Maddox: Thank you for this. I'm out of my element when it comes to dresses and hair styles.
I knew I needed to learn, but I was hoping I could ease myself into it.
Eve: I'm happy to help.
The implication was that this was for my daughter, not me, and I was okay with that. I shouldn't be thinking about Eve as anything more than someone who could help me get the promotion I wanted.
CHAPTER 3
EVE
Iwas busy between renovations at the inn and coordinating holiday events for the town. The only new thing we were doing this year was the parade.
We wanted to see how things were before we made any more changes. Then there was the issue that some of the restaurant and shop owners were against any change and didn't want us to host a parade. They worried that it would impede shoppers from entering their stores, but I wanted to see if it would draw more people to the town overall.
At the same time, I needed to coordinate with the fire department regarding the holiday party we were hosting in the ballroom. Frank wanted my point person to be Maddox. The guy who probably hated Christmas.
I could sympathize with his situation. It had to be tough to lose your wife and the mother of your child. But that didn't mean that I wanted to be the recipient of his brand of grouchy.
But I couldn't host the party without talking to the guy in charge of the event. We'd texted about Sofia needing a dress, but he hadn't reached out since then. I figured he'd ignore a text about planning the party, so I called him.
My office was on the second floor of the town-hall building. It felt a little like I was the mayor, even though we weren't an official town.
Everyone came to my office to spout their grievances about the town and each other. Sometimes I felt like a therapist, so I should be used to dealing with difficult people. But something about Maddox had me chewing my nails while I waited for him to answer.
On the fifth ring, he finally picked up.
"Maddox Knight."
I twirled a strand of my hair. "Hi, Maddox. It's Eve.”
He cleared his throat. "I know.”
I wondered if he was going to try and get out of it. "If you don't think you have time for it, I can talk to Frank for you."
"It's not that. I haven't planned it before. I don't know what to do any more than you do."
"Planning events is kind of my thing. If you let me know what's been done in the past and how many people you're expecting, I can handle it." There'd be little need for us to interact.
"Let me see what I can find out. Why don't you plan to come over for dinner one night this week, and we can go over everything?"
"Do you really think that's necessary?" I had a feeling that he was different around his daughter, less irritated and grumpy. I wasn't sure I could handle a nice version of Maddox.
"I don't have a lot of time. I'm a single dad, and I work long hours at the fire department. If you want to get this thing planned, we'll need to multitask. I need to feed my daughter, and you need information about past holiday parties."
I chewed my lip, wondering how this was spiraling out of control so quickly. "I was thinking that you could email me the details, and I could take it from there."
"If you're waiting for me to write an email, you'll be waiting a long time."
This time, I sighed. "Let me know when and where."
"Don't make it sound like such a chore. I promise my daughter doesn't bite." His voice was softer.
I had to bite my lip hard not to retort withBut you might.
"I couldn't do any of this without you, so thank you."
"Wait. You're not mad anymore?"
