2. Chapter 2
Chapter 2
Piper
M y blouse has a stain on it that I only notice as I drive away from the ranch. Thankfully, there’s a thrift store in town, and I was able to grab some things suitable for an interview. I took a load to the laundromat a couple of hours ago, but I must have forgotten to wash this. I try to convince myself that that’s the reason why Mr. Barnes seemed hesitant to meet with me. But I know better. I’ve been told that he’s a real pill and to steer clear of him, but at this point, I haven’t got much of a choice.
The house went into foreclosure after my parents were killed in a car accident a few months ago. I wasn’t terribly close with either of them, which is why I chose to go to school in another state, and a scholarship paid most of my way. Daddy was hopping mad when I left Copper Cove, but I felt like if I didn’t, that I’d disappear. I’m sorry that they’re gone, but if it weren’t for my aunt in Dallas, where I went to school, I just don’t know where I’d be. She’s the one that got me through my awkward teenage years, when my folks ignored me, and pretended that my problems didn’t exist. Those that they knew about, anyway.
Aunt Kay tried to help as much as she could, but I can’t ask for more of her. Plus, I’ve always done things on my own, and I prefer it that way. If she knew half of what I’ve been going through, she’d be so upset. Like the part where the house is gone. Sold to another family for half of what it’s worth, not that it was worth much to begin with. Mama and daddy never kept it up. The shingles were shabby, the windows were in bad need of replacing, the floor tiles were all dog-eared and the paint was faded and peeling in spots. That’s also part of the reason why I needed to leave home. Strict, unfair rules, and a lot of things that I don’t care to get into, all rolled into a house not fit for a vagrant.
So, here I am, Piper Charlton, of no fixed address. How did I apply for a job, you ask? I’m using my aunt’s address, if you’re wondering. Why did I come back to Copper Cove, and not stay with my aunt? Well, I already told you part of it. I don’t want to burden my poor aunt. The other part is the very cool job opportunity that popped up in Copper Cove, right around the time when I needed one most, after the house sold. My folks left me nothing, and my scholarship ran out last semester. The remaining courses can be done online and at night, and this nighttime job, doing exactly what I’ve been studying for, could not have come my way at a better time.
The problem is, the job pays for my schooling and some necessities, but nothing else. I can’t afford rent, and if I can get a day job, I’ll be able to afford a place to hang my hat in no time. This is only temporary. It’s only been a month or so of sleeping in my car, showering at truck stops, and eating at a cheap diner. Not a big deal. I’ve been through way worse, but I’m not getting into that right now. This is a stepping stone. I’m moving on to bigger and better things. Way more than my folks wanted me to have. Way more than I ever dreamed I’d have. At one point or another, I’m sure that everyone has done something that they’re not particularly proud of to get by, like a rite of passage, and that’s what my life is right now. Nothing that can’t be fixed in short order.
But the word is around town that this Billy Barnes guy is bad news. Unfortunately, it’s the only job that I can take in town, because it’s tough to get hired when you’re not finished you’re schooling yet. Even in Copper Cove. Plus, everyone else in town knows me or my folks, and I can’t stand the goddamn pitying look on their faces. I’ve had to fight back the urge to punch someone a few times. At least Billy Barnes and I have never been acquainted until today. The look on his face said that he’s not at all impressed by me. Not even with me showing up personally to follow up on my resume.
I’ll try again if that’s what it takes. I’m not one to give up. I’ve come this far. Mama and daddy never believed that I’d make it through school. They said that I wasn’t cut out for that, but they were wrong. Despite my grades in high school, they never believed in me. Probably because they never made it past ninth grade. Part of me thinks that they were jealous. Daddy worked as a courier, and mama answered phones part time for the church. How they managed to buy this house is beyond me, but I heard that it was through some inheritance daddy got when his daddy died.
I go visit my aunt every day without fail. We’re very close. Closer than I’ve been with anyone. She never married and never had any kids, so she’s got me, and I’ve got her. Aunt Kay doesn’t drive. She’s blind. And she can’t work, either, save for the sewing jobs that she does for the hospital. Her blindness came from the diabetes that she’s had since birth, and it wasn’t until she was in her forties that it happened. Before that, she was also an accountant, and yes, you guessed it, that’s where I got my passion from. Aunt Kay loves to help me with homework and assignments. Numbers are our thing. But truthfully, that’s how come I can get away with using her address, because I check her mail for her daily.
This is also why I can’t burden her with my problems. I’d love to live with her, and I do take care of her, but she’s a lot like me, I suppose. Despite her blindness, she’s very independent, doing all the cooking, cleaning, and she even has a neighbor take her to run errands. I take her to the doctor, though, but that’s only because I don’t like him. I think he’s the reason she lost her vision, but she denies that. Aside from the diabetes, she’s very healthy, and she looks after herself well. Kay walks daily, and she has an exercise bike, she eats well, and I swear if she can find some way, she’ll work again one day.
Kay doesn’t know about the house foreclosing, either. There’s a lot that I don’t tell her. She worries a lot. And that almost always affects her health. I’d hate to be the cause of her getting sicker. Truthfully, it doesn’t help either of us. We only have each other. As far as she’s concerned, I’m still in school full-time, working part-time, and I’ve only got another semester left, before I can start fresh. As I drive away from the ranch, I start to wonder if perseverance will serve here. And I also wonder if it’s better to catch Mr. Barnes when his brother isn’t with him. Being an only child, I never understood that siblings can be annoying, until I saw my boss’s two kids fighting incessantly.
I make up my mind to go to the library and get some homework done, using their computer and internet, and then I’ll go back to the ranch later, after work, maybe after dusk, when his workday is over. It’s a risk, but at least then his other interview will be over, and I can put on the charm, without his brother there. I’ll take that gamble. What have I got to lose? By the look of that ranch, he needs my help. I heard from a few people in town, that his last assistant left him without notice, and he’s behind in paying his bills, and while I didn’t see the inside of the house, the outside looks like he’s in terrible need of help. There’s a newer house being built next to the older one, but I’ve heard that it’s been a long time coming, and the builders are lax.
After I take a quick run into Dallas, to check on Kay, I head back into Copper Cove, with a fresh change of clothes, using my aunt’s bathroom as a change room, and I pull up to the ranch. Mr. Barnes is sitting on his porch, sipping tea, looking tired and disheveled. His eyes are fixed on a loose floorboard when I exit the car. It looks like he’s in another world, as he didn’t even notice me pulling up to the house. “Good evening.” I say to him conversationally. He’s too tired to look surprised, but he nods all the same.
“Good evening.”
“You didn’t call me, so I thought that I would just pop by. I know that’s unconventional.” He doesn’t say much. He doesn’t even seem to care that I’m here. “You look like you had a rough day.”
He scoffs, shaking his head. “You could say that. My interview didn’t show up, one of my builders walked out on me, my one brother that’s talking to me, now isn’t talking to me, and I’m too goddamn tired to cook something, so I’m drinking tea for supper.”
I walk back to my car, expecting him to ask where the hell I’m going, but he doesn’t. As I open the cooler in the back seat, I pick up the sandwich that I’m saving for tomorrow, and bring it to him. It’s wrapped in tin foil and cellophane, and he looks at me first, before taking it. “What’s this?”
“Turkey on rye. It’s delicious. I was saving it for lunch tomorrow, but you look like you need it more than I do.”
He shakes his head, but ultimately, he unwraps it, takes a bite, and offers me the second half of it. I lift a hand. “It’s okay. I ate dinner already.”
“Yeah? Where’d you eat. What’s your secret.” He asks, like there’s some hidden food source in town that he doesn’t know about.
“Betty’s. Great food at a great price. They know me by name there. She says that she’d offer me a job there, but all her positions are full.”
“I never eat out.”
“How come?”
He gives me a look. “Ah, never mind.”
I change the subject. “If your interview didn’t show up, how come you didn’t call me.”
“I don’t need the trouble.”
I look at him. “More trouble than what you’re in now, you mean?”
“I can handle it.”
“Where’s your brother? Is he your partner in crime?”
“Not anymore.” He answers, and then he takes another bite.
“Want to talk about it?”
“Not even a little bit.”
I decide to take a different approach. “You mind if I use your washroom?”
“Be my guest.”
I rise and go inside. The house is a disgusting mess. Papers everywhere, books piled on top of other papers, dishes piled up in the kitchen, a computer that’s switched on, showing unpaid bills, a mess of accounts, a spreadsheet that hasn’t recorded anything in a month, and a pile of unopened envelopes, some stamped in red with ‘Final Notice’. It’s a risk, but a risk worth taking, as I organize some of the piles, open the mail, and start inputting bills into the computer. The passwords are handwritten on sticky notes, stuck to the side of the computer monitor, so it’s easy to navigate.
It takes me all of five minutes to enter the newer bills and start a ledger for the next month. That’s when I hear him come into the house. Feeling brave, I simply keep working, acting like I don’t hear him, hoping that he’s still too tired and defeated to chide me. He draws in a deep breath and releases it, looking around. “Well, what’s your assessment.” He says as more of a statement. “Am I in deep shit or what’s the damage.”
“Money’s not your problem, Mr. Barnes.”
He grumbles. “Tell me something I don’t know.”
“Fair enough. First, you shouldn’t leave your passwords all over the monitor. Second, if you set up automatic payments, half of these bills wouldn’t be an issue. Third, I know a young girl that can clean up this place in two hours, twice a week, and charge you next to nothing.”
“Greeeat. So, you don’t clean.”
“I didn’t say that. What I’m saying is that you need someone to do your books way more than you need someone to clean your house, and Missy is desperate.”
“Who’s Missy?”
“My former dormmate’s younger sister. She’s a year younger than me and her folks won’t let her work for a fast-food joint.”
“Can’t say I blame them there.”
“Anyway, if you have resumes, or if you want me to set up some job postings, we can get you ranch hands that won’t care about your reputation around town. I assume that’s why you haven’t hired anyone local?”
He nods. “That’s right. Nobody will work for me. It’s just the damn builders, but they’re from Dallas.”
I turn the monitor around so that he can see it. “I’ve got these invoices set up to pay. If you give me your banking information, I can get them done automatically. We can work on a temporary basis if you want to see what I can do first. You can pay me minimum wage if that’s what you want, to start, and then we can go from there. I can work from seven o’clock in the morning, until two o’clock in the afternoon if that suits you.”
He draws in another breath and releases it, and I think I'm wearing him down. He looks at me, like I’m going to be the death of him. “Answer me one question.”
“Sure.” I answer, thinking that this may be an interview yet. Then he shoots me with one I don’t expect.
“Why in the hell are you living in your car?”
I hesitate, tilting my head, and I level with him. “I’m sure you heard that my folks died in a car wreck.”
A simple nod. “I did.”
“The house went into foreclosure, my only living relative is blind and living in Dallas, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to burden her with my problems. I’ve almost got enough saved up for first and last month’s rent, and until then, my head rests on my back seat, Mister Barnes.” I stare at him. “Or, what has the town been saying about me.”
He rakes a hand through his hair. “I don’t know shit about what the town says, nor do I care.”
“Good. I feel the same.”
Then, he shoots me with something else I don’t expect. “If I pay you under the table, will that help with your schooling?”
“I’m afraid my combined income doesn’t earn me enough to worry about that. Besides, my scholarship ran out earlier in the year, and I’m too old to apply for an orphan’s pension.”
“How old are you?”
“It’s...not an appropriate question to ask on an interview.”
“You routing through my things isn’t an appropriate way to behave during an interview, either.”
“This wasn’t an interview.”
“Then we don’t have a problem. How old are you, Miss Charlon.”
“I’m twenty-three. I went to university a year late, if that matters to you.”
“How come?”
“Because my folks were hell bent on keeping me here in Copper Cove, and wouldn’t pay for my schooling, whether it be here or away on campus, so it took me an extra year to come up with the money and to apply for a scholarship.” I swallow. “And why does it matter how old I am, anyway?”
He smirks distastefully, scraping a hand down his face. “Because the last thing I need is for the town to be thinking...things...about what I’m doing with you. Last thing I need is for them to think that you’re a minor. At least this way it’s half the trouble.”
“Why do you care so much about what people think, Mr. Barnes? You’re about to bring this town a decent revenue stream once this ranch is up and running smoothly. If you can get your act together, half of your problems will go away, if you want my opinion.”
“It’s easier said than done, I’m afraid, Miss Charlton. You see, I have the added bonus of my folks’ word getting around town, too. And even they don’t care much for me.”
“Mine didn’t care at all for me, Mister Barnes.”
“At least yours are dead, and they can’t cause you problems anymore. No offence.”
I raise a hand. “None taken. I mean, I loved my mama and my daddy, but I can’t even remember a time when either of them cared for me. I was a burden to them.”
“And that’s why you don’t want to be a burden to anyone.”
“Exactly. My folks did one thing right, Mister Barnes, they gave me nothing, which made me work for what I have and ask for nothing in return. I don’t work for free, mind you, but I never take anything.”
He walks around to the monitor and tears off one of the sticky notes. He shows me the back of it. It’s got his bank card number and the pin number. “I suppose you’re right about that. Hell, you could have cleaned my clock if y’all wanted to.”
I look at him expectantly.
He swallows and scrapes a hand down his face again. “Fine. You’re hired. But I just have one more question.”
My face is like stone, despite the relief I feel inside. “Go ahead, Mr. Barnes.”
“Why the hell did y’all come back to this town, anyway?”
Then I hit him with an answer that I never expected would come out of my mouth. “Some day I’ll tell you.”