"Oh yeah, Deb's expecting you. Just head on to the back. See the last desk over there? That's Deb's." "All right. Thanks." "No problem." I wasn't nervous before, but I was nervous now. This should be easy peasy to me. I'd been in a lot of interviews before and I was an expert on how to answer their questions. But as I approached the very pregnant redhead at the back, my heart started to drum in my chest. You got this. I'd never worked at a soil company or construction company before, but it shouldn't be any harder than the other jobs I've done. It's double your hourly rate plus change. You have to bag this job. Plus you might be working with designers and architects and engineers and who knows what could happen in the future. You always loved designing. Maybe you could pick up a thing or two. Deb's eyes spotted me before I could approach her. "You Kara?" She assessed me with shrewd green eyes. She was beautiful, probably in her late thirties and had a no-nonsense aura about her. Work, work, work, her eyeglasses, pencil behind her ear, short red hair, and chocolate brown jacket said. I liked her already. "Yes, ma'am." She smiled. "Punctual. It's not usually this jungle crazy. You've caught us at a good day." I didn't mind crazy, I wanted to tell her, but she was already placing the phone on her ear. "Head on upstairs. I'll tell Rick you're here," she said as she punched in numbers. "He's the owner." I nodded and went upstairs. I felt a little like I was going to the principal's office as I took the stairs. The room had the same look as the whole building—modern but warm. It had a fireplace in the middle of the room and big, dusty windows that showed the activity from the outside. There was another massive desk in the middle of the room—same desk as the ones downstairs. On top of it was a huge pile of folders, almost teetering from the height and weight of it, receipt and post-it notes, a mug of coffee. Two chairs sat in front of the desk. Jackets hung on metal hooks on the wall. It was a well-used workspace. It gave me a good feeling. What if I didn't get this job? Of course, you will! They'd be crazy not to hire you. You have a huge range of skillset. You can even eat a whole tub of ice cream in one sitting. You can do this! The door opened, and a tall man strode in. He stopped, looking at me with surprise in his bright green eyes. He had a look of an established and handsome man. He was probably in his early fifties, with a salt and pepper beard that was trimmed neatly and an old faint scar running from his left eyebrow down to his cheek and stopping at his strong jaw. He was lanky but had a muscular build on him. His hair was swept back, and it was shockingly silver. He reminded me of a very attractive silver-haired fox. "Why, hello there." I stood up. "Good morning. Kara Hawthorne," I said just as I heard Deb yell "It's Kara!" from downstairs. His eyes lit with pleasure. He offered his hand. "I'm Rick. Pleasure to finally meet you, Kara. Have a seat, girl. You want something to drink?" He had a very calm atmosphere around him. Automatically my body relaxed. "I'm good. Thanks." "So," he started, sitting on the chair in front of me instead of his own behind his massive desk. "You came very highly recommended." I was? I better ask Dylan who was his friend who had recommended me. Maybe I could give him a free oil change at the shop. Or a milkshake. "Just got a couple of questions." Here we go. "You know how to answer the phone?" I stiffened. Was he being sarcastic? I narrowed my eyes at him. I hoped to God this wasn't a prank or I'd go gorilla crazy on someone for wasting my time this morning. "I was born answering phones," I said seriously. He leaned back on his chair, smiling widely. "Do you know how to use computers?" "Even in my sleep." "Don't tell Deb this but this job isn't really that hard." "I heard that!" Deb screamed. "Sometimes you have to have a loud voice to be heard here, especially when you're talking to the guys. Can you scream real loud?" Now I smiled. "Like a banshee." "Perfect," he said. He gave me an hourly rate and my eyes bugged out. "As you probably noticed," he continued, grinning at my reaction. "We not only operate in construction, but also in soil business. Makes it easier and saves us a lot of costs for landscaping." His voice was raspy, as if he'd been smoking for a long time. "Technically, my construction company's located in the city. We have another office there— a little bit spiffier than what we have here. But it's more for clients than anything, really. I'm mostly here and so I'd need you here too. Deb will tell you what you need to know. I'm not sure exactly how long she'd be gone for, but she'll let you know. Do you have any questions for me?" How long she'd be gone for. The job was temporary. But I would get paid twice as much and then some compared to what I was getting paid at the coffee shop. For a few months at least—hopefully a year if Deb took all of her maternity leave. Canada gave more than a year for maternity leave for mothers if qualified, which I thought was amazing. She could also split the leave with her husband if they wished. Or she could go back to work too if she liked. I bit my lip, debating. "What say you, girl? Would you like to join us?" Rick asked. Suddenly I heard someone coming up the steps. I turned around, and everything around me ceased to exist but for that one man standing in front of me. It felt like something had pounded a sledgehammer to my heart, breaking it into pieces, before it started beating again. I curled my hands into fists as everything blurred for one moment and then stood in painful clarity. Cameron entered the office, stopping dead in his tracks. His eyes, the deep, deep blue of the sea, zeroed in on me. "Kara?" Rick asked. "You want the job?" he repeated. I peeled my eyes away from Cameron and turned to Rick. "I'll take it."