I would be amazing at that. Overcoming objections was my jam. I wanted to ask him if this was a pity hire. But I couldn’t. Because, even if it was, I needed it. I had literally no pride left. “Here’s the problem: no one trusts me right now. How am I going to sell insurance to people who think I’m a thief? Or thief-adjacent, anyway.” I wanted to tell him that his lovely wife was keen on spreading that not-so-nice rumor. But obviously, Gabe didn’t believe I was involved. So that was something.

He leaned over the desk. “I bet you’ll figure it out.” He paused. “And, look, your base as a salesperson is the same as the salary for the customer service rep, so it’s really a no-lose for you.”

I put my hand to my heart. I thought I might cry, I was so overwhelmed by his generosity. But I knew from experience that a woman crying in the workplace got her branded a certain type of way. And it wasn’t great.

“You’ll get your base pay for a couple weeks while we’re getting your licensing requirements done.”

I nodded. “I’ve kept up with my securities licenses and my certified financial planner, so I should just need insurance licenses.”

“Amazing. You can shadow me out in the field for a while. I have enough clients coming in that I could really use some help, so you should have a steady stream of sales right off the bat. I’m sure it’s not what you’re used to, but it’s decent money. It’ll get you back on your feet.”

He stood up to shake my hand again. I wanted to hug him, but even in a small town I felt like that might be frowned upon.

He walked me to the front desk. “Agnes,” he said, “Charlotte’s going to be our new saleswoman.”

“Great,” she said with as much disinterest as possible.

“She’s excited on the inside,” I whispered as he walked me to the sidewalk.

He laughed. “Agnes is a pill, but she shows up, which is more than I can say for most people. Although sometimes I wonder if it would be better if the phone didn’t get answered at all.”

I smiled at him, feeling overwhelmed with gratitude. “Thanks for taking this chance on me, Gabe. I know you’re doing it for Iris, but I really can’t tell you how much it means to me. I’m so grateful, and I’ll never forget it.”

“It’s not a chance, sweetheart. You’re a sure thing.”

There were a lot of things wrong with that sentence, but I was so happy I didn’t care. And I knew that Bill was going to be so proud of me.

I gave Grace a thumbs-up and she was clapping before I even got back to the car.