LITMIR.BIZ

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Center has the keys to my house. Can you point me in the right direction? I went to the director’s office, but no one was there.”

      “That’s because I was in the kitchen,” Mandy said.

      “Have a cuppa tea and a pastry, luv,” Lou Ella urged. She’d come from England as a young bride, and her British accent became stronger when she was flustered. “We’ve plenty, and you can relax after your trip.”

      “That’s kind of you,” he said, politely inclining his head. “But I should get my car unloaded. And I need to see my office to drop off a box of professional files.”

      Mandy set her cup on the table and jumped out of her chair. “Uh, sure, but about your office, I—”

      “You’re the director?”

      “Last time I checked. I’m Mandy Colson. I’ve been here only a few months myself.”

      “Then thank you.”

      What a way to get introduced to the new city manager, with the group gossiping about him. Mr. Whittier must have heard them, at least that last part about him being so good-looking. Dorothy’s reaction had proved that much.

      Mandy ran a hand through her hair. Not that she had contributed anything inappropriate to the conversation; she was scatterbrained, but not that scatterbrained. It was her sense of humor that landed her in trouble more than her impulsiveness. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. Being impulsive got her into messes, too.

      “I’ll get them right now,” Mandy said, anxious to get away from the gazes of the women. She didn’t want them to realize she found Daniel Whittier attractive. It was strange. He wasn’t that much better looking than Bill Rollins in Phoenix, but Bill had never made her pulse skip.

      Daniel followed after a brief hesitation. In the small rotunda at the center of City Hall, Mandy stopped and gestured. Two hallways branched off it, with double doors at the end of each. She pointed to a marble staircase.

      “Isn’t that the most amazing banister?” Mandy said. “Makes you want to be five years old and slide down it a few dozen times.”

      Daniel was staring at her with an unreadable expression that made her even more uncomfortable.

      “Oh?” was all he said.

      “Yeah. I confess I even tried it one evening.”

      His face closed up even more. Mandy wished she hadn’t said anything, but when she was uncomfortable, it was hard not to say whatever came into her head.

      “The section behind us is dedicated to the Senior Center,” Mandy explained, trying to return to rationality. Daniel Whittier had been hired after interviewing on Skype, so he hadn’t seen City Hall. “You already know about my office. Yours is farther down the north hallway, past mine. Most of the other administrative offices are upstairs.”

      He glanced around—probably orienting himself—with the same inscrutable expression on his face. “I suppose I expected the city manager’s place of business to be more toward the front, or adjacent to the other administrative personnel.”

      “Don’t worry. Your office is nice, although not right at the mo—”

      “I’m sure it’s fine.”

      She mentally groaned as they walked through the door that already bore his name, neatly painted on the frosted glass. A group had been assembling a cookbook in there, and the job was only half done—pages were spread over every free surface. Since the city manager’s office was the only unused space in the building, the mayor had suggested using it as a work area.

      “Sorry about the clutter,” she said. “That’s what I was trying to tell you about. The scholarship board decided to raise money by selling a cookbook, and they would have finished yesterday, but they had to stop because a guy ran into a cow and then skidded into the power lines. The cow is okay, they think, but we lost electricity until it was too late to finish collating. It was one of those foggy days they sometimes get here, so it was awful gloomy in here without lights. They’ll have it out of your way this afternoon. They wouldn’t have used this room if they’d known...I mean, we didn’t think you were arriving until tomorrow. And there’s other cleanup that’s planned.”

      He stared as if he thought she was nuts, but she’d simply repeated what the volunteer firemen had told her. Not that it had been necessary to provide all the details. What was the matter with her, anyway? Was her tongue wagging out of control because he was the best-looking thing on two legs she’d met in years? She ought to have more sense. Or maybe the problem was his stiff, buttoned-down style—it reminded Mandy of her parents.

      “I talked with the mayor’s administrative assistant and told her I was coming today and would start work in the morning.”

      Mandy grimaced. “Yikes, we just heard you’d be here tomorrow. The welcome committee assumed that was when you were getting into town, and would start work the next day.”

      He rubbed his temples as if he had a headache, and his voice held a tone of determined patience when he replied, “That’s all right. I won’t need the office today and can wait to bring anything in. How about the house keys? I could go to a motel if it’s more convenient.”

      “Heavens no. The house is mostly ready, except for some little stuff the committee planned to take care of tonight. The keys are in my office.” He followed and watched as she picked up her handbag.

      “You keep official city keys in your purse?” he asked with a slightly raised eyebrow.

      “Not all of them,” she said, briefly annoyed. What right did he have to ask questions about where the keys were kept? Well, maybe as city manager he did have the right. Besides, they were now his house keys; she ought to have locked them in her desk or something. “I went over yesterday to help spruce up the place and they suggested I take the keys then, since I was supposed to be holding them for you. It’s a great house, by the way.”

      There they were. She separated the key ring from a handful of gum wrappers and handed the keys to him.

      “You must chew quite a bit of gum.”

      “Not me. Bobby Tyler left these on the porch. It was getting late so I stuffed them in my bag rather than going around and dropping them in the garbage can.”

      “I see.” His jaw resembled granite.

      Wow, she thought. Daniel might be a hunk, but he also seemed mighty uptight. Of course, that was mostly a feeling she’d gotten from his body language and the cool look in his eyes. He hadn’t actually said or done anything overly stuffy—he also hadn’t been especially friendly, but it wasn’t fair to judge him for that.

      * * *

      DANIEL TOOK A deep breath. No doubt things would have been in better order if there hadn’t been a miscommunication about his arrival date. He would have to keep reminding himself about that. It wasn’t easy; he was tired from driving all night, and seeing the mess in his new office only enhanced his fatigue.

      What else did he expect?

      This was a small town...a really small town. He was accustomed to communities with extensive staffing—someday he hoped to manage a major city. Excitement charged through Daniel at the thought. The only thing better would be heading up emergency services in a large metropolitan area, but that was a tougher career path.

      In the meantime, he had Willow’s Eve. And he couldn’t complain; he’d known the town was small and wouldn’t have as many services. But he had been so anxious to leave Southern California that he’d taken the job when it was offered—life had gotten sticky down there once his ex-wife started dating the mayor. And to think, she used to say how much she hated having to be polite to “the schmuck” at Christmas parties. Her attitude had changed rapidly once their divorce was finalized...or maybe the schmuck was the reason she’d walked out in the first place.

      Hell,

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