by Wolfe, Lacey
But would Jace hire her?
The chances were pretty slim, but it never hurt to ask.
She headed back to her cabin to find the card he’d given her with his info on it. She’d much rather be shot down for the job over the phone than in person. The papers were now in her bedroom on her nightstand. She sifted through them until she found the small rectangular business card.
She pulled her cell phone from her back pocket and dialed the number.
“Jace Brown speaking,” he answered.
“Jace, it’s Claire.”
“What can I do for you?”
She smiled, now wishing she could see his face. “I’m calling about the assistant job. Do you still need someone?”
“Yeah, but—”
“With this mess going on, I could temporarily fill that position. I have no money coming in since I can’t reopen Honeycreek at the moment. And it would be a win-win for us both,” she explained.
“Yeah, but—”
“I just can’t see how it would be bad. You have someone to answer your phones and I’ll be able to make some money. And if I’m being honest, it might help me find the bad guy. Unless you’re the bad guy.”
“Can I speak now?” he asked.
She giggled. “Sure.”
“I’d love to hire you, but that would look odd, wouldn’t it?”
“What’s so odd about it? I need a job and you’re desperate to hire.”
“I’m not—”
“Yes, you are. So how about it? I’ll be there in the morning at eight sharp,” Claire said.
He sighed. “I’m not going to get a word in, am I?”
“The sooner you give me what I want, the sooner I’ll be out of your hair. And I have a feeling you’d like my case to get solved quickly. So, if you let me help, we can solve this together.”
“What about the sheriff? Isn’t he working on it?”
“He is. But I’ve never been one to sit around and wait. I like to take control.” She grinned. “If you know what I mean,” she added the last part for the laugh. She was sure Jace’s eyes were wide at the moment.
“I’m only agreeing to this because I do need the help. I have no idea how this is going to work. But I guess I’ll see you at eight tomorrow.”
“Great. See you then.” She ended the call.
That had worked out better than she’d expected. Then again, she hadn’t even given the poor man a chance to speak. She plopped down on her bed. Hopefully tomorrow she’d be one step closer to solving this mystery.
* * *
After placing the receiver back in the cradle, Jace stared at it, wondering if that conversation had just happened. This probably wasn’t a good thing. Claire working with him would be a mistake. She didn’t let him get a word in edgewise. Tomorrow he’d fix it. He’d tell her sorry. Even as much as he liked her and believed something was going on, she was technically the enemy, since he did all the legal things for the tax office. Having her on his payroll would put him on their bad side. Then again, they were up to something. Or someone was.
Tapping his finger on his desk, he thought of Claire’s parents. They’d always been lovely people, and very active in the community—unlike his parents. Small town life hadn’t been for them. They’d raised him in Brookfield, and the first chance they got, they left. They visited from time to time, but his mom was now pursuing a senior modeling job in California. Jace didn’t fully understand it, but his parents’ were devoting all their time to making his mother famous.
Jace had visited them a few times in California, but it wasn’t for him. He liked Brookfield. He was just waiting to find his perfect woman so he could start his own life. Jace enjoyed the way everyone knew everyone here and there was always someone around if needed. Brookfield was still one of those places that if your car broke down on the side of the road, someone would stop to help—not assume the person had a cell phone and had already called for help.
In his eyes, Brookfield was perfect and he never planned to leave.
Ding. Ding.
He pushed away from the desk at the sound of the door opening upfront. Who’s here now? Ah, the girl who was supposed to interview. Crap. And he’d practically told her this position was hers.
“Hi,” he greeted her, recognizing her right away. She currently worked at the tax office as well.
“Hi, Mr. Brown. I’m sorry about having to reschedule the interview.” She smiled sweetly at him.
“It’s no problem, Ms. Wilkins.”
“Please call me Tonya.”
“Tonya.” He took a deep breath. “I would like to apologize, but the position was literally just filled.”
Her smile faded. “I don’t understand. You made it seem like this was a done deal.”
That he had. “I-I,” he raked his hands through his hair, “I’m really sorry.”
“Is it because I had to reschedule?”
“No. But the person I hired is only temporary.”
“I would be full time, not temporary. Isn’t that better?”
Yes, yes it was. He needed someone full time and here he had the perfect candidate. “I’ve got an idea.”
Tonya perked up again.
“Maybe you can both work here part time for now. And when she’s finished here, you can get started full time.”
Tonya shrugged. “I guess that would work.”
“Good, good. I’m glad. When do you want to start?” he asked.
“I can start now.” She tucked a bleached-blond strand behind her ear.
“I’m happy to see you so enthusiastic. But today is just about over. How about tomorrow around one?”
“All right.” She stared at him a moment, her brown eyes studying him. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow at one.”
She spun around on her heels and left. Jace watched as she went down the sidewalk and out of sight. He wondered if he should find it strange that she worked or had worked at the tax office and now wanted to work for him. It was probably just a coincidence, small town and all. But still, he’d keep his eye on her.
He laughed. As if that young woman had anything to do with Claire’s troubles.
* * *
Claire opened the front door to Jace’s law office, a tray of coffee in one hand. She set the tray down on her new desk. Jace was in his office already, lost, as he stared blankly into his computer monitor. He was a very attractive man. She wondered how much of a dating life he had. Not my concern, she reminded herself.
“Morning,” she greeted.
“Claire, hi. I was just answering my morning email. I’ll be out in a minute.”
She nodded and went back to her desk. She pulled the rolling chair back and took a seat. She bounced a little, enjoying the comfort of the chair. His former secretary couldn’t complain about the seating.
She had her own computer. She leaned forward and switched it on. As she waited for it to boot up, she took a sip of her coffee. A few minutes later Jace appeared.
“Is that for me?” He motioned toward the other cup. She nodded. “Wow, thank you.”
“No problem.”
He took a sip then said, “We’ve had a change of plans.”
“Oh.” She had a feeling she wouldn’t like where this was going.
“Since you’re here only temporarily until your case is solved, I went ahead and hired someone else too. She’ll be in at one and you can leave.”
“Can I get a raise?”
He spit his coffee out. “Can you what?”
“A raise. I need money, after all. And since I can’t open Honeycreek and start the renovations I wanted to, I took this job thinking it was full time. Now you’ve sprung this on me.”
She watched him. It appeared the wheels were turning fast in his head. It took everything in her to keep a straight face.
“I can’t give you a raise. I’m sorry.”
“Can you let the other girl go?”
“Claire, did you not hear what I said?”
“I did.”
He sighed. “I’m going to drink this coffee in my office.”
“Okay. What do you need me to do?”
He stared at her blankly. “I don’t know.”
He walked off, leaving her by herself. God, he was hot when flustered and she loved doing it to him. Sure, she could make his life easier and not purposely irritate him, but what fun would that be?
It was probably good he’d hired someone else as well. She could spend her afternoon doing what she could herself to Honeycreek, so once this mystery was solved, she could get the place open. She had so many visions and couldn’t wait to get started on them.
Now to figure out who might want her parents’ land. She spun the chair around and opened the filing cabinet behind her. She thumbed through the files, but wasn’t seeing anything with her parents’ name or Honeycreek on it.
“Looking for something?” Jace asked from behind her.
“Just trying to familiarize myself with everything.”
“If you’re looking for a specific file, I’ve already pulled it and have it tucked safely away.”
She turned back toward him. “What would I be looking for?”
“Okay, let’s cut the crap.”
Wow, coffee gave this man a jolt and it excited her. She’d remember to bring him a cup again.
“I get you need money, but I doubt you’re hurting that bad. You want to get to the bottom of this and you think working here will help. And it might. But you have to put your trust in Seth that he’ll get to the bottom of this.”
“I trust Seth. I don’t trust you.”
He grunted.“I want you out of here as much as you don’t want to be here. The sooner this is solved, the sooner you’re gone. And let’s get something straight,” he glared at her, “I’m not the bad guy. I’m not trying to take your land. And I want to find the culprit as much as you do. Do you have any idea how bad this makes me look?”
She nodded. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”
His body relaxed. “Thank you. Now can we move on?”
“Yes.”
He handed her a list of two names. “I need you to deliver papers to them. And yes, their taxes haven’t been paid either.”
“I have to give them the bad news?”
“Yup. Have fun.” He went back to his office, but before entering, he glanced back at her. “While you’re out, I need more staples.”
“Not a problem.”
She saw him smirk and then he disappeared inside. If she was going to have to go out, she’d make use of her time wisely.
* * *
Seth grinned and leaned back in his chair. “I think you have a crush on Jace.”
“Do not,” Claire argued
“He’s all you’ve talked about. And you think this whole thing revolves around him.”
“He started it.”
Seth laughed. “All he did was deliver the news he had to. He had no idea someone was up to no good. If you’d leave it to me, I could get this solved fairly quickly.”
Claire raised an eyebrow. “Oh yeah, and what have you done?”
“For one, I got a warrant and Cody is down at the tax office right now getting all files that have to deal with Honeycreek.”
“That’s good.”
“And Mrs. Moore said you were down there.” He gave her a stern look.
“Yeah, so?”
“So, if you’d let me do my job and quit causing more problems—”
“Wait a second. I didn’t cause any problems at the tax assessor’s office. They ignored me and still, no one has called me back. I need to talk to someone named Mr. Jenkins. He’s probably the one who wants my land.”
“Mr. Jenkins? I doubt it.”
She sighed. “And why is that?”
“He’s getting ready to retire.”
Claire crossed her arms. Apparently everyone here in Brookfield was wonderful and no one could see any of them doing what she was accusing them of. At this point the best case scenario was when they got the files on Honeycreek, they’d discover there had been a mix-up at some point and yes, the taxes had been paid. Because they had.
“I’ll do my best to stay out of it and let you do your thing.”
“Thank you. And I promise as soon as I have a lead, I’ll let you know. Deal?”
“Deal.” She glanced at her watch and saw it was almost noon. She’d better hurry back to the office, even though she was set to leave at one. “I’ll see you soon, Seth.”
He nodded. “I don’t doubt that.”
As she was heading to leave, she heard him call to her, “Oh, if you need any woodwork done, be sure to keep Mark Thomas in mind. He’s new in town.”
“Will do.”
As she left the police station, she told herself she needed to listen to Seth, but something in her gut told her to keep digging herself. Seth took such pride in Brookfield. He’d made it pretty clear he didn’t think any of the people she suspected had done anything. So, who did that leave?
Chapter Four
Claire was running late getting back to the office. Jace would probably fire her, but hopefully the sub sandwiches currently sitting in her passenger seat would help put her back in his good graces.
Once she found a parking spot, she grabbed the brown bag and ran toward the office. She entered, breathless, and even worse, hated seeing an extremely attractive bleached-blonde sitting at the desk. My desk.
“Hi, I’m Tonya. Can I help you?” she said sweetly.
Claire wasn’t sure why she felt so jealous suddenly, but seeing this woman there really irritated her. “Claire. I’m the morning secretary.”
“Oh, hi. Nice to meet you.”
“Same here. Jace in his office?”
“He is.” Tonya stood and blocked the pathway to Jace’s office.
Claire grinned at her and then brushed past her to the office. She paused in the doorway. His back was to her and he was on the phone in what seemed to be a heated discussion. Backing out slowly, she turned and bumped into Tonya.
“Sorry,” Claire said, irritated with this woman already.
“He’s been in there awhile. He doesn’t want to be disturbed,” Tonya said before sitting down at the desk again.
“I’ll sit and wait, I guess.”
Claire had hoped they wouldn’t have to mingle, but Tonya sat there with a big smile on her face. Finally, she leaned forward and in the quietest manner she could, said, “He’s hot, don’t you think?”
Claire perked up. Had Tonya really just asked her that? But before she could answer, Tonya continued, “I’m hoping that maybe I can snag a date with him.”
It was then Claire noticed how Tonya was dressed and the jealousy she’d been feeling really took off. Tonya wore a low-cut v-neck shirt that was very tight. And Claire swore she could see the tips of white lace.
Claire’s jaw ached and she realized she’d been clenching her teeth. “Oh, yeah?”
“As long as you’re not interested.” Tonya paused to take a deep breath before adding, “I wouldn’t want to have a problem between you and me.”
“You can have him.” The words came out much quicker than Claire had intended.
“Good! I can’t wait to make my move.”
Something in Claire’s chest squeezed. And then it felt like something snapped in her. She began to feel angry at Tonya. Jealousy was coursing through her body as her muscles tightened, and Claire couldn’t understand fully why. Sure, Jace was a very attractive man and Claire enjoyed getting a rise out of him, but that was it. There was no way she was developing feelings for this man, was she?
“How do you know Jace?” Tonya asked as she stared at her manicured nails.
“We went to high school together. He was a year or two ahead of me, I think. I don’t remember him well.”
“I bet he was popular back then.”
Claire hadn’t taken the time in all this mess to dig out her yearbook and look up Jace to see if she remembered him. That would
be the first thing she did when she got home. “I’m sure he was.”
“Any advice on how I might be able to get him to notice me?”
Claire’s focus diverted back to Tonya’s rack and she snickered. “I’d say you’re dressed the part.”
“It isn’t too much?”
Claire wasn’t sure what to say. It was too much and it screamed “I’m desperate. Take me”.
“He’ll notice.”
“Good.” Tonya laid her head on the hand she’d recently been admiring. “I’m sorry to hear about your parents.”
“Thanks.” She never knew what to say to a total stranger. “It’s still so strange.”
“Well, you seem to be doing great.”
“What other choice do I have? I can’t bring them back. All I can do is move on and honor their memory.” She looked at her watch and then stood up, removing her sub from the paper bag. She then set the bag on the desk. “Give this to Jace, okay?”
“Sure thing. Though he probably won’t be too hungry. I brought him homemade lasagna.”
Bitch! Claire wanted to kick herself for having such a thought, but come on. Even if she wanted to compete with Barbie here, she couldn’t. She’d come in dead last.
“He can always have it tomorrow. See ya, Tonya.” Claire turned and left, feeling defeated and hating herself even more for feeling that way.
* * *
Jace set the phone down. He’d called Mr. Jenkins and hadn’t expected things to get so heated. The man was upset about the situation with Claire and the police now questioning them. Apparently several officers had been by with a warrant to collect paperwork. Mr. Jenkins was certain the taxes hadn’t been paid and his staff would never make a mistake. He then demanded Jace put a stop to this. But how? Claire was a determined woman and he agreed with her. Someone had made a mistake or wanted her property.
His stomach rumbled. He’d missed lunch. As he went into the main part of the office, he glanced around for Claire. He was certain he’d seen her not long ago. She’d left that morning and never returned. Hopefully she’d remembered the staples.
“Hey, Tonya. Did I see Claire?”
