Jenna studied her office layout. “I wish I could hire you, but I’m not at the point with my business yet where I can afford help.”
Elizabeth was briefly tempted, against her better instincts, by Dallas’s proposal about the rodeo, but she wouldn’t mention that. Besides, that position would be unpaid, and she’d still have her own life to rearrange. Where to start? “You probably don’t know this,” she said, “but I was once Harry’s administrative assistant. That’s how we met, his first year as mayor. But as my children’s main caregiver now, I couldn’t do that for someone else. In any job I apply for, I’d need less stress and more flexible hours.”
Jenna tucked some hair behind her ear. “But they’ll all be in school this year. The next best thing to an empty nest. Your time will be your own most of the day. Just like this summer.” She tapped one finger against her chin. “If you’d be interested, I heard Olivia could use help with her shop here and her women’s cooperative overseas.”
Elizabeth hadn’t expected that. “I know that’s become wildly successful, but didn’t she already hire someone? And I’m hardly in a position to jet off halfway around the world to buy handmade rugs in Kedar. The Himalayas?” Her house might be empty, but it was probably far more comfortable than the medical clinic Olivia’s husband ran in those mountains, and it was home. “That would be worse than working for Harry. I couldn’t leave my kids.”
Jenna sent her a look. “Come on. Like you, Olivia has...children, two of them, and that’s not all her co-op does now. It’s expanded to include help for the women there, like microloans to foster their start-up businesses. Whenever she’s away, which she’s going to be again soon, maybe you could manage the shop. Fill the online orders. You wouldn’t need to travel.”
Elizabeth felt herself weakening. “The rugs they make—that she sells—are beautiful. Certainly, the co-op’s a worthy cause...” Elizabeth felt a burst of enthusiasm. Working for Olivia shouldn’t have such a steep learning curve as planning a rodeo might. “But Jenna, I’m no expert on antiques.”
“You’ll learn. Are you trying to talk yourself out of a job at Olivia McCord Antiques?”
“No.” That job could be exactly what Elizabeth needed to help support her family, and it wouldn’t cause gossip as organizing the rodeo might. She and Dallas had shared one pleasant meal. He’d celebrated his good news about his job at the McMann ranch, and she’d apologized for her rudeness before. He’d seemed empathetic about her mother. They’d even briefly talked about their one afternoon together. But to help with his event when she’d just gotten out of the spotlight? Again, no.
And lucky for me, Elizabeth told herself, there’d been no need to put Dallas in his place the night of their dinner. He hadn’t tried to kiss her. He’d asked her to walk him to the door, touched her shoulder, then strolled off into the darkness, saying, “See you, Lizzie.”
“I’ll talk to Olivia,” she said to Jenna. “Thanks.” She mentally crossed her fingers. At least for now, the fatigue she’d been feeling every day had lifted from her shoulders.
With a job, she’d no longer be alone in her empty house. The antiques shop suited her far better than a rodeo, and no one else need ever know she’d lost her head, once, with Dallas.
CHAPTER FIVE
DALLAS WAS HALFWAY along Main Street when he spied Lizzie’s car parked in front of the building that housed Jenna Smith’s firm, Fantastic Designs. He’d already spent a frustrating hour at the small complex in Barren that contained the mayor’s office, that of the town council, the library and the senior citizens’ meeting space, but he still didn’t have the name of the person he needed to see about a permit for the rodeo. As he whipped his truck on impulse into the angled slot beside Lizzie’s sedan, he saw her step from the building onto the sidewalk. He supposed he was about to get another polite brush-off from his neighbor, but he hoped she could help him this once.
“Oh. Dallas,” she said on her way to her car, keys in hand.
“Got a minute? Sorry to be a pest, but I have a problem.”
She glanced toward Jenna’s office building. “With your lawn mower?”
Obviously, she’d seen him struggling earlier with the old machine that looked as if it had been in his rented garage for the better part of a century. Before the grass grew as knee-high as a cornfield by the Fourth of July, he’d been heading for Earl’s Hardware when he spotted Lizzie’s car. “Not only the mower,” he said, but she didn’t stop walking.
Her shuttered expression said that even these few seconds had tried her patience. Since dinner that one night, he’d had the feeling she’d been avoiding him again. Now, apparently, she couldn’t wait to get away from him.
“This is about the rodeo—and I’m not going to twist your arm.” Dallas used his best coaxing tone. “I promise, all I need is a name.”
She cracked a faint smile and a weak joke. “You already have one—two, in fact. Your brother’s wife told me you were once called Smith, just like Hadley.”
“That was before I got adopted.” He crossed his arms, unwilling to explain any further. Dallas didn’t like to dwell on his years in foster care or the estrangement from his brother. He was a Maguire now, and that other life—the deprivation he’d suffered then—was behind him. “Have a heart, Lizzie. This afternoon I ran into a brick wall at city hall, trying to find the permit person for the rodeo.” He added, “Is there a public works department somewhere?”
Lizzie actually snickered. “No, but there’s a guy who maintains the lawn, trims the bushes, strings up the Christmas lights the Friday after Thanksgiving. He handles local events too, and maybe the county fair
