Timber Creek (Sierra Falls 2)

“Where is Hope?”

“I haven’t seen her. ” She already had three kids to keep track of—babysitting new employees definitely was not in her job description.

The Bailey girl exploded into action, calling back to the kitchen, “Hey, Sorrow. We’ve lost Hope. ”

The Kidd sisters sat at a nearby booth. Pearl turned and said, “You can’t lose hope, dear. ”

Laura looked like she was strung tight enough to snap. “But she hasn’t—”

“Not that kind of hope. ” Helen patted the woman on the shoulder, feeling glad to have Laura’s laser eyes shifting off her back for the moment.

Understanding registered in Laura’s eyes. “Oh. Hope is the name of the new girl,” she told Pearl, using a louder, slower, talking-to-senior-citizens voice.

“We’re old,” Ruby told her. “We’re not deaf, dear. ”

Helen would bet money that the younger of the two Kidd sisters was, in fact, quite deaf. She hid her smile as she went to grab the pitcher to refill their waters. A few decades ago, those women could’ve given someone like the Bailey girl a run for her money.

Pearl smiled blandly. “I’ve always thought Hope was a lovely name. ”

“Is that the plump girl?” Ruby asked.

“She is not plump,” Helen chimed in, feeling a bit put out. Just because those women were skin and bones in their orthopedic sandals gave them no right.

“And Faith,” Pearl said, still in her own thoughts. “That’s another pretty name. ”

“You talking about that Hope girl?” Bear swiveled around in his seat. “Sure seems plump to me. ”

The man next to him at the bar elbowed him. “Gotta have something to hold on to. ”

“Prudence is pretty, too,” Pearl continued, “though you never hear that anymore. ”

Ruby leaned in. “Do you remember Prudence Jacobson?”

Pearl gasped. “Scarlet fever took her. ”

“Such a tragedy. ” Ruby clucked.

A man at the end of the bar chimed in, “Are you kidding? Hope is hot. ”

Pearl nodded. “If you mean the plump girl, she’s lovely. ”

Ruby pitched her voice loud for her sister. “She’s not plump, dear. ”

Laura gave a funny little aggravated cry. “Would you all just—” There was a buzzing, and she slid her phone from her jeans pocket to check it. She made a weird face, then tucked it back away. “Dammit. ”

It was the third time since walking in the door that Laura had screened a call, checking the ID, then letting it go to voice mail.

It didn’t bode well for Helen. Were the Baileys hiring her replacement, and Laura didn’t want to field the call in front of her? Or, had Laura met someone? Was that where she’d disappeared to this morning? A man would take the girl’s mind off things for a while…until it went south and she took it out on them.

She couldn’t resist probing. “New boyfriend?”

Laura’s head shot up, and her deer-in-the-headlights expression made Helen think for a moment she’d hit the nail on the head, but then the girl waved it off. “No, it’s a work thing. ”

“A tavern thing?” she asked, doing her best to keep her voice even, while inside she cursed because, dammit, Laura was looking to replace her.

She should’ve known. Lately, the woman had watched her every move, acting like she was just waiting for an excuse to chuck her out the door. And with Rob more remote than ever, she was in a panic about it.

If her husband was sleeping around…Her stomach churned at the thought. If he left her the way she feared he might, she’d need some way to support her family.