“No need to fuss,” she said. “We’re doing all right here, even without the mayor.”
He snorted in that arrogant way that set Willow’s teeth on edge. “Avery said it’s a mess there, just a mess.”
With every word out of his mouth, it was getting harder and harder to bite her tongue. Especially when they both knew what he said was a pile of horseshit. There was no way her assistant and best friend would throw her under the bus. Even if it was the truth. Town hallhadbeen a mess since Richard Haven had gone out of town. A mess he’dleft her with, but one for which he’d criticize her endlessly, constantly comparing the somehow lacking job she did to her older sister. Never mind the fact that Perfect Rory had never held a job in public service—or at all,for that matter. That didn’t matter to Daddy. Rory did no wrong, and Willow did nothingbutwrong.
She was twenty-seven years old, had been doing this job for five years, and she was fed up with her daddy’s constant nit-picking. She’d done the job better than anyone in the past decade, and yet she was critiqued on her performance on a daily basis.
After a lifetime of it, she should be used to it, but the truth was it still stung.
“Town hall is running fine, Daddy. Nothing to worry about. I’ve got it all under control.”
“Funny you say that, seein’ as how you’re on the phone with me instead of tending to your first appointment.”
The urge to look over her shoulder was strong just to check and make sure he didn’t actually have cameras on her. How else could he be thousands of miles away and still know the ins and outs of her day like some kind of bloodhound?
She pulled open the front doors and stepped inside, sighing into the cool relief of the air conditioning as she hurried toward her office. “I’m headed in there now. I had to run out to my car and grab some paperwork for it.”
He grunted, and she could just see him smoothing his tie over his slightly rounded belly, his lips pulled down in the corners. “I need some information on the little party you’ve got comin’ up.”
Thelittle partyto which he was referring was the annual Fourth of July parade—something that took a full year of planning and preparation to pull off. In fact, for the past five years, she’d allowed herself a couple hours of celebration on July fourth, and then on the fifth, she dove straight back into planning the following year’s parade—orlittle party, according to the town’s mayor.
“All right,” she said, working hard to keep the frustration from seeping into her tone. “What sort of information?”
“Well, I don’t know, now do I? I’m not the one who plans all these frivolous gatherings. I need somethin’ to show at this meeting, is all. Just send me whatever you’ve got, and do it quick. It’s startin’.”
Without waiting for a response from Willow, her father hung up, giving her absolutely no details on what he needed, how much of it he needed, or where to send it. But then again, that was her daddy. Expected other people to do the work for him without giving them heads or tails of what he needed, then berated them for doing a subpar job.
Yeah, she was definitely drinking an entire bottle of wine tonight. Maybe two.
She shuffled her way to her office in her too-high heels she could only hope no one would notice didn’t match. Her messenger bag thumped against her hip as she hurried down the hall, careful not to spill the coffee gripped in one hand. Sliding into her office sixteen minutes late, she darted her eyes around, breathing a sigh of relief when no one waited inside. Finally, the dominoes had stopped crashing into each other.
Avery looked up at her and smiled. “Nola’s already in your office.”
“Dammit.” Willow’s shoulders sagged. Of course she was. Willow wouldn’t have been lucky enough to have her appointment be late too. She blew a wayward strand of hair out of her face. “How long’s she been here?”
“About ten minutes.”
“Dammit.”
Avery waved a dismissive hand and shot Willow a smile. “Don’t worry about it. I brought in a couple glazed croissants from The Sweet Spot and got her all set up with some fresh coffee. Then we discussed the glorious specimens of men on display over at the firehouse, weighing the pros and cons of a runner’s body versus a linebacker’s. She’s fine.”
“You’re a godsend,” Willow said. “An inappropriate godsend, but a godsend nonetheless.”
Avery grinned. “Indeed, I am.”
Willow huffed out a laugh and rolled her eyes as she juggled the items in her hands so she could turn the knob to her office. “Hey, Nola. I’m so,sosorry—”
“No big deal,” Nola cut her off, offering a smile. With the pink ends on her long, platinum blond hair, a nose ring, and more tattoos than Willow could count, she would have fit better in a big city like Nashville than she did in the tiny town of Havenbrook. She no doubt got looks anytime she went out, but it didn’t seem to bother Nola at all. Though, as far as Willow could tell, nothing much did. “Avery hooked me up with some croissants and a coffee.”
“I heard y’all also debated the merits of tall and lean or big and beefy.” Willow tsked in mock disappointment. “Our first responders are more than pieces of meat, you know.”
Nola grinned, her eyes sparkling. “If they don’t want us talkin’ about them, why are they always out washin’ the fire trucks without any shirts on?”
“Excellent point.” Willow set down her messenger bag, dropped her purse in her bottom drawer, and settled behind her desk. So damn thankful Avery had more forethought than she did. All the paperwork she and Nola needed to go over at the meeting sat paper-clipped together on top of her desk. “Congratulations, by the way. I don’t think I’ve had a chance to tell you that since you bought Pete’s old place. I had no idea you were interested in business ownership.”
Nola shrugged, taking a sip of coffee. “Thanks. An opportunity presented itself, so I snatched it up.”
“You mentioned wanting to start construction over there this week. We’ve got a bit of paperwork to fill out before y’all get going on that, but I don’t think anything’ll hold y’all up.” Willow pulled the paper clip off the stack and sorted through the papers to find the ones she needed.
