“You’re hired,” Maggie replied without missing a beat.
“Don’t I need to fill out something official?”
“This is official.”
Maggie’s smile could’ve powered a small town, while Janet was practically buzzing beside her. I looked between the two of them as a laugh sputtered out of me. “Okay,” I said. “Let’s do this.”
“Chloe will help you with all the paperwork,” Maggie said. “Are you going out there now? I can call her and let her know.”
“Well, actually, right now, I was going to get some coffee,” I said dryly.
Maggie grinned before squeezing me on the elbow. “This is great. I can’t wait to tell the boys.”
“Are you sure they’re going to be okay with this?” I couldn’t keep the worry out of my tone.
Maggie narrowed her eyes. “Of course they will. Don’t you worry about that. When I tell Chloe, she’s going to line up trips just for you.”
Chapter Eight
COLE
Apparently, I’m clenching my jaw
“Adele’s paperwork? Excuse me?”
My head whipped toward Chloe where she smiled up at me from her desk. “Yes,” she said, completely unbothered by my sharp tone. “I’m getting the paperwork ready for Adele.”
“For Adele?” My jaw tightened.
She nodded, her eyes dancing with amusement.
“What is Adele doing for Heartfire Falls?” I ground out.
“Your mom hired her.”
“She what?”
“She said we could use a female guide. And I, for one, completely agree. Our waitlist is longer than some of the hikes y’all lead, and we’ve got some women-only groups requesting trips. Personally, I think we need to offer that as an option.”
All I could do was blink. And apparently my mouth had dropped open, because Haven walked in just then, gave me a glance, and lifted his hand to tap two fingertips lightly under my chin.
“Whoa, dude. What’s got you so surprised?”
Chloe didn’t even blink. “Cole’s silently flipping out inside because your mom hired Adele to help lead hikes.”
Haven nodded along, all calm and composed. “Excellent plan. We need someone.”
“We do?” I sputtered.
“Dude, you know we’ve got a waitlist a mile long. We’re never going to get caught up at this rate.”
“I thought we agreed to be more strategic about our planning. More thoughtful about the trips we offer.” I had no clue why I was arguing this point. I couldn’t even believe myself.
Haven slid his gaze to mine and shrugged. “We need a woman available to guide some trips.”
“But we don’t do longer trips with solo leads,” I argued. “Just day trips.”
Haven shrugged, clearly not budging. “All these groups of women will be thrilled to have someone like Adele leading.”
