Page 4 of One Sweet Day I Found You

“Can I make it up to you?” she offered. “How about I buy you a coffee?”

“No. It’s okay.” He turned with a grin and headed for the counter. “Thanks, though.”

Courtney turned away, feeling terrible. She peered back at him one more time, flung the empty coffee cup into the trash, grabbed her luggage, and headed for the restroom to change.

Way to go, Court.

Strike two.

* * *

Courtney studiedthe pale blue walls of her new boss’s office from a chair facing his desk. A tasteful, modern sculpture of a ship sat on an end table under a stylishly dressed window. She neatened her pink, strappy top. It was one of the few things left in her suitcase that had still been clean.

Claude Beecham was a casually but smartly dressed man in his late forties. He sat behind the desk, mouth agape for what felt like minutes as Courtney explained the mishap. When she’d finished, he ran a hand over his slicked-back, dark hair and pushed a pair of reading glasses up to rest on the bridge of his nose.

“Seriously, how does a travel writer confuse something like that?” he finally said. “International date lines? Time zones? Booking travel correctly? I can understand the flight delay, but these are all important considerations for someone in your line of work. And our clients will expect more if this is your usual modus operandi.”

Wince. Apologies.

Latin—really? Invisible eye roll.

A few more embarrassing questions.

Finally, he relented. “Well, Ms. Price, I’m willing to let it slide because I needed you here yesterday,quite literally, but also metaphorically. I have no time to go through the hiring process all over again if I were to let you go right now. Do you think you can keep up from here on out?”

“Yes, sir. Absolutely.”

He went on. “You’re just going to have to promise me that nothing foolish like this will happen again. I want the assignments posted on time and not a comma out of place. Do you understand?”

“I do. You have my word.”

“Good, because I’ll be watching.”

Courtney sat up straighter.

“Thank you so much. You won’t regret it. Sir.”

“Fine. Now, you’ll spend a few hours here with Josh, learning how you’ll receive the assignments and how you’ll post your stories for editing before they go live. And then, I’d like you to check in with us every Friday here at the office for an hour or two. Otherwise, you’ll be out in the field. You do have your own mobile set-up? We don’t have a full-time computer for you here.”

“I sure do.”

“Good.”

“Your first assignment is two days from now on the shores of Cave Point County Park, nine a.m, sharp. I trust you’ll have enough time to get settled and jump in a kayak Thursday morning?”

Vigorous nod.

He held up two fingers and grinned. “That’stwodays. One, two. Think you can keep it straight?”

Courtney rolled her eyes playfully, her cheeks turning rosy again.Silly me, she thought dryly.

“Absolutely, sir.”

Moments later, Josh walked her into one of the unoccupied rooms and pulled up an extra chair. She sat down and fired up her laptop.

“All right, let’s get started,” he said.

Whew.

Still in the game.

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