Read Halfway to Half Way for Free Online

spouse but couldn't afford to lease a residential cottage.
     
     
The most recent reject was about thirty, with full-sleeve tattoos, nose rings, a pierced tongue and a magenta mohawk. Poor Malcolm had slunk away from her with his tail between his legs, too traumatized to pee on her motorcycle's tires.
     
     
Still, Juline Shelton's kindergarten fire drill comment wasn't just inappropriate, it raised Hannah's antennae. A review of the application's personal information page found the box labeled Dependents was blank. On a hunch, she said, "So, how old are your children?"
     
     
"Six and—" Juline's nostrils flared. She tossed aside the necklace she'd worried like a talisman. "Think you're smart, huh? You don't even have kids, do you? Try having two, and finding a decent job and a safe place to live."
     
     
Tears welled in her eyes. "When I saw the ad, it was perfect. A dream come true. I could stay home with my kids and work."
     
     
She moved her iced tea glass aside and laid her forearms on the table. "I'm sorry. I really am. I shouldn't have cheated on the application, but if you'd known I had kids, you wouldn't even have given me an interview, would you?"
     
     
Hannah shook her head. "No, I—"
     
     
"See? How fair is that? Please, just give me a chance. You won't regret it. I promise you won't."
     
     
Hannah sighed and returned the form to the file folder. "I can't."
     
     
"Why." A statement, not a question, but it held not a trace of animosity. "Tell me how you can be so certain I can't do the job with kids, as well as you have without any."
     
     
The former ad executive that colleagues nicknamed Balls-to-the-Walls Garvey admired that kind of chutzpah. A lesson Hannah's grandmother mistakenly taught was that an unqualified no should be challenged. Whether a change of mind or heart results, it'll annoy the obstinate, the whimsical and relatives with mean streaks.
     
     
"Okay." Hannah splayed her fingers. "Live-in grandchildren aren't allowed in Valhalla Springs. Visits are restricted to one week. It sounds harsh, but people come here to retire and appreciate an excuse to not be a handy dump site for their children's children."
     
     
By Juline's scowl, she took exception to "dump site." If Hannah had a dollar for every tenant who'd used the term, Malcolm could dine on prime rib until Christmas.
     
     
"Apart from a manager's children contradicting that policy, a one-bedroom cottage is too small for a family of three. The great room is a quasi-reception area, not a place for kids and toys and Elmo videos blasting from the TV.
     
     
"Some prospective tenants tour by appointment. Plenty drop in and expect the manager to show them around. That isn't always easy for one person, and children aren't portable at a moment's notice."
     
     
Index finger hooked on her thumb, Hannah continued, "Add to that, handling commercial lease agreements and cancellations, tenant agreements, overseeing new construction, department supervisors, some social activities, promotion, direct mailings and responses, resolving tenant disputes, covenant violations…"
     
     
She gestured surrender. "I'm the one who's sorry, Juline. And disappointed. But I'm not being sarcastic when I say there've been days when taking care of a dog is almost too much to do along with everything else."
     
     
Juline might have assumed that Hannah was a fanatic zero-population growth advocate. Now her expression was a younger, prettier variation of Henry Don Tucker measuring Hannah for a straitjacket.
     
     
Itemizing the duties and responsibilities had boggled Hannah's own mind a little. Ye gods, she wasn't Superwoman. Probably wouldn't rate an honorable mention in a Resident Operations Manager of the Year competition. But wouldn't the sum of any job broken down into its parts sound impossible?
     
     
Juline stammered, "M-my mom said this was too good to be true."
     
     
"Well, I wouldn't—"
     
     
"No, you're absolutely right. Nobody could