CHET LOOKED UP FROM THE PAPERS ON HIS DESK TO meet Anna’s anxious gaze. “Did you put this together?” He tapped the last page of the business plan with his index finger. “It’s impressive.”
“No.” Her face broke into a smile. “Kimberly did most of it, with a little assistance from Janet and Tara.”
“How’d she manage to gather all of this information so fast?”
Anna chuckled. “I told her it was urgent.” Her head tipped to one side. “I may have led Kimberly to believe it was critical to the survival of the ranch that we get this new enterprise off the ground.”
Chet felt his eyes widen. “You didn’t?”
“Well . . . maybe. If I did, it wasn’t on purpose.”
Not good. He didn’t want Kimberly believing he had major money problems. Her deceased husband had left her in a financial mess. The last thing she would want was to become serious about a guy who might do the same to her. And there was no denying he wanted her to become serious about him. Which was why he’d waited to ask her out on a second date. He wanted it to be perfect when the time came.
“Chet, have you asked Kimberly out again?”
He blinked. “Are you a mind reader?”
“Old age has some advantages. It can make a body more perceptive.”
“No, I haven’t asked her out again. Not yet. To tell you the truth, I don’t know where to take her. It isn’t like Kings Meadow has an abundance of choices.”
“Take her up to McCall for a nice dinner. Or rent a movie and bring her here for dinner. The boys and I could make ourselves scarce.”
Chet raked the fingers of both hands through his hair as he leaned back in his chair. “Are you playing matchmaker?”
“Do you need one?”
He pondered the question. “I think I can manage on my own.”
“Good! Glad to hear it.” She waggled her finger at the papers on his desk. “Now what about this. If you hire Kimberly, like Tara suggested, she’d have reason to spend a lot more time at the ranch.”
He grinned. Of all the reasons he might want to try this glamping thing, spending more time with Kimberly was the best reason he’d heard yet. He’d like more time to woo and win the lovely widow. More time for her to fall in love. Not just in love with him—which he didn’t think would be enough on its own—but also with Kings Meadow and the Leonard Quarter Horse Ranch.
That might take a miracle, Lord. Do You have one in mind?
His grin faded. “Do you think she’d want to take on another job? She’s already working for the mayor.”
“You leave Ollie Abbott to me.” There was a glimmer of mischief in her eyes. “I’m sure the mayor can adjust Kimberly’s hours to accommodate what will be needed out here.”
“I can’t offer her much in the way of compensation. Not at first.”
“You leave that to me too.”
“Anna . . .” He drew out her name in a warning tone.
She rose from her chair and folded her arms in front of her chest. “I mean to be an active partner in the Leonard ranch glamping enterprise. That means I will shoulder some of the cost as well as reap some of the reward. No arguments. Right now, I’m appointing myself the partner in charge of hiring personnel.”
Chet was helpless before the whirlwind that was Anna McKenna. He knew it, and he was certain she knew it too.
Anna turned toward his office door. “I’m going into town. No point letting grass grow under my feet.”
“As if that could happen,” he called after her as laughter rose in his chest.
KIMBERLY LOOKED AT THE WALL CLOCK ON THE opposite side of the mayor’s office. Two o’clock. The day was dragging by. In her first two weeks of employment with the city, she’d kept busy learning the ropes. But once she’d managed to get everything organized the way she liked it, it became obvious there wasn’t enough work to keep her occupied for thirty-six hours a week. Especially not with Bonnie Clark answering the phones and doing research Tuesdays through Thursdays.
On her lunch hours the last couple of days and in the evenings, with Janet and Tara’s help, Kimberly had worked on the business plan Anna asked her to research and write. It was hard to stop thinking about it now, especially when the hours crept by. The possibilities were both challenging and exciting. She wondered what Chet would think when he read the plan. Would he get excited too?
Thinking about Chet caused conflicting emotions to stir in her chest. The memory of their evening together, their conversation, the concert, the brief kiss . . . It was all surrounded by a warm glow. On the other hand, he still hadn’t called to ask her out again, five days later. They’d spoken briefly at church last Sunday but had been interrupted by a neighbor who was having trouble with a horse. She hadn’t seen him since. Had he had second thoughts? Maybe the kiss had meant nothing.
She wished . . .
Oh, she didn’t know what she wished anymore.
A soft beep sounded as the glass door from the street swung open. A heartbeat later, Anna McKenna strolled into the office. She waved at Bonnie, then made a beeline to Kimberly’s desk.
“Anna, what brings you here?”
“A proposition, my dear girl. Is Ollie in?”
Kimberly glanced toward the closed door to the mayor’s inner office. “He’s on the phone. Do you need to speak with him?”
“I do. But not yet. I want to talk to you first.” She sank into the chair at the side of Kimberly’s desk. “You did a wonderful job with that business plan. Why ever didn’t you study business in college instead of the theater? You could’ve been a CFO of some corporation by now.”
Kimberly didn’t know how to respond to the generous praise, but it felt good to hear it.
“Chet was impressed with the plan and is willing to move forward. Only he is hoping you can help, as Tara suggested.” Excitement made Anna’s words come in a rush. “You have an eye for details and an eye for antiques and decoration. You obviously have a head for business and know how to use the Internet. You would be the perfect person for the position.”
“Anna, I—”
“Chet can handle the physical labor and anything to do with the ranch and horses, but we need your help to get it off the ground this summer. Will you do it?”
It was difficult to keep from being swept away by the elderly woman’s enthusiasm. But she had to say no. “Anna, I have a job.”
“Oh, I know that.” Anna waved away the response as if it were a pesky fly. “If you could work fewer hours here in the mayor’s office, and if we could make up the difference in your salary, would you be willing to join us?”
“I suppose I—”
“Wonderful.” Anna patted her chest with her fingertips. “I’m a partner, you know.” Her grin caused the creases in her face to deepen and her eyes to twinkle. “Although I can’t say a partner in what exactly. We are in desperate need of a name worthy of a page on a website. Something other than Leonard Ranch Glamping.”
It was useless to resist. Anna’s excitement was contagious. “I agree. That name doesn’t work. I’ll give it some thought.”
“Good. Is Ollie off the phone?”
Kimberly glanced down. “He must be. The light went out.”
“Don’t get up.” Anna stood. “I’ll knock on his door myself.” She did so, going into the mayor’s office when he called for her to enter. The door closed behind her.
Kimberly felt a rush of affection for the elderly woman. Although elderly didn’t seem an apt term for Anna McKenna. She might be eighty-four in real years, but she was decades younger in spirit. Chet and his boys were blessed to have her in their lives. But was anybody able to stop her when she set her mind on something?
Wait! Kimberly’s gaze shot to Ollie’s office door. Was Anna talking to the mayor about changing her hours? What would he think? She hadn’t been working for him long enough to ask favors. What if he fired her? Panic tied her stomach in a knot and made it hard to breathe. The waiting was horrible. Minutes stretched by as if they were hours.
Finally, the door opened and Ollie stepped into view. “Kimberly, could you join us in my office?”
She swallowed hard as she rose. This was it. The proverbial second shoe was about to drop. She knew it. She just knew it.
But when Kimberly entered the mayor’s office, Anna gave her a smile that assuaged her fears. In that moment, Kimberly knew that Mayor Oliver Abbot was no more resistant to Anna McKenna’s charming determination than anyone else in this town.