Read Online Joyful by Shelley Shepard Gray - Free Book Online Page A

peeked inside, and frowned. And then started scrubbing the inside.
    â€œI didn’t think the inside of a kettle ever needed to be cleaned,” he murmured.
    â€œThat is obvious.” She smiled slightly. “Randall, if you are truly interested in hiring me, I think I need to know more. What will this job entail?”
    â€œHow about I help you while we talk, Beth?” When she glared at him over her shoulder, he knew why. He used to call her Beth late at night when he would walk her home. It had been his pet name for her—liking it because no one else ever called her that.
    â€œRandall, can we please discuss the job now?” Her voice was now tinged with stress, and he knew it was all his fault.
    The job. Not them. The job. Not how much he’d hurt her. Or the way he couldn’t seem to stop staring at her.
    He forced himself to think of things in a clear way, to not get emotional. Or to focus on the faint thread of guilt that was needling him, reminding him of how many things she had been doing without.
    â€œAfter Levi, ah, jumped the gun, we had a family meeting and decided that we do really need to hire someone to come in a few days a week,” he said as he watched her rinse the kettle with cool water and then fill it once again. “Since you have been taking care of your grandmother a lot, we thought of you. I mean, Levi did.”
    â€œWhat about the pay?”
    Though it was awkward, he pushed through. “We were thinking to pay ten dollars an hour? Would that be sufficient?”
    She nodded solemnly. “I think that would be just fine. Now, when would you pay me?”
    â€œI hadn’t thought that far ahead. When would you like to be paid?”
    â€œOnce a week?” she asked as she set the kettle on to boil. “Would that work all right for you?”
    Knowing she needed her pay every week made him feel guilty. They had so much and she obviously did not. “Of course that’s fine.”
    â€œDanke.”
    As he watched her shoulders relax, Randall took care to keep his expression neutral. “Elizabeth, would you like an advance or something? Or some money? Do you need some money?” Thinking quickly, he said, “I’ve got about two hundred dollars in my wallet—”
    â€œI don’t need any handouts, Randall. I’m not a charity case.”
    â€œYou know I don’t think of you that way. But we are friends, and friends help each other out from time to time.”
    â€œAnd ten dollars an hour should be fine.”
    Realizing that she was going to have to work ten hours in order to earn a hundred dollars, he felt pretty cheap. “You know what? Maybe we should raise it to twenty an hour.”
    â€œI don’t think so. That would be too much.”
    When the kettle started whistling, he sagged in relief. This had been the most difficult conversation he’d had in some time. Reaching out, he pulled it off the burner.
    He was about to offer her tea when she put a peppermint tea bag in her cup and poured the water. “Do you want tea for yourself, Randall?”
    â€œNo. Danke . You know I don’t drink tea.”
    â€œWell, you didn’t used to. But I thought, perhaps, that might have changed, too.”
    Unable to wait any longer, Randall said, “What happened to us, Elizabeth? I know I told you that I couldn’t see you for a while.”
    â€œ Nee , you told me that you couldn’t see me anymore . You broke things off.”
    â€œYes, but you seemed to accept it fairly easily.”
    She inhaled sharply. Looking extremely affronted, she glared at him and said, “It wasn’t my place. You are the man.”
    â€œYou knew I cared. You knew I had plans for us.” Remembering all the times they’d gone walking in the fields by her house, holding hands, sneaking kisses. Of course he’d cared! How could she have doubted it?
    But instead of softening her stance, Elizabeth