Page 35 of One Last Time

May was maybe a little younger than my dad. Her hair was dyed an orange shade of red, same as it had been every summer we’d been here. She hardly ever seemed to age.

“Where’s the rest of the clan?”

Lee told her, “My parents are planning to sell the beach house, so us kids are up here to, you know, fix it up and stuff.”

“They are?” she exclaimed in dismay, her face falling. She clicked her tongue, crossing her arms. “That’s such a shame. Seems everyone’s starting to sell now they’re redeveloping. It’s just not gonna be the same around here. But, hey, I guess we’ll be seeing more of you kids this summer, huh? I’ll have to make sure we’ve got an endless supply of fries.”

Lee and I exchanged a glance, grinning. May had always given us extra portions of fries.

It was definitely part of what made them taste so good.

“So, what can I do you for? You guys want a table for dinner?”

“Hoping to get something to take out, if that’s okay, May,” Lee said, already wandering over to the serving station to pick up a menu, someone’s notebook, and a pen. “I’ll just pass the order straight over to Gary.”

“Oh, honey, Gary retired last Christmas. It’s Kenny on shift today anyway.”

May looked ready to admonish Lee then, tell him that he couldn’t just swan around like he owned the place, but she only rolled her eyes and let him carry on.

Before she could walk off, I blurted, “May?”

“Yeah, sweetie?”

“Can I, um…” I frowned, letting out a wobbly breath. My palms were sweating.Come on, Elle, you can do this.“I wanted to ask you about the job. The help wanted sign.”

May let out a startled noise and blinked, mouth forming a small circle. “You want to apply?”

Immediately, I launched into a sales pitch of Why She Should Hire Elle Evans, despite my absolute lack of experience in any kind of job but least of all the service industry, despite me not having a résumé with me, despite knowing nothing about what the job actually was.

“…and I’m really responsible, and I’ll work so hard, May, I promise, and I could start as soon as you need, and—”

“Okay, okay.” She laughed, raising her hands. “Slow down, kiddo. Look, honestly, the help wanted sign—it was for someone in the kitchen, and we filled that position yesterday.”

My heart sank. So much for it being a (literal) sign.

I felt like a total idiot.

May drew a breath. “But…”

But! There was a but!

“I guess I could use an extra pair of hands around here. We always seem to get so rushed off our feet this time of year. And I know you,” she added with a wink. “I can trust you. So, all right, little Elle Evans. You’ve got yourself a job.”

She stuck out her hand as I jumped, squealing, to punch the air before quickly composing myself to shake her hand solemnly. She kept her face straight for about a second longer before breaking into an affectionate smile.

May pulled a notepad from her apron and a pen from behind her ear and handed them over. “Here. Jot down your name and your email. I’ll send you over a contract and get in touch about a start date. Chances are it’ll be in just a couple days.”

“That’d be amazing,” I gushed. “Thank you so much, May, thank you. You won’t regret this.”

“Hmm, I’d better not.”

“Yes! Yes, absolutely. Thanks again, May!”

After giving May my details, I joined Lee to double-check we’d included everything on our order for the kitchen, and we counted out our cash and tip. I felt on top of the world.

I practically floated back to the car. I slammed the door behind me and wrapped my fingers around the steering wheel, beaming.

All the stress, all the hassle trying to get a job last year, all that worrying about money earlier, and just like that. It was that easy.