LITMIR.BIZ

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minutes to get through the introductions, and even then, when she sat on a comfortable armchair, Tess wasn’t sure who was who.

      Bree, of course, she recognized. But except for Rowena and Bree, Tess found herself staring at a room full of ridiculously good-looking men, from late twenties to eighty, so Penny must not be here.

      Tess worked to get the men straight. The oldest one was the ranch manager, Barton James. Then there was Dallas, Rowena’s husband, and a gorgeous blond named Gray, who apparently was married to Bree. The dark-haired guy was Max, Penny’s husband, even though Penny herself was nowhere to be seen.

      The youngest of the group, who had a rascal’s smile, freckles and every bit as much sex appeal as the older guys, was Dallas’s little brother, Mitch.

      Whew. She thought that was all. It was certainly enough.

      “Did Rowena even give you enough time to finish eating?” Dallas turned his shockingly blue eyes toward her from his perch on the piano stool. “If you had to give short shrift to Marianne’s prime rib, that’s a crime.”

      Oh, yes, that’s why this one looked familiar. He had been in Donovan’s tonight, too. He’d been in a sheriff’s uniform, and he’d left right after Jude did.

      “A crime? You planning to arrest me, Sheriff?” Rowena, who was passing him, bonked him on the head with a sheaf of papers she carried. “You know we’re desperate here. I couldn’t put prime rib ahead of Bell River.”

      “You don’t put anything ahead of Bell River.” He grabbed Rowena around her waist and drew her in with a chuckle. He put his lips against her stomach. “You hear that, Hatchling? You’ll have to come to Daddy if you need anything, because Mamma’s got a one-track mind.”

      Rowena shook her head in mock exasperation, but she ruffled her husband’s hair affectionately before pulling away and coming to sit near Tess.

      “I guess you’ve figured out that we want to offer you a job,” she said.

      “Yes.” Tess glanced around the room, finally noticing the elegant pencil-thin tree in the corner and the mistletoe dangling from the chandelier. “This does seem like a big crowd to bring in to tell me thanks but no thanks.”

      Rowena nodded. “Exactly. And I’m sure you’ve realized it’s a big crowd to bring in to offer you just a part-time massage therapist job, too. The truth is, we’re hoping you’ll accept a position that’s a little more important than that.”

      Tess folded her hands in her lap. Her heart had begun thrumming again. “What position is that?”

      “Well...” Rowena took a breath. Then she handed over the papers. “Spa director.”

      Tess wasn’t sure how to react. She accepted the papers automatically, but her brain was still processing those two words. Spa director. That was a full-time position. It would undoubtedly come with a contract, a good salary and possibly upgraded living quarters. It was about fifty steps up from the job she’d applied for.

      And that brought with it all kinds of complications. When she’d decided to come here, she’d imagined spending a few months in Silverdell, at the most. The pay was good, and all full-time Bell River jobs also offered on-site housing, dormitory style, which would make it easier for her to rebuild her bank balance.

      She hadn’t expected to be more than a run-of-the-mill employee—the kind of massage therapist who could stay a short while, do a good job, but not leave a big hole in the operation when she left. She certainly didn’t want to cause Bell River any harm while she satisfied her curiosity about her birth father.

      “I’m sorry,” she said after a minute, “but I have to ask. Why me?”

      “Like I just said, we’re desperate.”

      Bree groaned. “Ro, sometimes you’re just too tactless, you know that?”

      “What? We are desperate.”

      Shaking her head, Bree turned toward Tess. “What she meant to say is that we’re well aware you weren’t necessarily looking for this much responsibility or this big a commitment. We understand that you hardly know us—and we hardly know you—and therefore this is undoubtedly quite a surprise. But we’ve had an unexpected vacancy, and your references and experience are so stellar that we hoped maybe you’d consider helping us out.”

      Rowena laughed. “Yeah. That’s absolutely what I meant to say. See? That’s why Bree is the sweet-talking social director, and I’m the blunt-force sledgehammer who gets things done.” She leaned forward. “And honestly, Tess, we are desperate. Our director is gone. Like already. Tonight, right now, just plain gone. We think you might be able to save our skins here, if you say yes.”

      Her self-effacing manner was so warm and engaging that Tess couldn’t help smiling. “It’s a very flattering offer. And I don’t want to sound ungrateful, but there’s something I probably should ask.”

      Rowena sat back, obviously encouraged that Tess hadn’t rejected the idea outright. “Anything,” she said. “It’s all there. Salary, accommodations, bonuses, hours. You’d get the same contract Chelsea had.”

      “It’s not that. I mean, those details would come later, but before I’d even consider it, I’d need to know...” Tess considered her words carefully. “It’s unusual for a director to bolt like that. Was there anything...?”

      “She fell in love.” Bree stated the fact baldly. “With a guest. He left for Greece tonight, and she went, too. We had no idea. We have a strict policy against dating the guests, so obviously she didn’t mention it to anyone. He was here only a week.”

      “Yeah, but he was dreamy,” Rowena said. “So a week was probably plenty.”

      “Hey!” Dallas’s protest was gruff, but he didn’t exactly look threatened.

      “Anyhow,” Rowena went on, as if he hadn’t interrupted, “the bottom line is that Chelsea didn’t leave because conditions were oppressive, or because of any mistreatment. We’re still in our first year of operation, so I won’t pretend we don’t have to budget carefully, or that sometimes things aren’t pretty lean, but I think we can promise you at least a year’s employment. Of course, we’re hoping all goes well, and the job could be permanent.”

      A year. Tess definitely hadn’t imagined staying at Bell River that long. She was deeply curious about the Wright sisters, and she wanted to know more about her biological father, but could she really afford to invest that much time?

      She needed to return to a real city soon, somewhere she could put down roots and build a clientele. With any kind of luck, eventually she’d save enough to open her own practice and create a life for herself.

      Repeat clients, a steady income, a home base. Independence and security. Those were her only goals, now that both her mother and ex-husband, Craig, were gone.

      And yet, she remembered how she’d felt after the working massage. She remembered that inner tug, that feeling that she wanted to take the job, no matter what.

      The tug was stronger than ever now. And there was something else, too. Something that felt like excitement. She smothered it instinctively. Excitement was dangerous. It made you do stupid things, things you hadn’t thought through....

      “You don’t have to answer tonight,” Bree said gently, as if she sensed Tess’s inner conflict. “Why don’t you take the contract home and look it over? Then tomorrow we can meet again to answer any questions.”

      “That’s a good idea.” Tess grasped the chance to escape. All these strangers watching her, all these hopes hanging on her answer, felt like a hot, heavy cloak thrown over her shoulders.

      And they were strangers, she thought on an unexpected wave of vertigo. Complete strangers. She didn’t look like these women—not even a whisper of kinship showed in their faces. She didn’t think like them, or live like them.

      Merely

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