Chapter Twenty-Three

On Tuesday, Molly headed into town as planned to go via the library and a couple of the cafés. The library didn't have any openings but did try to get her to sign up for a library pass. As it was free, she decided she would. She did like reading after all. The Three Sisters Boutique didn't need anyone, and she felt like one of the younger girls behind the cash register wouldn't tell her even if they did. The girl almost stared her out of the shop, as if she was competition for something she didn't even know about. 

After trying Rosie's café, which served Mexican, Molly decided to go to Café Chris. She'd heard it mentioned as one of the better places in town and didn't seem to focus on either BBQ or Mexican. She needed some lunch and they might have a waitressing job going. With a sigh she sat down at the counter and picked up a menu to see what they had going. 

"Ye must be Molly," a voice made her look up confused. "Sorry, Beth was in here yesterday, talkin' about her new friend Molly," the girl behind the counter said. "I'm Hannah," she introduced herself now, holding her hand out. 

"Molly," she confirmed now as she shook her hand. "So what gave me away?" she asked curiously, there were sure to be other people passing through from out of town.

"She said ye was a city girl 'n ye had new blue cowboy boots," Hannah said, chuckling when the new girl looked down at her boots. 

"Damned if I do and damned if I don't huh?" Molly now laughed with a shake of her head. 

"Summit like that," the waitress nodded now. "Anyways, what can I get ye?" she asked, not wanting to get into trouble for talking to one customer too long without even getting an order out of her. 

"I'll have a Coke, a chicken sub and a job if any are going spare," her customer said now, putting the menu down and giving her a hopeful look. 

"I can definitely help ye on the first two, lemme work on the third. We have a lot of folk pass through durin' the summer, so I might be able to hook ye up a bit earlier for trainin'," Hannah said with a nod. "Be right back," she said now to pass her order through to the kitchen. Any friend of Beth's was a friend of hers, so she had no problem recommending her for any position that happened to come up free. 

"Thanks," Molly said gratefully as she looked around her. As far as cafés went, it was quite comfy, every day American, and it looked like mostly home-cooked food on the menu. It also looked like it had a few regulars who came here regardless of the time, as there were a couple of booths occupied by people reading their newspapers or briefs from work. 

"Here ye go doll," Hannah came back with her Coke and put it down in front of her. "Chris just asked if ye got a CV he can go over," she asked now. 

Her customer immediately went through her rucksack to pull one out. "Updated yesterday," Molly added as she handed it over. 

"Great. I'll take this out back 'n yer food will be out soon," the waitress said as she took it and, with a smile, headed out to the back office again. 

With a pleased sigh, Molly pulled her Coke over to have a sip as she looked around her again. She really was starting to get more used to the pace and the people around here, she now just needed to stand out less as the new person. 

"How was the food?" Hannah asked once Molly had finished eating. 

"Really good, very happy to recommend," she said, feeling stuffed. "I'm seein' Beth later and she's gonna help me, but I was wonderin' if you had any advice for someone who's going to her first barn dance this weekend," she continued after a moment's hesitation. It wasn't that she didn't trust Beth's advice, but she was only 14 after all. 

"Oh yeah, Beth mentioned that. Ye goin' with Jake?" 

"I … Well, yeah… Kinda. I didn't want to confirm or deny with her, because he's her brother," she tried to explain. 

"Too late, she already knows. 'N if she didn't, she would just make sure ye did go together," Hannah clued her in with a laugh. "But I would stick to simple country. Wear yer boots 'n a dress. If ye want, I got time off on Friday, could come round 'n see what ye got that could work," she offered now. She didn't have many friends left in Pleasanton, so was happy to make new ones. There were still one or two of her old friends from school around that were happy to get together, but the others had either already had their first children or they'd moved away to San Antonio for college and work. "That way there's still time to sort ye out if ye ain't got nothin'," Hannah continued. 

"That's not how my sister would put it, she thinks I own way too many clothes," Molly responded with a laugh. "Friday would be great, thank you so much Hannah." 

"Don't mention it. Right, Chris said to send ye out back when ye finished," the waitress said with a friendly smile. 

"I totally owe ye one," her new friend said gratefully as she quickly straightened her clothes and followed her out to the office. 

Molly was just arriving home from her lesson with Jake as Beth came back from school. 

"Howdy Beth," she waved happily. "How was school?" she asked as she waited for her to catch up on the porch. 

"Borin', but I did well on the biology homework," Beth answered happily. "How was yer day?" she asked in response as she led the way into the house now. 

"Not bad. I met Hannah at Café Chris. She even got me a job there," Molly told her. 

"Oh yeey, well done."

"It's not a full-time permanent thing. Part-time until the summer and then full time until September. That should give me enough time to hopefully make enough contacts and find something else," she explained the proviso. At least she would be bringing in some money now but still have time for her lessons with Jake. 

"Ye'll do fine," Beth said confidently. "So, let's have a look at yer wardrobe for Saturday. Don't wanna disappoint Jake, now do we?" she continued in one breath, making her friend laugh as she led the way to her room. 

"You're annoyin', you know that right?" Molly told her. 

"Jake tells me all the time," she assured her, making her laugh again. 

They started going through her wardrobe, eliminating some choices outright and putting others aside as possibilities. 

"What's this?" Beth asked when she came across a sun hat and floral scarf. It was so far away from what she was used to her new friend wearing, she found it hard to believe she'd found it in her wardrobe. 

"Those were my mama's," Molly said slowly, taking the scarf from her and running the fabric through her fingers. She could remember her mother always wore this scarf from Autumn 'til Spring, as it was a light scarf that would just take the edge off the cold across her neck. The hat was reserved for Spring 'til early Autumn. 

"Can I try 'em?" her friend asked carefully. 

"Yeah sure," she answered, putting on a braver face than she felt. It wasn't like she was ever going to wear them, but it was nice to have them as keepsakes. Beth put the hat on first, holding her hand out for the scarf. Molly handed it over, managing a smile when the younger girl flicked it around her shoulder with a dramatic look on her face. 

"You girls sound cheerful," Jennifer said as she gave a knock on the door, having heard them laugh as she came in from having gone to town. 

"Yeah, we were just checking out my wardrobe for Saturday," her sister answered. 

"Oh, what's on Saturday?" she asked curiously as she found the only clear patch on the bed between all the discarded clothes to sit down on. 

"A barn dance," Beth said excitedly. "I'm takin' her," she said almost proudly, giving her friend a wink. 

"No offence Beth, but aren't ye a bit young to be going?" Jennifer asked a little confused.

"I'm going with Hannah, my new friend from town. Beth's just showing me where to go," Molly clarified now, giving her friend a one-armed hug to comfort her. 

"Well great," the oldest girl said now as she got up. "Beth, you better be sure to show her some country dance moves while you're at it," she told the girls as she headed out of the room, making the youngest laugh and the middle one frown. 

"I can dance," Molly objected, which only made her friend laugh harder.