Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 107204 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107204 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
Just seeing her radiant personality put me in a sour mood. That wasn’t shocking, though. It didn’t take much to make me moody. I lived comfortably with my unpleasant attitude. Especially on that day. Everything was awful that particular afternoon. Seeing that woman only made it worse.
CHAPTER 4
Yara
I hated confrontation. My body broke out into hives whenever I was forced to have uncomfortable conversations with individuals. That made running a business a little harder than I would’ve liked it to be, especially when I fell behind on bills because I was, in fact, a wimp.
Some days, I wished I could get paid for daydreaming. I was fantastic at living in make-believe scenarios. I was almost certain I’d be a millionaire by now if daydreams wrote checks. My mind had a way of feeling like a delusional comfort hug when reality was kicking my behind. Which seemed to be a constant thing when I was dealing with Mrs. Levels and Shirley, her sweet golden doodle dog.
“You do understand, right, Yara? With the way prices are going up everywhere and the way my bills are set up, I cannot afford to keep Shirley in doggie day care while keeping my lights on.” Mrs. Levels was a woman in her sixties, who’d been using the services at my dog spa and day care for years. She’d brought her animals to the shop long before I took over ownership from Mr. Parker after he passed. As she told me her third sob story of the month about why she was two months behind on payments, I couldn’t help but notice her sparkling diamond earrings.
“Those are beautiful earrings, Ms. Levels,” I mentioned. “Are they new?”
“New? Oh gosh no. I would never spend such money on superficial items, especially when my income is so tight.” She touched the palms of her hands to her ears. “These are a family heirloom. Passed down from my great-great-aunt, Anita.”
I smiled and nodded. “Is that so?”
“Oh yes,” she purred, waving a dismissive hand in my direction. “I could go on and on about my great-great-aunt Anita, but I don’t want to bore you to death with my family history. All I came to ask is if you could keep Shirley while I go to another job interview this afternoon. I have a feeling this is the one!”
“That’s very exciting news. I know you’ve been looking for a while. What’s the position are you applying for?”
She stood and held her hand to her chest. “Well, gee, Yara. You sure are nosy today, aren’t you? Mr. Parker, rest his sweet soul, never questioned me in such a manner. I simply dropped off my dogs and went on my way. Did you know he never charged me a dime, either? Sweet Mr. Parker always did so much for this town. My hope is that you honor his memory as you take over his shop,” she scolded with her nose turned up.
“I hope the same thing, Mrs. Levels. Go ahead and bring Shirley in. The girls will take her into the playroom for the day.”
Mrs. Levels’s scolding tone shifted when she realized she was getting her way yet again. She melted into a smile and patted my hand. “You’re such a saint, Yara. Truly, I hope God blesses you.”
“That’s very kind of you to say, Mrs. Levels.”
“What can I say? I’m a very kind person,” she agreed as she turned to go grab Shirley. When she came back inside, a happy-go-lucky Shirley followed her, wagging her tail. Shirley made any irritation I’d felt toward Mrs. Levels disappear quickly as she hurried over to me for cuddles. I wished people were more like dogs, minus the whole eating their own vomit and poop every now and again. Dogs were genuine. People sometimes…not so much.
As one of my favorite employees, Keri, took Shirley back for day care, Willow walked into the shop.
“Hi, Mrs. Levels,” Willow greeted as she tossed her hair up into a messy bun before nodding toward Mrs. Levels. “You got something dangling from your earring.”
Willow walked over and yanked off a price tag that stated that the earrings were from Royalty Yours, our town’s jewelry store about a block down the way.
Mrs. Levels huffed and snatched the price tag from Willow’s grip. “Well, then.” She looked over at me with guilt pouring out of her eyes, but her tongue held too much pride to fold. “I thought I was wearing my other pair. These were a gift. Anyway, have a good day, ladies. I’ll be back for Shirley before closing.”
She hurried out of the store, brushing past Willow in a flurry, knocking my sister sideways slightly. “Whoa. What’s her issue?”
“She lied about the new earrings and dodged bringing her account up to date,” I explained.
Willow gave me a stern look. “Again? Yara, you can’t let her get away with not paying.”