Thankful for Love Read Free Page A

fabrics were tossed on the sofas. No rugs obscured any part of the wide boards of the hardwood floors. The overall effect was casual, comfortable, and beautiful.
    Mrs. Salazar returned with a glass full of ice, a bottle of mineral water, and Jack Richardson. He was holding a cell phone and frowning.
    Quanna started to rise, but he waved her off, the frown disappearing as he acknowledged her.
    “Please, don’t stand. You’ll make me feel like the old man I’m afraid I’m turning into.” He enveloped her hand in his. His handshake was a warm grip of a large, strong, slightly calloused hand. She liked the feel of it and was surprised to find how much she enjoyed touching him. She immediately dismissed her reaction as inappropriate.
    “I recognize you now,” he said. “I couldn’t put a face to your name when we talked on the phone. All I remembered was how much Aunt Joan likes you. You’re one of her favorites. She’s always praising you.” He grinned, and the room seemed to get a bit brighter and warmer. “Actually, I’m not sure I should be interviewing you for this job. I don’t know what she’ll say if I steal you away from Golden Years.”
    The panic Quanna felt at his comment must have shown on her face because he quickly added, “I’m joking. She called this morning to tell me she can’t think of anyone better suited to the job than you.”
    “That was kind of her, Mr. Richardson. I didn’t ask her to.”
    “Jack, please. And the first thing she told me was you didn’t know she was calling.” The smile got wider. “She also said you asked her about me.”
    Quanna could feel her face heat up. “I didn’t mean to be disrespectful, I just...”
    “You wanted to make sure of what you were getting into,” he interrupted. “I’d have done the same thing.”
    Jack settled back into the couch. “Hope you don’t mind. I asked Anne to sit in on the interview. She’s been my kid wrangler for a couple years now. She can probably give you a better idea of what the job entails than I can. She can also warn you about working here. Apparently, it leads to the need to have your hip replaced.”
    Anne slapped him lightly on the hand but didn’t make a comment on his joking reference to her ailment.
    “Of course I don’t mind,” Quanna said.
    “Okay, then let’s get started,” Jack said. “I’d like to get the formal part out of the way before the boys get home from school. Tell me why you want this job and how your experience makes you a good candidate for it.”
    • • •
    Maybe because his kids’ grandmother had been taking care of the boys, Jack had thought of a kid wrangler as middle-aged, at least. But only one of the handful of applicants he’d heard from was past forty. And she was older than Anne and even less able to get around.
    Quanna, like the rest of the few who’d responded to his fliers, was young. Like the others, she was, to his forty-four-year-old eyes, almost a kid. Although she was not as young as the other two he’d interviewed. They were barely out of high school, with little experience in managing their own lives, let alone someone else’s. One of them admitted she’d be leaving for college as soon as she saved enough money, meaning he’d have to look for her replacement in the near future. He suspected both of them would leave in a heartbeat if they found anything more interesting to them.
    Quanna, on the other hand, had real life experience holding a steady job. And he’d heard she was good. Not only from the manager of the Golden Years facility, her former boss in Portland, and her supervisor at the restaurant at the casino resort on the reservation but also from his aunt.
    Seeing her close up now, he registered for the first time how pretty she was. She had dark brown eyes, copper brown skin, and thick, shiny black hair she wore in one long, loose braid that hung over her right shoulder. When he’d seen her before, she’d been in baggy scrubs. Now she was in