The Farmer's Daughter: The Dragon Dream: Book One Read online

  Hoping he wouldn’t regret his decision, he took a deep breath and handed the paper back to her. “Go tell David you’re hired and will be filling Harry Flynn’s position. He’ll show you around and get the paperwork started. I’ll be in shortly to make it official. Assuming you can start right away.”

  “It just so happens I can.” A smile played on the corners of her mouth as she returned the paper to her purse.

  “Good. You can go in through the deli door.” He waved his hand toward the left even though it was probably how she’d gotten out here. She certainly hadn’t walked up the back steps. “Just watch where you step.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Moore.” Angela didn’t utter another word as she turned and walked in the direction he’d waved, not even when she stepped around the spittle on the floor.

  Craig smiled, not completely sure why he did so. He took another swallow of his coffee and picked up his forgotten sketchbook. Harry would regret quitting his job this time, because when he’d come begging for it back, Craig would have to turn him down. And he wasn’t even sorry about it.

  2

  “W hat do you make of that?” Flo asked her friend as the screen door of the deli swung shut behind the Carman girl. “You don’t suppose he hired her, do you?”

  Lucy shrugged, casually nipping off a branch from her side of the hedgerow. “Maude did say Angela was looking for a second job. Maybe Craig’s finally tired of Flynn quitting every other month.”

  “Yes, but can you see Angela as Craig Moore’s ‘Girl Friday’? It’ll never last.”

  Smiling as she realized where her friend was headed, dimples showed. “I’m sure she’ll do a better job than Harry ever did. I’ve been saying for years that he wasn’t any good at his job when he’s been drinking, and he’s been drinking more than usual recently.”

  Flo shook her head, hedge shears hanging useless in her hand. “That’s not the point. Angela could do an excellent job, but it wouldn’t change a thing. I bet you she won’t put up with Craig and his mood swings for anywhere near as long as Harry did. She’s too proud. She won’t tolerate it.”

  “Harry put up with it for years,” emphasized Lucy, a sly twinkle in her eye. “What kind of time frame are you thinking?”

  Now Flo grinned, a twinkle in her own eye. “I bet she quits before the end of the month.”

  “Oh, come now, Flo. The Carmans are losing their farm. She’ll stick it out. At least two or three months.”

  “Loser treats the winner to dinner at the Scenic Overlook?” Flo offered her hand across the bush.

  Lucy shook it heartily. “You’re on.”

  I nside the store’s employee break room, Angela was trying hard to pay attention to what David Bear was saying. Even as a child, she’d had a hard time understanding him because of his rapid speech and it hadn’t gotten any easier with time. She nodded in the right spots with an occasional ‘yes’ or ‘okay’, all the while fiddling with the completed paperwork in her hands. She’d been surprised to have found the manager waiting in the deli with this paperwork already in hand. She’d also been surprised how he hovered in the break room with her while she filled it out.

  “So, Angela,” he said, wrapping up his rundown of her new responsibilities. “Any questions?”

  Angela colored slightly and decided to tell the truth. “Tons! I’m sorry David, but I hardly understood a word you said. You always speak so fast!”

  Instead of being annoyed, he laughed and flashed her a toothy grin. “Don’t be sorry. Craig’s on my case all the time for confusing new employees. Tell you what, we’ll break you in one chore at a time.”

  “Sounds good to me!” She was relieved he’d started speaking slower. “Where do I start, and where can I put my purse?”

  “You can put it in the third cupboard to the left.” He pointed over her shoulder as he glanced out the window. Grimacing, he continued, “When it gets colder, there’s a closet next to the couch there for coats and boots. Why don’t you wait here, and I’ll see if Craig is ready to give your paperwork the final review?”

  “Uhm, okay.” She nodded, and the manager left rather quickly. Shrugging to herself, she turned and located the third cupboard to the left. She put her purse on the bottom shelf by itself and turned to lean against the counter. It was a nice break room, the nicest she’d seen. The large room was painted in pleasant pastels and had a large table with chairs. There was a couch on the far side of the room as well as a refrigerator; a closed door in-between which must be the closet David had mentioned.

  The counter was clean and held two pots of coffee and a half-empty box of donuts. The box was crooked, and she straightened it. The hardwood flooring of the store extended to the break room where it hadn’t in the deli.

  Another woman came in, interrupting Angela’s inspection.

  “Oh, hi Cori!” Recognizing the other woman, she was quick to greet her. “How’s it going?”

  “Same as always,” the taller woman responded as she poured herself a cup of coffee and helped herself to a donut. “Like a country love song.”

  “That bad, huh?” Angela smiled.

  Cori returned the smile, her eyes lighting with long forgotten humor. “Oh yeah, you better believe it. Dog’s run away for the third time this month, both kids are sick, and my boyfriend just got laid off. And things have been good!”

  “I’m sorry to hear that,” Angela said sympathetically. “I’m sure the dog will come back any day now.”

  The two women laughed at the joke dating back to their time in high school.

  “So,” Cori began as she pulled out one of the high-backed chairs from the circular table and sat. “What’re you doing back here? You work here now?”

  Angela nodded, not moving from the counter.

  “Checkout? No, I’m sure we have enough of those.” The seated woman took a sip of her coffee, shoving blonde bangs away from blue eyes. There was the barest hint of brown roots showing.

  Shrugging, Angela tried not to look at the donut box the other woman had knocked crooked again. “I was told I’d be taking Harry Flynn’s place. I’m still not sure what I’m going to be doing.”

  Cori let out a low whistle. “I’d heard Harry say he was going to quit, but I didn’t think he’d actually do it. Harry did a lot of the drudge work around here to keep things moving smoothly. Stocking shelves, subbing where needed, staying late to do inventories and cleaning. Hell, I’ve even seen him washing windows.”

  “I’ve always liked variety. It sounds like a challenge.”

  “Oh, it’s challenging alright. And backbreaking. Harry did a lot of heavy lifting.”

  “You forget, I grew up on a farm. Heavy lifting is a requirement.”

  Cori nodded, sudden amusement showing on her tired face. “Come to think of it, you’re the one who made Bruno Havens cry at our prom.”

  Raising her chin arrogantly so Cori wouldn’t see her discomfort, Angela said, “He’s the one who wanted to arm wrestle for a kiss. The only reason I agreed was because I knew I could beat him.”

  “As I recall, it was either arm wrestle, or he’d have Stinky and Sully hold you, so he could kiss you.”

  “Which would have been twice as foolish for them. I chose the least confrontational way out.” Angela shrugged, tiring of her own bravado. She grinned sheepishly. “At least Stinky and Sully didn’t try anything afterwards.”

  “God, those were fun times. We sure did have a blast back then.” Cori looked at her watch and sighed. “I’ve got to get back there. Larry’s gonna want to get a donut too. I’ll see you later, Ange.”

  “Sure.” Angela watched as the other left, Styrofoam cup of coffee and donut still in her hands. After fixing the donut box again, she looked at her own watch and wondered what was taking David so long. Little did she know, her new job was already in jeopardy.

  H arry Flynn had indeed come back to the store, apologetic, and asking for his job back. This being the reason why David had left Angela in the break room. He h
ad seen the other man through the window and needed to know what his boss was going to do.

  The three men all stood on the back deck, the center of Lucy and Flo’s attention. The two women now had cordless phones pressed to their ears and were giving play-by-play reports of what they were witnessing, wishing all the while for the men to raise their voices loud enough again so they wouldn’t have to guess at what was being said.

  David stood a step back from the other two men, watching as Flynn took his ball cap off and twisted it nervously in his hands.

  The diminutive man looked abashed as he began to speak. “I am so sorry about earlier, Mr. Moore. I didn’t mean it about quitting, you know that. I just wanted a raise, and I didn’t mean to yell. I do like working for you. Really, I do. It’s just…sometimes my wife nags. I can never seem to please her.” Flynn swallowed hard. “Would it be possible for you to forget about earlier and let me go on working for you?”

  The store owner was silent for a long moment, feeling the steady gaze of his manager on him. Since Craig hadn’t approved Angela’s paperwork yet, an odd little thing he liked to do, it was quite possible to give the other man his job back. It would certainly be easier than training a new employee. But—he had seen Angela’s concealed joy at being hired and believed it would break her heart to lose this job so quickly. She was in college and if she was working off-campus, it had to be because she needed the money. Craig knew college alone was tough, but it had to be harder having money troubles at the same time.

  Besides, he wanted to see if the girl was as capable as she’d bragged.

  He made some idle alterations to his sketch and made his decision. “I’m sorry, Harry. I’ve already given your job to someone else.”

  Flynn’s jaw dropped. “What? All that talk about how valuable I am, and my job is gone in less than half an hour?”

  Not liking the tone of Flynn’s voice, Craig closed his sketchbook and set it aside. Flynn always seemed on the verge of picking fights, and Craig was now in the mood to oblige. “Less than ten minutes, actually. You had just quit, so I had an opening. I couldn’t turn her away.”

  “Is this a scare tactic?”

  “No,” Craig answered.

  Harry Flynn began to sputter, small droplets of spittle flying free. “You’re serious, aren’t you? You…you…”

  David took another step back as the store owner rose to his feet. These two had come close to blows before.

  “You’re the one who quit,” Craig pointed out calmly. “You had to know this day would come.”

  Flynn swung his fist at his old boss, who deflected it easily. He stumbled slightly but swung again. This time Craig caught his arm and twisted it behind the angry man’s back. It was done calmly, but there was enough force to cause Flynn to rise on his toes and yelp in pain.

  “It’s time for you to leave, Harry.” Craig was still calm, but his voice was steel. “You quit, and now it’s time for you to live with your decision. Agreed?” He waited until Flynn nodded frantically before releasing his hold on the other man.

  Flynn pulled away quickly, stumbling as he tried to put space between him and Craig. This was why you didn’t cross the man. His eyes were watery, but he didn’t wipe at them. “I blew it this time, didn’t I?”

  Craig nodded, folding his arms across his chest. “Yeah, you did.”

  “Who has my job?”

  “Angela Carman,” answered David.

  Flynn sighed deeply. “Of all people. I hope it works out.”

  “Me too,” replied Craig, wondering why it mattered.

  Flynn sighed again at the resolution in the other’s voice. Maybe he’d find work over in Sawyersville. It was worth a try. Mr. Crane might even have some openings in one of his factories. “I’m sorry I swung at you.” He walked down the steps, picking his fallen ball cap up as he did so and left much more quietly than before.

  “You know, it would have been easier to let him have the job back,” David said just to see what his boss would say. “We wouldn’t have to take the time to break Angela in.”

  Craig frowned as he thought of the young woman who had tried so hard to keep her face expressionless. There was something vulnerable in her strong face. He quirked an eyebrow at his manager and asked, “Would you have wanted to tell her she couldn’t have the job?”

  “Not on your life!” David flashed a grin. “She reminds me of my daughter Amy.”

  “Who has you wrapped around her little finger.” Craig returned the grin. “Come on. Let’s go finalize her paperwork so she can get to work.”

  The two men disappeared through the deli door into the store. Flo and Lucy, who had seen it all and heard nothing, still managed to give the impression to the women on the other end of their phones that they knew exactly what had happened.

  3

  “I thought you said you go to college?” asked Craig, as he looked at the address Angela had supplied on her application. If the paper before him was correct, she lived up on Cedar Lane in Anthony Dodge’s apartment building. Such as it was.

  “I do.” Angela had long since picked up a red rubber band off his desk and was twisting it in her fingers. They sat on opposite sides of Craig’s desk. The window in the corner was open, and he considered turning the fan on. The room was suddenly too warm. At his question, Angela leaned across the desk and pointed at the bottom of her application. “See, right here. I commute to the Margaret Wrisley College of Veterinary Medicine.”

  Casually, Craig leaned back in his chair to put some distance between them even as a faint scent of roses teased his senses. He decided the fan could stay off. He tossed his pen on the desk as he spoke. “That’s all the way out in Jordan. What is that, an hour trip?”

  The young woman nodded and sat back in her own seat. “Give or take, depending on traffic. That’s one of the reasons why I live in town instead of my parents’ farm. If I’d stayed on the farm, it would’ve added another ten, fifteen minutes and then I wouldn’t have been allowed to commute.”

  “Wouldn’t it have been easier to live on campus?” Leaning forward again, Craig scanned her application to see what she’d listed as a previous address. This application required one if the applicant had been less than five years at their present address. As well as her emergency contacts. And wasn’t that an interesting reveal?

  “I tried it the first two years, and it didn’t work,” the young woman admitted reluctantly. “Besides, it’s a hair cheaper doing it this way. The Dodge’s rent is the lowest around.”

  “I see.” The store owner looked across his polished desk to study the applicant intently. How had he never seen her before? “If you live here in town, and you’re Philip and Maude Carman’s daughter, how is it I’ve never seen you in this store before?”

  Angela blushed in what was clearly fear of losing her new job. Her eyes on her hands, she explained. “You’ve seen me before. When I was eleven, you told me to never come to your store again. Actually, I believe you told both Stinky and me to never set foot on the property again.”

  Craig’s eyebrow quirked again. “Excuse me?”

  She looked up from her hands. “Don’t you remember? You caught the two of us fighting in the side parking lot and broke it up. It had to be just a few months after you’d bought the store.”

  “That was you?” The young woman sitting across from him was a far cry from the scrawny kid beating on an older boy. He hadn’t thought of that in years, not since the young man involved had finished working here.

  Angela nodded, her face still pink. “It was. I haven’t come near the store since. I would have stayed away, but this store was my last hope. Do you want me to leave?”

  He almost laughed at her question, considering this turn of events ironic. But he didn’t. Judging by the seriousness of her expression, Angela probably would be offended if he laughed.

  “No,” he said with a congenial smile. “I’d say you’ve grown up since then. I certainly wouldn’t have recognized you if you hadn’t
told me. I never expected either of you to take me seriously. Stinky – Alex has worked here before.”

  “He probably thought you were his hero. On the other hand, I had the crap scared out of me. No one had ever picked me up before,” she confessed. “And you were big compared to me. You didn’t even grunt when I landed a fist in your ribs.” Still embarrassed by the topic, Angela’s eyes lowered again to look at the rubber band she still held.

  Craig chuckled. “You were eleven and your shoe in my shin hurt a lot more than your fist.”

  “I’ve always wanted to apologize for all that, but like I said…I was pretty scared.”

  “Do I still scare you?” he asked without meaning to, his smile fading away.

  Angela looked up and met his serious gaze tit for tat. “I’m not small enough for you to pick up by the shirt collar anymore. Do I still have a job?”

  “You do.” And yet, she hadn’t answered the question, had she? Craig wasn’t even sure why he’d asked it, but it was suddenly a concern.

  “Good!” Her eyes danced with joy as she spoke, still contrite. “I really am sorry for kicking and hitting you.”

  Now he did laugh. “I forgot about it years ago, Angela. Don’t let it bother you anymore.”

  The last of her tension faded away at his pleasant laughter and she smiled faintly. “Are we done? With the paperwork, I mean.”

  Craig looked over the papers quickly. “Ah, yes. Yes, we are. Go back to the deli and work with Becky until closing time. I’ll have you work on changing the displays around after closing. Feel free to run home on a break if you want to change into something more comfortable.” He paused, looking at her curiously. “Can I ask you a personal question?”

  “Sure.”

  “What were you and Stinky fighting about, anyways? He would never tell me.”

  Angela’s expression darkened. “He said something I didn’t like about a dead relative of mine.”