Page 32 of Under Daddy's Spell

That an air conditioner could freeze in ninety-plus-degree heat sounded absurd, but she didn’t want to challenge him and risk ticking him off when he was her only hope for a bit of relief.

“I’ll turn it down to sixty-eight to see if that helps, but that’s the best I can do. Have you thought about renting or buying a couple of portable units until it’s fixed?”

“I’ve got three fans going now.”

“No, sweetheart, portable air conditioners.”

She stared at him for a moment. Could a solution, even temporary, be that simple? “I didn’t know they make those.”

“They’re only effective in small spaces,” he explained. “They won’t cool the entire store, but one at the register, in your dining and reading area, and at your coffee bar might help get you through until the repair.”

“Are they expensive?”

“That I don’t know. I’ve never had to buy one. You might be able to rent one cheaper.”

“I’ll check into it. Thanks, Seth. Maybe between lowering the thermostat and you getting on Mr. Thompson, I won’t have to resort to that.”

“I’m surprised Jordan didn’t offer to go to bat for you with Thompson.”

She didn’t know how to reply, so she said nothing, but she couldn’t hide the flood of heat that rose in her cheeks.

“I was off this weekend, but I heard there were fireworks between you two. Don’t tell me he offered, and you declined.”

“Okay. I won’t tell you.”

He chuckled. “Oh, darlin’. As my grandfather used to tell me on the way to the woodshed growing up, stubbornness is a virtue only when you’re right. You should remember that when dealing with Jordan.”

“Why?” she asked, cheeks still flaming.

He didn’t answer as he moved from behind the counter and headed into the gym.

“Where are you going?”

“To lower the thermostat.”

“Thank you,” she called after him.

“No problem, Tessa. I’d be miserable in your shoes.”

As she walked out, she had a nagging sense of unease that she’d misjudged Jordan’s manager. He hadn’t mentioned everything he’d done last week, not the newsletter or the signs, and certainly not the thermostat cover. He’d quietly tried to take care of the problem. And in return, she’d told his boss he was useless.

Tessa felt about two inches tall.

When this was over, she’d have to make it up to him.

Her next stop was Thompson Property Management. Because she seemed to have only bad luck lately, of course, he wasn’t in. She made an urgent plea to his secretary for help.

“I’m sorry,” the thirty-something buxom blonde replied. “He hasn’t checked in with me in over a week.”

“Is he on vacation?”

“No. That’s just Mr. Thompson’s MO,” she replied with an apologetic shrug.

When she walked into her bookstore at eleven a.m., it was no cooler. In fact, the temperature was pushing ninety both inside and out.

After the lunch rush, which wasn’t much of one, she was back in her car, not because it had air-conditioning like Angie teased, but because she needed to do something.

Her destination this time, The Home Depot.

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