They stepped into human resources. Wilton Memorial wasn’t a huge hospital, but she still didn’t know everybody who worked there. Her time here had been spent predominantly on her feet, running from patient to patient, depending on what was needed. She’d meant to swing by and meet the HR staff but it just hadn’t happened.
The forty-something woman with ash blonde hair looked up from her computer screen. “Can I help you?”
“Yes ma’am. We’re here to fill out applications for the nursing positions posted this morning,” Corinne said, a big, confident smile in place.
“Oh, I’d be happy to—”
“Corinne Dawson.” From the back of the office, another woman emerged.
Corinne’s hard-won confidence faded. Would it be better to pretend ignorance, like she had no idea who this woman was? Or did she own that she remembered exactly who Neva Coffman—and her daughter—was?
“Mrs. Coffman,” Corinne replied. This woman was the Chief Nursing Executive on the hospital board. Acknowledgment was really the only option.
Beside her, Malika made like she was watching a tennis match, obviously wondering what the deal was.
“You’re applying for a job here?”
“Yes, ma’am, I am.”
“How interesting. I thought you were a waitress now.” Her expression said she took great delight in the idea of it.
“I’ve been working at Dinner Belles while I finished nursing school.”
“I see.” What she saw was clearly that Corinne was nothing more than a bug to be squashed.
“I understand Jana is a human rights lobbyist on Capitol Hill.” There. Proof I know she’s made something of herself, while I stand here and humble myself before you.
Neva’s smile spread. The cat who knew the canary was caught and was enjoying the game before it went in for the kill. “She is. Why just last week she attended a black-tie fund-raiser with the good Senator.”
There was no telling which senator she meant, and Corinne didn’t actually care. “I’m sure she’s doing worlds of good.” And she probably was. Jana Coffman would’ve made a far better student body president than Corinne had. She’d been civic-minded and interested in making things better for the school. And Corinne had toppled her with a few well-placed rumors about the sex life Jana hadn’t had.
Nausea roiled in her stomach.
The curious receptionist handed over a couple of clipboards without a word.
Corinne murmured thanks and started to turn toward one of the vacant chairs in the reception area.
“There’s going to be a lot of competition for these jobs,” Neva continued. “If you landed it, you’d be stuck at the bottom of the totem pole, emptying bedpans and giving sponge baths. I’d advise you to look elsewhere.”
In her position, Neva could easily make that happen. Should she so choose, she could make Corinne’s prospective work life here a misery. But instead of bowing to the pressure, Corinne looked the woman right in the eye. “If I were so fortunate as to get the job, I’d be blessed with the honor to serve others. There’s no higher calling than that.”
Neva blinked.
Corinne did her best to keep her expression neutral and pleasant. “Please give Jana my sincerest congratulations on her success. She absolutely deserves it.”
With that, she turned her attention to filling out the application. But even as Neva went on about her business, all hope she’d held about landing the job evaporated. Her past was coming back to bite her in the ass yet again. She was starting to think she might never overcome it. At least not in Wishful. The truth of it made her heart break just a little bit more.
One step at a time, she reminded herself. One step at a time.
Chapter 4
“So Kurt, have you ever played HORSE?” Tucker draped his suit jacket over the bleachers in the community center. He added his tie and began rolling up his shirt sleeves.
“Sure. But my grandma got mad at me for knocking over some stuff with the broom handle.”
A kid with an imagination. He liked that. “Not that kind of horse, my little man. The game with a basketball.”
The boy shook his head.