Page 37 of Help Wanted

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Smoothing her black pants repeatedly during the flight, she hoped she wouldn’t mess this up.

From the airport she took the rental car straight to the notary’s office following the instructions on the GPS. And that was where her heaven abruptly turned to hell.

“I’m sorry. I know I said I wanted to do this, and you’ve come all this way, but I just can’t. It was my husband’s boat. We spent so much time on that boat. Earl and I and our two boys. I know I won’t be able to take it out again, but I just can’t stand to see it pulled out of the water,” the elderly Mrs. Oliver said. Brady, who was standing next to the door, sighed. He had the truck ready to go. It was going to be a long trip home with no boat.

Kenley watched in horror as tears filled the old woman’s eyes. She could feel her own eyes sting. It wouldn’t be good to break out in hysterics when Zane was counting on her.

“Shit,” Brady muttered and walked out of the office. He was probably going to call Zane and tell him they didn’t have the boat.

She needed to do something. Zane couldn’t take more stress on this job. Plus he might back out of the letting her go to the show next week if she was incompetent. She quickly came up with a plan.

“Mrs. Oliver? Can I show you something?” Kenley asked while opening her laptop. She turned it so the woman could see the screen. “These are other boats Zane has restored. Boats that were losing their battle with the sea. Zane was able to save them and make them beautiful again.” The woman looked at the pictures with her lips pulled together in a frown.

“He does wonderful work, but I just don’t think I can part with it.”

Desperation made the next words fly out of her mouth.

“Are your boys interested in fixing it up?”

“Well. No. I did ask them if they wanted to, but neither of them have the time.”

Kenley nodded. “I’ve spoken with Mr. Donovan—the man who wants to buy Earl’s boat and have it restored. He was very specific about the year and model he wanted. He used to go out with his grandfather on a boat exactly like Earl’s. He said the times on that boat were his greatest memories. At least until his own children were born. He wants to relive that happiness with his own kids.” The woman continued to look at the screen. “Joel and Alex.”

“This Mr. Donovan has two boys?” Mrs. Oliver asked.

“Yes. They live on Lake Ontario so they spend a lot of time out on the water. The youngest is six and can already water ski.” The woman looked impressed. Mr. Donovan was pretty proud of the little guy. Zane had even posted the video on the company website. “I know you see this as the end of your boat, but it’s not.” She gave the woman a sad smile. “It’s like a rebirth. Earl’s beauty is going to get the care it needs. And a new family is going to enjoy her and make memories on her for years to come.”

Mrs. Oliver nodded and looked at her hands for a long moment before raising her head.

“You’re right. I’m just being sentimental. I’m ready now,” she said surely and reached out with the pen to sign where she was told.

When the papers were pushed in Kenley’s direction, she got a bit of a thrill signing her name on the line above Zane’s name. It was stupid, but she couldn’t help it.

She gave Mrs. Oliver a hug and offered to drive her over to the dock to see it one last time, but the woman declined.

Once outside, she found Brady pacing and talking on the phone.

“…what about that one in Wiscasset? It wasn’t the same, but it was close.” She walked up and tapped him on the shoulder with a smile.

“You can go get Mrs. Oliver’s boat now,” she said.

“What?” Brady looked at her with his brows creased.

Kenley held up the papers and pointed to the signatures.

“The boat is ours. You can load it up.”

“But the lady changed her mind,” he pointed out, still holding his phone.

“I know, and I helped her change it back.”

“Did you beat her up?”

“No!”

“How—Oh, okay. Bye,” Brady said into the phone. “Zane’s calling you.”