Page 72 of Help Wanted

“Oh.” He looked around the space. “I could help you if you want. I used to water the plants for Sidney, but they’re not here anymore.” Thank God.

“Hmm. Well, I don’t really have anything I need help with. Since I only have the one computer.” She smiled and then had an idea. “Wait here a second.”

“A second?”

“How about seventy seconds?” she revised, realizing he was a stickler for time.

He nodded and she rushed out the back into the shop and gathered up a number of brass fittings and hardware that needed to be polished before they could be used. She picked up a pile of rags and the polish and came back to the office with a few seconds to spare.

“Did you want to help by cleaning up these parts and making them shiny?”

“They aren’t shiny.”

“Not now. But if you put this stuff on them and then rub them, the dirt will come off and they’ll be shiny underneath.” She demonstrated with one of the cleats, and watched his look of surprise when the gunk was removed. As if she had been trying to trick him.

“I can do that.”

“Sure you can. Here, we’ll set you up at this table.” She pulled the table from the corner and moved the papers from it. “Can you go get a chair from the lunchroom?”

“Yep.” He ran off, eager to help. His ankle didn’t seem to be an issue.

Once he was set on his task, he was a polishing machine. She’d come up with the job as something to keep him occupied, but now she felt kind of guilty for taking advantage of him. She’d had to go gather more items and it wasn’t even lunchtime.

She decided this was an executive decision.

How much would you pay to have your brass polished?

As soon as she sent the text to Zane she realized how it might sound.

Did you mean to send this text to me?

Yes. Hunter is in the office with me today. He’s polished a bunch of fittings. I thought we should pay him. What do you think?

Hundred bucks?

She did the math. Even if he was there all day it was adequate compensation.

Sounds good. Thank you.

Thank you.

He added a smiley face which made her smile before she reined it in.

As Hunter polished, she finished her payables, cutting Hunter a check along with her payment batch. She even put it in an official envelope.

“I need some more.”

“Again? Why don’t we go get some lunch?”

“It’s not lunchtime yet.”

“Right. But it will be lunch time in eleven minutes. I think it’s close enough.”

“Okay. Can we go to McDonald’s?”

“There isn’t one nearby. But if you like burgers we can get you one at the diner down the street.”

“Okay. I like burgers.”