Page 17 of Crash and Burn

"They say good help is hard to find," Mason shrugged. "Not everyone is as reliable as you and Grant. I really lucked out that you both agreed to stay on."

"It's a great job," I said. "I love it here."

"I'm glad to hear that," Mason said. "I'm really enjoying myself, too. Not exactly what I thought I'd be doing for a living, but it's fun. Aside from all the paperwork." He made a face.

"And that's why I'd never want to be a manager of anything," I said.

"What would you want to do?" Mason asked.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"You're not going to work here forever, are you?" he asked, saying it as a matter of fact.

"You sound like my parents." I went back to scrubbing at the corner of a table.

"Don't get me wrong, I love having you here," Mason said. "I'd hate to see you go. But I thought you were taking a gap year. And it's been a lot longer than a year, hasn't it?"

I winced. Now he really sounded like my parents.

I was saved from having to answer by the door swinging open.

Grant walked in.

The contents of my stomach tried to crawl up and out of my throat.

"Hey,” Mason nodded his chin in greeting at Grant, who returned it.

This was it.

My heart raced.

Here we go.

I opened my mouth to ask Grant if we could speak alone.

Before I could get a word out, Mason spoke up.

"Grant, what do you think: two part-timers or one full-timer?" he asked.

I snapped my jaw closed.

"We could probably go with two full-timers, really," Grant replied. "Things have been picking up lately."

Mason continued talking about hiring while I stared silently, desperately, at Grant.

I had to do it now. I had to do it before I chickened out.

The words were right there on my tongue, just waiting to burst out. All I needed was a private minute alone to talk with him.

Finally, Mason clapped Grant on the shoulder, thanking him for his insight, and went to flip the sign on the door fromclosedtoopen.

It was time.

"Liz, you looked like you wanted to say something?" Grant asked me.

His blue eyes shone so brightly, the sunlight from the open windows streaming in and hitting him at just the right angle. His whole face was lit up, as if he were an angel from heaven surrounded by the glow of a halo.

"I— Uh—" I stumbled over my words.