Page 101 of The Calendar of New Beginnings
“What did he do?”
“Besides visit my mother as an emissary of peace while she was in the hot tub?” Lucy asked, rolling her eyes.
Moira couldn’t help it. She burst out laughing. “I hope he burned his eyes out. I mean, I love my brother, but sometimes he gets these ideas in his thick skull about fixing things.”
“I know!” Lucy said, and they shared a smile of understanding. “But he’s pretty great, and it did end up helping. I’m trying to decide how angry I am.”
“We’ve all struggled with that conundrum at one point or another,” Moira said. “You’ve known him forever, so you know he means well. I’m sure you’ll find a way to draw the line with him.”
“One would hope,” Lucy said, pulling her into a hug. “Thanks, Moira. I was so scared to tell anyone what wasgoing on with me, which is why I kinda…kept you at arm’s length. I’m sorry about that. I hope we can be friends.”
“That would be great, Lucy,” Moira said, wishing she could high-five herself. “I’m honored you trusted me enough to ask for my help with the calendar.”
“Well,” Lucy said, shrugging, “you Hales are a pretty special lot. Tell your mom I said hi.”
“Will do,” Moira said and saw her to the door.
As she walked back to the kitchen, she was smiling. Lucy O’Brien had just agreed to be her friend and let her help with the calendar photos. Talk about awesome.
She scanned the photos again. It felt good to be involved in something that mattered. If she got the job at the Artemis Center, her whole career would be devoted to making a difference in the world. She’d had a long time to self-reflect over the past several weeks, and no question, that was what she wanted.
Dammit, Chase Parker! Call me back and offer me the job,she thought.You know you want to.
Then she realized she wasn’t going to give him another day to call her. She had an offer in hand. Why not call and tell him about it?
When he came on the line, she went for honesty. “I have a pretty competitive offer from another company in Denver. You checked five of my references personally. How much longer are you going to take to offer me this position?”
Because her gut told her the job should be hers.
“Hello to you too, Moira,” he said in that even-Steven baritone voice of his. “Evan said you were pestering him for a progress report at the bakery.”
She made a face. Good thing he couldn’t see it over the phone. “I don’t pester. I ask reasonable questions.”
“Oh,”he said, sounding amused. “Is that how you’d qualify the question you just asked me?”
“Truth or dare,” she said, putting it all out there. “When was the last time you personally checked five references on someone?”
“You mean other than the defense minister of the former Yugoslavia?” he asked blandly.
She knew better than to ask if he was joking. “Exactly.”
“Our HR director sent the offer to our lawyers for final review yesterday,” Chase said. “I’ll give them a call and make sure they know I want the final copy ASAP. Would that be agreeable to you, Ms. Hale?”
More than.She executed a salsa step, grinning like a loon. “You can call me Moira,” she told him primly to get his goat, “and yes, it would be.”
“I’m going to like working with you,” he said, chuckling softly over the line.
“You’d better have put together a better offer than the other one I have on the table,” she told him. Okay, she wasn’t planning on taking it regardless, but still… He needed to understand what others were willing to offer.
“Don’t try and bluff me. You don’t want that other job, but you’ll be happy to know Quid-Atch has a reputation for offering its people top dollar. It encourages company loyalty and productivity.”
God, he was attractive when he talked all corporate like that. “Don’t forget about employee retention.”
“Exactly.” His soft chuckle made her smile. “Did I mention top executives receive signing bonuses?”
She jumped in place. Forget the salsa. “No, you forgot to mention that,” she replied, trying to keep the excitement out of her voice.
“Care to ask what that might be?” he said, the gleeapparent in his tone now. “I have a mind to break through that exterior reserve you put on so well.”
