Nova scoffed, her nose wrinkling. “No, nothing like that. It’s just uh, one of my kind-of employers is pretty… weird.”
“Kind-of employer?”
“Well, his brother hired me to work on their family ranch, but I’m paid under their whole corporation so I’m just not entirely sure who is my boss and who isn’t, so I just treat them all equally.”
“Ah, smart. You’re not the only one with a Miller brother on your mind, if that helps you feel better.”
Nova’s spine jolted. “What? I never said anything about the Millers!”
The woman just leveled her with a look while she stretched out her calf, pulling the toes of her orthotic shoes back. “Bless your heart. You don’t need to say their name when you’re talking about a group of rich brothers that don’t see eye to eye but own a successful ranch.”
“Huh,” Nova grumbled. “And here I thought Dallas was supposed to be a city too big for gossip.”
“Oh, there’s no such thing as too big for gossip when a billionaire family is involved.”
“Yeah… I guess not.”
“Anyway, which brother is it that’s bothering you?”
“The second youngest. Sal. I thought he was a real cad when I met him, and I’m still not entirely sure that he’s not, but recently he helped me out of a bind and I felt like I got a peek that there might be a better side to him.”
“Well, that’s because there is.”
Nova blinked, surprised at the matter-of-fact way the woman said it. Like stating that the grass was green and the days were hot. “Do you know him?”
“No, but I don’t have to.”
“I don’t follow.”
The woman’s smile was sweet as she answered, exactly what someone would expect out of a loving old grandmum. Nova had never had one of those.
“I know it because everyone has the potential to be better or worse. You’ll never meet anyone who is as awful or as good as they can be. So, while you absolutely saw a glimpse of something good in the young man, there’s no guarantee that’s the direction he’ll go. But it was definitely there if you were able to notice it.”
“I never thought of it that way. It sure would be great if he was able to turn it around. That little snippet of him was pretty nice, if I do admit it.” She left out how it made her heart thump to think of how he’d carried her, and the intense way he’d looked her over once she was set on the mechanic’s bench in front of him. She didn’t think anyone had ever looked at her like that.
“Everyone starts their journeys at different places, you know. Sometimes what’s obviously the right way to go for one person is unimaginable to another. And other times, it takes a bright light to lead people away from the darkness.”
“Are you saying I should be a bright light for the lad?”
“I didn’t, but it’s interesting that that’s the conclusion you jumped to.”
For being so sweet and candid, the woman sure did have a smooth way of talking. “You some sort of retired therapist or something?”
She laughed, revealing a row of pearly white teeth. “Goodness! What a compliment. No, I’m just a gardener and a volunteer greeter at my church. Guess I’ve always just been blessed with ears to listen.”
“That’s one way to put it.” Nova couldn’t really remember the last time she had discussed such vulnerable things with someone. Most of her online friends and people she left back home didn’t even know the name of the family she worked for. “But is it even my responsibility to assign myself as a guide to someone who has all of the resources and time in the world? Shouldn’t he be more responsible for his growth himself?”
“It’s not your responsibility at all. In fact, it’s not anyone’s beyond the young man himself. But if your mind is stuck on him, perhaps that is what you are being led to do in your heart. I don’t think there’s any harm in indulging that little voice, just a bit, and seeing where it leads.”
“It sounds so simple when you say it,” Nova murmured, shaking her head at all the thoughts rushing her.
“I’ve had a lot of time to see a lot of things. It certainly helps with perspective.”
“Yeah, I imagine. Thank you… uh…”
“You can call me Auntie Kini, that’s what most of my lil’ ones call me anyway.”
“Alright then, thank you, Auntie Kini.” Nova didn’t say it the exact same way, her accent different from the older woman’s warm lilt, but it was still pretty nice to say.
“Don’t worry about it. I’m here once a week while I keep recovering from my hip replacement, so we’ll have plenty of time to talk.”
“I’d like that.”
The woman nodded, and they fell into companionable silence. They worked until Nova’s physical therapist came back to collect her for the next round of exercises. But as they parted, Nova couldn’t help but turn Auntie Kini’s words over and over again in her head.
12
Salvatore
As you can see, it’s clearly the best way to return—
No. That wasn’t right.
The numbers are proof that—
Ugh. All wrong. This is all wrong!
With the results of these graphs, it’s easy to see that the foolhardy direction that—
“No!” Sal snapped, angrily deleting the words he’d typed out. He’d been at it ever since he had woken up, and he still didn’t have a conclusive clincher to his budget proposal. He didn’t understand how Solomon was so good at it. His emails and presentations just flowed, like water in a brook, and sometimes Sal found himself nodding along despite himself. And for the life of him, he couldn’t figure out how to replicate that. His hands felt too big for the keyboard, and he just felt so incompetent.
Slamming his hands on the desk, he stood up and went to his window, trying to tell himself that getting worked up over things wasn’t going to get him anywhere. He didn’t have much success, but he didn’t have that much time to try before a knock sounded on his door.
…that was weird. If his brothers ever needed to talk to each other, they usually just texted.
Crossing the room, he opened the heavy wood to see his mother standing there, looking pleased. His temper settled pretty quickly; anything that made his mom happy had to be pretty good news.
“Hi, Mom,” he said, hoping she hadn’t heard him slam his hands on the desk. That wasn’t exactly respectful behavior.
“You have a visitor.”
“A what?”
“A visitor, love. Now come to the front door. It’s not polite to leave a guest waiting.”
Sal’s eyebrows shot up, but his mother’s happy sort of mood had him curious, so he headed down to the foyer.
And just about the last thing he ever expected was to see Nova waiting there for him.
For a split second, he didn’t even recognize the tall woman. She looked real different out of her work uniform, dressed in a loose T-shirt and shorts that ended a couple of inches above her knees—one of which definitely looked like it was still puffy and bruised.