5. Hunter
Hunter
A s she walked into The Magic Bean, Hunter felt an odd mix of apprehension and exhaustion.
She’d called Rhiannon Murphy the morning after Piper gave her the business card and through the static-filled connection of Hunter’s junky prepaid phone, they’d arranged a meeting.
Hunter wasn’t quite sure what to expect – a chat or a job interview – but here she was after another long night at the nursing home, operating on about six hours of sleep out of the last forty-eight.
She was worried because she didn’t think she qualified for the job, but she’d allowed herself to start wanting it after Piper did such a good job hyping it up. It could solve a lot of problems for her and Piper, and maybe even allow Andrew to play his first game next weekend.
There was a lot riding on this meeting and yet Hunter’s body was telling her to sleep. Her jaw repeatedly tensed to yawn and she fought back the feeling. At least they were meeting in a café, where the caffeine flowed freely.
Hunter looked around the room. It was still early, about seven-thirty, and not quite as crowded as Piper always said it was first thing in the morning.
Even if the room had been packed, though, Hunter would have spotted Rhiannon right away.
She was exactly the type of person who would have an expensive business card, and who might spark Piper’s curiosity.
Her long, dark hair was silky, not a strand out of place, and she wore a chunky, heavy-looking necklace that hung around her prominent collarbones. She was thin, with perfect posture and an air of confidence that Hunter could see even from across the room.
Sitting beside her was a girl about Hunter’s age who looked like she could be Rhiannon’s twin if it weren’t for the age difference.
Rhiannon had mentioned her daughter over the phone and this must be her.
She had large, chestnut-colored eyes and full, pink lips.
Her hair was a little less tame and her posture was not so rigid, making Hunter think that the apple must be a little more down-to-earth than the tree.
Raising one hand elegantly in the air, Rhiannon waved Hunter over to the table.
She’d warned Rhiannon that she’d be coming straight from work and wouldn’t have time to change out of her scrubs, and they must have given her away.
She joined the two women, shaking hands with Rhiannon and then with her daughter, who was even more beautiful up close.
Her hands were soft and her eyes were flecked with gold.
She was breathtaking.
“I’m, uh, Hunter Ross,” she said, tripping over her words slightly as she stared into those deep, sparkling eyes. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“That’s my daughter, Kiera,” the older woman said, a little mirthfully. “She lives with my mother and she’s the one you’ll be coordinating your schedule with if we decide that you’re right for the job.”
Great.
Hunter suddenly felt self-conscious in her baggy blue scrubs and she wondered if she should have tried harder to find time to change clothes, or type up a proper resume for this meeting.
Not that there was much to include – she’d gotten her nurse’s aide certification as quickly as she could after dropping out of nursing school and had been at the nursing home ever since.
Those credentials wouldn’t even take up half a page and she’d decided that she could sell herself better by talking.
She tore her eyes away from Kiera and said to Rhiannon, “Thank you for meeting me so early. I work the overnight shift so I can sleep during the day and be available for my sister and her kids in the afternoons.”
“Well, you must need a cup of coffee in that case,” Rhiannon said. Hunter smiled gratefully at this suggestion, and she wondered if this meant she looked as tired as she felt. “It’s our treat – what do you drink?”
“Oh, anything,” Hunter said. “Just a regular coffee is fine.”
“I’ll get it,” Kiera offered. “What’s your order, Mom?”
“You know what I want, honey,” Rhiannon said with a wink, like they were exchanging an inside joke.
Kiera nodded and headed for the ordering counter, behind which stood a sleepy-looking barista.
Piper would be here in a little while to begin her shift, as soon as the boys were on the school bus and the college kids began to pour in for their pre-class caffeine fix.
Hunter watched Kiera for just a second as she walked to the counter, then turned back to Rhiannon and said, “I’m really sorry about my phone reception when we spoke earlier. I was in a dead zone.”
There had been a lot of what? and can you repeat that?
and the truth was that anywhere Hunter went with that junky old flip phone was a dead zone, but she didn’t want this beautiful woman with her designer clothes and gold jewelry to think it was going to be a continual hassle to try to contact her.
Maybe after the mortgage was paid and Andrew had his football equipment, Hunter could finally buy a decent phone… but that was getting ahead of herself.
“I understand,” Rhiannon said, although Hunter very much doubted it. She’d only spoken to Rhiannon twice and she’d already gotten the impression that this was the type of woman who wasn’t used to inconveniences.
While she was in an apologizing mode, Hunter quickly added, “I hope my sister didn’t overstep her bounds too badly when she told you about me. She has a way of inserting herself in other people’s business.”
“Don’t worry about it, honey,” Rhiannon said, smiling warmly. “We were grateful that she reached out. My mother’s diagnosis is relatively recent and the truth is, we’re not quite sure how to handle her care since she’s set on remaining in the house.”
“I’m there for her most of the day,” Kiera said as she returned to the table, balancing three coffees between her fingers. She set one of them down in front of Hunter, then pulled a couple packets of sugar and tiny cups of creamer out of the pocket of her cardigan. “I wasn’t sure how you take it.”
“One sugar,” Hunter said, picking up a little white packet. “Thanks.”
“Just like Kiera," Rhiannon said, reaching for the mocha that her daughter held out to her. “I don't know how people drink that bitter stuff.”
“The caffeine is more important than the taste,” Hunter said, taking a chance and winking at Kiera in black-coffee-drinker solidarity.
Then she got embarrassed and took a sip.
It was good – not bitter at all. In fact, it revived her, lending her the much-needed energy to give her all to this interview or meeting or whatever it was .
Kiera slipped into the third chair at the little round table and Rhiannon said, “I bet it is. You said that you work nights and help take care of your sister’s kids. How did that come about?”
My brother-in-law is a career criminal serving ten years at the county correctional facility and there was no way in hell my sister could support two boys and herself with a barista job, Hunter thought.
That was the truth, but it was far from an acceptable answer – not unless Hunter wanted to scare these women off right away.
So instead, she chose her words more diplomatically and said, “Two years ago, Piper was having a hard time making ends meet. The boys’ father isn’t around and my youngest nephew, Josh had just been diagnosed with diabetes.
Piper couldn’t manage work, childcare, and the new medical needs, so I moved in to help out.
It was easier for me to get a night job so I could be there for the boys, and it just worked out that I had some medical experience.
That made it a little easier to cope with Josh’s diagnosis. ”
“How are you doing with it now?” Kiera asked. There was a kindness in her eyes that gave Hunter the impression that she genuinely cared about the answer – a rare trait in this world.
“Josh is good now,” she said. “We had a lot of trouble regulating his insulin in the beginning and he hated the shots at first – probably still does, but he’s getting better about toughing it out.
The diet is pretty restrictive, too, but kids are adaptable and most of the time he takes it in stride. ”
Hunter also told them a little about Andrew and his football aspirations, omitting the part about how she and Piper were counting on Rhiannon to fund his dreams. Then Rhiannon said, “Well, we should probably tell you a little about our situation, too. It’s only fair since we’ve been prying into your background for the past ten minutes. ”
“I don’t mind,” Hunter said, although she was eager to learn more about her potential new patient.
“My mother is in the early stages of Alzheimer’s,” Rhiannon said, the soft smile never faltering on her lips as she spoke clinically about her.
“It’s mostly just occasional lapses of memory at this point, stumbling over words and getting confused about small things.
She’s had a few incidents in which she left the house, intending to run an errand and getting confused and lost instead.
Her doctor says that’s a sign that the disease will begin to progress more quickly soon.
We’ve asked her not to drive anymore and we do our best to keep an eye on her while letting her maintain as much of her autonomy as possible, but we can only do so much. That’s where you would come in.”
“I’m so sorry that you’re going through this,” Hunter said. She asked Kiera, “You’re the primary caregiver?”
"I guess you could say that," Kiera said. "I live with her, but I don’t think she needs a caregiver just yet. For the most part, Nana takes care of herself, but I worry about the times when I’m not home. When your sister mentioned that you care for Alzheimer’s patients, my mother and I started thinking it might be nice to hire someone part-time for the hours when I’m in class or at work. ”