No Ordinary Joe

Everything had happened so abruptly, she hadn’t had the chance to give it much thought. “I’m not exactly sure.”

“I need someone for at least six weeks. If you plan on hanging around for a week or two, then taking off, don’t even waste my time.”

Yeesh! The guy didn’t mince words, did he? “I need enough money for a bus ticket, plus first and last month’s rent in a new place once I get to Nashville. So I’m thinking six weeks at least, depending on how many hours you’re willing to work me.”

His tight-lipped nod said he was satisfied with her answer. He waved over the bartender.

“Lindy, this is Reily. She’s going to give you a hand while I make a phone call. Consider this your audition,” he told Reily, his expression suggesting that he fully expected her to blow it. Then he slipped through the door to the back. Not the warmest guy in the world, but she was in no position to complain if he was willing to even consider giving her a job. From what she’d seen of the diner, even if they were hiring, the tips would be nothing compared to this place.

Lindy handed Reily an apron. “You don’t look familiar. Are you from town?”

Reily secured the apron around her waist. “Just passing through, hoping for temporary work to get me to Tennessee.”

“And you chose this hole-in-the-wall town? Why not Denver?”

“I actually hadn’t planned to stop at all, but my car was stolen from the gas station off the highway a few miles back. Everything I owned in the world was in it. Including my money.”

Lindy gasped and slapped a hand to her chest. “Oh, you poor thing! You lost everything?”

“Luckily I had my purse with me so I have my ID and my cell phone, but everything else is gone.”

“What about clothes?”

She looked down at the tank top, jeans and cowboy boots she was wearing. “You’re lookin’ at ‘em.”

“If you do end up staying in town awhile, I’m sure we can find someone your size who would be willing to donate some clothes.”

“That would be really awesome, because until I can make some money, staying is my only choice.”

“Well, I hope it works out here. Since our other bartender, Mark, busted his wrist Monday, it’s pretty much been just me and Rick, but he only works a few evenings a week. This weekend is going to be a nightmare, even with Joe behind the bar with me. It’s about time he hired me some help.”

It sounded as if Joe needed her as badly as she needed him. She mentally crossed her fingers that he would take pity on her.

Lindy pointed out the location of the things she would need, then they got to work taking orders and making drinks, tasks that were second nature to Reily. She chatted up the customers, using a bit of mild flirting when the circumstance necessitated it, finding everyone friendly and curious as to who she was. In the twenty-five or so minutes it took Joe to call on her references, she’d been welcomed to town by at least a dozen people. Paradise sure was a friendly place, and so far it was living up to its name.

Joe reappeared from the back and stepped behind the bar, his expression unreadable. Reily’s heart did a quick flip-flop. She hoped he liked what he had heard from Abe.

“So, how did she do?” he asked Lindy.

“She’s a natural. And it sounds like she could really use the job.” She flashed Reily a grin. “And I’m so desperate for help, she could be the devil incarnate and I would still want you to hire her.”

“Well, your references checked out,” Joe told Reily. He added with barely veiled exasperation, “Your old boss is quite the talker, isn’t he?”

Knowing Abe, he had probably relayed Reily’s entire life story. “Sorry about that. I hope he didn’t talk your ear off.”

“Close, but he had nothing but praise for your skills, so I guess you’re hired.”

The stress of the day seemed to drain away and a well of pure relief gushed up inside of her. “Thank you so much, Mr. Miller. You have no idea how much I appreciate this.”

“It’s Joe,” he said, but if he felt even a hint of satisfaction for more or less saving her life, it didn’t show. “You can start tomorrow. We open for lunch at eleven, but you’ll have some paperwork to fill out so be here no later than ten.”

“I will.”

“We’re open Monday through Thursday from eleven to ten, and Friday and Saturday till 2:00 a.m. We’re closed Sunday.”

“I’m available whenever you need me. The more hours the better.”

He nodded sharply, then turned and disappeared back through the door.

“I know what you’re probably thinking,” Lindy said, and Reily turned to her. “But he’s really a great guy once you get to know him.”

He could be the biggest jerk on the face of the planet and she wouldn’t care, as long as he was a fair and decent employer. Besides, it was temporary.

“Are you and he… together?”

Lindy laughed. “Definitely not. We’re just good friends. I’ve known Joe my whole life. And even if I was interested, he’s emotionally unavailable, if you know what I mean.”

“I know exactly what you mean.” She’d dated a few guys just like him. They weren’t worth the heartache they inevitably caused.

She untied her apron and handed it back to Lindy. “Thanks for putting in a good word for me.”

“Here,” Lindy said, snatching two ten-dollar bills from the tip jar and pressing them into Reily’s hand.

“You don’t have to do that.” Reily tried to give them back, but Lindy shook her head.

“You earned it.”

Shelving her pride, she stuffed the bills into her back pocket. “Thank you.”

“Tomorrow we’ll see about getting you some clothes. I’m guessing you wear a medium in tops and a size five in pants.”

“How did you know?”

“I worked in the women’s department at the JC Penney in Denver when I was going to college. I know women’s fashion. If I ask around, or maybe pull a few strings at the thrift store, I can get you some clothes to hold you over.”

“I’m not the type to take a handout, but under the circumstances, I’ll take all the help I can get.” If the rest of Paradise was even half as nice as Lindy, this temporary detour might not be half-bad. Although she did have reservations about her new boss. She had never worked with anyone so… grumpy. Or maybe she just needed time to get to know him, and vice versa. He was cute enough, not that she was looking to hook up while she was in town. Her only goal was to make the money she needed to get to Nashville. If that meant hanging around this tiny town for six weeks, it was a sacrifice she was more than willing to make.

Chapter Two

Joe sat in a booth across from the bar with a cup of coffee and his laptop, watching his new employee. She sat on a bar stool with her back to him, head bent as she filled out an application and a tax form. Though he wouldn’t normally hire a total stranger, especially one just passing through, P.J. seemed to have taken quite a shine to her, and Joe trusted his judgment.

She was dressed in the same clothes as the night before, which he took to mean that she didn’t have anything else, and her long, pale blond hair was pulled back in a ponytail that hung halfway down her back and swished when she walked. She was a spunky, high-spirited young woman who had spent most of her life clinging to the short end of a very rickety stick—according to her former employer, that is. He claimed that Reily, who was orphaned as a youngster and raised by an aunt, had been best friends with his daughter since preschool and like a surrogate daughter to him and his wife.

Information Joe really didn’t need to know. He didn’t care where she came from or how she was raised, as long as she was a hard worker. He wasn’t normally in the business of saving people. Not anymore. He’d learned the hard way how futile a venture that could be. It just so happened that she needed a job and he needed a bartender. Simple as that. If she hadn’t come along last night, he would have posted a help-wanted sign in the window this morning. It was nothing more than a case of her being in the right place at the right time.

“So who’s the girl at the bar?”

He looked up to find Jill, one of his waitresses, standing beside the table. Considering she was usually at least ten minutes late for her shift, he was surprised to see that she’d showed up early.