Chapter 3

Three days later, the hotel called to schedule an interview for Thursday morning.

I held the phone, waiting until they repeated the time before I said yes.

Before I left, Diane noticed my navy suit.

"Where are you going?"

"To the dentist."

As the lie left my mouth, I tugged my collar up a little. I'd bought the suit six years ago, and it was a little tight around the waist now.

"Pick up some milk on your way back."

I said I would, but didn't take the shopping bag she held out.

"This might take a while."

The hotel's HR manager was named Rebecca. After looking over my résumé, she asked why I'd left my last job.

"My husband was starting a business. Someone needed to take care of things at home."

"And now?"

I lowered my clasped hands beneath the table.

"Now I want to get back to work."

She nodded and slid a sheet of paper toward me without asking whether my husband approved.

A luncheon for eighty guests was about to begin when a leak developed in the main event room. The backup room seated only sixty, and the client would arrive in twenty minutes.

"How would you handle this?"

First, I asked whether the area around the leak had been closed off, then whether there was any usable space nearby.

Rebecca looked up.

"There's a lounge next door."

"Does it connect to the backup room?"

"There's a folding door between them."

"Then I'd check that it's safe and confirm the capacity before seeing whether we can use them as one space. Keep the food stations away from the entrance so guests can get through."

I picked up a pen and drew a few boxes.

As I started explaining how I'd rearrange the seating, I stopped.

Rebecca was taking notes.

"Go on," she said. "How would you organize the catering team?"

Forty minutes later, she tucked the paper into a folder.

"Could you send me an execution plan tonight? Include staff assignments and how you'd explain the changes to the client."

"Yes."

Only when I walked out of the hotel did I realize how straight I'd been holding my back.

It was already one thirty when I got home.

Diane stood in the kitchen and glanced at the clock.

"A whole morning at the dentist?"

"There was a bit of a wait."

"I haven't had lunch."

The beef in the fridge hadn't been touched.

I put the milk inside.

"I told you I'd be late today."

"So I'm supposed to go hungry?"

Brooke poked her head out upstairs.

"You're finally back. Come with me to pick up that bag I bought. Parking's a nightmare. You can wait in the car."

Tyler sat up on the couch.

"Send me the money first. If I don't put down a deposit on that equipment today, they'll sell it to someone else."

I stood in the doorway, still clutching my car keys.

Normally, I would have asked how much he needed, then figured out how to fit all three things in.

My phone vibrated with some additional details from Rebecca about the assignment.

"I have things to do today."

Brooke frowned.

"What things?"

"My own things."

I picked up my laptop and headed for the dining room.

Tyler followed me.

"It'll only take a minute."

"I'm not sending you money today."

He stared at me as if he hadn't heard me properly.

I opened the file and offered no further explanation.

Diane finally took out a frying pan and slammed it onto the stove. Brooke shut her door hard.

After mistyping the same word twice, I got up and closed the dining room door.

At ten that night, I sent in my plan.

Close to midnight, another email came in.

The hotel wanted to hire me, starting the following Monday.

I read the email from beginning to end, then went back to the first line.

Claire Bennett.

Not someone's wife, and no bills for me to take care of.

I opened the attachment, found my start date, and saved it in my phone's calendar.

I set the reminder for seven on Monday morning.

Then I clicked Accept.