Page 42

He’d been speaking to himself, but Kelsey had just come into the office from her apartment. It was a slow night. They were planning to create a budget for the next few months as well as a schedule for improvements to be accomplished by spring, when he hoped to start a social media campaign to increase their occupancy. “These pics,” he said. “They’re good, don’t you think?”

She leaned around him to see the screen of his laptop. “They are. Who took them?”

“Patience.”

She gave him a funny look.

“What?” he said.

“Nothing.”

“It’s obviously something.”

“I like her.” She gestured at the pictures still showing on his computer. “She’s worked hard on the festival. And she doesn’t have anything to gain from it. It’s not like the tourists she brings in are going to attend church and drop money in the plate.”

“Does that money go to her?” he asked, suddenly curious.

“It’s her father’s living. But he must pay her some of it. Where else would he get the money?”

“What does she do for him?”

“All the office stuff—the accounting, taxes, monthly newsletter, posters for events, you name it.”

“Sounds like he relies on her for everything,” he said dryly.

“I’m sure she enjoys working with him,” she responded, clearly not pleased he’d given it a negative slant.

“I doubt that.”

“You don’t like Reverend Lee,” she remarked, making it a statement instead of a question.

“Do you?” he asked.

“He’s a good man, helps a lot of people. But he can be…uncompromising.”

“No kidding,” he said with a laugh.

“Don’t laugh,” she chided. “Like I said, he’s a good man.”

“A ‘good’ man who has his daughter in a stranglehold,” he muttered.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Nothing,” he said and clicked over to the spreadsheet she’d provided of their monthly expenses. “Are you ready to get started on the budget?”

She didn’t answer that question. Instead, she said, “You’re an attractive man, Kanon. Surely you must know that. There are a lot of women who’d be interested in you.”

“Why do I get the feeling that compliment is leading to something I’m going to like a lot less…”

“Because I have something to say, but I don’t want it to make you mad.”

He scowled at her. “Go ahead and get it off your chest.”

She bit her bottom lip before taking a deep breath. “You like Patience, right?”

“I do,” he said. “She’s a nice person.”

“Is that as far as it goes? Because if you’re not really interested in her, I hope… I hope you won’t even let it go down that road.”