The Swear Jar Read Online Free PDF Page B

sorry if anticipating my call was making you
nervous.”
    “Mr. Phillips, I’m so sorry.  Anne
has been a bit of a pest today.  I’ve been looking forward to your call.  How
are you?”  Her butterflies fluttered at the sound of his voice.
    While she spoke, he closed his eyes
and pictured her smiling nervously.  “I’m fine and how are you?”
    “I’m fine.  I’m sure Anne heard my
phone ring.  She’ll be knocking on my door soon.  She’s going to drive me
crazy.”
    He laughed.  “I guess it’s a good
thing the Board approved hiring you.  You’ll be able to escape Anne for a good
part of your day.”
    “That’s wonderful, Mr. Phillips. 
Thank you so much for this opportunity.  I miss being in a library and I’ll try
my best to do a good job.”
    “I have no doubts of that, Mrs.
Martin.  Your references were positive about your work.  Everyone I spoke to
lamented the fact you were no longer with them.  One reference said I’d be
lucky to have you on my staff.”
    “I appreciate their faith in me. 
How did the rest of the Board meeting go?  I remember they can be boring and
dull.”
    “I have to agree with you.  This
one was routine except for hiring you.  The Board agrees with Anne.  We need to
get more kids into the library.  You’ll have to hit the ground running on
Monday.”
    He could hear knocking in the
background.  “Is that Anne now?”
    “Yes, but I’m not letting her in
yet.  She’s on my front porch bouncing up and down.  She’ll run around to the
back porch in a minute.  Then I’m in trouble.  There she goes.”
    He chuckled again.  “She’s a good
kid, isn’t she?  I look forward to seeing her at the library.”
    “Thank you, Mr. Phillips, she is a
good kid.  Now she’s staring at me through the glass door on the back porch. 
You should see the look on her face.  She can’t figure out if it’s good news or
bad news.  If I can stop myself from laughing, we can make her think it’s not
going so well.”
    “That’s terrible, but sounds like
fun.  Mrs. Martin, I’ll need to speak to you about salary.  You should frown
now.  And I’ll need to talk to you about benefits.  Frown again.  Would you be
able to stop by the library tomorrow?”
    She frowned when he told her to and
Anne was going crazy.  When he mentioned going to the library tomorrow, she
frowned for real.
    “Could it be after noon tomorrow? 
Anne has this nature hike all planned.  It sounds more like a death march to
me, but she wants to show me the park.”  She shifted nervously.
    “After noon is fine.  Fridays are
casual at the library, so don’t worry about dressing to impress.  I’m already
impressed.”  Rolling his eyes, he smacked his head because he sounded cheesy. 
“Why don’t we say one o’clock?  Tell Anne I can’t lose my new Head of Youth
Services, so she should take it easy on you.”
    “Thank you!  You might have saved
my life.  One more thing.  I’ve never lived in the same town where I worked. 
Do you have any advice on the mixing of personal and professional?  If I make
friends with staff members or patrons, is there a place to draw the line and
keep it professional?” she asked quietly.
    She wanted the job, but she wanted
to be friends with him too.  She couldn’t deny she was attracted to him.  His
voice alone made her feel like giggling.  If she started thinking about his
smile or his dancing green eyes, she would sigh.
    “Mrs. Martin, I’m guessing you’ve
been friends with staff members and patrons in the past.  You knew where to
draw the line.  There’s really no way around it.  It’s going to happen.  It
will be up to you to set the parameters of the relationships you make.  I’m
hoping we can be friends as well.”  He closed his eyes and waited for her
reply.
    “Thank you.  I would like that very
much.  Your advice helps a great deal.  While I have Anne looking horrified on
the back porch, I need to establish