Digging In: A Novel(17)

He shook his head. “We’re leaving in a few minutes.”

“I’m sorry,” I said, suddenly feeling as though I had failed him. And Guh. And myself.

Lukas’s expression softened. “I don’t want to pry into your personal life, Paige, but Petra Polly has a wonderful chapter on underperforming employees—”

Wait a minute. “I’d hardly say I’m underperforming.”

Lukas paused, one eyebrow creeping up to meet his receding hairline. “Really? Because what I see is someone who is letting her personal issues affect her day-to-day performance. I can’t take you with me because one look at you and Miss Trinka will think we aren’t up to the task. Rhiannon is quirkier than Zooey Deschanel with a side of ModCloth. Seth and Byron look like matching hipster salt and pepper shakers—one light, one dark, one bearded, one not, both flannel. She’s going to love them.”

“So, she doesn’t love older people? It’s a retro company—she adores the past.”

“Vintage, yes. Spent and exhausted, no.”

I crossed my arms over my middle, hiding my hands. “This conversation sounds vaguely discriminatory.”

Lukas sighed. “Oh, Paige. It’s not that they’re young, it’s that they care. I’m wondering how much you do.”

“More than you know,” I said with what I hoped was conviction. I’d been devoted to Giacomo for seventeen years.

Lukas stood and shrugged into his too-tight leather jacket. “I’m glad,” he said while he mussed up his hair. “I don’t want you to be one who goes. Sincerely. My father really liked you, and I do, too. That gelato ad is . . . coming along nicely.”

“Thanks.” Was he being sarcastic? Sincere? I wasn’t sure.

Lukas patted my arm, choosing sincerity. “How about you run the office for the rest of the day? We won’t be back until after closing hours. Miss Trinka likes to hold forth. She likes a salon.” He opened the door, and I saw Rhiannon, Seth, and Byron waiting outside like eager little puppies. Before they took off for greener, more glamorous pastures, Lukas turned and said to me, in a low voice but audible enough, “Read Petra’s book, chapter 8. I think you’ll find it enlightening.”

“Thank you,” I murmured, wondering exactly what I was being grateful for.

“No, thank you, Paige,” Lukas said. “I see your value, but I’m wondering if you do. ‘A good employee is a confident employee,’” he recited.

“Petra, huh?”

“Not Petra,” Lukas said, a wistfulness in his tone. “Big Frank.”



“Lukas left me in charge, and I say it’s okay.”

It was four o’clock. Lukas and his creatives were gone, and I was trying to get Jackie and Glynnis to leave early so we could go to the farmers’ market.

“I don’t want to go there,” Jackie whined. “It makes me feel bad about my life choices.”

“We’re supposed to stay until five,” Glynnis said, eyeing the wall clock. “What if Lukas comes back? Won’t we get into trouble?”

The old Paige would have reacted the same way. The new Paige grabbed a hand from each of them and pulled them to standing. “It’s a field trip. We need ideas, don’t we? Let’s go bombard our minds with possibilities!”

Glynnis frowned, but Jackie quirked a smile. “I think Petra covers that in chapter 9,” she said, her smile turning into a grin. “Okay. Let’s go.”

Dandelion Girl, perched on a stool behind her table, noticed us immediately and started waving.

“That woman has a carrot in her hair,” Jackie whispered.

“I kind of like it,” Glynnis said.

Just another week into the season, the market was already more bountiful. Endless rows of boxed strawberries stretched out before us, their aroma sweetening the air. Green onions, new potatoes, asparagus, and rhubarb—the beauty of the produce had me wondering, what could I grow? I had plenty of dirt. The only area I was lacking in was experience, but how hard could it be if a woman who used a carrot as a scrunchie could do it? Eccentricity aside, she seemed like the type of person who’d be willing to help even someone like me.

Dandelion Girl hopped off her stool and began to pack up. At this hour, the greens had begun to wilt, and a handwritten sign was hastily posted beneath them, Cheap! Cheap! Two-for-One Deal!

“What’s the deal?” Jackie asked her.

Dandelion Girl smiled. “However much you’re willing to pay. I don’t want to pack those up again. In another five minutes, they’ll be free.”

“I can wait that long,” Jackie said. “I’m gonna go for a smoke. When I get back, I want some of those.”

“People still smoke?” Dandelion Girl teased.

Jackie pulled a cig from her pack and stuck it behind her ear. “That they do,” she said, and went off to find the small patch of cement dedicated to those who did.

Glynnis walked off to marvel at the flower displays. Dandelion Girl continued to load her truck, watchful for anyone who came by but completely focused on her task. I stood there, toying with a strawberry, awkward as a middle schooler at her first dance.

“Are you gearing up to ask me out?”

I was so spaced out I was completely unaware she’d come up next to me. “What?”