Page 28 of A Cup of Autumn
“You can have it.” Spit flew out of her mouth. “I wouldn’t want the ugly thing anyway.”
Heather held on to her things, clocked out, and rushed out of the office.
As Raine put away her purse and tied a clean apron around her waist, she peered out the door.
Heather remained behind the counter. “Raine fired me. Can you believe she fired me?”
“About time.” Timmy didn’t glance her way. He set a drink on the counter. “Pippa.”
The florist, who wore a cheery daisy-print dress, stepped up. “If you’d worked for me, I would have let you go a month ago.”
The crowd in line murmured their agreement.
Heather harrumphed on her way out of the shop, nearly ripping the front door off its hinges. As soon as the door closed and the bells stopped ringing, everyone in line applauded.
Raine hadn’t been expecting that reaction. She joined Timmy. “Guess I was wrong thinking customer service would suffer without Heather.”
“If you weren’t here, Heather barely helped.” Timmy made a herringbone design in a latte. “You kept saying you needed her, so I figured you saw something in her that I didn’t.”
Idiot.Keeping Heather had only made things worse. “I should have trusted my gut.”
“Next time. She’s gone now.” Timmy placed the drink on the counter. “Anna.”
Anna, the dog groomer who worked for Callie, stepped up and grabbed her drink. “You got rid of a dead weight. Don’t think twice about firing her. She deserved it.”
With that, Anna left.
Good advice.Raine glanced at the clock. It was later than she thought. “I’ll wash my hands so you can get to class. I don’t want you to be late.”
“Take your time.” Timmy worked on the next drink. “I have a few minutes.”
Raine returned two minutes later to find Timmy had gotten through more of the line, but a few customers still needed to order. “Thanks for opening today. Now go.”
“See you this afternoon, Boss.” Timmy went into the back.
Two minutes later, on his way out the front door with his backpack on, he waved.
As soon as things slowed, Raine would call the applicants who she’d thought ghosted her, explain the situation, and ask if they were interested in interviewing. But that still left her with…
Hope the Boo Bash planning is coming along.
Nope.Not thinking about that today. She hadn’t even had time to open the bin Margot had dropped off and the first of October was only three days away.
Raine finished the caramel macchiato Timmy had been working on. She placed the cup on the counter. “Lyndsey.”
She returned to the cash register.
Robin Baxter stepped forward. Her chin quivered. “H-hello.”
Raine had to ask. “You okay?”
“Thought about the job.” Robin bit her lip—something Raine had never seen the normally flawlessly put-together woman do. “If you’re still hiring, I’m…interested in applying. I’m a quick learner and free to work after I drop off the kids at school until they get out. And I can work other shifts depending on when Nick has Savannah and Nicky.”
Raine’s gut screamed to hire her on the spot. She wouldn’t ignore the instinct this time. “You’re hired.”
Robin flinched. “Just like that?”
Raine nodded. “If you can stick around, I have paperwork for you to fill out. But it’ll be a few minutes until I can get it.”
