Finding Home by Kate Field (read book .txt) 📗

‘You’re a soft touch,’ the woman said. She was around sixty, short and stocky with long steel-grey hair, and she was wearing the most extraordinary navy fleece with rabbits all over it. ‘I dare say he tries that on regularly. Mark me, his coin will be safely in his pocket.’

‘Well if that’s true, you both benefit, as my coins are now safely in your till. Are you Janet?’ Mim asked.

‘Miss Thaw to strangers. What do you want with me?’

‘I’m looking for work,’ Mim said. She was beginning to understand why Lia had grimaced so much. If Corin thought Mim was prickly, what did he make of Janet? ‘I heard you might have a vacancy here.’

‘Did you indeed? And who’s been telling you that? I haven’t advertised a position.’

‘I told her.’ Corin stepped forward from the doorway and the transformation in Janet was instant. Her suspicious frown was replaced with a beaming smile and she tucked her hair back behind her ears. ‘You’re running a successful business empire, Janet. You must be in need of some help. You need to be careful not to wear yourself out.’

‘Too true,’ Janet agreed. ‘Success like this takes hard work and no slacking. Not many could have done it on their own. When I read about today’s snowflake generation, I despair.’ She looked Mim up and down. ‘What sort of work are you after? Shop or bar?’

‘Either. Or both,’ Mim said. ‘I’ll take whatever you’re offering.’

‘I haven’t decided if I’m offering anything yet.’ Janet heaved herself onto a stool behind the counter, revealing a pair of green corduroy trousers and white Crocs. ‘Are you from the north?’

‘I am. Well spotted.’ Mim smiled. ‘I expect some of your customers are too, if they come down here on holiday. They might be glad to meet someone who speaks their language.’

Janet ignored this.

‘What experience do you have?’ she asked.

‘I’ve spent the last ten years managing a small hotel.’ It wasn’t exactly a lie – she had acted as manager even though she’d never officially been given the title. Mim decided that Janet didn’t need to know all the ins and outs. ‘I dealt with customers every day and ran a small bar at night. I have up-to-date food safety and hygiene certificates.’

‘That’s all well and good, but I’m more interested in whether you’re a hard worker. Do you have any references?’

‘No, I don’t.’ Janet shook her head, but Mim wasn’t going to be defeated yet. ‘I can’t get one. My last employer died; that’s why I’m looking for work.’

Not for the first time, Mim regretted her honesty – stupidity, more like. On that final day of packing up the hotel, she’d wondered whether she should write her own reference, while she still had access to the letter-headed paper, but she’d shied away from the deception. More fool her. But before she could explain further, Corin stepped forward and gave Janet a lazy grin.

‘Don’t worry about that, Janet. My family will vouch for Mim. She’s honest and will pull her weight.’

Janet smiled back and nodded. Mim stared. Was it that easy? What must it be like to sail through life with the right name and the right accent, having doors automatically open for you? A streak of stubbornness kicked in. If she was going to get this job, she wanted to earn it on her own merits, even if it meant the door would slam in her face.

‘Why don’t we do a test?’ Mim suggested. ‘Corin can pretend to be a customer and I’ll see if I can manage to serve him. If I pass, then you’ll give me a trial run at the job.’

Janet agreed and Corin pottered round the shop, bringing back a basket containing six or seven items.

‘The till can be temperamental,’ Janet said, before Mim had taken the first item from the basket. ‘Let’s pretend it’s not working today. How will you manage now?’

‘I suppose I’ll have to add it up in my head.’ Mim took the items out of the basket and checked the prices. The extortionate cost of some of the goods almost distracted her from the task, but after checking the last packet of fudge she looked back at Corin. ‘That will be £16.74 please.’

Janet slithered off her stool, took a calculator out of the drawer and added up the items.

‘£16.74,’ she repeated, with a grudging nod. She looked Mim up and down. ‘You’ll do. Thursday through Sunday, eight til six. Start this week on a two week trial. Take it or leave it.’

‘I’ll take it.’

‘You’re not bad looking, though you could do with making a bit more of yourself,’ Janet said. Mim held back a smile at this damning appraisal. Should she buy herself a rabbit fleece? ‘Howie is short staffed in the pub. What about the same nights in the bar, seven til close, if he’s happy to take you on?’

‘That would be great. Thanks.’ Better than great. They would be long days but Mim was used to that. She’d rarely been off duty when she’d worked in the hotel with Gordon. Four days on the hours Janet had offered was a week’s worth of regular work. It was a start, and she might be able to find other work for the free days. ‘How much will you pay?’ she asked.

‘Minimum wage. You’ll find me a fair employer.’

Mim wasn’t convinced of that yet, given Janet’s reaction to the little boy, but as long as she was paid on time for the hours she worked, she was sure she could put up with Janet’s quirks. Janet was blunt, but Mim didn’t mind that. She could be blunt herself. Perhaps they would get on in time. ‘Is there any staff discount?’

‘Five per cent off purchases over £30 in the shop, excluding alcohol. I know how to look after my staff. I’ll always reward hard work.’

It wasn’t a tempting offer, but Mim still left the shop thrilled with the outcome of the encounter with Janet. She couldn’t believe