Page 23 of July (New Orleans #7)

“H i, stranger,” Willa greeted with a smile.

“She’s not a stranger. She’s Jill,” Juni stated.

Jill and Willa both laughed.

“Get in the car, kiddo,” Jill said after giving her sister’s shoulder a squeeze.

“I got an A on my quiz,” Juni replied, looking up and beaming with pride.

“You did? That’s awesome. Maybe ice cream to celebrate?”

“Really?” Juni asked.

“Sure. We can get something on the way home.”

Jill then looked down at her with an expression that Willa didn’t recognize, but soon, Juni was walking to the car behind them and climbing inside.

“What was that?” Willa checked.

“She looked a little pale to me,” Jill said.

“Pale?” Willa asked, looking around Jill to Juni in the car, but the door was closed, so she couldn’t exactly tell if she was paler than usual. “She seemed okay in class today. Quiet for most of the day, but that’s not completely unusual for her.”

“Yeah,” Jill said. “Probably all the junk food I’ve been feeding her. I should learn how to cook healthy food, huh?”

Willa smiled at her and whispered, “I wish I could kiss you right now.”

Jill smiled back and said, “Me too, but I should get her home.”

“To ice cream first,” Willa replied.

“Should I? If the junk food is literally changing her skin, maybe I should skip it.”

Willa laughed and replied, “I think she’s fine. Ice cream, but then, something healthy for dinner, maybe?”

“How do you cook broccoli? Do you just throw it in boiling water?” Jill asked before she sighed and added, “Never mind. I forgot: my sister doesn’t eat green food.”

Willa laughed again and said, “While I’m not an expert in healthy cooking, I do know a little about it from watching my mom.

If you get the groceries – yes, including broccoli, because you should at least try to eat something healthy, too – I can maybe come over and cook with you; show you a few things. ”

“Oh, a few things, huh? I think if you’re showing me a few things, I don’t want them to be in the kitchen,” Jill said quietly. “Unless we’re both naked,” she added in a whisper.

“Jill,” Willa whispered back but laughed. “Is it a date?”

“Cooking healthy for my sister? Is that really a date?”

“It could be our second date. I told you, I don’t care. And not only I don’t care, but I’d also love to have dinner with you two. It’s nice.”

“Having dinner with us is nice?”

“Yeah, it’s… I don’t know. If I’m not using my sister for free food, I’m eating alone most nights; cheap food that I don’t have to cook unless it’s in the microwave. It’s been nice, spending time with you two.”

Jill nodded and said, “Come over, if you want. I’ll pick up some of her favorite Blue Bell with the healthy groceries.”

“What’s her favorite?”

“I have no idea. I’ll have to ask her. What’s your favorite?” Jill asked.

“Pecan Pralines and Cream,” Willa said of her favorite ice cream.

“Well, there might just be some of that in the freezer for you later.”

“What’s yours?” Willa asked.

“Cherry Vanilla or Banana Pudding. I go back and forth.”

“Make sure there’s some of either, then,” Willa told her and leaned in a little. “I’ll feed it to you after Juni goes to her room.”

Jill swallowed and said, “You’re evil.”

“You probably won’t be saying that later,” Willa said.

“You’ll still be evil unless we’re alone and naked when you’re feeding me that ice cream.”

“Miss Mailor?” Freddy, one of her students, suddenly appeared at Willa’s side.

Willa’s eyes went wide, worried that he’d heard them. She cleared her throat nervously.

“Yes, Freddy?”

“I forgot my lunch box inside. Can I get it?”

“Yes, of course,” she replied. “Run back inside.”

“Thank you,” he said and took off.

“Sorry,” Jill spoke.

“It’s okay. They do that.”

“What?”

“Kids. They have this way of being so loud most of the time, but then, when you least expect it, they’re just there, and you had no idea because they made no noise.” Willa smiled at her. “But we should probably stop flirting.”

“Oh, you thought I was flirting? No,” Jill said playfully and shook her head. “Just chatting with my sister’s teacher. I talk to all of you like this.”

Willa laughed and replied, “I’ll see you later? Text me.”

“I will.” Jill smiled. “But if I do get broccoli for us, does it just go in the water?”

Willa’s laugh continued as she watched Jill turn to go and get in the car, where she buckled up and gave Willa one more smile before she drove off, with Juni probably rattling off every detail about the A she had gotten on her quiz on the way to the grocery store.

Willa watched the other kids get into cars with their parents, including Freddy, who came running out of the school, skipping at least two concrete steps on the way to the car where his father was waiting, and once every kid had departed, she went back inside to finish her day, which included a faculty meeting and grading papers before she had a quick meeting at the museum.

She’d been called in for a couple of hours to work because someone else had called in sick.

It would only be two hours and wouldn’t mean much where her check was concerned, but every hour helped, and for next summer, Willa had a different plan.

As much as she loved teaching, and she taught summer school primarily for that reason, it just didn’t pay enough.

Most teachers were able to get a seasonal full-time job during the summer or at least a couple part-time jobs that helped them make ends meet, but summer school meant that she could only work so many hours at the museum, so she had already decided not to teach summer school next year.

Instead, she would either get a full-time, seasonal job or a couple of part-time ones that would add up to a little more money.

It was the best she could do and still afford to teach here the rest of the year.

“Hi, Willa,” her manager said when Willa entered the room behind the counter to clock in.

“Hey,” she said with a smile.

“Thanks for coming in so last minute.”

“No problem,” she replied. “I do have to leave right on time, though. I have dinner plans tonight.”

“That’s all right. We’ll be okay to close,” the woman replied and sat down at the small table. “Willa, I needed to talk to you as well.”

“Yeah? What’s up?”

“Well, we’re not really getting the sales we normally do during the summer months, so I’ve been asked to cut some hours.”

Willa swiped her card in the machine, clocking in, and turned to her.

“Oh?”

“I’ll need to cut some of yours. I’m sorry. I know this job is important to you during the summer. We have three teachers who work here during these months that I know of, so I get it, but it’s a small staff, and everyone is getting hours cut.”

“I see,” Willa said with a nod. “Well, there’s nothing you can really do about it, is there?”

The woman shook her head.

“How bad?”

“At least four hours less a week.”

Willa did the math in her head. That would definitely add up.

She might need to see if she could find something else where she could work at least twenty hours a week.

Maybe thirty would be better. Of course, she was now dating someone new and wanted to spend as much time with her as possible.

If she were to teach and work that many hours, dates would be difficult, and with Jill taking care of Juni and Willa working that many hours, dates where it was just the two of them would be next to impossible.

“Okay. I understand,” she said. “I’m going to head out there. We might get a run on magnets I’ll need to check out.”

Willa laughed a little at her own lame joke and went out to work behind the counter.

Two hours later, she had finished the shift she was covering and needed to get home to change for her dinner date with Jill.

It would already be late, in her opinion, for Juni to be eating dinner since Willa hadn’t planned on working at the gift shop when she had told Jill that she would help her cook it.

That meant Juni would be eating dinner after seven, at least, so Willa hurried to change into some comfortable, non-uniform clothes and grabbed her phone, keys, and other items before she practically ran out of the apartment, just like one of her students had run out of the school earlier that day.

The drive to Jill’s house didn’t take all that long.

Still, it gave Willa just enough time to worry about her money situation, which was always on the top of her list of life worries, right after starving children and wars around the world.

The lack of money thing was a little closer to home, though, after finding out that she would have four fewer hours each week at the museum.

She tried to picture her bank account balance while she drove, remembering that she had enough to grocery shop, but she couldn’t remember if she had anything more than the minimum required amount in her savings account.

She had always tried to tuck money away for later, but then, something would come up, and she would need it.

With these hours getting cut, she knew she would have no choice: she’d need another job.

She might also need to ask her sister for a loan to get her through the end of the year, and she’d have to stop spending so much money on the kids.

It about killed her to think about it, but she had no choice.

If she couldn’t afford to take care of herself, she wouldn’t be able to stay a teacher, period.

She’d have to find something that paid more, and she didn’t want to do that.