Chapter Eight #2
I waved him into the room. “Come on in.” Spinning in my chair, I snagged the laptop on the desk and opened it, tapping the screen to life. “Our first interview is scheduled in ten minutes.”
Rex came in, taking a seat at an angle from Levi. He held up his coffee cup. “I got some of that coffee. Who brought that over?”
I thumbed toward Levi, and Rex dipped his chin in acknowledgment. “Good move. It always makes for a more cheerful morning when we have good coffee.”
“I didn’t have time to stop there either. Allie was a little late getting ready for school, so we were cutting it close.”
“She’s growing up fast,” Rex commented with a shake of his head.
“Don’t I know it?” I replied with a sigh before taking a bracing swallow of the rich coffee.
“Life happens fast. I’ve already got a grandkid, and I can’t believe that sometimes.”
“Isn’t Ella expecting?” Levi asked, referring to Rex’s daughter.
“She is.” Rex’s eyes crinkled at the corners with his wide smile.
“How far along is she?” I asked because I hadn’t caught up on this bit of news yet.
“Four months,” Rex said.
“You ready for two grandkids?”
He nodded firmly. “It goes by in a blink. Sometimes, I miss when Georgia and I had young ones around the house. Being a grandparent is better than being a parent, though.”
I placed my hand on my chest over my heart. “Man, don’t start with that. I’m not even ready for Allie to have a boyfriend. I’m kind of hoping maybe she’ll want to become a nun.”
Levi burst out laughing just as Russell peered into the office, his brows hitching up as he looked around the table. “You still need me?” he asked.
“Of course, you’re on the crew. I need your opinion. Is Beck still coming?” I glanced at Levi.
“I don’t know. Let me ask Maisie.” He leaned toward the desk and tapped the intercom button on the phone. “Hey, Maisie, where’s Beck?”
“He’s late getting in. He stopped to help fix Carrie Dodge’s mailbox. Someone hit it with a car last night,” she explained.
“Well, damn, that’s not cool. Glad Beck is fixing it,” I replied, along with the other sympathetic murmurs around the table.
“Hey, it isn’t cool, but at least her cat wasn’t involved,” Maisie said.
We all knew Carrie. For one, she’d lived in Willow Brook her entire life and was now in her eighties.
We also occasionally got called out to her place to rescue her cat, Herman, when he got stuck in a tree.
The most famous incident was when she attempted to rescue him on her own with her late husband’s excavator, and it fell over in a ditch.
Thankfully, both she and the cat made it out unscathed.
“We’ll start without him then,” Rex said.
“You’d better,” Maisie replied, “because your first appointment is already here.”
We plowed through four interviews, and I wasn’t feeling great about any of them. I looked around the table, asking, “What do you think?”
Levi shook his head along with Rex. Russell ran a hand through his hair and nodded in agreement.
“We only have one more. Paisley Banks.”
“Paisley?” Russell prompted.
I nodded. “Yup.”
Levi tapped the intercom button. “Is Paisley here?”
Maisie replied promptly, “She’s been waiting. Shall I send her back?”
“Please do.”
A moment later, the sound of footsteps preceded the appearance of Paisley. The footsteps slowed, and we heard Maisie’s voice. “Here we go. Don’t let them try to intimidate you. I’m mostly in charge around here, so just keep that in mind,” she explained, her tone dry.
Maisie grinned when she looked around the edge of the doorway. “Hey, guys.”
I glanced over as she gestured to the woman beside her. “This is Paisley Banks.”
Paisley had her auburn hair pulled back in a ponytail that swung as she walked. Rex cast one of his smiles at her. He had the kind of smile that made anyone feel at ease. Paisley’s green eyes bounced around the table. She looked a little tense until her gaze landed on Rex.
“Have a seat.” Rex patted the chair beside him, scooting his chair over slightly as Paisley walked in.
We did a round of introductions. “So, you’ve got some good experience,” I began.
Paisley nodded. “I think so. I trained as a hotshot firefighter in Washington, and I’ve worked in several states out West. I love the work.”
“What brings you here?” Levi prompted.
“I always wanted to come to Alaska,” she said simply. “As a hotshot firefighter, I’ll get to see more of the area.”
“Where there’s fire,” Russell interjected.
Paisley slid her eyes to him and nodded solemnly. “Well, that’s the job.”
I sensed tension from Russell. I liked Paisley. She was solid and steady, and she had a good feel to her.
We finished the interview, and once we heard the door close down the hallway, Rex said, “She’s good. I think you should hire her.”
Russell interjected, “I think she’s going to be a distraction.”
I eyed him. “Why?”
He shifted his shoulders. “You’re not blind. She’s beautiful.”
“And?”
“I don’t know,” he muttered, looking disgruntled.
I gave him a considering look. “I’ve never known you to have an issue with women. There are several who work on the crews here. Is that a problem for you?”
He shook his head quickly. “I guess I didn’t think about it much. This is a hard job.”
“It is, and she’s been doing it for five years. She obviously knows what she’s facing. Her references are rock solid,” Levi interjected.
With Levi in agreement, I headed up front to ask Maisie to start the official hiring process. There was a shit ton of administrative stuff associated with hiring, and I was profoundly grateful Maisie handled most of it.
After helping on a town call later that afternoon, I headed home.
I’d temporarily forgotten Allie was over at Madison’s place this afternoon until I got home and she wasn’t there.
I slipped my phone out to text Allie when I saw the text I’d sent to myself from her phone with Madison’s number.
I changed the contact from Maddie Neighbor to Off-Limits Neighbor. Maybe that would keep me sensible.