Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 78064 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78064 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Sure they would, but at what cost to her self-reliance? “It’s not as simple as you’re making it out to be, Dayne. How about my self-sufficiency? How about the whole reason I earned my master’s degree? Should I simply throw it all away? It’s not like Clearfield County has a huge library system. It doesn’t.”
Dayne’s eyebrows pinned together. “How do you know?”
“Because I already checked out of curiosity.” While she assumed they weren’t thinking about a future together, she had been.
“Then, your reluctance has nothing to do with me or Heath?”
“Not at all. Believe me when I say, I miss you two when I’m not here. I think about us all the time. I look forward to our weekends together. But you expect me to give up my home and the job I love for us to be together full-time. What if I do then we realize it’s not working? Then what? I’d be in a jam. I could end up unemployed and potentially homeless.” That was a scary thought.
“She’s right, Dayne. She deserves to feel secure in her life.”
Dayne responded with, “I wish I could offer you a job here at the resort. What I could offer you would be nothing like the career you’re so passionate about and we do understand what an accomplishment it was to earn that degree.”
Cara rubbed her forehead. “I want to be here with you two, I do. Believe me. There’s nothing my heart wants more. But my head is telling me to be reasonable and responsible.”
“Sweetheart, we’re good with whatever you decide,” Heath assured her. “We don’t want this to be the reason we lose you, because that’s the last thing we want. But before you make your decision, I want to mention that I’m keeping my place in Hoboken. For now, at least. I might rent it out. That’s always an option for you, too. You could keep your house in Carlisle and find a tenant. This way you have that security net.”
“At least until you’re ready to let it go. Or it couldn’t hurt to keep it as an asset. You probably have equity in it already and that investment will continue to grow.” Apparently, Dayne had put on his official Chief Financial Officer’s hat.
“That could work, but what about my income?” That was a huge obstacle she couldn’t ignore.
Heath blew out a breath. “This week we tried to come up with a solution for that but without your input we struggled.”
Interesting. “What did you come up with?” She was pleased to hear they wanted her with them badly enough that they made an effort to find a way.
“We thought about the obvious first. Between Penn State University and Centre County, there’s a larger library system in State College, but neither Dayne nor I are thrilled you’d have to drive that distance during winter.”
“They would need openings, too,” she reminded them. “Those are few and far between.”
Heath sighed. “Right. We even checked for librarian openings in the surrounding school districts.”
“And you found nothing.” She didn’t want to admit that one night she had checked, too. Just in case.
“Another option we considered was you starting a small bookstore here in Fisher Falls,” Dayne added.
“I can’t imagine that decision would be financially sound.” Especially with the town’s population being so small. She eyed up Dayne since he was the numbers guy.
“It wouldn’t,” he admitted reluctantly.
“So, not really an option but good if I was looking for a hobby,” she surmised.
“Yes. However, after that, I began sending out inquiries to some of my former clients. I figured it couldn’t hurt to throw a wider net.”
Heath nudged her shoulder with his. “I put out some feelers, too.”
Before she could respond, Dayne announced, “Yesterday, I got an email from the library director at Stockford, an accredited online university. She said they might be looking for a virtual librarian for their academic library. Since all their classes are held online, they don’t have a physical location. You would never have to drive anywhere to do your job. It’s not a sure thing, but at least it’s a lead. If you’re interested, I can pass along the director’s information.”
Holy crap.
A virtual librarian? Why hadn’t she looked into that before now? There had to be more positions similar to that since online education was growing every year. It was the wave of the future. “I definitely want her information.”
“Good. I was hoping you’d say that. If you land a position like that, your problem—our problem—would be solved. If you keep your house, what else would it take for you to shack up with us?” Dayne wiggled his eyebrows.
“I could think of one,” Heath answered. “There’s something else we haven’t discussed yet that’s as important, if not the most important.”
Cara’s eyebrows raised. “What’s that?”
“How we truly feel about you.”
Her heart did a somersault. After six months she had a good idea, but not one of them had revealed their true feelings yet. At least not to her.