not very generous of me to say this, but I hope you come across something we can use to get his nose in a twist.”
Guilt pooled inside her and sent hundreds of tiny ripples of shame out to every cell in her body. Here was one of her dearest friends, beaten down and destroyed by Adam Duke and all Trish could say was, “Oh, Sam, I’m not sure I can do that.”
He touched her shoulder in understanding. “That’s okay, honey. We all just appreciate that you’d care enough to try.”
“I-I promise I’ll do what I can.”
They wandered over to the cold remedies aisle and Sam found aspirin and a box of extra-strength cough syrup. “Whatever you do, honey, I know it won’t bring the Village back. But it would be nice if Adam Duke just had an inkling that what he did to us was wrong.”
“That would be nice,” Trish said halfheartedly, then wanted to crawl into a box. She could barely look Sam in the eye, knowing she’d betrayed them all by becoming romantically involved with Adam. What would they do if they knew the truth? They were all such sweet people, they’d probably forgive her. She just wasn’t sure if she could forgive herself.
At the checkout stand, Sam began to pull cash and coins from the pockets of his old coat.
“Hey, I’m buying this,” Trish said, pulling out her credit card.
“Don’t be silly, honey.”
“But it’s the company card,” she said lightly, hoping he’d believe her little white lie. “We’ll let Duke pay for it.”
Sam let out a rusty laugh. “In that case, okay.”
As they walked out to the parking lot together, Trish asked, “Do you need anything, Sam? Can I help you in any way?”
“Ah, honey, I don’t need a thing. It’s just been great to see you.”
“Are you limping?”
“It’s nothing.” He waved it off as he grumbled, “Doctor says I need a hip replacement. Can you imagine them cutting me open to stick a hunk of metal into my hip socket? That’s not going to happen.”
“Oh, Sam.” She shook her head. “It might make a big difference and get rid of the pain.”
“Maybe,” he muttered, then he jabbed his finger in the air. “Let me tell you something: getting old ain’t for sissies.”
She chuckled. “That’s what Grandma Anna always said.”
“Yeah, I know.” He laughed. “I miss your grandma a lot. She was a pip, that one.”
“I miss her, too.”
“Here’s my truck.” He gave her another big bear hug, then she helped him open the door. “You take care of yourself, honey, and don’t let that Duke fellow get you down.”
“I won’t.” She held his arm steady as he climbed into the driver’s seat. “You take care of yourself, too. Get rid of that cough.”
“I promise.” He grinned. “We’re all so proud of you, Trish.”
“Thanks, Sam.”
She waited until he was tucked inside his truck and had started the engine. Then he waved. She smiled and waved back, watching until his truck disappeared out of the parking lot. As she walked to her car, she thought about Sam and how much she’d missed him. How much she’d missed her Village family. She was so glad she’d run into him. So why did it feel like her heart was breaking?
Adam shoved another thick lease document into his briefcase. “Are we all set with the orchestra? I know the union guy was giving you problems.”
“It wasn’t a real problem,” she said, brushing off his concern. “The union rep just wanted to make sure we’d be giving the band two full breaks during the evening and I told him we would. So, no problem.”
Trish had taken charge of hiring a big band orchestra for the gala. She’d never negotiated a deal like that before, never dealt with union issues or artistic temperaments. It had been exhilarating and scary and she’d pulled it off without a hitch.
Adam tapped his fingers on the edge of his case, thinking. “What do we do for music during the breaks?”
She smiled. “I’ve got a fantastic DJ to fill in. He’ll also do some introductions and announcements. I’ve given him a script.”
“You’re amazing.”
“I know.” Her smile grew as he laughed. “I mean, thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” he said, and glanced at his copy of her checklist. “So the music is set. And the hotel’s taking care of the red carpet stuff. We’ve got limousines lined up to take guests from the airstrip to the hotel entrance. Photographers are set. Lighting is good. All the entertainment channels will be there.”
“We’ve even got an actual red carpet.”
“Oh, yeah. Can’t forget that,” he said, chuckling. “I think that’s everything. Are you finished packing?”
“Almost.” She thumbed through the pages of her list. “Oh, I’ve got the company jet flying your mother and her three friends to the resort the morning of the gala, then they’ll be back to take your brothers and their dates up in the afternoon.”
“Thanks for taking care of that.” He pulled her into his arms and planted a kiss on her forehead. “I’m glad we’re going up two days early.”
“It’ll take two days to get everything ready.”
“We won’t be working the whole time,” Adam said. He’d already told her he wanted this time to be a mini- vacation just for the two of them. They could do whatever they wanted. If they were in the mood for some energetic physical activity, they could go cross-country skiing or ice-skating. Or they could just settle into the spa, get a couples massage, or while away the hours in the sauna or hot tub. He’d already scheduled a manicure and pedicure for her. He’d insisted that her every wish was his command, as long as she was pampered and fluffed and ready for him every night.
Trish doubted she would spend much time being pampered, but she couldn’t help the tingles she felt when he described what he wanted to do to her.
She only had one more thing to do before they left the next day. She’d been putting it off forever, but the fact was, she needed a fabulous dress for the gala. Knowing there would be snow, she’d borrowed Deb’s down coat and gloves again. But she still had to buy a dress. She planned to go shopping tonight after work, unless she could sneak off before that.
“That’s it,” Adam said as he closed his briefcase. “I’m off to meet with the SyCom people.”
She handed him a thin folder. “Here are your notes for the meeting.”
“What would I do without you?” he asked, then pulled her into his arms and kissed her. “Mmm, is it too late to cancel the SyCom meeting?” Trish smiled.
“Yes, ma’am.” He grinned and gave her a snappy salute, then grabbed his briefcase and strolled out the office door.
Trish sighed as she stared at the mess on Adam’s desk. She would deal with all that later. Right now, she would take advantage of Adam’s absence and go find a dress.
Two hours later, Trish returned to the office, ready to get back to work. She’d bought the most beautiful dress she’d ever seen. Why that made her feel guilty, she wasn’t willing to say out loud, but at least she’d found it on sale.
After taking care of all the work on her desk, she headed into Adam’s office. Files were piled everywhere on his desk, papers were askew. There was spilled coffee and a half-eaten cinnamon scone still sitting there. How could he possibly work in all that mess and jumble?
She began straightening things, starting with piling the many files onto the file cart. She tried to match the loose papers with the files they went with. Pens and paper clips went back in the drawer, the scone was tossed out and dirty coffee mugs were hustled down the hall to the kitchen dishwasher.
After his desk was cleaned to her satisfaction, she pulled the file cart out to the cabinets by her desk and began returning them to the drawers. It took her nearly an hour, but she had almost reached the bottom of the pile.
