Page 99 of The Calendar of New Beginnings
Lucy sighed. “Why don’t you come inside? I’ll make some tea and tell you. Just promise me you won’t turn all crazy on me and become Caretaker Mom.”
“Like I’d agree to something like that in advance,” her mother said, grabbing her forearm and leading her toward the house. “Do I look stupid?”
“Never,” Lucy answered. “But I’d still like you to agree to try and be reasonable when you hear why I’m back.” Hopefully, it wouldn’t change her mind about Lucy’s suitability for doing the calendar.
Her mother stopped her as she opened the front door. “It’s that bad?”
“It’s not great.”
Her mother pushed her inside. “Then I’ll try, and whatever it is, we’ll face it together.”
Lucy could live with that. She headed to the kitchen to make tea.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Moira finished up her call for a potential job in Denver and tried to whoop and holler about the offer they’d laid out. She’d crushed the interview last week. Blown them out of the water. Now they were offering her a fabulous position with greater responsibility and a better title. Plus, the offer was in her salary range and came with great benefits. She’d told them she would think about it.
But it wasn’t the job she wanted. It was, at best, a good Plan B. What in the world was taking Chase Parker so long to get back to her? She’d run into Evan at Margie’s bakery the other day, but he’d held up his hands and said the ball was in Chase’s court. She’d gritted her teeth to keep from asking more questions.
The man was thorough. Industry standards suggested good human resource practice was to ask for three references. Chase had asked for five and checked them all personally, which showed his seriousness. A man of his position didn’t usually check references. She was so fed up with the waiting. Being without work gave her way too much time to think about things. She needed to take asecond Latin dance class or something to release all this frustration.
The doorbell rang, and Moira went to answer it, grateful for a distraction.
She was surprised to see Lucy on the other side of the door. “Hi, Moira,” she said, sounding a little nervous.
Of course, Moira knew why she would be nervous. Her mother was deeply upset about the fight between Lucy and her mother. “Hi, Lucy. If you’ve come to see Mom, she’s out at the store.”
She shifted on her feet. “I’m here to see you, actually.”
Moira tilted her head, puzzled. Something told her this wasn’t a social call. “Okay. Come in. We can talk in the kitchen.”
Once Lucy was settled at the table, Moira asked if she wanted anything to drink. Lucy’s request for water confirmed she wasn’t here for a drink and a laugh.
Moira set the glass of water in front of her and sat down beside her. “What’s on your mind, Lucy?”
Her exhalation was more an explosion of pent-up energy. “I just spoke with my mother about the calendar, and it’s going forward as I’d envisioned. I assume your mom mentioned the fight.”
“In epic terms,” she said, making a face. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be,” Lucy said, running her finger over the blue flowers on the white tablecloth. “Things are better. For the moment. We still have a long way to go.”
“Rome wasn’t built in a day,” Moira said, wishing she had more than clichés to offer.
“So…about the calendar,” Lucy continued, taking a quick sip of her water. “You might have wondered what was going on at Jill’s photo shoot.”
Moira blanked. “You’ll have to help me out here.”
Lucy laughed self-consciously. “So, you didn’t realize I was having trouble taking photos that day?”
“You seemed pretty nervous, and I remember you having some issues with your new camera, but I don’t remember thinking anything was wrong.”
“Whew!”Lucy put her hands on her head and laughed a little harder. “I told your brother I was sure you were on to me, but he said you hadn’t said a word to him.”
On to her? “Lucy, now I’m really confused. Help me out here.”
Lucy lowered her hands to the table and gripped the edge. Moira’s gaze flew to her face, and suddenly she knew the other woman was about to confess something big.
“Let me tell you why I returned to Dare Valley. And why I need your help with the calendar.”
