“Assuming you’re still interested in the job, when could you start?” he asked.
William’s teasing smile dropped. “I don’t know if you heard, but Reggie’s willing to take over as supervisor, so I can wrap pretty quickly.”
Leo blinked. “Reggie didn’t quit?”
“Nope. Decided to stick around,” William said. “I was as surprised as you are.”
Faith rolled ahead with the interview, blithely unaware of the actual conversation he and William were having beneath the surface.
“We’d like you here as soon as possible.” She jerked her head toward Leo. “Until you’re here, I’m stuck with this one.”
“The horror.” William refocused on her. “If I start wrapping things up now, I should be there by mid-September. Early October, tops—if I’m correct that this is a job offer, that is.”
“An enthusiastic one,” Faith said. “Leo vouches for you, and it seems like you and I will get along just fine.”
“Better than fine.” William’s smugly happy tone had Leo wondering why he’d ever considered this guy a friend.
“Great!” She beamed. “I’ll email an employment package for you to review.”
“Great,” William echoed. “Grandpa Leo, I assume you’ve already got a list of bars with the best tequila selection for me, yeah?”
Almost against his will, the corners of his mouth twitched upward. “On it.”
“My man!” William gave them a double thumbs-up that should’ve looked ridiculous coming from a grown man but on William came off as self-assured. “See you both in Beaucoeur.”
His box on the laptop went black, and Faith closed the program with a happy sigh.
“Wow. What a great guy!” she said, “It’s exciting, right? Your friend’s moving to town.”
Leo’s only answer was a grumble, which prompted Faith to huff in exasperation. “What’s the problem now?”
“There’s no problem,” he said tersely. Just his unreasonable jealousy over the Faith/William energy flowing through the call. But it wasn’t his business who she smiled at, and William was the missing piece of the puzzle to keep Dig Greener rolling forward. Leo’s own wants were irrelevant.
Faith barreled ahead. “He’s going to be great with the students. The teachers too. He seems patient, enthusiastic...”
“Like a golden retriever.” He sounded childish, but he couldn’t stop himself.
She just shrugged. “Everybody loves golden retrievers.”
He was dying to ask if that’s whatFaithpreferred these days, but her office phone rang, and he jumped at the chance to escape. He wandered back to the workroom as a text from his alleged friend appeared on his phone.
William:That went well. Thanks again for recommending me.
Leo:Sure. So Reggie decided to stay?
William:She did. You must be easy to get over.
Leo:There was nothing for her TO get over.
And there wasn’t. Just a series of hookups over the years. Her threatening to quit POR if he left hadn’t made sense to anybody, least of all him.
William:By the way, you should’ve warned me about Faith.
Leo:??
William:That she’s hot, dude. Bombshell pinup-model hot.
Leo’s fingers tightened around his phone as he pondered fast-acting poisons. Cut brake lines. Maybe a staged hiking accident. But he had no right getting pissed at William, especially since William had no idea about his history with Faith.
