Until She Met Daniel. Callie Endicott

knock sounded on the door and Mandy stuck her head back inside. “Oh, I forgot to tell you we got together last week and scouted up some stuff we thought might help you get oriented. It’s in the folder on your desk.”

      “Thanks. I’ll also need a copy of the town budget, the recent city council minutes and several other items, particularly any written procedures and regulations. Don’t worry, I’ll make a list. If you can’t do it, I’ll talk to the other employees you mentioned.”

      This time she definitely rolled her eyes. “We have some sense, you know. Why don’t you check the folder instead of assuming something isn’t there?”

      She closed the door with a firm snap.

      * * *

      MANDY MARCHED DOWN the hall, thoroughly annoyed.

      Daniel had a particular interest in procedures and regulations? Hell, she could have predicted that from the starched way he carried himself. As for his assumption they were just a bunch of rubes who couldn’t understand what he needed...

      All at once Mandy laughed at herself.

      Jeez, she was acting like a grouch. It was probably from sleep deprivation; she’d helped the scholarship board assemble the cookbook and after they’d finished, had stayed until 3 a.m. to clean and unclutter the city manager’s office. It wasn’t her responsibility, even as a member of the welcome committee, but the mayor had asked if she’d mind “doing a little something” and she hadn’t been able to say no.

      Mayor Howard White was a nice guy, but something had been bothering him lately, though she wasn’t sure what. The biggest clue was his anxiety to have the new city manager in place and off to a “good start.” Howard was honest and meant well, but was rarely decisive.

      Mandy worked for an hour on the previous month’s financial report and when it was finished, pushed it away with relief. Every job had its less joyful aspects, and this was hers. Still, a financial report was nothing compared with doing inventory control for Saggitt Tech.

      “Hey, Mandy,” said Susan Russell as she walked into the office.

      “Susan.” Mandy got up and gave her friend a hug; she’d been so unsettled by Daniel Whittier, she’d forgotten the Russells were due home. “How was the vacation? You were still in the air about your plans the last time we talked. Where did you end up going?”

      “Mother did her best to talk Chris into accepting a trip to Hawaii, but at the last minute, my mule-headed husband decided he couldn’t accept such an expensive anniversary gift, even if it was from Mom, rather than Dad. I could have predicted it.”

      “As I recall, you did predict it,” Mandy reminded her.

      Susan laughed. “So I did. We ended up going to Badlands National Park and Mount Rushmore, then Yellowstone.”

      Mandy cocked her head. “Wasn’t that where you wanted to go in the first place?”

      “Yes. But Mom and Dad were pushing for Hawaii, and Chris had this idea about backpacking. South Dakota and Yellowstone were the best compromise. We both had a blast. He hung out with the park rangers and talked shop, while I got to do as much photography as I pleased. Then in the evenings he’d feel guilty about ‘neglecting’ me, so we’d have these wildly romantic dinners, followed by hours of...well, you know.”

      Mandy knew what Susan meant, or she did in theory. Her ex-husband hadn’t been the type for “you know,” at least not the hot-and-wild version of it. And even if he’d wanted to get hot and wild, Vince would have stomped on the urge, believing it wasn’t appropriate for an associate professor of ancient history to behave that way. Ha. Mandy had seen the erotica on the walls of the buildings at Herculaneum and Pompeii, and it was obvious that sex was just as much fun back then as in the twenty-first century.

      “That’s terrific,” she said.

      “Yeah.” Yet Susan sighed, her body sagging slightly. “And now it’s back to real life.”

      Her expression suggested something was wrong, or at best, not quite right.

      “Is something up?” Mandy asked.

      “No...it’s just...stuff. Reality bites.”

      Mandy wasn’t sure if Susan wanted her to push for details or back off. “You need to talk?”

      “Not now.” Susan glanced in the hallway. “So Daniel Whittier got here.”

      “Yeah, yesterday. We thought he was getting into town today from the message the mayor’s admin sent out, so we hadn’t finished all the details, like shopping for fresh foods and stuff. And of course, his office was still a disaster.”

      “Ouch. Not the best way to show off Willow’s Eve to him.”

      “No, but we got things scrambled together,” Mandy said. “The house was clean and now the office is, too.”

      “That’s good. I’m meeting my father for coffee, but I’ll pop in and say hello later.”

      Mandy nodded sympathetically, seeing the tension on her friend’s face. She’d met Big Joe Jensen on several occasions and wouldn’t enjoy having coffee with him—at the beginning of the day, or any other time. “Glad you had a good trip. I can’t wait to see the pictures.”

      After Susan left, Mandy yawned and poured herself a cup from the coffeemaker she kept on the credenza along the wall. There was always a pot of both decaf and regular in the parlor, but the seniors preferred an old traditional brand instead of bolder blends.

      Mmm. Sipping the fragrant brew, she stared at the newsletter on her computer screen. Thank heavens she’d managed to get the electric typewriter replaced. Talk about antiquated.

      After she’d started work, the seniors had debated whether new equipment was needed in the director’s office. Some of them didn’t trust computers, but others did and argued in favor of getting one.

      Finally, Mandy had talked to some old friends at a computer company; they had not only donated a laptop to her office, but they’d also provided a desktop model for the seniors to use. The first thing she’d done was establish email accounts for anyone who didn’t have one, making sure the addresses went to their kids and grandkids. After pictures began arriving and they’d tried Skype a few times, the naysayers were sold—not only sold, but they’d also voted to start a fund to buy several more. So far they’d added two, now sitting in the parlor.

      Mandy had gone home that night and danced in triumph all over Jane Cutman’s lawn. Jane had just laughed; she’d become accustomed to her neighbor’s exuberant ways.

CHAPTER THREE

      SUSAN WALKED OUT of City Hall, wishing she’d told her father she couldn’t make it for coffee. But like it or lump it, he was her father...and her boss, because after getting her accounting degree, she’d let herself get talked into becoming the paper mill’s chief financial officer.

      “Hi, Susan.” Dora Taylor was coming up the walkway. She was a fellow city council member. “Did you have a nice trip?”

      “Yes, it was great.”

      Susan thought about what she’d told Mandy regarding the vacation. With Evan starting university, the trip was supposed to help her and Chris relate more as a couple, rather than simply as coparents. And on the surface, the trip had done that. After all, couples didn’t need to do everything together and the evenings had been wildly enjoyable. Still...she had a vague sense of disappointment about her vacation, as if something should have happened that hadn’t.

      Shaking away her thoughts, she tried to focus on Dora.

      “Have you met Mr. Whittier yet?” Dora asked.

      “I’ll introduce myself later this morning.”

      “I’m