Page 45 of The Calendar of New Beginnings
When Jill answered the door with a gurgling Mia in her arms, Moira couldn’t help but laugh. They were both wearing matching purple tutus.
“I love the look,” she said, patting the puffy tulle around Mia’s chubby baby waist. “Did you have them made?”
Jill gave her a smacking kiss on the cheek. “Yep. A woman in town sewed them for us. Brian is praying for a boy next time. I told him he has a whole lifetime of girly stuff ahead of him, so he’d better get used to tutus and glitter and ribbons.”
“Brian’s a good egg,” Moira said, following Jill inside.
Violet, cute as a button in her own matching tutu, screeched when they entered the kitchen. Moira smiled at the woman holding the toddler and then shifted her gaze to the famous billionaire beside her. Well, surprise, surprise. They had company.
“Hey, Margie,” Moira said casually. “I’m going to come by the bakery tomorrow morning for another one of your fabulous cinnamon rolls. They’re an integral part of my mental health program while I’m looking for a new job.”
Jill’s former barista at Don’t Soy With Me, now the owner of Hot Cross Buns Bakery, gave her a brilliant smile. “We appreciate your patronage. Moira, have you met my fiancé?” she asked, setting the toddler down on the floor. “Wow, I still can’t believe I’m calling you that.”
The man in question ran his hand down her short black hair and gazed at her adoringly. “It’s currently my favorite word in the English language.” He crossed the room and extended his hand to Moira. “Evan Michaels.”
“Nice to meet you,” she said, trying to keep it cool. She couldn’t very well say,So, you’re the billionaire everyone is talking about.“The endowment you gave Emmits Merriam for the new inventor’s center is very impressive.”
“It’s going to be so much fun,” he said, looking young and playful. It was obvious he meant it.
Moira suddenly remembered she and Evan were the same age. And didn’t that make her feel like a bit of a loser. Here she was cruising for her first six-figure job while this guy had made billions with his top-secret inventions for the military.
“What can I get you to drink?” Jill asked in an odd tone. She was crouching on the floor, pretending to play with the twin’s blocks as she covertly watched the rest of them.
Moira’s radar went on. Jill had lied to her about it being just the two of them this afternoon. Something was up.
“Jill, you have the L upside down,” she said dryly, gesturing to the letters her cousin had placed together to spell Love.
Her cousin corrected it immediately. “Oops. Brian and I are trying to teach the twins special words.”
Moira narrowed her eyes and walked over to her. Kneeling down, she pulled over the blocks she required. “T-R-U-T-H. Truth.”
Mia clapped her baby hands while Violet grabbed the H and started gumming the corner, drooling everywhere.
“Am I that obvious?” Jill asked.
Moira gave the red curls falling over her cousin’s shoulder a good-natured yank. “As your hair.”
“She did it for me,” Evan said, crouching down beside them. “Jill thought you might be able to help me.”
“Help you?” Moira asked, so surprised Mia managed to unbalance her by climbing onto her leg.
He gave a lopsided grin. “Yeah. You know about my Artemis Institute of Innovation. That saves a lot of explanation.”
She stayed where she was, sitting on Jill’s kitchen floor as Mia snuggled in her lap. “Hard not to. It’s the talk of the town.”
“Right!” He grabbed one of the blocks. “I’ve been thinking about who I need to hire to make it work, and Jill explained how Mac Maven specifically recruited her for his new hotel because of her local knowledge and connections.”
Moira suddenly knew where this was going.
“Jill told me you’re a successful human resources director at a top Denver engineering firm who’s looking for a new job, and she got to thinking?—”
“I’ll bet,” Moira said, and the poor guy froze for a moment. “Please continue.”
“I need someone to manage the center. I’m not talking about the finances or anything. This person will act as the director—they’ll be in charge of hiring and managing staff, meeting with clients and press. The scope will be beyond human resources, but Jill says you’re a jack of all trades and good with people. And I want the person to be young. There will be a lot of students involved. I’m hoping to include more budding inventors over time. It’s important to me to foster a creative, hip environment for inventing.”
Moira had to blink a few times before she answered. “You think I might be that person?” Her mind reeled. This job would be in Dare Valley, like her mom had been hoping. Had she and Jill dreamed this one up together?
“I’d like to talk to you more about it, and I’ll need to see your resume and have my CFO, Chase Parker, interview you, but yes, I’d like to see if it would suit both of our interests.”
