Chapter 17
Elaine Walker pulled up to the gray brick historic building at the far end of Three Rivers’s Main Street. She lifted her coffee cup from the console, reached across to the passenger seat for her bag, and got out of her car.
She wasn’t sure why the short walk from the small parking lot into the quaint office space she’d rented filled her with such a zing of pride, but it did.
It’s because you’re doing something with your life now, she thought as she entered the co-op office space and climbed the stairs to the second floor.
She rented the entire floor, which had once been three bedrooms and still had its own bathroom. The big living area held an eight-foot desk for herself. A kitchenette had been built into the far wall, and Elaine set her bag on the counter there and started another pot of coffee.
After a few years of trying to figure out what she wanted to do, while she worked jobs here and there just to see what might tickle her interest, she’d decided to start a foundation that would help women in small Texas towns support themselves.
She worked with single moms, widows, married women, and singles of all ages: helping them find better educational opportunities, apply for scholarships and business funding, get the health insurance they needed, research schools for their kids, anything at all that might improve their quality of life.
She’d initially funded the foundation with her own money, which had come from her parents.
All of the Walkers a generation older than her were billionaires, and she wasn’t sure what her aunts and uncles had done for their kids, but her parents had set up trusts for their children when they were born.
When they turned twenty-five, they got access to the trust and no longer had to consult Momma or Daddy about what to do. Not only that, but Elaine’s older brother Conrad was a financial wizard, and he had been managing the family’s money for years, hers included.
So Elaine’s one hundred million had become two-hundred-fifty by the time she figured out what she wanted to do with her life.
She already owned a home in Three Rivers, and yes, she drove a car nicer than she needed, but she liked heated seats, the soundproofing that made her ride so quiet, and the moonroof.
Elaine definitely liked being comfortable, that was for sure. Therefore, she kicked off her heels, settled at her desk, and flipped open her laptop.
She reviewed the next day’s appointments before she went home every day, and because she set her own hours, she never had to be anywhere too early or stay too late—unless a client needed it.
Elaine loved the flexibility that running The Walker Foundation for Women gave her, and she’d learned so much about the educational programs and government assistance the State of Texas offered.
She’d also learned a lot about herself; namely, that it was important for her to feel significant and to know what she was doing really mattered to someone. She knew all of God’s children mattered to Him, but she still wanted to do something that felt important to her.
With the room filling with the scent of coffee, and another storm on the way beyond the window, Elaine opened Hailey’s file.
Hailey was a Glover, but only by marriage.
Her daddy had married Etta about twenty-five years ago, and Hailey had grown up at Shiloh Ridge Ranch.
She’d enjoyed all the privileges that came with that name, much like Elaine.
But she’d never finished college, and until recently, she’d been the manager of an upscale restaurant in town.
Then, the owner accused her of stealing, fired her, and pressed charges. The poor woman had been arrested before the truth came out: that the owner’s nephew had been the one with his hand in the cookie jar.
Hailey had still lost her job, though the case against her was dropped. She’d moved back to Shiloh Ridge, if only to escape the gossip that seemed so prevalent in town whenever so much as someone sneezed too close to their neighbor.
She was six or seven years older than Elaine, and Elaine had learned about her situation through Glory Rose, her sister-in-law.
Elaine’s mind wandered for a moment, because Glory and Conrad had a new baby boy that Elaine had fallen in love with upon first sight.
She babysat for her brother every weekend, because her love life had become so pathetic that she’d put it on hold.
Starting the foundation had given her something else to focus on besides the dozen men she’d gone out with and failed to click with.
She wanted someone older, with an established career, someone who could make her laugh, and someone who knew how to cook.
She didn’t think her list was too demanding.
She’d had a few boyfriends in recent years, but no one who made her heart sing and every cell in her body buzz.
Elaine absolutely wouldn’t settle for anything less than fairy tale true love.
“And now Easton has a girlfriend,” she grumbled to herself.
Until now, none of the triplets had had a significant other, and Elaine had sort of assumed Austin would be the first to bring someone into their trio.
He’d always been the one to break ranks, and he’d been wildly popular in high school.
He’d gone to the Police Academy, and Easton had stuck around town, and Elaine had drifted.
But through it all, they’d always had each other.
Elaine had worked briefly as a secretary for HealNow, and while she didn’t loathe the high-rise buildings in town like some others did, she much preferred this quaint country home that had been converted into co-op office space.
Austin worked on the Amarillo Police Department, currently assigned to their Special Victims Unit. Easton worked for the city of Three Rivers, moving his way through the ranks until he’d landed at the top of their physical facilities and operations.
He’d met his girlfriend through that job, because even though he didn’t have to interact with a lot of people, plenty of scheduling went through him, and secretaries, receptionists, and department heads emailed him all the time.
An expert at getting her inbox to zero, Elaine had given him some systems and filtering options that he claimed helped.
He’d been dating Marta for about five months now and had started bringing her to family events and parties, which told Elaine the relationship was getting serious.
Finally able to focus, she answered a couple of emails and set an appointment for a single mom to come in later that week before footsteps sounded on the stairs.
Her space had a glass door, and she’d been given permission to put on a vinyl sticker that read The Walker Foundation for Women. She watched Hailey read the words and reach for the handle.
“Come on in,” she said as Hailey opened the door.
Hailey wore a cute pair of black skinny jeans and a blouse the color of dark purple plum skins with lighter violet ribbing.
“Wow, I love that shirt,” Elaine said.
“I got it at the Boot Barn, if you can believe it. Clearance rack.” Hailey pinched the fabric out from her body and let it fall back.
This wasn’t Elaine’s first meeting with Hailey, and she really liked the woman. “Coffee?” she asked, heading for the kitchenette.
“Yeah, I’d love some,” Hailey said, lifting a box. “I brought those pecan buns I was telling you about.”
“You’re kidding.” Elaine grinned. “I can’t wait to try them.”
“Well, I hope you’re ready for your life to change on this Monday morning.”
Elaine laughed. “Everyone needs their life changed on Monday morning, don’t they?” She poured Hailey a cup of coffee, picked up a tray with cream and sugar, and carried it to the desk. “How are you today?”
“Good,” Hailey said.
“Yeah. I’m totally convinced.” Elaine grinned at her and picked up her own to-go cup of coffee.
“I’m hoping you’ll have something for me,” Hailey said with a sigh. “I spent the last several days searching online, trying to think of what I might like to do. And the truth is, I’ve never really known what to do with my life.”
Elaine could relate, and a flash of sympathy moved through her. “Some people just take a little longer to figure things out,” she said. “I mean, look at me. I’m almost twenty-eight, and I just started this foundation six months ago.”
“Yeah, true.” Hailey stirred in a sugar cube and finally looked up from her mug. “So what have you got?”
Elaine beamed and tapped the pink folder she’d labeled with Hailey about six weeks ago.
They’d discussed a few professions—nursing, teaching, and something outdoorsy like a wildlife conservation officer or tour guide.
Hailey had a people-person personality and got along with all kinds of folks.
That was why she’d been so good as a restaurant manager.
She was highly detailed, organized, and smart, though she hadn’t done much schooling beyond high school. She’d taken about a year of college classes before quitting, telling her parents there was no point in paying for a degree when she didn’t even know what she wanted to do.
“Open it,” Elaine said.
Hailey wore a dubious look, but she reached for the folder and flipped it open. Elaine watched, wanting to see her full reaction. Hailey’s eyes widened; she pulled in a sharp breath. “A vet tech.”
“I mean,” Elaine said, trying to make her voice casual and only succeeding in pitching it up. “Veterinarian school is, like, eight years—and I know you said you didn’t want to do anything like that, though I think you’d be an amazing nurse.”
“Right,” Hailey said, still scanning the top page in the folder.
“But because vet techs aren’t doctors,” Elaine said. “You can get certified and be working at a real clinic with DVMs in only two years.”
Hailey dove back into the paperwork. “Is that right?”