PART 27

My bookkeeping business grew steadily enough that Lucia urged me to hire someone part-time.

The idea startled me.

I had spent so long being told I did not contribute anything that imagining myself as an employer seemed faintly ridiculous.

I interviewed a young woman named Hannah, recently returned to work after caring for her father.

She explained the gap in her résumé before I even asked, as though she expected to be rejected for it.

“I know four years is a long time,” she said.