She frowned when she looked at it. “What’s this?”
“A contract for organizing the gala.”
“You’ve been thinking about this for a while?”
“For long enough.” Aidan sat forward. “I realize it’s not the best timing as far as your workload goes, but I couldn’t think of anyone I’d trust more than you.”
Jackie hesitated. It was a huge commitment on top of everything else she was doing. “Would you really trust me with something so important?”
“Absolutely,” Aidan replied without a moment’s hesitation. “All the details are in the contract, including payment.”
She opened the envelope. The contract seemed fairly straightforward. There was a list of objectives and bullet points that spelled out exactly what BioTech expected of her and the event.
When she reached the last page, her heart pounded at the sight of the large sum of money attached to the job. It was more than enough to make it easier to get a loan from the bank and inch closer to her dream of opening a knitting and yarn store.
“This is too much money,” she told Aidan. “You could employ a professional event planner for that amount.”
“I don’t want a professional event planning team. I want you.”
It was just as well Jackie wasn’t a die-hard romantic. Otherwise, she’d have had heart palpitations when she saw the sincerity in Aidan’s eyes.
It was a sad fact of life that no one had ever told her they wanted her, except for now, when she didn’t have the time to be wanted.
“Even if I had enough experience to organize the gala, it doesn’t mean you wouldn’t be overpaying me. This is more than I’d earn in four months working for Paris.”
Aidan didn’t seem surprised by what she’d said. “It’s money well spent. I only have about seven weeks to get everything ready. I need someone like you. Most of the people living in Sapphire Bay know who you are, and you enjoy helping others. It’s much better having me focused on the lab and not what canapés we’ll serve at the gala.”
Jackie placed the contract on the coffee table. “I’m not a canapés type of woman. My idea of an expensive night out is eating at the bar and grill in town.”
Aidan leaned forward, his gaze never leaving hers. “I promise you won’t be alone in this. We’ll work together. If you have an unexpected problem, you can call me whenever you like. Next year, I’ll be able to organize the opening of the adventure camp. But, for now, I need your help.”
Jackie took a deep breath, letting his words sink in. The opportunity to earn a lot of money in a short amount of time was really appealing. But could she work at the flower shop, organize the thousand and one things she’d need to do to open the knitting store,andgive BioTech the Christmas gala they wanted?
“If something happens and I can’t do everything on my own, can I ask someone to help me?”
Aidan nodded. “As long as we discuss it first, I’d be happy for that to happen.”
Jackie bit her bottom lip. If she turned down this opportunity, she’d never make the amount of money Aidan was offering her in the flower shop or anywhere else. Her old fears of letting people down still lingered, but so did hope.
“All right,” she finally said, meeting Aidan’s intense gaze with a renewed sense of purpose. “I’ll do it. I’ll organize a Christmas gala no one will forget and make the charitable trust very happy.”
Aidan grinned. “That’s fantastic. Did you want me to look at the business case for your knitting store now?”
Jackie took a folder out of her bag. “I won’t need such a large loan if I’m organizing the gala, but if you could look through everything, I’d appreciate it.”
Aidan took the folder from her and quickly scanned the first few pages. As he turned to another page, she thought about all the help everyone in Sapphire Bay had given her. And now, a man she’d met only a short time ago, was willing to give her some valuable advice.
For the first time in years, everything seemed to be falling into place. But, a little voice whispered, it could be the beginning of a perfect storm. Just when she thought everything was going smoothly, something always happened to ruin it. But this time it would be different. She had too much at stake, including the happiness of the children who’d benefit from the prosthetics Aidan and his team created.
CHAPTER6
The following day, Aidan pulled over to the side of the road and checked his cell phone. Jackie had sent him a text with her address and, if he was correct, he was parked outside her home.
Her house looked remarkably like the cottages on Anchor Lane, except it wasn’t as old. With a wide front porch, a wooden swing, and containers waiting for next season’s flowers, it’d make the perfect spot to wind down after a day at work.
Opening his door, he grabbed his laptop and a folder off the back seat of the truck he’d rented. Before he left work, he’d checked the project plan for the Christmas gala to make sure it was up to date. The more information he gave Jackie today, the easier it’d be to organize.
With a light dusting of snow everywhere, it was hard to imagine what her home would look like in the summer but, knowing Jackie’s love of flowers, the garden would be as colorful as the store where she worked.
