Bed, Breakfast, and You (Brookfield) (3 page)

She nodded and went back to her desk. She pulled the roll
ing 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 lea
ned 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, b
e 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 t
ogether. 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?”

She twirled a lock of hair around her finger and he almost expected her to blow a bubble with the gum she was smacking. “You did. But she’s gone.”

“Did she happen to leave staples?”

Tonya shook her head in an odd way. Her breasts stuck out and he had a feeling the girl wanted him to look at them. “I got you lunch though.”

“You did?”

“Yes. I hope you like subs.”

“I do. And thank you
. That was very sweet of you. Did you run out? I don’t remember you bringing this when you came in.” He picked up the paper sack.

Tonya’s smile faded for a moment then it went back on. “It was in my bag. I ate mine while you were in the office. So, what can I do?”

“I really need staples.”

Tonya giggled. “Looks like your morning secretary is no good at her job.”

Jace wasn’t sure why, but hearing Tonya say something negative about Claire annoyed him. “I had her running a ton of errands. I’m sure she didn’t mean to forget.”

“It’s her job not to forget.
Would you like me to run out?” she asked.