Tessa nodded eagerly. “Yes, of course. Whatever you say, ma’am.”

Mrs. Carrington actually smiled then, if one could call the all too brief twerking of her tight-lipped mouth a smile. “And do not refer to me as ma’am. I’m not fond of that particular form of address. It will be Mrs. Carrington, or Mrs. C. We’ve already discussed what the working hours will be, the hourly wage, and what sort of duties you’ll be expected to handle. Do you have any other questions for me, Tessa?”

She shook her head, even though several other questions had, in fact, come to mind. She didn’t dare risk annoying Mrs. Carrington at this point, couldn’t take the chance of appearing stupid and possibly having the job offer rescinded. Tessa figured that all of her unanswered questions would be resolved sooner than later. “No, Mrs. Carrington. You’ve, ah, been very thorough.”

“As you will learn to be, my girl,” declared Mrs. Carrington. “I see potential in you, Tessa. And if you follow my lead and work very hard, you’ll have the tools you need to succeed in this company, whether at this location or elsewhere in the firm. By the time you’ve worked under my direction for a couple of years, I’ll have you ready to work for the Regional Director if that’s what you desire. And trust me, he is a very demanding employer, even more than I am.”

Tessa nodded enthusiastically. “I’m not afraid of hard work, ma’am – ah, I mean, Mrs. Carrington. And I’d be very pleased to learn whatever you can teach me.”

Mrs. Carrington arched a thinly penciled brow. “Well, then. Welcome to the Gregson Group, young Tessa. I foresee a very interesting future for you with this company.”

Peter was beaming with pride when Tessa told him giddily about her new job. “That’s great news, Tess,” he told her. “But I never had any doubt that you’d get the job. You’ve done so well at school this year, and you’re only halfway through the program. And I guarantee that you’ll impress them so much at the hotel that they’ll be begging you to stay on full time next year.”

Tessa smiled wryly. “Somehow, I can’t envision my new boss ever begging anyone to work for her. I’m sure she thinks she’s just bestowed the greatest honor imaginable on me. She’s – terrifying, Peter. I still can’t believe I didn’t flake out on all of those tests, as nervous as I was with her hovering over me the entire time.”

Peter patted her on the forearm reassuringly. “You’ll do fine, Tess. I’ve seen how hard you work and how detail oriented you are. I’m sure this dragon lady boss of yours realized that, too. I’ll miss seeing you at work every night, though.”

Since the hours she would be working at the hotel would overlap with her job at Old Navy, Tessa would be handing in her notice at the store tomorrow. And even though the hourly wage at her new job would be almost double what she was currently earning at Old Navy, she planned to keep her weekend job at Forever 21 for the foreseeable future. After all, she and Peter had added expenses from living in their own apartment, and both of their cars always seemed to be needing one sort of repair or another.

They had moved out of their nightmare of a shared rental almost a year ago, and into a modest one-bedroom apartment of their own. But Tessa didn’t care how simple it was, or that the kitchen appliances were outdated and the carpet was a bit shabby. The first night they’d spent in their new place had been the only decent sleep she’d had in many months, and the peace and quiet was absolute bliss. It was also the first time in her young life that she had felt real security, the knowledge that she wouldn’t have to pick up and move at a moment’s notice, and leave her cherished belongings behind.

Not that they had a whole lot in the way of belongings, of course. Peter, who hadn’t seen or spoken to his mother in a year, had nonetheless kept his keys to her house. And despite Tessa’s protests, he’d had no qualms whatsoever about once again raiding the hoard of boxes and bins for household goods and supplies that they could use at their new place. Furniture had been a mishmash of things they’d picked up at yard sales, thrift shops, and discount stores, but Tessa was so happy to have a place of their own that it didn’t matter to her in the least to have secondhand things.

She had also experienced a tremendous sense of relief just before her high school graduation when Peter had announced his intention to remain in Tucson for at least another year or so. He’d wanted to finish up some journalism courses, and also save some more money before setting out on his own. And he had also confessed to Tessa that he wouldn’t have felt right just abandoning her to look out for herself.

“You might be eighteen now and legally an adult,” he’d told her, “but that doesn’t mean you’ll be able to support yourself. I’d worry about you constantly if I left now. You need to find a better job than just working as a cashier and earning barely above minimum wage. Not to mention finding a better place to live. So I’ll stick around for at least another year while you enter that office administrative program your school counselor recommended. After that – well, we’ll see.”

Tessa had been touched by his offer, and knew that she owed him more than she could ever hope to repay. But with recent developments, it was beginning to seem that she would in fact be able to return at least a few of the favors he’d done for her.

Peter had done very well at his journalism classes at community college, enough that his teacher had recommended him for a grant so that he could continue his studies at the University of Arizona. He’d hesitated before accepting, knowing that he would have to put his goals of traveling the world on hold for at least two more years if he did so. But in the end Peter had decided it was the most sensible thing to do, especially since there was no guarantee he’d find work right away as a news correspondent, and having a college degree would be something to fall back on.

Tessa had fully supported his decision, and vowed to get a better job to help with expenses. Once she was able to transition to a full time office position in a year, she was hopeful that Peter could quit one of his part-time jobs and devote more time to his studies. The mere fact that he would be remaining in Tucson for at least the next two years – and thus remain married to her – meant that she wouldn’t have to worry about being alone for awhile longer. In the time they’d been together, Peter had become everything to her – best friend, confidante, family. And, much more recently, he’d become a true husband to her.