Page 30 of His Curvy Distraction

Her laughter said she got it. “Okay, fine. You’re not going to talk to him. But Amelia should.”

“She might, but even if she does, we’re still not going to have enough. The entire budget we have right now wouldn’t cover the cost of a building. Or the other work. I know I can’t make up for all of it, but anything I can do myself helps the budget.”

“Unless you get yourself killed,” Daisy said softly.

“I survived,” I said, knowing that was a real possibility if I hadn’t gotten out of that hole. I didn’t text Daisy when I went out there because I was so flustered about the new building idea. If I hadn’t gotten out of there, she would have been the only one who suspected where I was or knew I was missing. It could have been bad.

“I think you need to plan a fundraiser. Sooner rather than later.”

“You know I’m no good at things like that.”

“You’re also no good at digging up the ground and not falling into the hole you made.”

I scowled at her.

“You know I’m right. And you know everyone will help.”

“And you know I suck at talking to people.”

“You tell yourself that, but when you talk about these kids and this camp, it’s different. People will see that. And you won’t have to do it alone. I’ll help, and Amelia will hopefully help. And this is important. It’s not like you’re trying to get people to give you money for the hell of it. You have a purpose, and you have a clear mission. We need to make this happen.”

“I don’t know, Daisy. I just?—”

“Something small. We can ask Hudson if we can use his bar, and talk to Chelsea and Haley and all the women at book club. I’m sure there will be people willing to help.”

“We should talk to Goldie. She’s good at these things.”

“Ooh, good idea. Yes. All right, we’re going to book club on Sunday so we can get things moving on this.”

I grumbled but knew she was right. I needed money to make the summer camp amazing. I couldn’t do it all without some help.

Guess that resolution was going to happen after all.

8

Omar

I wasn’t a fan of mornings, but I knew getting to work early was for the best. Especially when I had a meeting scheduled with Amelia and Natalie. I refused to think about Natalie and that kiss. Two weeks and I was fooling myself if I thought I’d forgotten. But I couldn’t think about it. I had to focus, do my job, and be objective.

Not only that, but now that it was the new calendar year, I had to start thinking about my election campaign.

First, the meeting.

My early morning was quiet with emails and a few phone calls, but nothing major. I signed off on two projects. One was to repair the gazebo at Catherine Park after an ice storm chipped away at the support structure. The other was to have the trees around the schools trimmed back so they didn’t obstruct views from the schools to the parking lot.

I was ready when Jane said Amelia and Natalie had arrived. That’s what I told myself.

Then they walked in. Amelia shook my hand and asked how I was doing. It was a challenge to answer her because I was focused on Natalie.

She wore a dark tee and jeans, but the way she moved said she was injured.

“What happened?” I asked her, needing to know she was okay.

Natalie looked at Amelia, her eyes wide and scared.

“I fell,” Natalie whispered.

“Are you okay?”

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