Any Way You Spin It: An Upper Crust Novel (The Upper Crust Series Book 7)

by Monique McDonell

  “Is your neighbor loyal?” Her tone was snarky at best.

  “My neighbor is none of your business.”

  “You looked very cozy . . .”

  “I was just comforting her. Anyway, none of your business. She and I are friends.”

  “With benefits?”

  “Cheryl.” She was like a dog with a bone.

  “Okay. I get it. So, I don’t suppose I can stay with you for a while. Just while I sort myself out.”

  Was she serious? “How will you do that here exactly? You’re a fashion stylist, Cheryl. Not much demand for that up here.”

  “No, well, I thought maybe I could work for you.”

  Has the woman always been this shameless? Probably. How had he been so naïve and not seen any of it? “So, you think I should give you a job and a place to stay even though we’ve been broken up for months?”

  “Yes.” Her voice was soft now but unwavering.

  “No.” He shook his head, what a mess. “You can stay for a week. Call your folks. Ring your friends and your contacts in the industry, but my hospitality is only good for a week.”

  Her mouth formed a perfect “oh.” She clearly expected he would give in. Of course, she did, he always gave in.

  He held his hand up before she said more. “One week, Cheryl.”

  “Okay, thanks, I guess.”

  It wouldn’t have mattered what he’d offered with Cheryl, it would never be enough. This was a mess, and he was glad for a moment that Minnie had stopped him in his tracks because she was definitely a complication and Minnie didn’t need any more of those. Then again, neither did he, but for this week at least, his life was looking very complicated indeed.

  When Min got back to the front desk, there were a slew of people milling around. People who apparently were here for interviews. It seemed like it was an open casting call and Moose had underestimated the number of people in the area looking for work.

  Minnie quickly printed out a form and had people sign it in the order they had arrived, so that meant that was their interview number.

  She quickly mocked up a quick form for them to fill in with their details and their job experience and which job they were applying for.

  Moose came down the stairs and stopped short at the growing but well-ordered crowd of fifty plus people in his foyer. Then, he came around to her where she explained the system she’d created.

  “This will help you know what they’re here for so you can ask the right questions.”

  “Wow, thanks. You sure think on your feet.”

  “I try. Now go get interviewing or we’ll be here at midnight.”

  In fact, he finished the last interview at six. She’d collected the résumés from him along the way and sorted them into folders for each role from waitress to housekeeping to reception staff. He’d done little marks to indicate who was worth pursuing so that at least the next stage would be organized.

  “Man am I glad you stopped by today,” his voice boomed down the stairwell as he made his way to her. “You totally saved my sorry ass.”

  “You would have been fine. I guess it’s harder to get a job these days than you guessed.”

  “Yeah, I thought I’d get twenty people. How many did we have in the end?”

  “Sixty-seven.”

  He shook his head. “Goes to show what I know.”

  “There were some impressive résumés there.”

  “Yeah, and some good people. I think I can pull together a decent team to get us started.”

  His face lit with a grin. She could understand why. Starting a business up from scratch had to be exciting, seeing it all come together like this must have been a rush. She’d only been here a day and was feeling it, so for Moose to see his vision coming to life, well, that had to be amazing.

  “I think it’s all coming together for you. You want me to power this down?” she said, turning her attention back to the computer.

  “Sure. You should make tracks. I’ve kept you all day.”

  She powered down the computer as she talked. “Honestly, I had not a thing to do today, nothing. This was great for me. It reminded me that I did in fact used to like my job and I didn’t suck at it the whole time either. “

  “You definitely did not. In fact, that’s why I want to offer you a job.”

  She spun on her heel to look at him. “You’re not serious.”

  “Of course, I am. Come on. You saved my bacon today. I need someone competent with me behind the scenes. I’m still helping my folks out, so I’m back and forth to their other properties a bit, and I can’t be here all day every day. Also, your attention to detail is clearly better than mine. You can be my Administration and Accounts Manager.”

  “Is that even a thing?”

  “It is now.” She looked at him like he was crazy, which he was clearly unfazed by. “Look, it’s not a handout. You proved yourself today. If you can’t do it or you screw up, I will fire you. I won’t want to, but I will do it.”

  “Okay.”

  “There’s going to be alcohol here, happy hour, sometimes you might need to be there mingling, so if that’s a problem, we can work the job differently I guess . . .”

  “No, that won’t be a problem.”

  “But if you think it’s too hard, you need to talk to me, okay?”

  “Sure, I will.”

  “Awesome.” She couldn’t quite believe it. “I won’t let you down, Moose.”

  “I know that,” he said with a smile. “So, Monday morning then, I’ll see you back here, we’ll sign some papers, and you’ll have a job.”

  She could feel the big smile spreading across her face and she nodded. She wanted to hug him, but now he was her boss and she wasn’t sure if she should, so she didn’t. “Okay, Monday. See you then.”

  She practically skipped down the front steps and out into the night. She felt good, no, she felt happy. She hadn’t felt that in a while, and proud. She definitely hadn’t felt that in a very long time. It felt good. She pulled her jacket around her shoulders and headed to the store. She deserved chocolate. Yep, a good bar of something naughty was in order. And then she’d go home and call Lucy and tell her the good news.

  Mitch didn’t see Minnie all day. He was at work, and he hadn’t seen her come or go. He assumed she was fine. He sure hoped so. Cheryl was perched at the end of the bar again. There were plenty of tourists to talk to and flirt with. She was fine. Maybe he should have put her to work, but Mitch suspected she would be far more of a hindrance than a help.

  When she’d followed him in, Sam had just raised an eyebrow and kept his mouth shut.

  “One week” was all he muttered as he went behind the bar and began service. A little while later, Moose and Chloe came in. His big arm was slung around her small shoulders and they both looked happy.

  “Hey, guys, grab a table. I’ll be right over.” He pointed to a corner booth he knew they liked. A little bit private but they could still watch the world go by.

  He wandered over to get their order a few minutes later, putting a complimentary bowl of pretzels down on the table. “Hi, guys, what can I get you?”

  He knew they would order a beer and a white wine spritzer and they did.

  “Busy tonight,” Moose observed. “I hope it is busy next weekend for my opening.”

  “It will be. The leaf peepers will be here in droves,” Mitch assured him. “You on track to open? I can lend a hand if you need me. Not on the weekend but during the week.”

  “Really?” Moose asked.

  “Yeah, of course.”

  “Wow, everyone is helping me out today. That would be great. I have some things I need to move on Monday and some extra hands would be great.”

  “All right, then. See you Monday, Cara will take over from here.” He headed back to the bar. It was good to help his buddy, but the truth was it was also good business. The more people that came to stay at the Old Post Office Inn, the more customers he’d have. That meant he’d be busy and th
at meant he wouldn’t spend quite so much time thinking about a certain neighbor who, if he really cared about, he would steer clear of.

  Chapter 10

  Monday couldn’t roll around fast enough for Minnie. Sunday had felt endless. Everyone was away, and she was both nervous and excited by the new job. By lunchtime, she’d attended a meeting, made cookies and brownies, laid out a week’s worth of work clothes, and learned a new tune on the guitar.

  She was standing outside the meeting hall, waiting, when Kevin arrived to unlock the hall.

  “Hey there, you’re keen.” He himself had a distinctively sleepy look about him. “Is everything okay?”

  He pushed the door open, and she followed him down the hall to the meeting room. “All great. I have a new job. I start today.”

  He spun around and looked at her. “Wow, that was fast. I was only gone two days.”

  She filled him in on the details. Minnie already knew he’d done some of the restoration work on the Inn.

  “It’s going to be a beautiful place to work.”

  “Yeah, he’s got a good eye that Moose. And he’s a good guy as well.”

  “Definitely.”

  A couple of the other members came in and they separated. Kevin was pleased for her and that made her happy. Lucy had been happy, too, but more measured, maybe more worried about her sobriety than Kevin. Then again, Kevin was here and he could see her doing the work, and although she owed Kevin for minding her kids, it was different. She knew that.

  At the end of the meeting, he called out, “I might see you there later. Have a good day.”

  She would. She was determined not to let anything derail this for her. There would be no self-sabotage. Having a job proved her commitment to stay around and it offered her structure and stability, not to mention a steady income. Her soon-to-be brother-in-law had made sure she had enough for the essentials since he’d dropped her at rehab, but she was happy that was coming to an end. The fact he could afford it was not the point.

  She was an adult. Adults had jobs and supported themselves and that was what she was going to do.

  The diner was its usual Monday morning busy when she approached the counter and ordered a take-out coffee. She kept her head down and waited. She knew people would talk. Let them talk. She had to ride that out.

  “Minnie, is that you?” She looked up to see a vaguely familiar female face but different.

  “Yes.”

  “Oh my god.” Then, she was pulled into a warm hug. “Look at you!”

  When she pulled back, she looked more closely. It was Janet Weatherly who had been her best friend in grade school before Janet had moved away. “Janet?”

  “Wow, I heard you were back in town. That’s so great. I’m working at the hospital because my mother is sick. I’m a nurse anyway, I just got divorced, and my mom moved back a few years ago. Anyway, Mom has cancer and so here I am. I heard about your troubles, ran into your mom one day with the kids. I’m so glad you’re back. You look great. I love those boots.” Janet was a talker then and nothing had changed. Still, it was nice to have someone who genuinely seemed happy to see her.

  “Coffee, love.” The waitress behind the counter handed her her drink.

  She took the warm cup and thanked her. “Is your mom doing okay?”

  “She’s a fighter, so I hope so. She’s about halfway through her treatment. You’re up early, and you look great. Where are you off to?”

  “New job at the Old Post Office Inn. I start today.”

  “Oh, my goodness, that’s exciting. Are you nervous?”

  “Very.”

  “You’ll do fine. You were always so smart.”

  “That’s so sweet of you to say.”

  “I speak the truth. We should definitely catch up properly.”

  “Sure, you could come over for dinner one night?” They exchanged details, and Minnie started off to the Inn. It was years since she’d seen Janet and yet that had been so easy. It helped that she knew her history and didn’t seem to care. Not everyone was judging her, that was nice. She needed to remember that.

  She paused outside the Inn to take it in. This was her new workplace. And it was gorgeous. She heard the crunch of feet on the white-pebbled path behind her, but she didn’t turn, this was a construction site after all, but suddenly a warm breath was in her ear.

  “Good morning.” Mitch.

  She turned toward the rasp of his voice. He had two days of stubble, and his hair was damp from the shower. Man, he looked good. “Hi. What are you doing here?”

  “I could ask you the same question?” he teased. His hands were shoved down in his pockets, and he rocked on his feet.

  “Well, I work here, what’s your excuse?”

  She had a job. That was awesome. He felt the grin spread across his face.

  “You’ve been busy since I saw you, then.” It had only been the weekend but it felt so long. The sight of her there in her tight black skirt and cute little boots had nearly felled him when he’d first seen her. He had it bad. He’d put his hands in his pockets so that when he approached he wouldn’t touch her, because he really wanted to. “I’m really happy for you.”

  “Thanks. Yeah, I kind of have been busy.” She was grinning, too. “I’m happy, but right now I’m also sort of terrified.”

  “You’ll do fine.”

  “Okay, so that explains me. Why are you here?”

  “Moose needed some muscle, and I volunteered.” He did a small strongman show to prove his point.

  “You are a goofball,” she said, shaking her head. “I need to head in.”

  “Lead the way.”

  He liked walking behind her, it was a pretty view. “Your ex still in town? I thought I saw her yesterday.”

  “Yeah, she is. I think you’ve had a better two days than me. Because she had quite a sob story for me. She’s just staying the week.”

  “Of course, she is.” She looked at him over her shoulder, and the look she gave him said she absolutely did not believe that for a minute.

  “She is definitely leaving Saturday.”

  “If you say so.” She wasn’t buying it. “Anyway, it’s none of my business.”

  “Well, we’re friends so it kind of is.”

  “True. As your friend, I call B.S. on the fact that she’s leaving.”

  Moose was standing in the foyer, well, he was standing on the top of a ladder that didn’t look too stable putting lightbulbs in the entryway chandelier.

  “Morning. You two come together?”

  Their answer came in unison and loudly. “No.”

  “Okay, then. I had no idea carpooling was such a hot topic.” Moose chuckled.

  Mitch laughed. They had nothing to hide. They could carpool if they damn well liked. “No, we just met out front. I didn’t know Minnie was working for you.”

  “See, who says you can’t keep a secret in this town? Not that it’s a secret, of course. I’d be happy to take out an announcement in the paper I’m so thrilled about it,” the big guy announced.

  Beside him he saw Minnie blush. “I don’t think we need to take it that far. Are you safe up there, boss?”

  “Don’t call me boss. That will be weird.”

  “Yeah, right, because calling you Moose isn’t weird at all.” Mitch liked that she was holding her own with him. It was part of her personality he really liked, a bit sassy and feisty. He’d seen her unsure a lot, but he could see that when she relaxed and was at ease this element increased and he liked that a lot. It also meant this was a good fit for her.

  She went behind the counter and put down her things as Moose came down the ladder, talking a mile a minute. “I left the computer there for the next few days while everyone is coming and going. I thought you could keep an eye on them from there. We’ll move it into the office when we’re closer to opening.”

  “Whatever is easy.”

  Mitch felt a large hand clamp down on his shoulder. “Thanks for coming, man, I really appreciate
it.”

  “The beauty of my odd hours is that I’m often available when no one else is.” It occurred to Mitch that while he was now in Minnie’s workplace she would likely not ever step in his. That made him sad. Not because he wanted her in a bar per se, but he liked the idea of showing her his business; it was a big part of his life and she was likely never going to see it.

  “Okay, well, you and I are going to rearrange a couple of the suites upstairs. Minnie, the pile of papers in the blue folder are the ones we need to deal with first, if you need me, just come and find me. Follow the sound of the moving furniture. We’re expecting deliveries for the kitchen, an electrician is coming to rewire the two suites, and the landscapers might be looking for me. Don’t let them traipse through in their muddy boots, okay? I’ll go to them.”

  “You got it.” She flashed that megawatt smile and settled into the chair. “I’ll take care of it.”

  “I love that woman,” Moose declared. Yeah, well, that statement made Mitch ridiculously jealous. The guy was talking about her work ethic, he was in love with Chloe, not Minnie, but still, the fact he had to run through all that in his head to talk himself down was nuts.

  Mitch could not possibly be in love with a woman he barely knew who he’d only kissed once, that was insane. Insane and probably true.

  Minnie did her best to concentrate. Day one of the new job was not the time to be distracted by thoughts of Mitch getting all hot and sweaty moving furniture upstairs. Really, of all the Inns in all the towns, why did he have to come into this one on her first working day? It was Karma, plain and simple.

  She was quite proud of how she’d put an end to things before they really started but that didn’t mean she didn’t feel anything for the man. I mean, the way he looked at her alone was enough to get her heart racing. She’d done her best to keep busy since Friday, and while she hadn’t exactly avoided him, because their paths hadn’t crossed, she had checked out the window when she’d come and gone to make sure they wouldn’t meet by accident.

  Yet, here he was. He had a killer smile, a great body, and he was also a good friend. These were all attractive qualities to be sure, but the kicker had been how happy he’d seemed about her getting the job. He wanted her to succeed. He was in her corner and as alone as she was right now that meant something.