April Stars by Hildred Billings

Author:Hildred Billings [Billings, Hildred]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Tags: series, romance, Actress
Publisher: Barachou Press
Published: 2019-04-08T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10

JALEN

“You cut it closer and closer every year, Jay.” Hesper Chess, the town’s only certified CPA, shook her head as she presented a new set of incomprehensible numbers to Jalen’s weary eyes. “I’m gonna file these as soon as you leave, you know. That doesn’t give you a lot of time to pay what you owe.” Hesper cocked her head. Frizzy hair dangled from the loose bun stacked on top of her head. Many whispers around Paradise Valley suggested that Hesper’s hair only got that frizzy when she hadn’t washed it in a while. Considering her hectic job keeping the self-employed (and some employed) twits in town on top of their taxes, was it a wonder that Hesper always looked like she had just rolled out of bed? Her baggy white sweater looked like it sorely needed a few washes. Her fingernails were a tad dirty, and the bags beneath her eyes suggested this was, in fact, the worst time of year. “You sure you don’t want me to file you an extension? Lot easier to do it now than to wait until after the deadline.”

“I know how this works.” Jalen had been running her own business for a few years, after all. Every year, Hesper rides my ass about quarterly payments, deductions, and deadlines. Jalen hadn’t been lying when she told Fleur she had to be up a little early. Not for work, but something like it. Filing my taxes at ten in the morning. Hesper looked like she had been up half the night working on them. Or, at least, she was working on somebody’s. “I should be able to pay off what I owe before the fifteenth.”

Hesper continued to glance at her as if Jalen were full of shit. To be fair, Jalen wasn’t great at math, or understanding the tax man, for that matter. Wasn’t that why she hired the big professional in town? Sure, Hesper cost a few dollars, but it was better than Jalen obsessing over her forms and missing deductions. She always figured that the money she spent on Hes was more than earned back in the deductions alone!

Yet that also meant Jalen didn’t have the greatest track record with her personal finances. She was still paying off 2015, for example. After that come to Jesus moment, she sat down with her mother back in Newport and figured out a budget that would allow her to set aside the money she needed for tax time. Those quarterly payments still eluded her, however. Did the IRS really expect her to have the money every quarter to make a payment?

(Absolutely, the bastards.)

“I can pay it,” Jalen reiterated. “I’ve got some money coming in.” She looked at her total owed again. The number wasn’t shocking, but Jalen had to admit she worried about how she was going to pay it. Before Fleur walked into her life, anyway.

No, I don’t expect her to pay my taxes for me! That was ludicrous. Instead, Jalen would put that money toward what she owed so she could continue with a clean slate.

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