Saving Rain

by Kelsey Kingsley

Harry’s brother Howard owned a grocery store—The Fisch Market, it was called—in a town nearby, River Canyon, and on Christmas Day, Harry asked him if there were any positions to be filled. “Actually,” Howard said, eyeing me with a hint of scrutiny, “our janitor just left us, and I’ve been having to do all the cleaning myself. If you don’t mind pushing a broom, mopping the floor, and scrubbing bathrooms, you’ve got yourself a job.” I couldn’t help but chuckle. “It just so happens I’m overqualified for the job, and I’ll take it.” Howard’s wife, Connie, was the mayor of River Canyon as well as the local real estate agent, and while she was a little hesitant to allow a convict to live within her apparently prestigious little hamlet, she agreed to set me up in a place just within the town limits. “We have a reputation to uphold, you see,” she said in a voice that was unintentionally snooty, waving around a wineglass that was just a little too full. “And to clarify, it isn’t that I mind you being there or think you’re a threat to our little town. But it’s the others, you understand?” Actually, I could tell she did very much mind and was only going along with the plan for the time being to keep the peace among her husband and brother-in-law. It wouldn’t surprise me if she immediately demanded that Howard revoke the job offer as soon as they got home. But still, I was grateful she was at least being kind of nice to my face. Judging from the way she pinched her lips and sucked at h...