Sanctuary (Murrells Inlet Miracles Book 1)

by Larsen, Laurie

  “So, tell me about yourself, your background, your education and what kind of career you’re looking for. I’ll take notes, so don’t be alarmed that I’m writing. These are confidential records and won’t be shared with anyone outside myself and my staff.” If someday I get a staff.

  Carly took a breath and let it out. She lifted her shoulders and let them fall. “Well, where do I begin? I’m nineteen years old. I got pregnant with Grace when I was in high school, so I quit for a while, then after she was born I finished by getting my GED.”

  “Congratulations. That was a smart move.”

  Her lips tightened. “I know you don’t know me but I like to think there’s more to me than being an unwed, teenaged mother. In fact, I have big dreams.” She lifted her hand and wiped her eye. If she were wiping away a tear, Nora hadn’t seen one. “I was actually a really good student in high school. Not quite straight A’s, but always more A’s than B’s in any given semester. I was athletic. Cheerleader, ran track. Lots of friends. When I met this boy named Ryan, I fell in love for the very first time. Head over heels. I was in deep.”

  “Is Ryan Grace’s father?”

  Carly nodded. “He was popular, handsome, star of the basketball team. He was two years older than me and I guess I felt honored that he even noticed me. He not only noticed me, he asked that we be a couple. I was over the moon.” She looked over at Grace who had slid off the couch and was inspecting the bookshelf in the corner. “About seven months after we started going out, I discovered I was pregnant.”

  The girl’s face blushed and she had a hard time making eye contact with Nora. “It was hard. My parents were furious. His were too. I can’t really blame them all. I knew better. I’m sure Ryan did too. It wasn’t the kind of life any of them wanted for us.”

  She stood and went after her daughter, guiding her back to the couch. “I brought a little bag for her with stuff to do but I left it in the car.”

  Nora stood and went to her. “Go ahead and get it. I’ll keep an eye on her.”

  Carly nodded and slipped out the front door. Nora brushed the hair back from the little girl’s face. “You’re a very pretty little girl, you know that?” Her heart rushed at the busy little thing, now exploring the contents of the coffee table; magazines, a candle and a wooden box. She opened the box to find it empty. “Your mama loves you, doesn’t she?”

  Grace was nodding when Carly returned. “Here you go, sweetie. I’ve got your coloring books and crayons in here, your puzzles and your books.”

  Grace looked over as her mom described the treasures, her eyes widening. Carly laid the bag on the floor beside the coffee table and Grace started pulling everything out, instantly entranced.

  “You’re such a good mom,” Nora murmured.

  “I do try. I’m better now than when she was a baby,” she said with a chuckle. “She’s easier to watch in some ways.”

  Carly settled back on the couch beside Nora.

  “So, is Ryan still in the picture?” Nora asked carefully.

  “Yes and no.” Carly sighed. “Not for me. We broke up, as a couple. But he tries to stay in Grace’s life. He accepts his responsibility. But he’s away at college in Chapel Hill. He’s studying to be an accountant.”

  Nora nodded, unsure of what to say.

  “His parents see Grace, and they pay a little bit of child support since Ryan doesn’t have an income yet. And my parents see her too. I’m lucky that even though they didn’t support my pregnancy, they all fell in love with this little girl the minute she was born.”

  “Well, of course they would!”

  “I have a little apartment in Myrtle Beach and I’m a waitress at a pretty popular steak house. I’m home with her all day and one of the grandparents watch her at night while I’m working. They rotate so it’s not too much for any one of them.” She reached out and plucked at her daughter’s wispy hair. “We’re making it okay, but I want more.” She fixed her eyes on Nora. “Way more.”

  A wave of excitement pelted through Nora. She could help Carly. Carly was exactly the type of client who could benefit from her services. “And that’s what I’m here for. Tell me your dreams for the future, Carly. We’ll work together to get you there.”

  Carly’s face lit up, her blue eyes beaming. “I’m glad I came here.”

  “Me too.”

  She kept her eyes on Grace as she went on, “I want to work in education. Having Grace makes me realize how much I love children. Not every child is lucky enough to have a good start. Regardless, I want everyone to have a good education. It’s the foundation of a successful life. I want to teach. But I want to move on after I’ve taught a while.”

  “Into administration?”

  “Yes. Leadership. Direction-setting. I want to work in low-income schools, the schools with the at-risk kids and the low graduation rates. I want to make sure that all children get a good education, good food, and lots of support from their teachers. I want to hire only the best teachers who share the same goals and dreams for the school that I do. I want to take a bad situation and work miracles and turn it all around. I want to set these kids up for success. I want to make a difference in their lives.”

  Nora watched her as she shared her vision. “That sounds awesome.”

  “I’m a long way away from it.”

  “That just means that you need a plan. A step by step plan so that you know where you’re going, and how long it’s going to take.”

  She nodded. “I’m young and I know I have a lot of growing and learning to do. I’m not afraid to work hard.”

  “The first thing that jumps out at me is that you’ll need to get your college degree. And probably your masters. Teachers require a bachelors, but principals need a higher level degree.”

  She chuckled. “Yeah, I know. And I agree that I need to make a roadmap through the next however many years. But I’ve been sort of focused on the step right in front of me.”

  “Which is?”

  “I have lots of free time in the daytime while I’m with Grace. All my evenings are tied up with the restaurant. I want to see if I can switch that around and do both school and work during the day. I’ll ask Grace’s grandparents to watch her during the day instead of at night and I’ll have my evenings free to be with her, and do my homework.”

  “Good plan.”

  “There’s a junior college near my house, and I’ve already looked into it. I’m sure I could get in. But what I’d like to do is work there, at the college. That would not only provide me free tuition as a benefit, but if I work enough hours, I could replace my waitress salary to pay my bills.”

  “I like it.”

  “They have an opening right now in their Admissions Department. It starts when the fall semester starts.”

  “Wow! Something tells me your life is about to change for the better. Right now. This is your year, Carly.”

  “Do you think so? Oh, I hope you’re right.”

  They got to work, putting their heads together as they leaned over the clipboard, brainstorming ideas. Soon they had the following list:

  Resume

  College application

  Admissions Department job application

  Self-assessment

  Mock interviews

  Killer outfit for interview(s)

  Carly exhaled a long mouthful of air, her eyes widened. “Oh, my gosh, how am I ever going to get all this done? I’m overwhelmed! I’ve never done any of this before.”

  “Carly, don’t panic. It’s what I’m here for. I can help you. I not only have a college degree, but I’ve got a law degree, and I have worked several decades as a lawyer. I was a partner in my firm in Philadelphia. When I moved here to open a Dress For Success affiliate, one of the things I was most excited about was … this. Helping young women prepare themselves for their futures. Helping you achieve your dreams. Not just providing you with a free outfit. But the entire gambit. Now, we will work together every step of the way.”

  She loo
ked a little less frightened and a little more receptive. They dug in. While Grace occupied herself with her activities, they attacked the list. With Nora asking pointed questions, and Carly providing answers about her background, Nora filled in a resume template on her laptop computer. After a half hour, they had a rough draft which they continued to tweak.

  Next item?

  Carly directed Nora to the junior college’s website. They easily found the application for admission and filled it out, Carly looking over her shoulder and giving her answers as she typed. With Nora’s guidance, the application was complete within forty minutes, and they hit Submit.

  They looked up and realized Grace had fallen asleep on the couch while they’d been working. Carly went over to her and draped a small blanket from her bag over her. She came back to where she and Nora were working. “I think we can start on #3, as long as I’m not keeping you from something else you need to be doing.”

  “Nope. Let’s knock it out.”

  They went to a different part of the college website and pulled up the job description for the Admissions Department position. They read it and tried to map different experiences that Carly had had, to each of the requirements in the posting. She didn’t have something for everything, but between her school experiences, her work experiences, and just plain life experiences with raising a baby, Nora felt she was well-qualified for the position. The application required a resume to be attached, and since they’d started today with a brand new resume, that part was easy. Much of the app was fill in the blank. The challenge was the four essay-type questions at the end.

  “Here, you come sit down. You’re in the driver’s seat on this section.”

  Carly did as Nora asked. She looked at the screen and read aloud, “What kind of environment would you want to encourage if you worked in the college’s Admissions Office?” She looked at Nora. “The people coming into the Admissions Office are feeling insecure, unsure. They don’t know if they have what it takes to get in the door. If I worked in the Admissions Office, I’d take care to make every single person who walked through that door feel welcome, and worthy and important. Now, whether or not they get accepted, that wouldn’t be my job, I’d guess. But that doesn’t mean that everyone can’t feel important on the day that they apply.”

  Nora beamed her approval. “Excellent answer! Go ahead and write it up and I’ll look it over when you’re done.”

  The girl took off typing and Nora observed first, that she was an excellent typist, and second, when she read over Carly’s efforts, that she was also an excellent writer. “Nice job. Next!”

  “What is the biggest challenge that you think junior colleges in America face at this time?” She looked over thoughtfully at Nora, who stayed quiet, giving her the chance to think. “Hmmm. I would think it’s meeting the needs of the community. The needs of a junior college would be diverse. Some students go there to get a head start on their Bachelor’s degree before they transfer to a university. Some students go there to study a trade and get a certificate so they can work a certain job. Some students want to go at night, some during the day. And the teachers … is that a challenge too? Do junior colleges pay their teachers competitive salaries? Do they stay for long careers, or is teaching at a junior college a starting point, and then they get jobs at four-year institutions and they’re constantly rehiring? I don’t know the answer to that, but I would guess it could be a challenge they face.”

  The girl was amazing. Although, why Nora was surprised at that, she wasn’t sure. Carly had told her she’d been close to a straight A student, and had just taken a detour when she’d become pregnant. But what a waste it would be if Carly didn’t achieve her dreams of going to college and working in education, making a difference in children’s lives.

  They discussed each of the four questions, and within an hour Carly had a fully completed job application. Nora was impressed with her answers, and hoped she wasn’t biased in thinking she must be one of the most qualified candidates for the job. She pressed Submit.

  “Next steps: keep me posted. If you get an interview for the Admissions job, then we move on to the rest of the items on our list.”

  Carly nodded and perused their list. “What’s a self-assessment again?”

  “I find that the best interviews are with people who know themselves inside and out. Tell me what you’re good at, tell me what you struggle with. Tell me what you want, and what you don’t want. Don’t just tell me you’re perfect for every job and you have no weaknesses! I’ll see through that in seconds flat. I’ll put you through an exercise that will help you get straight in your head all those facts. And then, you can talk confidently about it in your interview.”

  “If I get an interview.”

  “When you get an interview.”

  Nora went into the kitchen and poured two glasses of sweet tea, and they were enjoying the sticky goodness when Grace woke up. Carly put her glass on a coaster and pulled her daughter over for a hug. “I really have to get her home. I work in two hours, and we always try to have some playtime together before I go.”

  “She sure was a good girl while you and I worked.”

  “Thank you, Nora. And not just for saying that. For everything. I feel really good about this. I couldn’t have done all this without you and now I have a clearer vision of where I’m going.”

  Nora waved her hand. “It’s all inside you. I just helped you get it out and on paper.”

  “And I didn’t even look at the clothes!” Carly said with a pout.

  “Once you get your interview scheduled, you’ll come back, we’ll do the self-assessment, we’ll practice interview questions and answers, and we’ll find you the perfect interview suit. They won’t know what hit them when you walk in the door. In fact, they might want to skip you over Admissions Representative and straight to Dean of the College!”

  Carly laughed heartily. She gathered Grace’s things and walked her to the door, holding her hand. She turned to Nora. “Do you mind if I …” And she threw herself into Nora’s arms. A wave of contentment ran through Nora.

  She stood at the front door for a few minutes after Carly left, praying her thanksgiving to God for putting her in the exact right place.

  Word was getting out. The advertising of Nora’s new venture was working and the place was hopping. Although she wanted to be flexible with walk-in traffic, she preferred scheduled appointments so she could map out her days with plenty of time to help each client. Each woman started with at least twenty minutes of conversation while Nora completed the Client Questionnaire. Then, depending on what the client’s goals were, Nora would steer them in the right direction with next steps. It amazed her how different each client was.

  She had an appointment yesterday with Suzanne, a college senior who took out loans to pay for tuition and expenses. She’d started her job search and was thrilled to get an interview with a good company offering a position in her field. She wanted to invest in a good interview suit, but was shocked to see how much one would cost. Knowing that the loans would come due just after graduation, she decided to visit the Dress For Success showroom. Suzanne had a hard-to-fit size, since her top half was a different size than her bottom half, but Nora was able to mix and match through her vast wardrobe. When Suzanne walked out the door, she had a perfect suit for her interview, all of Nora’s good wishes, and a promise to report back with her results.

  Nora was busy, and that meant she was happy, fulfilled.

  Nora was closing up shop for the day when the phone rang. She answered, and before she could even give her greeting, an excited voice yelled, “I got the interview! I got the interview! Oh Nora, do you believe it? I got it!”

  Nora laughed. In her line of work, there could’ve been any number of people with the same news, but she knew immediately who it was. “Carly! Congratulations! When is it?”

  “It’s Thursday!”

  “Then you better come over tomorrow for your self-assessment and mock interview.” She ope
ned her laptop to look at her calendar. “I have an opening at nine.”

  “I’ll be there.”

  The next morning, Carly and Grace arrived and Nora pulled the mother and daughter into a group hug. “I knew you could do it! So, the resume and application did their job. Now, you have to sell yourself in person.”

  “I know. I honestly haven’t interviewed much at all. I never got around to college interviews, and the steakhouse gave me the job with just a short conversation.”

  “Let’s choose to look at it this way: you have no bad habits to break. We’ll start from scratch and teach you the proper way to interview.”

  They moved to the dining room table and Nora facilitated the self-assessment. The purpose of the exercise was to dig deep into the interviewee’s past experiences, goals, motivations, strengths, weaknesses so that when asked those type of questions in the interview, the answers were right there at the surface. The activity provides deeper, well thought out answers.

  With Nora’s guidance, Carly considered each assessment question honestly, analyzing her goals and motivations. Nora recognized with triumph the moment Carly discovered the power of the tool and how it could help her put her best foot forward in the interview, and present herself in the best light to demonstrate her strong candidacy for the job. They moved straight into a mock interview. Nora threw out a question and Carly thought for a second, considered her recently-revealed assessments and came back with an informed, fluent answer.

  Nora couldn’t have been prouder of her, had she been Nora’s own child.

  After ninety minutes, Nora called it to a halt. “You’re going to nail it, Carly. You got it.”

  Excitement beamed from her eyes. “You think so?”

  “I know so. What you need to do is, over the next two days before your interview, go over this stuff in your mind. Keep it as fresh as it is now. If you want to come back for a refresher, just let me know. But you are ready. They’d be crazy not to give you the job. You’re a perfect fit.”

  Carly visibly relaxed, exhaled a breath, and then said, “Oh! What about my outfit?”