Where Azaleas Bloom

“Cross my heart,” he said with a grin, sketching an exaggerated cross on his chest. “You can start tomorrow. I’ll bring the laptop by in the morning and show you the basics. There are half a dozen bills that need to go out, and maybe you’ll be up to speed to do payroll by the end of the week.”

“If all this is as simple as you make it sound, how many hours are you thinking?”

“Just part-time, maybe twenty. You’d be able to keep the job at Raylene’s, too. Would that be enough to help?”

“It would be a godsend,” she told him, especially the part about working at home. “But only if you’re sure. You didn’t look all that certain when you first mentioned it. Were you already having second thoughts before the words were even out of your mouth?”

“Not at all,” he said, sounding more convincing. “I’m sure about this, Lynn.”

“And you’ll fire me if I’m lousy?”

“I don’t think you’re going to be lousy, but if you are, something tells me I won’t have to do a thing. You’ll quit, either out of frustration or mind-numbing boredom.”

She looked into his eyes, a gray-blue shade she’d never noticed before and filled with kindness. “I seem to spend a lot of time thanking you lately, but I have to say it again.”

“Don’t,” he said. “You’ll be solving a problem for me.”

She smiled. “I guess we’ll see about that, won’t we?”

“I’ll be over first thing in the morning, then, as soon as the kids have left for school. Is that okay?”

She nodded. “That’ll be perfect. I don’t have to be at Raylene’s shop until ten. I’ll be home just after two and can jump right back into whatever you need me to do.”

“Then that’s what we’ll do,” he said. “And I’ll stop by before I head home at the end of the day, in case you have any questions. Or you can just run next door if something crops up that you don’t understand.”

“This really is a blessing, Mitch. Thank you.”

“No more thanks, understood? This is a business arrangement, okay? I need help. You’re looking for a job. It works out well for both of us.”

She shook her head. “Sorry. I can’t promise you I won’t keep thanking you. I have the funniest feeling you’re my guardian angel.”

The remark seemed to fluster him. “Sweetheart, I can assure you I’m no angel. You can ask anyone in town about that.”

Lynn shook her head, not buying it. “I think you’re wrong about that, Mitch. I’ve never heard a single bad word ever said about you.”

“Then you never spoke to Nettie Rogers, who swears I trampled her azaleas when I was rebuilding her screened-in porch. And then there’s Sissy Adams, who accused me of changing the sunny shade of yellow paint she chose to mustard just to annoy her, never mind that the woman is flat-out color blind. I could have painted her walls bright orange and I swear she wouldn’t have been able to tell that from neon pink.”

Lynn laughed. “You’re exaggerating, but those aren’t exactly the sort of sins I was thinking about.”

He grinned at her, a surprising twinkle in his eyes. “Now sins are an entirely different kettle of fish,” he said. “I think we’d best save those for another day, or you’ll quit this job before you’ve even started. Now head on out of here. I want to see you safely on the road before I drive away.”

“See you in the morning, then,” Lynn said, turning on the engine and putting the car in gear. She was about to open her mouth to utter another thank-you, but the expression on Mitch’s face stopped her. He looked as if he were just daring her to say the forbidden words again.

Lynn waited until she was out of sight before murmuring one more time, “Thank you, Mitch. You are my guardian angel, no matter what you say.”

Who knew that a guardian angel could come in the guise of a guy in blue jeans with red hair, twinkling gray-blue eyes and one very sexy butt?

3

Despite the relief she felt at having a job lined up, Lynn’s stomach remained tied up in knots as she drove toward the center of town. She hadn’t forgotten her promise to Lexie to find out where Ed was and when he was due back. She had her own valid reasons for wanting to know those things, as well. She knew that trying to wrangle information out of the very loyal and discreet Noelle over the phone would be a waste of time, but face-to-face, Ed’s secretary would have a lot more trouble holding out.

The success of Ed’s insurance business was ostentatiously showcased in the large brick building he’d built just off Main Street. Personally, Lynn had always thought it was pretentious, but he’d insisted it was good for business, especially the insurance business, to look impressive and solid.

Lynn parked in the large lot out back and went in through the closest entrance, drawing startled glances from several of Ed’s colleagues who hadn’t laid eyes on her since she and Ed had split up. Assuming they’d taken his side and not wanting to put any of them on the spot, she nodded politely and kept right on walking to his large suite of offices in the front.

“Hi, Noelle,” she said.

Ed’s secretary uttered a small gasp, but recovered quickly. “Mrs. Morrow, how are you?”

“Just fine, Noelle. And you?”

“Doing all right. What can I do for you? Ed’s not here.”

“So I’ve gathered. Any idea where I can reach him or when he’ll be back?”

“As I told Lexie when she called, I’m not entirely sure.”

“On either point?” Lynn asked skeptically. “I can’t recall a single time when Ed has ever been out of touch with you.”

“Well, of course, I speak to him if there’s an emergency,” Noelle said, looking increasingly uncomfortable. For all her loyalty to her boss, she was also a sympathetic woman and a single mother herself. Lynn thought she probably understood the situation all too well.

“Then how about sharing with me how you go about contacting him?” Lynn requested. “Please, Noelle. You spoke to Lexie. You know how much she misses her father. And there are things I need to discuss with him that can’t wait.”

“He’ll be back soon,” Noelle said, holding firm.

“How soon?”

“Next week at the latest, maybe sooner.”

Lynn shook her head. “Not good enough. I want to speak to him today.”

Noelle regarded her with what appeared to be genuine sympathy. “I really wish I could help you, but I need this job. I can’t violate his confidence. He’d fire me.” She gave Lynn an earnest look. “You know he would.”

Lynn sighed. Unfortunately, she knew that all too well. Even before she’d walked into the building, she’d known she was going to be putting Noelle in an impossible position. The last thing she wanted to do was to get another single mom fired.

She was struck by a sudden thought. Ed always kept petty cash in his office in a secret compartment at the back of one of his drawers. Since he’d failed to send his support check, she figured she was entitled to get that money however she could.

“Would you mind if I left a note on his desk?” she asked Noelle.

“No problem,” Noelle said, looking relieved that Lynn wasn’t going to keep pressing her.

“Thanks. I’ll just be a minute.” She walked into the office she’d worked so hard to decorate for him, choosing colors that were warm and inviting and furnishings that were tasteful and, at Ed’s insistence, far more expensive than they’d needed to be.

She sat in his ergonomic leather chair behind the oversize mahogany desk and opened the bottom drawer. Reaching into the compartment hidden behind a stack of company stationery, she plucked out two hundred-dollar bills and guiltily stuffed them into her purse.

To make good on the request that had gotten her into the room, she removed a piece of stationery and jotted a quick note asking Ed to call her immediately on his return, folded it and shoved it into an envelope, then tucked it into a corner of the pristine blotter centered on his desk.

“All done,” she told Noelle, exiting quickly. “I left the note on his desk. Please make sure he reads it, okay? As soon as he sees my handwriting he’ll toss it in the trash, otherwise.”