CHAPTER TWO
Elisabeth’s hand trembled as she placed a bottle of water on her tray. She couldn’t believe the guy from table four, who looked like a movie star with his expressive hazel-green eyes and killer smile, had been flirting with her. And she couldn’t believe she’d shut him down.
Stupid move, but she hadn’t been thinking straight. She hadn’t been thinking at all.
She should have played along, done all those flirty things she used to know how to do, and gotten a big, fat tip. The trio at table four had money. The expensive shoes were always a giveaway.
Kathy Alexander placed a small plate of lemon wedges on the tray. “Here you go.”
“Thanks.”
Kathy owned the Berry Bistro, which until two weeks ago and for the past nineteen years had been called Kathy’s Korner Kafé.
That was until Berry Patch, Oregon, Elisabeth’s hometown, wanted to become upscale to appeal to wine country visitors.
Shops and restaurants changed their names and remodeled—or repainted the walls in the case of the bistro—as best as they could.
Of course, the bistro was still a corner café. For now. “Is this for table four?”
Elisabeth nodded.
“Those two men are lookers. Especially the guy with the light brown hair and brown eyes.”
“Hazel,” Elisabeth corrected. “His eyes are hazel.”
She hadn’t liked being stared at with those eyes. His gaze had been so intense, so intimate. Elisabeth had felt exposed, naked, and wanted to run away.
“He called me Lizzie.” She’d been called Beth, Bess, Bessey, Lissie, and Lis. Those names didn’t bother her. But Lizzie? “Every time I hear that name, I think of Lizzie Borden chopping up her parents with an ax. It gives me the willies.”
“He could call me whatever he wanted, and I’d answer.” Kathy sighed. “Sure would like a taste of that eye candy.”
“He’s too much of a pretty boy.”
“I remember when you used to love pretty boys.”
And look where that had gotten her.
Elisabeth tightened her grip on the tray. “That was a long time ago.”
“Not that long ago, honey.” Kathy stared at her. “And that pretty boy at table four looked as if the only thing he wanted to order was you.”
“I’m not on the menu.”
“Maybe you should be.” Kathy’s eyes darkened with concern. “Have you found someone to fill in for Manny?”
“No.”
Manny Gallegos ran the berry farm for Elisabeth.
Between the kids and her serving job, she did what she could with the farm, and Manny did the rest. Or had until he’d had to return to Mexico.
And this late in the year, all her regular field hands had also returned home.
Normally, she and Manny could handle it together. But alone…
She bit her lip. “I thought he would be back by now, but his mother took a turn for the worse.”
“You should fire him.”
“I can’t.” Manny had been her father’s trusted foreman, and he’d become both her right- and left-hand person.
He’d been the one constant on the farm. Or had been until two weeks ago.
But Elisabeth understood what commitment to family meant.
“You don’t fire someone because their mother is ill. He needs to be with her.”
“What about your needs?” Kathy asked.
She needed someone to help her prepare the farm for winter. An extra pair of hands. Someone with two good arms and legs who could follow directions. It was already the beginning of October. Her stomach clenched. “I just need to find some temporary help.”
Temporary, cheap help.
“Where?” Kathy asked. “And how will you pay them since you kept Manny on salary?”
Elisabeth could do the work alone, but she’d have to quit this job. And berry farming alone wouldn’t support her family. She fought the panic rising in her throat.
Kathy squeezed her shoulder. “I’m worried about you, honey. You’re too young to have to do all this on your own.”
Elisabeth filled three glasses with ice and placed them on the tray. She had managed against bad odds before and would do it again now. Tears stung her eyes, and she blinked them away. “I don’t have a choice.”
“You need a break.” Kathy picked up the tray. “I’ll take their orders, and you deliver the food when you return.”
“Excuse me,” a female voice said.
Elisabeth turned and saw the stylishly dressed blond from table four. The engagement ring on her finger could have paid off the second mortgage on the farm and put at least two of her siblings through college. “I was wondering if you could bring some extra napkins with the bottled water?”
“I’ll take care of it, miss.” Kathy glanced at Elisabeth. “Get some fresh air.”
She knew better than to argue with her boss, especially in front of a customer. Elisabeth needed a few minutes alone. She stepped outside, took a deep breath, and let the tears flow.
When Elisabeth returned to the kitchen, she was surprised to see Kathy and the customer from table four talking. The tray still sat on the counter, though napkins had been added next to the plate of lemons, bottle of water, and three glasses. As soon as they noticed her, they stopped chatting.
“Feel better after your break?” Kathy asked.
Elisabeth didn’t often allow herself the luxury of tears, because she was afraid once she started crying, she wouldn’t be able to stop. And this job was too important to let a pity party ruin her tips for the rest of her shift. “Yes.”
“You’ll feel even better in a few minutes.” Kathy picked up the tray. “Elisabeth Wheeler, this is Cynthia Sterling. I do believe she’s the answer to your prayers.”
With that, Kathy left the kitchen.
Elisabeth wasn’t sure what was happening, but the beautiful blond woman wearing designer clothes wasn’t a guardian angel. And she’d stopped believing in fairy godmothers a long time ago.
Cynthia stepped toward her, and Elisabeth noticed the woman favoring her left foot. “When I walked past the kitchen, I overheard you needed someone to help with your farm.”
Elisabeth nodded. “Someone” about covered what she was looking for. If the person wasn’t dangerous and a menace to society, she would hire them.
“I apologize for eavesdropping, but Kathy told me a little more about your situation after you left. I’m sorry.”
Elisabeth hated pity. She’d faced it from friends, neighbors, and even strangers for too long.
“I want to help,” Cynthia said.
She wouldn’t accept charity, and that was the only way the beautiful blond could help her. Elisabeth wiped the counter. “Thanks, but I don’t see how you—”
“My friend Henry, sitting across from my fiancé and me, needs a job. He’s a good man but made some bad investments and lost everything. He needs to turn his life around. Working on your farm would give him that chance.”
She had to be kidding. The closest he’d ever come to country was wearing Ralph Lauren Polo.
Cynthia’s friend was dressed as if worth a million dollars with his leather jacket, lightly starched, perfectly pressed button-down shirt, and knife-edge creased pants.
His hands looked as if he worked in an office not outside.
“It’s hard work. Manual work. Long hours outdoors. ”
“That’s exactly what Henry loves to do. He’s a get-your-hands-dirty type of guy.”
Not the well-dressed guy at table four. No way.
Elisabeth appreciated Cynthia for trying to help, but Henry wasn’t what she needed. “No. I’m paying my foreman while he’s away. I can’t afford to pay another worker.”
“I’ll cover his expenses and his salary, say minimum wage?”
Elisabeth managed to keep her jaw from dropping open. Henry would work on her farm, and it wouldn’t cost her a penny? It sounded too good to be true. Things like this didn’t happen to her. To anyone. “That’s generous of you, but why don’t you give him the money yourself?”
“Henry is a proud man who won’t accept charity from his friends.”
“I respect that.” And understood it, too. She’d felt the same way since her parents’ deaths.
“This would be the perfect way for my fiancé and me to help Henry. And you would get the help you need.”
True. Still, this whole situation felt…off. How could she back out gracefully? “But—”
“Henry doesn’t have a place to live,” Cynthia interrupted.
Elisabeth had never seen such a well-dressed, well-groomed homeless person in her entire life. Of course, her entire life had been spent in Oregon and most of it in Berry Patch.
“He’ll need a place to stay,” Cynthia continued.
Opening her home to a stranger didn’t appeal to Elisabeth. Neither did the assumption that Henry would be hired. No, this would not work out, regardless of how much work awaited Elisabeth at home. “I’m sorry, but I don’t have an extra bedroom. I’m sure you’ll find him another job—”
“What about a barn?” Cynthia asked.
“I wouldn’t ask anyone to sleep in a dirty, old barn.”
The elegant woman frowned. “I suppose not. Oh well. This would have been so good for Henry. He’s such a fine man trying to find his way back.” Cynthia’s eyes glistened with tears. “I so wanted to help him.”
Maybe Cynthia only wanted to do a good deed.
Maybe Henry was a good man. Maybe someone else would walk into the café and offer to work for free.
Elisabeth had doubts. Too many doubts. Something was definitely off with this whole situation.
She shouldn’t hire Henry. Cynthia Sterling wasn’t a beautiful fairy godmother who made wishes come true like in Cinderella.
No, she was nothing more than a well-dressed woman.
A customer, a stranger. “I’m sorry, but I know nothing about you or Henry.
I have my brother and two sisters to think about. ”
“I’ll give you references to call.”
If Manny were here, he would do the hiring. If Manny were here, Elisabeth wouldn’t be in this bind. “I’ll contact them, but I can’t guarantee I’ll hire Henry.”
“What if I pay you?” Cynthia asked. “Say twenty-five thousand.”
Elisabeth gulped. “Dollars?”
“No, lira.” Cynthia held out her cell phone and showed an app to send money. “Of course, it’s dollars. I’ll refund your expenses and Henry’s salary later.”
For that much money, Elisabeth would sleep in the barn and give Henry her bedroom.
Stay calm. Think this through.
She had to have help winterizing her farm.
She couldn’t take time off from her serving job to do it herself.
She couldn’t afford to lose any of the equipment or crops.
Not if she wanted to hold on to the farm.
And twenty-five thousand dollars was a huge amount of money.
That would make such a difference in their lives. It would change everything.
Besides, this guy wouldn’t stick around. Nobody stuck around here for long, but that guy looked as if he’d be gone quicker than most. “What if Henry quits?”
“If Henry quits, you keep the money. Deal?”
Instinct told Elisabeth to take the deal and take a chance on Henry.
But Elisabeth didn’t like taking chances on anyone.
She didn’t like opening herself and her family up to more disappointment.
They’d all been hurt enough. Henry could cause trouble on all sorts of levels. She already knew he was a flirt.
But there was the money to consider. And the kids. And the farm. “I need the references.”
Cynthia typed in the amount, and Elisabeth stared at all the zeros. Twenty-five thousand dollars. With that money… Her pulse quickened.
“I’ll leave the payment on the app. I can see you have doubts, so here’s a list of references.
Use my phone so they recognize the caller ID and answer.
” Cynthia gave her the cell phone with a notepad opened with names and numbers.
“Tell them Cynthia Sterling is setting Henry up for a little adventure of his own and ask whatever questions you might have.”
“Don’t I need Henry’s last name?”
“It’s Davenport, but his first name will suffice.
You’ll find out enough about Henry to make up your mind.
” She held on to her small purse. “If you don’t want to hire Henry, simply return my phone by the time we finish with lunch.
If you will hire him, type in your payment account, your address, and the time you get off work onto the notepad so I can send you the money and we can drop him off. ”
“We could change our sleeping arrangements so Henry would have his own room.” Elisabeth didn’t know what prompted her to say the words. Sympathy? More like desperation.
“That would be perfect.” Cynthia grinned. “Though I still say the barn would be fine.”
As Elisabeth watched her limp back to the dining room, she clutched the cell phone and prayed everything went well with the calls, and that his references were solid.
She hadn’t had time for daydreams or fantasies in years, but today, she wanted to believe in guardian angels or fairy godmothers or winning the lottery.
Anything to justify wanting to hire Henry if his references checked out.
And a part of Elisabeth thought they just might. Cynthia Sterling seemed like she could have a magic wand hidden somewhere on her.