The light fixture above her door gave a few fizzy snaps, then blinked to life.
What she needed to do was worry less about what Martin had been up to and worry more about formulating a plan to get Vivian’s library completed.
She took the empty juice bottle inside the room and tossed it in the trash, then pulled her yellow legal pad out of the briefcase that had been sitting in the room untouched since she’d unpacked it three nights ago.
She carried it back to the chair outside because the yelling still going on next door was less noticeable there, and clicked her pen as she studied the Stay/Go list that she still hadn’t torn off and thrown away.
She tapped the end of her pen against the pad. On the Go side, she wrote in Vivian’s name.
The list was purely pointless, of course.
Nell had already made the move from Cheyenne. Aside from the boxes left in a second-floor storage unit, there was nothing there for her anymore.
She hoped the day that she felt convinced she’d done the right thing would come sooner rather than later.
Sighing a little, she flipped to a clean page and wrote down all of the arguments she could think of supporting the new library. There were very few reasons not to support it. Most had to do with local taxes and finding either an existing building that was suitable or a parcel of land on which to build one.
To Nell’s mind, raising the necessary funds seemed the least of the hurdles. For one, Vivian had already raised nearly half of the estimated cost. If she hadn’t realized the importance of a buy-in from the entire community, she would have already personally donated the rest of the needed capital.
When she became really frustrated with the project’s progress, Nell knew it took considerable self-control on Vivian’s part not to simply throw more money on the table with the expectation that it would flatten any hurdles standing in her way.
And while that was often true in some places, it wasn’t necessarily true right here in this small town.
She heard her cell phone ring and only then noticed that the argument next door had finally ceased. She pushed out of her seat again and went inside to grab her phone. She glanced at the name on the display before she answered. “Good evening, Vivian,” she greeted.
Her new boss didn’t mince words. “Do you have a cocktail dress? Or just a closetful of those shapeless suits you’re always wearing?”
Nell winced. She couldn’t help sliding a look toward the bar where she’d hung three of her work suits. She turned her back on them and returned to her salmon-colored chair. “Why do I need a cocktail dress?”
“I’ve decided to have a little soiree on Friday evening for the town council members. It’ll be here at the house, of course.”
Nell grimaced. Bugs had begun buzzing around the light above her head. She swiped at a moth that flew past her face. “Are you certain that’s wise, Vivian?” Nell was certain it was not, but she also wasn’t sure her boss of two days was ready for such bluntness to begin going both ways.
“Why wouldn’t it be wise?”
The moth flew past Nell’s face again and she waved her hand at it, grimacing when her wrist made contact with the chalky body.
She gave up the fight against nature and went inside the room again. She didn’t close the door, but she did turn off the lamp so as not to draw the beasties inside. “Because of the optics,” she told Vivian as she wet a washcloth and wiped off her wrist. “Even though the library seems like an effort that the entire community would support, the council members need to be objective. Or at least give the appearance of remaining objective. If they don’t, they’ll be out of their positions when the next vote occurs in September.”
“I ran a few years ago,” Vivian said. “I nearly won, too.”
Nell was glad Vivian couldn’t see her smile over the obvious consternation in her boss’s tone. “You didn’t want to try again?”
“I decided there were better ways to accomplish what I want than by sitting on a dreary committee. But had I won, I would have kept Squire Clay from doing so. He still holds the seat he won against me. You can relax, though, because I’m not intending to bribe any of the council members.”
Nell was glad Vivian couldn’t see her wince.
“And you still haven’t answered my question. Cocktail dress. Yes or no?”
“No,” she admitted. “I don’t have a cocktail dress.”
“Get one. There’s no time to call one of my designers but you can visit Classic Charms.”
Designers? Nell shook her head a little as the thought lodged in her brain.
“It’s on Main Street not far from the sheriff’s office,” Vivian continued. “An odd little shop, but I’ve found what it carries at the very least to be of good quality. Montrose can give you the exact address.”
Montrose, whose attitude darkened toward Nell with every task that Vivian put on his plate. As if Nell were the one at fault.
“I know where it’s located.” She was still a little distracted by the fact that Vivian had designers. “I drove by it twice today.” There had been an eclectic collection of furniture in the storefront window. Learning they had clothes was something of a surprise.
“Tell them to establish an account with your name on it and send the bill to me. Come in tomorrow after you’ve taken care of that. I won’t need you in the morning for anything else.”
Before Nell had a chance to respond, Vivian ended the call.
Nell looked at her screen, not entirely sure she hadn’t simply lost the connection.
When the phone vibrated again a moment later, she decided she’d been
