Bed, Breakfast, and You (Brookfield) (2 page)

She left
feeling very pleased with herself. Whoever thought they could pull a fast on her had another thing coming.

* * *

It wasn’t even an hour later that Jace heard the door open and shut again. He left his office, hoping it might be the interviewee he had coming this afternoon. At this rate, he might hire her on the spot.

“Sheriff,” Jace
greeted, “what do I owe this visit?” As if he didn’t already have an idea. Claire hadn’t been lying.

“Got a second? Can we talk somewhere private?” Seth asked.

Jace motioned to the empty office. “It’s just me here.”

“Ms. Stevens
was by to see me. I’m guessing this isn’t a surprise to you though.”

Jace chuckled. “She’s been by here today as well.”

“She brought me her paperwork. And her story is correct. The taxes have been paid. She even has bank records showing where the money has been removed from the account.”

“Crap.” Jace rubbed his temple. Who the hell would mess with the property taxes?

“Any ideas who might be up to this? It’s gotta be someone on the inside at the tax department.” Seth cleared his throat. “If you know anything, now is the time to tell me.”

“I don’t. I swear.” The town was so small, only a few people worked there. And it had to be a long-term employee. “I’ll help in any way I can. Just let me know what you need.”

“I appreciate it. I’ll ask Ms. Stevens to cool her temper and cut you some slack. At the moment, she really dislikes you.”

“
We’ll get to the bottom of this. I don’t want to be on her bad side.”

Seth laughed. “Me either. I’ll see you soon, I’m sure.”

After the sheriff was gone, Jace slumped down into a chair in the waiting area. Of all the times to not have anyone else working for him, now something was going on. The first thing he needed to do was go down to the tax office and question them himself.

* * *

Claire sat with a stupid piece of paper in her hand with a number on it:
E56.
Looking at the screen that said what number they were on:
E55
. They’d been on
E55
for the last fifteen minutes. Why did she have the feeling they were ignoring her on purpose?

Her foot tapped loudly. She could care less if she was annoying the women behind the counter, because they were
frustrating her. She let out a loud sigh and the older lady shot her a glare.

“It’ll be a few more minutes.” Irritation laced the woman’s tone.

Claire rolled her eyes. Of course it would be. This place was deserted.

T
he door from the outside opened and to her surprise, Jace walked in. He didn’t see her. He walked up to the front, skipping a number.
Jerk!

“Mr. Jenkins here?” he asked.

The older woman behind the counter smiled at him as she approached. “Not yet. We’ve been trying to get a hold of him.”

“Tell him I need to speak to him. It’s an urgent matter.”

Claire wondered what was so urgent for Jace. She was the one with a matter that needed to be taken care of right then.

“I will, Mr. Brown. Is there anything else I can do for you?”

“No.” He turned from the woman, glanced up at the ceiling, and then finally noticed her. “Claire.”

“I’m beginning to dislike you even m
ore. I’ve been sitting here for twenty minutes. It’s dead as can be. Those ladies back there are ignoring me,” Claire said.

“I’m sorry about that.”

“
E56. Now serving E56,”
The overhead intercom blared.

Go figure. “If you’ll excuse me.”

She brushed past Jace, feeling a strange jolt in her body from the touch. She glanced back at him as he left the building. Her eyes watched his ass for a moment. Man, that gentleman could wear a suit in the right ways to make a girl swoon.
No, I should not be swooning over him
.

“What can I do for you?” the woman asked.

“I need to speak to someone about a tax mistake. Something happened in the records department and I’ve got the papers to get it corrected.”

“You’
ll have to make an appointment. And as you heard, Mr. Jenkins isn’t in.”

“
I’m sure someone here can help me.”

“I’m sorry, we can’t. But if you leave your name and number
, we’ll get something scheduled soon,” the woman replied.

Claire moaned.
“No. That doesn’t work for me. I need to get this cleared up today.”

“Ma’am. I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

Claire looked at the name tag on the woman’s shirt: Mrs. Moore. She was going to make a note to remember her name and give it to Seth. “Fine. Give me a piece of paper and I’ll write my info down.”Mrs. Moore pushed a pad toward her. Claire wrote the required information down and pushed the pad back. “If I don’t hear from anyone in the next day or two, I’ll be back. Be sure to tell Mr. Jenkins that as well.”

“Have a nice day.” Mrs. Moore smiled.

As she left the building, Claire couldn’t shake the feeling something was off. Someone was against her and she couldn’t figure out why. Why would someone want her parents’ property so bad that they would go to this much trouble? Why not just approach them and ask if they could buy it? Right about now, she’d love to sit down with her parents and find out what they might not have shared with her.

Chapter Three

Claire walked around the inside of Honeycreek Bed and Breakfast and made notes on things she wanted to do before the grand reopening. Hopefully by the time she was ready to open, she’d be ready to sleep in here as well. When she first arrived, she’d planned on opening it almost right away, but with this tax crap, she knew she needed to wait. Which meant she had no money coming into her pocket.

She remembered Jace need
ed a receptionist. Maybe she could temporarily work for him—the enemy. Then she’d be on the inside and she’d have access to files. She was brilliant. Why hadn’t she thought of this before?

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 th
an 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 sigh
ed. “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 on
e 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 h
ad 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.”