Tales From Sea Glass Inn Read Free

the stairs leading to the ocean, and
relax with a glass of wine or morning cup of coffee. Someday. But not now.
    Jenny froze in place when she saw another
woman intercept Pam before she got to the large bank of doors leading into the
foyer. She was a stranger to Jenny—a new volunteer? She was dressed simply in
jeans and a long-sleeved, light green sweater, with her tawny hair pulled back
in a ponytail and a basket over one arm.
    Jenny had a million-item list in her head:
Make sure the people from the water company were installing the right number of
spigots at the proper height. Double-check the charts for in-processing the
oil-covered avian patients. Greet each volunteer and start collecting their
names and skills before she assigned them to jobs.
    Later, though. She’d cross every item off the
list before she allowed herself to take even a small catnap, but for the next
few seconds she’d let herself stand idle while she watched the interchange
between Pam and the woman who was giving her a hug and handing her something wrapped
in paper. After exchanging a few words with Pam, she moved on to the next
volunteer and repeated the same gestures. A hug, a short chat. Handing over a
wrapped bundle from her basket.
    Jenny needed to get on with her own work.
She’d delegated volunteer training and recruitment to Pam and Tia. But Jenny
ignored her carefully structured system for once and walked across the
cavernous room toward the newcomer. She was surprised by her own movement, and
even more so by her fervent wish that she’d been able to shower and change in
the recent past. Since when did she care how she looked, especially when there
was more important work to be done?
    “Are you here to volunteer?” she asked. The
woman spun around to face her, looking startled at the words. She looked as
clean and rested as Jenny felt bedraggled and weary. Just standing next to her
was refreshing, and Jenny felt some of the stress she had been carrying inside
since her arrival dissipate, only to be replaced by a new kind of tension.
Attraction. Jenny allowed her energy to be buoyed by the feeling, but she
wouldn’t let herself linger here any longer than she had when imagining a
lasting friendship with Pam and Mel. “Tia is in the lobby, and she’ll assign
you to a work station.”
    “Oh…sure. Of course I’ll be glad to
volunteer. I’m Helen Reiser, by the way.”
    “I’m Jenny Colbert.” She shook Helen’s hand,
surprised by the firmness of her grip. Helen had a softness about her,
accentuated by the tantalizing aroma of yeast and butter that seemed to linger
in the air around her, but her strong fingers and direct gaze showed she was
anything but weak. Jenny was reading too much into a handshake, but it was part
of her job to come to quick judgments about a volunteer’s character. Just as
quickly, she discovered the unexpected way her body responded to Helen’s touch.
    “Nice to meet you, Jenny.”
    Helen smiled and a few fine lines appeared
near the corners of her big blue eyes. Jenny had first thought Helen was in her
early twenties, but the lines made Jenny add a decade to her estimate. Helen
had a youthful grin, but something in her expression showed she had lived
through tougher times than these. And she was beautiful. Understated, but with
something sharp beneath the calm exterior. Jenny shook her head. She was here
for one purpose only—to return the shore and its inhabitants to their clean,
pre-spill condition. She needed to know enough about her volunteers to be able
to do that job well, and nothing more. Maybe she should put some distance
between her and Helen until she had more sleep and was her usual efficient and
detached self.
    “Yes, well, nice to meet you, too. Be sure to
check in with Tia and she’ll assign you to a work station.” Had she said that
before? She was having trouble concentrating.
    “I saw her and fed her,” Helen said with the
rueful look of someone who had listened to one of