Page 102 of The Calendar of New Beginnings
It couldn’t be that much, could it? Normal signing bonuses ran anywhere from two to ten thousand in her line of work. But this company wasn’t exactly normal. “Okay, shoot.”
“Are you sitting down?”
There was no mistaking it. He was laughing at her. “I’m fine standing.”
He named the number. Moira’s knees gave out, and she struggled her way into a chair. For a moment, the only thing she heard was the buzzing in her own ears.Holy freaking baloney.
“Are you still there? I assume that’s acceptable since you don’t have a witty comeback for me.”
He had her number all right. “Does it come with a company car?” she asked, just to be punchy.
He sputtered, and this time she laughed silently.
“In Dare Valley? Please. You’ll have to drive like two miles at best.”
“But I’ll be working in a high-tech facility,” she pressed, loving the process of negotiation, particularly with him. “Evan has a Maserati.”
“This week,” Chase said with a sigh. “And Moira? The whole car ploy is a no-go, but please do keep those kinds of tactics in mind when you’re meeting with potential donors to the Artemis Center. I like people who push for more.”
Oh yeah, this was going to be fun. “I’ll look forward to seeing the offer.”
“Really?”he drawled. “Please don’t sign it in purple ink. I understand from Evan that your cousin Jill has a fondness for purple tutus. I wasn’t sure whether an affection forthat particular color runs in the family. I’ll only have to send back the contract, you see.”
“I don’t have a purple pen—or purple tutu, for that matter—so you’re safe,” she said dryly, tucking away the reminder that Evan apparently shared a great deal more than business impressions with Chase.
“Thank God. We’ll talk again once everything is official. You can jump up and down and cheer now.”
He hung up. And she did jump up and down, shouting the numbers of the signing bonus out loud.
She was going to be able to do something meaningful in the world, and that was important.
But she was also going to be able to pay for her new car in cash.
Like the calendar she was helping Lucy with, she had the makings of her own new beginning in Dare Valley.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Andy had this niggling feeling in the back of his mind that he really shouldn’t have talked to Lucy’s mom. Perhaps he should have left the moment he saw Ellen soaking in that hot tub. Matt sure as heck had laughed himself silly when he’d told him about the ordeal. He’d agreed Andy could never unsee that horror. Oh, and wouldn’t it be funny if Ellen ended up being Andy’s mother-in-law? his brother had teased. According to Matt, that was going to be a story for the kids he had with Lucy.
Was it any wonder Andy was stirred up inside?
Thinking about having kids with Lucy—seriouslythinking about it—had made him a little queasy. After all, he’d married Kim thinking it would last forever. That they would have babies and grow old together.
But Andy couldn’t deny that the thought of marrying Lucy made him happy. After waking up next to her this morning, he’d pretty much decided he wanted to wake up with her every morning. She was a snuggler, and he liked that. Plus, she laughed at normal things like bed head and bodily functions—not something every woman could do,he’d learned as a doctor. He liked the thought of them still swapping ice cream cones and wisecracks when they were eighty.
He loved her, but he’d been dancing around a future with her, letting her take the lead. It was time for him to admit he was in this for the long haul. To craft a possible vision of their future together for her to mull over. Funny how making that decision had erased his fear of losing her.
Lucy had been silent all afternoon despite a couple of texts he’d sent her to check in. That didn’t bode well. Her silence indicated the news of his unceremonious meeting with her mother might have reached her. He could be in deep shit for all he knew.
Well, as Uncle Arthur liked to say, he needed to pick up his Man Shovel and dig his way out. He was going to apologize to her for talking to her mother behind her back, whether she already knew about the hot tub chat or not.
Since Matt had continued to text him hot tub jokes after their brief call, he asked his brother to come over and watch Danny for a little while. Danny was already asleep by the time Matt and Jane arrived, so they were sitting on the couch browsing on Netflix when he left.
Only after he pulled into Lucy’s driveway did it occur to him that he should have brought a peace offering like roses or ice cream. Why the hell hadn’t he thought of that before? Because he was an idiot. He’d blame it on the shock of seeing her mom in the hot tub. Clearly it had shorted his brain.
But he couldn’t very well reverse out of her driveway. Not when she was already peering out her window to identify her caller.
She already had the door open as he walked down thepath to her front steps. “I’m still a little mad at you,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest.
