"Now, Maddox. I promised Eve I'd take her to see the chief. You may be in the running for the position, but you're not the big man yet," Steve chided, gently guiding me around Maddox.
Maddox followed closely behind us. "You can't just take her to see him."
"Eve was nice enough to bring us muffins. I'm inclined to give her what she wants," Steve said with a wink in my direction.
I smiled gratefully at Steve, sensing he wanted to rile Maddox, and I was all for that. "I really appreciate this."
Maddox grumbled as Steve rapped on the door with the plaque Fire Chief Frank McGovern.
"Come in," the man inside said.
Steve pushed open the door and gestured for me to precede him into the room. "Chief, this is Eve Palmer. She's the event coordinator of Christmas Town."
The chief stood, holding his hand out for me to shake. "You can call me Frank. I heard that someone recently purchased the inn."
"My sister, Natasha, and I purchased Mistletoe Inn and the surrounding town," I said.
"Eve wanted to talk to you about the department participating in their parade." Steve gestured for me to have a seat.
"We'd love to have your fire trucks in our Christmas parade. It's not a parade without firemen," I said, appealing to his sense of importance and banking on the fact that he was the kind of man that liked to be needed.
Maddox stood at the side of Frank's desk. "We don't have time to do events like that outside of Telluride. Our budget was cut this year. We're short-staffed and overworked."
Frank's brows furrowed as he sat across from me. "Why don't you tell us what you have planned for the event?"
Steve sat next to me, crossing his foot over one knee.
Maddox's scowl deepened. "I don't think Steve needs to be here for this."
"I'm the one she came to, and I want to make sure her request is heard," Steve said easily, as if he was used to charming people to get what he wanted.
Frank turned his attention to me, ignoring the back and forth between Steve and Maddox.
"My sister and I bought the town after our parents died. You may have heard of them, Sue and Robert Palmer."
Frank's expression softened. "We heard about their accident. We're sorry for your loss."
I felt the familiar twinge of pain but pushed it aside so that I could concentrate. I leaned forward, knowing I had the chief's attention despite the chill coming from Maddox. "Thank you. Natasha runs Mistletoe Inn, and I'm the town's eventcoordinator. One new thing we'd like to host to involve the surrounding community is a Christmas parade the Saturday after Thanksgiving. We've asked the high school marching band and the scout and dance troops if they would participate. But it wouldn't be a parade without the fire department. We thought you could drive a truck or two and throw out candy canes. When I was a child, that was my best memory of the town's parade."
The chief leaned back in his chair. "Parades are good for the community's well-being."
"You know we don't have the time or the resources—" Maddox began.
"It's true that we can't fully commit, in the event that there's a fire or accident that day," Frank continued.
I nodded. "Of course. I understand."
Maddox braced his hands on the desk; the posture only served to accentuate the muscles in his forearms. "Chief, we shouldn't be stretching ourselves so thin."
Frank held up his palm. "Last time I checked, I'm still the fire chief around here. A new one hasn't been named yet."
Maddox's face screwed up.
"I make the decisions, and I think this could be good for us. But I'm wondering if there's something you could help us with."
Steve dropped both feet to the floor, resting his elbows on his thighs. "We need a place to host our holiday party, and I'd bet anything that Christmas Town has a hall we could use."
I smiled, encouraged that they needed something I could provide. It was the hallmark of any good negotiation. "We have a ballroom where we host holiday dances every Saturday, but we could reserve one evening for the fire department. No charge of course. You're doing us a favor after all."
