Julianna Morris - Undercover In Glimmer Creek

“Gabe is a new employee,” Tessa explained. “He’s always eager to help where needed.”

In the four days since Gabe had started with Poppy Gold, he’d been very keen to volunteer for anything that needed doing.

“Excellent,” Charlotte said briskly. “I’m a tired old lady, so it’s wonderful to have a pair of willing hands. Join me upstairs.” She turned and strode up the steps of Old City Hall like a general going to war.

“Don’t buy that ‘tired old lady’ bit,” Tessa advised Gabe. “Charlotte is the founder of Angel Bite Cookies. She has more drive than both of us put together.”

“Is that a big company?”

“They’re huge. Angel Bites went from a business started in her kitchen to one of the most popular gourmet cookie-makers in North America.”

“Now she leads a crafters’ association?”

“Her son convinced her to retire, so she got involved in several organizations. But she still takes time to develop new recipes for the company. You should taste her Little Devils. They debuted last year and are absolutely divine.”

“Little Devils from a company called Angel Bites?”

“Mmm, yes. They’re a dark chocolate cookie with a hint of hot chili pepper. Incredible.”

Amazingly, a smile lurked in Gabe’s eyes. “I’ll take your word for it. I’d better go assist Ms. Angstrom before I get court-martialed. She reminds me of a commanding officer I once had—he was easy to get along with, provided everything got done his way.”

Tessa had to laugh. Charlotte could be a challenge.

Gabe went inside Old City Hall, and Tessa started her final review of the arrangements. The guild offered classes on making American patchwork quilts at the annual conference. This year the reservations had skyrocketed, and they were using all the meeting spaces available at Poppy Gold.

The other participants had begun arriving by the time Tessa finished. She was racing from the far side of Poppy Gold toward the concert hall when Gabe made another one of his unexpected appearances.

“Um, hi,” Tessa said, her pulse jumping with surprise. For a tall, strong guy, he could move awfully fast.

“Hi. Liam is concerned that you might not have eaten.”

Tessa looked at her watch and saw it was after one o’clock. Her dad often had someone track her down to see if she’d eaten lunch, but he usually sent a member of the family.

“Tell him I’ll get something after I stop in at the guild meet and greet.”

Gabe handed her a covered cup and a straw. “He figured as much, so he made something. I volunteered to bring it over since I was coming this way to do cleanup on the parking areas.”

Resigned, she unwrapped the straw and stuck it in the cup. It held one of Liam’s special concoctions—blended frozen fruit, yogurt and protein powder. As a teen she’d been very active, hating to stop for meals, so he’d begun making smoothies. Her dad had always been a mother hen, and since it gave him something productive to think about, she didn’t object to him fussing at her now.

The biggest problem was when he hinted about grandchildren and suggested she start dating again. She wasn’t opposed to the idea, even with her concerns about the risks of falling in love; she just didn’t have time. Perhaps in a year or two when things had settled down at Poppy Gold.

Of course, her Glimmer Creek relatives were also in full matchmaking mode. Just a few weeks earlier she’d been invited to dinner at her aunt Polly’s house, only to discover Polly had invited the high school principal as well...who just happened to be single. He was a nice guy and had called a couple of times since, but Tessa wasn’t interested. No sparks.

She started walking toward the concert hall again, and Gabe fell into step next to her. It wasn’t uncommon to have employees try to score points with her, but he didn’t seem the type.

In spite of her reservations and the lack of information she’d been able to find about him, she couldn’t deny that he worked hard. He also seemed to relate well to her father; the previous evening she’d found them in Maintenance, talking away as they poked through the innards of the 1928 pickup. It was Pop’s favorite vehicle, and he didn’t let just anyone touch it. Then she’d heard they’d gone to dinner together. She would have teased her father about having a bromance, but she didn’t think he’d understand.

“Ms. Angstrom mentioned you were business associates in San Francisco before she retired,” Gabe commented.

Tessa shrugged. “I made a lot of contacts working for my grandfather. In college, too.”

“Those contacts must be helpful now that you’re running Poppy Gold. Do many of them book conferences here?”

“Some. We’ve had corporate retreats, weddings, class reunions, all sorts of stuff. My folks began promoting Poppy Gold as a conference center three years ago, so some of our clients have been coming here since then.”

Tessa gulped down the last mouthful of the smoothie and shivered, despite the warm air. She tossed the cup in a trash can near the entrance of the concert hall.

“I’ve got work to do, and you mentioned needing to work on the parking lots, so you’d better get going,” she said firmly.

* * *

BEFORE GABE COULD LEAVE, he felt a vibration under his feet.

A truck?

He looked around, expecting to see the antique truck that Liam favored. For the most part Poppy Gold restricted modern vehicles in the old town area, though they used electric golf carts when needed.

The vibration grew more pronounced, and he heard a faint roaring sound.

Visitors began running through the doors of the concert hall crying, “Earthquake!”

Without batting an eye, Tessa directed everyone to the old town square park across the street, at the same time urging them to watch their step and remain calm. When the rush had ended, she got on the radio.

“Central dispatch, this is Tessa. I’m with Gabe McKinley. We’re fine. Let’s follow Response Plan C. Gabe and I will team up and start checking buildings, beginning with the concert hall, going counterclockwise. Let my father know where Gabe will be for a while.”

“Okay, Tessa. I’ll take the lead from Old City Hall.”

“Thanks, Aunt Polly.”

Gabe lifted an eyebrow. Response Plan C had been discussed in the operations handbook and was far more extensive than such a minor event warranted. It included accounting for employees and making a visual sweep of every space in Poppy Gold. There were no preassigned teams, so emergency coordinators called on whoever was available. The goal of the plan was to continue services with as little disruption as possible while checking to ensure both buildings and guests were all right.

“Damage seems unlikely,” he said to Tessa. “The quake was minor.”

“I know, and all the buildings were reinforced a few years ago, but I want to do a quick check, anyway. Besides...” Tessa continued, dropping her voice, “a number of the conference attendees are older. If any of them have health problems, there’s no telling how they’ll react, particularly if they’ve never been in an earthquake. What’s minor to us may not be minor to them.”

“I understand.”

They went inside the concert hall and inspected the main room, restrooms, storage areas and kitchen, ensuring no one was there who might have been injured in the rush to exit the building.

“The concert hall is okay,” Tessa reported to her aunt on the radio.

“Got it, Tessa.”

Before continuing to the next building, they went out to speak with the guests in the small park, only to have Charlotte Angstrom inform them that she had everything in hand. She had her expert quilters giving impromptu lectures on the history of American patchwork to relax everybody. In the meantime she was marking names on her roster to account for everyone who’d registered.