Sherryl Woods - Welcome to Serenity

“You’ll want to watch out for Mary Vaughn,” Teresa added. “She’s bound to make a play for you. It’s what she does.”

Tom appreciated the warning, though he couldn’t help wondering if another woman’s interest might be just what he needed to spark a little life into the relationship he hoped to have with Jeanette. Then again, plans like that tended to backfire, he thought as he prepared to go to the meeting.

Jeanette sat at the conference table tapping her pen impatiently on the mahogany surface. She was thoroughly annoyed that she’d had to switch her entire schedule around at the spa to be here, but to make things worse, Tom was nowhere to be found.

Not that she was anxious to see him again. Dinner the night before had been awkward enough. She’d been rude, and she wasn’t likely to hear the end of it from Maddie anytime soon, either. Nor was she looking forward to more of Tom’s advances. She had a hunch he was persistent.

She turned to Mary Vaughn. “This is a waste of time,” she groused. “You could have sold another house this morning and I could have done two or three treatments. If the town manager isn’t here in five minutes I am out of here.”

Across the table Ronnie Sullivan, Dana Sue’s husband, winked at her. “Settle down, sugar. Things move at a slower pace in Serenity.”

“Tell that to Maddie,” she retorted.

He grinned. “The way I understand it, Madelyn is the one who sent you over here. I’m sure she knew what to expect.”

Discovering that Ronnie was on the committee had been a surprise. Dana Sue had never mentioned that. She wondered if Dana Sue had any idea that Mary Vaughn was on the committee, as well. No way, she concluded. If Dana Sue had known, she’d have been here herself, protecting her turf: Ronnie.

Jeanette stole another glance at Mary Vaughn, who was wearing one of her expensive designer suits, chunky gold jewelry and a diamond-encrusted watch that cost more than Jeanette made in a month. Suddenly she was struck by the thought that Mary Vaughn and Tom McDonald were an ideal match. Both professionals. Both go-getters. And both, apparently, on the prowl. Yes, indeed, that was the solution to her problem. Once those two met, Tom would give up on Jeanette and move happily on to more available prey.

Astonishingly, the idea didn’t hold nearly as much appeal as it ought to.

Finally Tom came into the room, looking no happier than she was to be here. She had to admit that dressed up for work in neatly pressed navy slacks, a blue-gray shirt the exact color of his eyes, gold cuff links and a tie that he’d already loosened, he managed to give a little jolt to her system even though he was definitely not her type. She preferred sexy, blue-collar guys who had absolutely no pretenses. Of course, based on past results, her taste was pretty questionable.

“Morning, folks,” Tom said in a slow drawl that gave Jeanette another jolt to her system. Darn the man. He smiled, introduced himself and shook hands with everyone at the table. His attitude was friendly enough with most of them, but turned a little frosty when he reached the mayor. “Howard,” he said curtly.

“Good morning,” Howard said, oblivious to the undercurrent. He and Ronnie seemed to be the only people one hundred percent happy to be here.

Next to her, as anticipated, Mary Vaughn was studying Tom with a look suggesting he might well become her next romantic diversion. Jeanette noted the way Mary Vaughn honed in on Tom’s left hand, obviously noting the lack of wedding band. She suddenly perked up, readjusting her suit jacket to expose a bit of cleavage. Jeanette sighed. Could she be any more obvious?

“Howard, since you called this meeting, why don’t you get it started,” Tom suggested. “I’m sure you have an agenda. Since I’m unfamiliar with the traditions here in town, I’ll just take notes today and chime in if a suggestion comes to mind.”

His tone hinted that any suggestions he might want to make right now wouldn’t be offered in the spirit of the holidays. Jeanette totally sympathized.

Howard, however, took the ball and ran with it. Within an hour, he’d assigned Mary Vaughn to speak to all the choirs in town. Ronnie had been designated to investigate new decorations. That had left dealing with prospective vendors for Jeanette.

“Tom, you’ll work with her on that, right?” the mayor said, to Mary Vaughn’s obvious disappointment.

“Of course,” the town manager said, giving Jeanette an impudent wink.

“Then I’d say we’re well on our way to having the best Christmas festival Serenity has ever seen,” Howard chirped cheerfully. “Good job, everyone. Same time next week.”

“We’re meeting weekly?” Jeanette asked, horrified.

“Well, of course we are. We have to stay on top of this, don’t we?” Howard replied. “I might be Santa around here, but I can’t do this without my little elves.”

Tom looked as if he wanted to jab his ballpoint pen straight into the mayor’s heart. Jeanette understood the emotion.

“He’s not worth the time in jail,” she murmured as she passed by.

To her surprise, his lips twitched. “You sure about that?”

“Now that you mention it, no. Check with me again next week. I might supply the pens.”

When Jeanette finally made it back to The Corner Spa, she was edgy and more annoyed than ever with Maddie for getting her involved in the Christmas festival. Two hours wasted every week from September all the way until the event itself in early December! Ridiculous. On top of that, Maddie had gently chided her just now for her attitude toward Tom on Sunday night. She’d expected it, but that hadn’t made the experience any less annoying. She was still muttering about it when she ran into Helen in the café.

“Ah, there you are,” Helen said cheerfully. “How did the committee meeting go? I hear the new town manager is very hot.”

Jeanette scowled at her. “Not you, too,” she grumbled, turned on her heel and marched into her office. “I’ve heard all the rave reviews I can bear from Dana Sue and Maddie.” Along with that humiliating lecture on her rudeness Sunday evening and how inappropriate it was for someone in business in Serenity to be unwelcoming to the new town manager.

Before she could shut the door, Helen stepped in behind her. “Okay, I obviously said the wrong thing. Mind filling me in on why?”

“Here it is in a nutshell,” Jeanette said, working herself back up to a full head of steam. “I do not want to be fixed up. I do not want Maddie, Dana Sue and you getting any crazy ideas about me and Tom McDonald. If and when I decide I want to date, I’ll find my own man.”

Helen’s shrewd eyes twinkled with amusement. “Got it,” she said.

Jeanette’s scowl deepened. “You are not taking me seriously. Why don’t any of you take me seriously?”

Helen’s expression sobered at once. “Oh, sweetie, we do. Believe me, when it comes to anything you have to say about running a spa, we take you very seriously.”

“But not about this,” Jeanette accused. “Not about my love life.”

“It’s just that you sound so much like we did right before we landed in marital bliss,” Helen said.

Jeanette sighed heavily. “Yeah, that’s what Dana Sue said, too.”

“We’ve all been there.”

“Where?”

“In denial.”

“How can I be in denial? I’ve crossed paths with Tom McDonald three times. He’s not my type. He’s a little too uptight and stuffy.” The comment was far from the truth, but there was no way she was going to say he had a cute dimple and a charming way about him: it would only add fuel to the fire.

“That’s not how Maddie described him. Or Dana Sue, either.”