I’m not discounting that. But maybe take a little time to think about it.”
She sighed and rested her cheek against his chest. “I have considered the arts and crafts thing at the hospital before. I know Harper would love it. I just could never make it fit in my schedule.”
Sebastian pulled back far enough to look her in the eye. “So let’s start there. I’ll see if Catherine’s niece would be a good fit at the shop and I’ll plan to take Harper to the arts and crafts thing. We can make this work, I promise.”
“Yeah, okay.” She scowled up at him. “But I’m not promising anything else.”
“Deal,” he said.
At least it was a starting point.
As far as Luke was concerned, there was nothing worse than sitting in the press box and watching his team play the Buffalo Beavers without him.
The defense was kind of a mess tonight too.
Rafe and Mickey had been moved to the top D-pair while Tanner was playing on the second with one of the call-ups.
The kid wasn’t bad but he certainly didn’t have the physical presence Luke always brought to a game and after the umpteenth time someone got in the blue paint and messed with Kady, Luke growled under his breath.
“I know, right?” Jesse said. “God this fucking sucks. I want to be out there.”
“You’ll be back soon though, right?” Luke asked under his breath, not wanting anyone to overhear.
“Yeah. I haven’t heard anything official yet but I think I should be back for the next one.” Jesse shifted restlessly. “Of course, then I’m off to the North Atlantic Tournament.”
“Yeah. I was wondering about that,” Luke admitted. “You and Tanner are both going, right?”
Jesse nodded. “Yep.”
“How’s Connor feel about not being invited this year?”
Jesse leaned in. “He’s bummed but secretly kind of relieved, I think. His shoulder’s been hurting a lot lately. He could use the rest, even if he hates to admit it.”
“I wondered about that too,” Luke admitted. “Is he thinking surgery?”