Two of a Kind. Сьюзен Мэллери

didn’t get involved, didn’t...

      The card shook slightly in her pale fingers. The woman who had calmly removed her shirt and bra and put his hands on her breasts only a few days ago had never been asked out by a guy? How was he supposed to ignore that? Ignore her? How was he supposed to squash her hopes and dreams?

      “I’m not that guy,” he told her. “The forever guy.”

      “I assume you’re referring to marriage and not immortality.”

      “I am.”

      One corner of her mouth twitched in amusement. “It’s a party, Gideon, not an eternal commitment.”

      “Yeah, I know. Sure. I’ll go.”

      Relief joined amusement. “Thank you. I look forward to it.”

      “Me, too.” Which was actually kind of true. He started for the door, then turned back. “Felicia?”

      “Yes?”

      “Just so you’re clear, it’s a date.”

      * * *

      “THE NEW OFFICE space is available,” Pia said. “It has been for a while now. I feel kind of guilty for not taking advantage of it, but there was no way I could take on the task of moving, along with everything else.” She motioned to the tiny office, overflowing with filing cabinets and boxes of promotional material. “It’s a mess.”

      Felicia glanced around. “You’ve clearly outgrown your space.”

      Pia sighed. “Clearly. I feel like such a slacker. I used to be able to stay on top of things.”

      “Before you had a husband and three kids?”

      Pia nodded. “But other women work with families.”

      Felicia had never understood why women took on guilt when they were overwhelmed, but she recognized the symptoms. “Pia, from what I’ve heard, you went from being a single working woman to married with three kids in less than a year. Two of the children were twins.”

      And not even biologically hers. When a close friend of Pia’s had died, leaving her custody of embryos, Pia had had the tiny babies implanted. Then she’d fallen in love with Raoul Moreno. Before the twins had even been born, they’d adopted ten-year-old Peter.

      “Your expectations are unrealistic,” Felicia continued. “In less than two years, everything about your life changed completely. Yet you’ve carried on with the festivals and created a successful family unit. You should be proud of yourself.”

      Tears filled Pia’s eyes. “That’s so nice,” she said, sniffing. “Thank you.” She waved her hands in front of her eyes. “Sorry for the breakdown. I’m hormonal.”

      Felicia would guess she was also physically and mentally exhausted. “I hope I can do as good a job as you,” she said, wondering if it was possible.

      “You’ll do better,” Pia told her. “I suppose the good news is you can set up the next office however you like it.” She reached into her desk drawer and pulled out an envelope. “The address and the key. Seriously, it’s just sitting there. The landlord said to let him know when I was ready and he’d paint the place. I guess I should call.”

      “I’ll do it,” Felicia told her. “From now on, you tell me what needs to be done and I’ll take care of it.”

      Pia sighed. “Can you do that for me at home, too? It sounds wonderful.”

      “I think you’d find me too detail-oriented.”

      Pia grinned. “Is that possible? I’m not sure it is.” She glanced at her desk. “Okay, let’s do this. Brace yourself and I’ll begin the info dump.”

      She turned and pointed to the dry erase board dominating the largest wall. “That is the master calendar. It’s in computer form, too, but I find this is easier to work with. I can physically see everything happening.”

      She went over to the file cabinets. “Starting at this end we have information on previous festivals. Next is vendor info. There’s a whole section on vendor disasters. You’ll want to cross-check that info whenever we have a new application. Permits are in the third cabinet.”

      Felicia had been taking notes on her laptop. She glanced up. “Permits are done on paper? By hand?”

      Pia winced. “We have a process for filing online, but I never really got into it. We tend to have the same people coming year after year, so I just make a note that the information is the same and let it go. Are you judging me?”

      “Of course not,” Felicia said automatically, even as she started a “to do” list. Right under notifying the new landlord was starting a vendor database.

      “I want to believe you,” Pia murmured. “Okay, festivals.” She returned to the dry erase board. “We have at least one every month. Most months have two, and December has a million. From mid-November through the Live Nativity, it’s crazy. Fortunately, this office isn’t responsible for the Dance of the Winter King, which is Christmas Eve, so once the animals are back home after the Live Nativity, you’re done for the year.”

      Pia grinned. “Of course it starts up again in January with Cabin Fever Days.”

      She stood and walked to the small bookcase by the front door. “Notebooks,” she said, pointing at the thick binders. “One for every festival. What it’s about, how long it takes, is it the kind of event that generates heads in beds?”

      Felicia looked at her. “Heads in beds? Nights in a hotel?”

      “Right. The longer tourists stay in town, the more money they spend. In addition to meeting monthly with the city council, you meet quarterly with the hotel, motel and B&B owners. They’ll want to know any changes to upcoming festivals. They’re also a good source of advertising. The festivals are mentioned in their printed materials and on their websites.”

      Pia returned to her seat and began to explain the logistics involved. There were more notebooks and a very large, slightly tattered Rolodex filled with names and phone numbers.

      She flipped through it. “You’ll probably want this in a database, huh?”

      “It will be easier,” Felicia said.

      “We have one. A database. It’s supposed to be great. I never actually learned how to use it.” She sighed. “There are also checklists of what needs to be ordered and how far in advance. Porta-Potties are now on a yearly contract, which is much easier, let me tell you. But there are things like decorating and—” Pia shook her head. “You have to get on the city schedule for things like decorating and the move. Which is another problem. They’re really busy in the summer. I know there’s not that much to move, but still, it could be a while. I’m sorry. I should have thought of that.”

      Felicia glanced at the file cabinets and the small desk. “Do I have to use city maintenance? Can I bring in my own moving crew?”

      “Do you have one?”

      Felicia grinned. “I know a couple of guys capable of heavy lifting.”

      “Right. The bodyguards. Sure, use them if they’ll do it. Just don’t tell the city. They’ll be worried about injuries and insurance.”

      “The guys will be happy to do it,” she said confidently. Justice and Ford both owed her, and she had a feeling Angel could be easily manipulated into helping. She would only have to suggest that Ford could lift more than him and he would be all in. While men were traditionally viewed as the stronger of the two sexes, they were often emotionally delicate.

      * * *

      GIDEON RECOGNIZED THE cell immediately. It was maybe ten by twenty. Stone, with a barred window up high and a big wooden door too thick to break down. Not that he could. He was kept chained.

      The floor was dirt. The only bathroom was a