Page 2 of Close to Heaven

“So, what are your goals now that you’ve graduated high school?”

She stared at him like he was dense. “Um…to get a job.”

“What about your long-term goals?” So far, he wasn’t impressed, but he tried to give her the benefit of the doubt.

“Oh. Like getting married and having kids and stuff?”

He shook his head and changed tack. “What qualities would you bring to this position?”

“Well, I’m pretty smart, although I’m not the greatest at math, but that’s what calculators are for, right?”

He ended the interview soon after that and said he’d be in touch. After she left, he placed her resume in the reject pile.

This is going to be a long day, he thought just before Mary sent in his next interviewee.

This woman was the opposite of the first, as she’d just graduated from college and was overqualified for the job.

“I see you have a degree in elementary education,” he said.

“Yes, but there aren’t many teaching positions available right now.”

He wondered why she hadn’t left the rural community of Townsend, Tennessee, for the nearby city of Knoxville, like his sister had. She provided the answer in her next sentence.

“I thought about moving, but I love it here, and I hate the idea of leaving my family.”

He could certainly relate to that, but if he hired her and a teaching position became available, he’d probably lose her. Then he’d have to find a replacement all over again.

“I was hoping I could help you out temporarily, but I understand if you don’t want to hire me.”

“You do?”

She nodded. “You probably don’t want to go through the hassle of training me when I might leave for a teaching position.”

Smart girl.

She stood. “I apologize for wasting your time.”

He stood too. “No apology necessary. It was nice meeting you, and I wish you good luck with your career.”

The rest of the candidates were equally disappointing and occasionally entertaining, as in the case of a seventy-year-old woman who said, “I need to get out of the house because my husband is driving me nuts.”

By late afternoon, he was exhausted and disheartened, thinking he’d have to repeat the whole process again tomorrow. He couldn’t wait to kick off work and hit the trails, which was something he often did in his free time. Hiking helped him sleep at night, and he’d rather do that than take a pill any day.

His desk phone rang, and Mary announced that Avery had arrived.

“Send her in,” he said, anxious to get this over with. He’d saved her interview for last, hoping he’d have found a suitable candidate by then.

He stood as Avery walked in, and he did a double-take. This was Avery Wilkins, his younger sister’s best friend? He’d last seen her three years ago, but that day had been a blur. He certainly didn’t remember her looking like this.

“Hello, Jax.”

Her voice was smooth and silky, just like her long brown hair, and he swallowed hard before answering. “Hello, Avery.”

They stared at each other in awkward silence until he remembered that he was supposed to be conducting an interview.

“Please have a seat.” He motioned to the oversized chair across from his desk.

She lowered herself into the chair, and when she leaned over to set her purse on the floor, her hair cascaded over her shoulder. In the late-day sun beaming in through the window behind him, some of the strands looked reddish.