by Sara Daniel
“Before you get drunk, we need to talk about why you need this merger so badly,” Veronica said. As tempting as it was to liquor him up and work out the points he would have objected to, she wasn’t going to build the foundation of her life on deceit and trickery. It might be too late to convince Matt of her pure intentions, but she wasn’t trying to fool or take advantage of anyone.
“Isn’t it obvious?” Trevor said. “I make what your dad needs.”
“So, you sell it to him and make a profit off those sales. You don’t give up the potential sales you could have made to his competitors.”
“The merger makes sense,” Trevor argued. “His office building is on the verge of demolition, and I have the space.”
“Yeah, you have a gorgeous office building. Those marble floors and fancy chandeliers don’t come cheap, do they?” She thought of Matt’s simple—some would argue shabby—office. It was functional and, like Matt, didn’t pretend to be something it wasn’t.
Matt’s workmanship spoke for itself. His mere presence took her breath away.
“What’s your point?” Trevor snapped.
“I think you need to restructure your lease agreement or break it entirely. Not merge with my father. Not marry me.” Veronica held her breath. She was taking a big risk, and she’d gone about it backward. She hadn’t insured he wouldn’t take back the promised funding for the food pantry and community closet before she’d plunged in.
Trevor glared at Paige. “I thought you made a deal with her.”
“Wait,” Veronica said. “Hear me out first. I have something better to offer than marriage and a merger blessing. I can run some figures and analyze your lease situation to get your business back on track and your profitability up to par. If you think the analysis is worth more than a toss in the recycling bin, Help the Less Fortunate cuts the check for the Kortville community needs center as promised.”
Trevor frowned.
“You have nothing to lose,” Paige pointed out. “If her advice is crap, you don’t have to pay anything, unless she changes her mind and agrees to marry you again.”
Veronica knew her advice wasn’t crap, but she still hadn’t gotten anyone to take her seriously and believe that what she had to say was worth anything. And that meant she hadn’t secured a darn thing for the needy citizens of Kortville, might very well have destroyed Matt’s trust in her for nothing, and could be strong-armed into marrying someone she barely tolerated.
Veronica stood just inside the doorway at the charity dinner, wishing she were peddling sushi with Pauline or in a booth at the diner with Matt and Jenny. No one had noticed her yet. Maybe she could still escape.
“Thank goodness you made it. Paige promised you would, but I was getting worried,” Mother said, her panic contained to the brighter than usual hue of her blue eyes. “Come over to our table and distract your father. He’s getting all worked up that Trevor isn’t paying attention to the needs of his company, and if it’s this bad now, how much worse is it going to be after the merger?”
“He has a point,” Veronica murmured.
“Exactly. That’s why he needs you to make sure that Trevor continues to have a reason to care.”
Right. Veronica wished she was on top of a roof and could take her frustration out on pulling shingles, but like her mother, she kept her emotions bottled inside as she crossed the room. She started to sit in the reserved space and then stared, dumbfounded. Across the table, Ron was leaning his chair back on two legs as he laughed and joked with a society matron at the next table. “What’s he doing here?”
“I invited him,” Mother said. “I thought he should see what my life is like before he constantly judges it. So far, he’s ignored your father, but he seems to be enjoying himself.”
That was one word for it. If he leaned any farther back, his chair was going to tip over, and he’d find himself flat on his back. Even more disturbing, the normally prim and proper president of the women’s social club, who pursed her lips in disapproval whenever Veronica used her dessert spoon to stir her coffee, laughed boisterously at Ron’s jokes. She eyed Ron’s precarious balance with such glee, Veronica was afraid she might purposely fall over on top of him.
Veronica looked away from the pairing that was sure to be the talk of the town for weeks and strolled around the table, kissing her father on the cheek. “Hello, Dad.”
“Running off to join a construction company is the craziest stunt I’ve ever heard a kid pulling. Your mother and I have been so worried about you,” he said gruffly.
“You didn’t have any reason to be. I was taking care of myself.” Even though she’d managed to put construction work in the same league as joining the circus. She took a deep breath. “I hear you’re having some concerns about the merger.”
“Nothing that nailing down a wedding date won’t cure,” Dad replied glibly.
“Actually, I disagree. Your business concerns are well founded, and you should take them to heart. I’m going to do some analysis for Trevor and show him how he can restructure his business to avoid the merger altogether and make his company more profitable and stronger on its own. I’d be happy to do the same for you.”
“Don’t you worry about that. I have my business under control.”
She bit down on her exasperation. He didn’t have it under control, and she didn’t appreciate being patted on the head and told to go plan a wedding. She surveyed the room one more time, wishing she were back in the Laundromat brainstorming ways to help the community with Becca.
Trevor stood by a window, covering his earpiece with one hand while gulping a drink with the other. Paige was just outside the entrance, clearly wishing she were at his side. Veronica did a quick survey of their table. Other than Ron, Mother hadn’t planned any extra place settings.
“Excuse me, Dad. I’m needed somewhere else right now.” Veronica left the table and wove her way out the door to Paige. “I need a favor.”
“What’s that?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
Veronica understood her wariness. She wouldn’t want to go from being the personal assistant of the man she loved to working for him and his fiancée. “I need you to take my place at dinner, so I can go back to Trevor’s office and crunch those numbers he needed.”
“Why would you want to do that?”
For so many reasons; she hardly knew where to start. Her best bet to get Paige on her side was to lay all her cards on the table. “Because these dinners drive me crazy, and marrying someone I don’t love just to make other people happy makes me even crazier. I can get both Dad’s and Trevor’s businesses to run better if they give up this merger plan. Please help me, Paige.”
She smiled. “I’m in. And…will you be pissed if I make a move on the man you don’t love and don’t want to marry?”
“I will thank you from the bottom of my heart if you steal him away from me,” Veronica promised. “If you can convince him to honor what Help the Less Fortunate has already offered to Kortville, I’ll even take you wedding dress shopping.”
Paige dangled a set of keys in front of her. “The gold one opens his office. Go crazy with your calculator and wish me luck.”
…
Matt’s foul mood continued through Monday morning. When he pulled his truck in front of the convenience store, his gaze naturally shifted across the street to Veronica’s trailer. He hadn’t seen or heard from her since she’d gotten in the limo Saturday afternoon. He didn’t expect that he ever would. She might as well have shouted her choice from the rooftops for as clear as she’d made her intentions known.
Despite that, her trailer looked homey and inviting, as if she’d step out of it and walk toward him at any moment. Her small section of grass was trim, green, and weed-free. The planter of pink-and-white impatiens swung above the front window. Craft yard signs proclaiming WELCOME FRIENDS and HOME SWEET HOME camouflaged the concrete blocks.
The clock in his truck rolled to seven, and Matt took a final swig of coffe
e and got out of his truck.
“Hey, you can’t work here in the mornings. Did you forget about Barney’s doughnut business?” Veronica called cheerily as she crossed the street to him.
Matt froze, astonished she was there, let alone that she’d troubled herself with a trivial detail. And darn it, how dare she wear that Kortville baseball T-shirt with her jeans, picking up their flirting from the picnic as if she hadn’t run off for the weekend with her rich, successful fiancé? What kind of game was she playing with him? “I’m finishing the outside siding. Grab a hammer.”
“No thanks. I’m saving us both the misery of having me mess up another construction job.”
“What’d you come back for if you’re not working for me?” He tried to squash it, but hope swelled in his chest that maybe, just maybe, she’d come back because of him.
“Don’t worry. I told you I’d come, and I did. And I’m working for you, too. I’m picking up a doughnut, and Barney’s giving me a ride to the office.” She flashed him another smile and started for the store entrance.
Matt reached out and caught her arm. “Why did you wear that today?” She’d tied up the extra bagginess at her waist, turning the shirt into a fashion statement that was uniquely hers.
“It was supposed to make you happy. Honestly, Matt, I think it’s making you grumpy. Maybe we should try the kiss instead.”
He released her arm. “I’m trying to run a business.” And trying not to let her sweet-talk him into giving her a free ride. And trying not to get his heart broken. He hadn’t done a single one of those successfully since she’d blown into his life.
She patted his shoulder. “I’m doing everything I can to make sure you run that business as smoothly as possible. Your finances are going to be in tip-top shape at the end of the month.”
He didn’t care about his finances. He’d rather spend the day—the week, the month—being with her, even if she messed up every job and made more work for him. “Where were you all weekend?”
“If I told you I was working, would you believe me?”
“No,” he said flatly.
“All right, then. Have a great day, Matt.”
That was it? She wasn’t going to try to convince him? Wasn’t going to prove that she’d thought of him and only him all weekend while she’d been with her fiancé? And why should she? Veronica hadn’t lied to him before. She had no reason to attempt to soothe the jealous streak in his heart when he wouldn’t believe her anyway.
But he still wasn’t ready for her to walk away. “How’d you get Barney to give you a ride? Does he have a pile of rancid meat he’s going to unload on you?”
Her guileless blue eyes sparkled. “Now that we’ve settled on a date for my trailer to be taken away and work on the baseball field is set to begin, he’s offering me the fresh goods.”
“What? When?” Had she come back to clear out her stuff before she returned to her old, better life? And who was taking out the trailer if he hadn’t been told about it? Ron had hired him to clear out all the other trailers.
“Next week.”
One more week to put up with her before she went back to her old life. In fact, he didn’t even have to put up with her. He could simply ignore her while she passed the time in the office. Everyone won.
Veronica got back the lifestyle she was accustomed to.
The town got its promised funding from Ron’s sale of the distribution center.
Matt got his work done in peace and preserved his quality reputation.
So, why did he feel like he was losing everything?
Matt avoided the office and Veronica’s trailer for three straight days. In that time, he heard rumors about Ron charming society matrons and whacking his son-in-law in the shins with his cane. There were even whispers about Trevor Cunningham the Fourth calling Wilbur to personally assure him the funding for the community needs center was still on track and Agatha swearing that a woman named Paige had been in the background feeding him every word. There was not a single rumor about Veronica having a fiancé or even being present at the party where all these events had occurred.
On Wednesday afternoon a water emergency at Mrs. Parker’s farmhouse sent him scrambling to do repairs, even though he’d already promised Glenda he could be off work early so she’d be free for one of her athletic manager commitments.
He needed to find a back-up sitter before Jenny got out of school. Heidi was working, and she’d been counting on him to take care of Stephanie. The grocery store was short-staffed, so Becca couldn’t take the afternoon off. Pauline couldn’t leave a diner full of customers. In desperation, he called Ron, who didn’t answer his phone.
So, Matt swallowed his pride—and his resolve not to have any contact with Veronica—and called her. “What are you doing right now?”
“Your computer was low on memory so I added another gig. I also downloaded the latest update to your financial software.”
Whatever he’d expected her to say, it certainly wasn’t geek-speak. Naturally, coming from her mouth, she managed to make it sound sexy, too. “Where did you go to get that?”
“Online computer store, next-day shipping. You only like to think you’re out of touch with civilization,” she teased. “You’re really just a mouse click away.”
Matt grunted. “How much did that set me back?”
“Not as much as you think.”
Right. He’d called for a reason. It took him a beat to remember what that reason was. “I have a huge favor to ask you.”
“I’m all yours.”
Talk about a fantasy image. Matt cleared his throat and focused on the chaos around him. “I’m at Mrs. Parker’s—the farmhouse where we fixed the gate.”
“You fixed the gate,” she corrected. “I passed out and slept the rest of the day on your couch.”
“Yeah.” He didn’t need the reminder of how sweet and peaceful she’d looked or how she’d snuggled under the blanket as he covered her or how shaken he’d been for the rest of the day knowing she’d made herself at home in his house. “I’m trying to fix a broken water pipe. Glenda would normally be on her way to school to pick up Jenny and Stephanie, but she had another commitment this afternoon, and Mrs. Parker is standing ankle-deep in water trying to salvage a bunch of pictures and stuff before they get wet.”
“So, you want me to pick up the girls?”
Add “reading his mind” to the list of her attributes. A woman simply could not come packaged more perfectly. “Please. I’m trying to find someone else to watch them because they can’t come here. The farmhouse is a lake, and there’s no running water. But so far, I haven’t had any luck finding anyone who’s available.”
“How about I take them to your house? We’ll play dress-up and braid hair.”
There it was, Matt’s terrifying fear that Veronica’s influence would turn his niece into a girl who expected weekly manicures and jetted off to the city for expensive shopping trips. “I don’t like to encourage that kind of thing.”
“You’re morally opposed to braids?”
She made him sound like a fool. “No, of course not.” The wrench slipped as he worked to unscrew the old pipe from the fitting. He needed to get off the phone, so he didn’t have his head and arms tipped at odd angles. “It would be a godsend if you could watch the girls. Just don’t let Jenny dress up like any of those pop stars in the magazines that Stephanie’s always showing her.”
“You got it.”
He didn’t trust Veronica not to run off with a rich city man. He didn’t trust her not to ruin his town. But he had no choice but to trust her with the most valuable thing in his life—his niece. “Thanks, I owe you.”
“I think I can come up with a good way for you to show your appreciation.”
So could he. A little whipped cream. A lot of tongue. Matt clicked off the phone and slipped it into his tool belt. It stopped him from flirting back. It didn’t stop the fantasy.
…
After a quick confirmat
ion call to Matt and another one to Stephanie’s mom, Heidi, the teachers released the smiling girls into Veronica’s care. She didn’t take offense to the calls. No one was out to get her. They were following protocol to keep the children safe and accounted for.
She contemplated if she’d taken a step up or down by trading in her construction hardhat to become a daycare provider, as the three of them walked along the sidewalk to Matt’s house. Jenny and Stephanie chattered about their day at school, their classmates, and their plans for the afternoon.
Veronica could see why Matt’s world revolved around his niece. Knowing that he’d trusted Veronica—even if she was a last resort—with the most important person in his life was a step in the right direction. She needed his trust. She’d lost it the moment she’d entered the limousine with Trevor. So, she’d start over, and she’d show him she was on his side in every way that mattered.
They rounded a corner to the next block as Ron took a step up his driveway from the mailbox at the end of the street. “Hi, Mr. Walker,” the girls chorused, skipping ahead to greet him.
Ron leaned on his cane and greeted them with a smile. His eyes narrowed as he looked beyond them to Veronica. “Where are you all going?”
“We’re having a girls’ afternoon,” Jenny said.
His eyes widened. “You’re babysitting? You could be in Chicago having a spa day with your mother.”
Veronica smiled at the girls bouncing around at her side. “I’d rather be babysitting,” she said honestly.
“Mr. Walker, can Stephanie and I see your new gazebo?” Jenny asked.
“There’s not much to see yet, but you can look.” Ron waved them toward the backyard and then rubbed his fist against his chest as he turned back to her. “I thought you were going to be at the dinner Saturday night, but you never showed up.”
She resisted pointing out that she’d been there, however briefly. He’d just been too preoccupied to notice. “I had some things I needed to do in order to prove to certain people that marrying me is a bad idea.”
He leaned heavily on his cane, his other hand still pressed to his chest. “When you sent me that e-mail about how you were going to leave your family, it wasn’t supposed to play out like this. I didn’t want Angela to go through the pain of losing you like I went through when she left home. I made you a horrible deal, so you’d see how awful life was here in comparison to what you had.”