Sherryl Woods - Welcome to Serenity

“And you manage the spa full-time?” Tom asked, impressed.

“And does an amazing job of it,” Jeanette added. “Women are great multitaskers.”

Tom frowned at the note of censure in her voice. “I’m aware of that. I’m just trying to learn who does what in Serenity.”

After shooting a bewildered look in Jeanette’s direction, which suggested there would be questions for her later, Maddie said, “Well, you’ll be happy to know that Jeanette is an organizational wizard herself. She’ll be our representative on the Christmas festival committee. Will you be chairing that?”

“Yes,” Tom said. Suddenly the prospect of planning the town’s holiday celebration didn’t seem as dismal as he’d anticipated. He still thought there were better uses of his time, but if it threw him together with Jeanette, it couldn’t be all bad. Right now, though, she was regarding him with undisguised suspicion.

“Since you and Maddie clearly don’t really know each other, what are you doing here?” Jeanette asked as if he’d crashed the party.

Maddie’s expression went from bewildered to dismayed at Jeanette’s rudeness. “I invited him,” she said. “And before you ask, it was Cal’s suggestion. He called on his way home and said he’d run into you at the movies and invited you to join us. He thought it would be nice for Tom to get to know a few people in town.”

Jeanette didn’t look entirely satisfied with the answer, but she sat back and hid behind her menu. The continued high color in her cheeks was the only thing that gave away her embarrassment.

Once Cal arrived with the boys, the tension at the table dissolved, primarily because there was no way Tom and Jeanette could be expected to communicate with each other. It wasn’t until they were on their way out to the parking lot that he had a chance to speak to her privately. As the others drove off, he deliberately lingered beside her.

“I’m sorry if my being here tonight was a problem,” he said, studying her intently. “Have I offended you in some way? When Maddie called, I had no idea who else would be here. I was just tired of staring at the four walls of my room at the Serenity Inn, so I seized on the chance to get out for a meal and some conversation.”

She sighed heavily. “I’m sorry. I know I’ve behaved like an idiot, but you don’t know Maddie that well yet, or her partners. They…meddle.”

Ah, the picture was getting clearer. “Inveterate matchmakers, huh?”

“You have no idea. It was amusing when they were focused on each other, but now they seem to be turning their attention to me. It’s humiliating, to say nothing of unwelcome. And it’s really embarrassing to see you put on the spot the way you were tonight.”

“I wasn’t embarrassed. It made my day when I looked up and saw you crossing the restaurant. I’d been hoping to run into you again.”

His response only seemed to aggravate her. “I don’t date,” she said emphatically.

Tom wasn’t half as put off as she’d clearly intended for him to be. She’d inadvertently created a fascinating challenge for him. He’d always excelled when told that something was beyond his reach.

“I imagine there’s a story behind that,” he said, holding her gaze until she looked away.

“Several of them, unfortunately.”

She started to walk away, but he stayed in step with her. “We’ll have to get together sometime so you can tell me about it.”

Her lips twitched. “Wouldn’t that constitute a date?”

“Not if we don’t want it to,” he said seriously. “Two friends commiserating over a good dinner and a bottle of wine could be perfectly innocent.”

“Not if one of those ‘friends’ is you,” she said. “I may be wrong, but somehow I don’t think there’s anything innocent about you.”

Tom didn’t even try to deny it. “It’s the dimple, isn’t it?” he said with exaggerated dismay.

“You, Mr. McDonald, are entirely too full of yourself. Something tells me you’re a player.”

“I was always told that self-confidence is a good trait. Did I get that wrong?” he asked worriedly.

“You say self-confidence,” she teased. “I say arrogance.”

“I’ll work on that,” he promised.

“We’ll see.”

“Hey, I’m all for self-improvement, especially if it means you’ll eventually say yes to having dinner with me.”

“Self-improvement should be its own reward,” she said. “Good night.”

“Do you need a lift?” he asked hopefully.

“No, thanks. I have my car.”

“Then, can you give me a lift?”

“What about the car in which you just offered to drive me home?”

He shrugged. “I’ll get it tomorrow.”

For the first time all evening, she laughed. “You’re incorrigible.”

He shrugged, unrepentant. “You’re not the first person to tell me that this weekend.”

“Apparently the women in your life are all on to you.”

“The other one was my mother,” he admitted.

“Well, I rest my case. She would definitely know.”

She climbed into her sporty little convertible, gave him a jaunty wave and drove off, leaving him in her dust. Being rejected by Jeanette Brioche was getting to be a little hard on his ego, which of course only made him more determined to win her over. He had a hunch he knew the rules of this game far better than she did and, in the end, he never lost. Not when something mattered to him.

Despite knowing that the Christmas committee would throw him into contact with the elusive Jeanette, Tom had hoped Howard would back off for a while. Unfortunately, when he arrived at work on Monday morning, it rapidly became evident that this was one area in which the mayor was highly efficient. Tom’s secretary beamed at him.

“The committee’s waiting for you in the conference room,” Teresa announced. “I’ve had coffee and doughnuts brought in.”

Tom frowned at her. “What committee? I don’t have a meeting on my calendar for this morning.”

Her smile never wavered. “Oh, dear, I must have forgotten to make a note of it on that calendar you insist on keeping yourself. It’s on the one I keep.”

“What committee, Teresa?” he repeated impatiently.

“Christmas festival, of course. I know Howard discussed it with you. He asked me to set it up.”

Sneaky SOB, Tom thought uncharitably. And as for Teresa and her annoying tendency to take orders from people like Howard Lewis, she did know more than anyone else about how this place operated. He needed her. Otherwise his career in public service in Serenity was going to be very short-lived. That might make his folks happy, but he didn’t want his career to falter even slightly because he’d offended a knowledgeable secretary within his first two weeks on the job.

“Okay, give me a quick rundown on the committee members,” he said, grimly determined to see this through. Once it was over, perhaps he could reconsider whether he was at all suited to a life of public service, after all. It had sounded darn noble once upon a time, but that was before he’d been confronted with making decisions about hanging snowflakes on the town green or whether Santa’s chair needed to be repainted with gold and adorned with glitter or whatever other little crises this committee dreamed up to waste his time. He was pretty sure nothing like this had ever been mentioned in any of his public-administration courses. And he definitely hadn’t run into this sort of thing during his tenure in the planning and finance departments of the other towns in which he’d worked.

He listened as Teresa described the makeup on the committee. In addition to Howard and Jeanette, the other two members were Ronnie Sullivan, who owned the hardware store on Main Street, and Mary Vaughn Lewis, the president of the chamber of commerce.