“As much as I hate to admit it, the stairs are killing me, and I don’t have the energy to start renovating now. I’m going to move into assisted living at Dover Falls.”
Still determined and feisty at barely five feet tall and maybe ninety-five pounds, Grams had smiled brightly and added, “Connie Boyle is there. She goes to Foxwoods casino once a quarter. There’s a whole busload that goes. Doesn’t that sound fun?”
A month after making her announcement, it was a done deal. Grams sold two other properties that she’d owned for many years and rented out to summer tourists. She wasn’t ready to part with her main residence though, or even to rent it out just yet.
Grams settled in quickly at Dover Falls and always sounded happy whenever Jill or one of her sisters called, but recently she admitted to feeling a bit under the weather. A nasty bout of bronchitis had turned into pneumonia and left her so weak that she didn’t have the strength to venture out at all, let alone make the traditional trip to Mimi’s Place. Gram’s suite at Dover Falls had a small kitchen they could use, so the new plan was for Jill to make the cake ahead of time, and then just see what everyone was in the mood for when they all arrived.
Jill was mentally making a shopping list of the ingredients she’d need for the cake when an instant message from her assistant flashed on the computer screen,
Billy’s on his way in. I told him you were busy, but he wouldn’t listen. Just wanted to give you a heads up.
Thank God for Jenna. She was the best assistant Jill had ever had and she couldn’t imagine working without her.
“I knew you weren’t on the phone,” Billy said as he barged into the office and sat on the edge of her desk. He picked up the spreadsheet of names. “Have you even called any of these yet? You know how important this search is?”
Jill sighed. Her partner, Billy Carmenetti, was prone to drama. He wore expensive suits, drove a shiny new BMW, and had house accounts at several of the hottest restaurants. If you didn’t know him better, you’d think Billy wanted people to think he was someone important. But Jill did know better. She knew that he just liked nice things, because he’d grown up without them. At six foot two, with thick, almost black hair, dark brown eyes that perpetually danced with mischief, and a long, lean body, toned from daily gym workouts, Billy was hard to miss.
But, he was also one of the most generous people she knew, and one of the nicest, even if he did drive her crazy on a daily basis. They’d been best friends and business partners for well over a decade and it was only a month ago Jill realized that she might be in love with him. The idea had slammed into her, fully formed and obvious, and she was struggling with what to do about it.
“I know, I know. I’m about to dive into it. I just had something important I had to handle first.”
Billy turned as the printer whirred and groaned. Curious, he leaned over and plucked the freshly printed page off of the machine. He glanced at it, then raised his eyebrows at Jill. “Chocolate cake? Are you kidding me?”
“Oh, relax. It’s for Grams’ birthday. I’m on this search, don’t worry. We’ll fill it.”
“We have to. If we don’t, we won’t get the rest of their business. I heard from their CFO that they are using this search as a test, to see how we do, and what caliber of candidates we can produce. If we get into this company, it could launch us to the next level. Continued business for years to come.”
“Don’t you have somewhere you need to be, other searches of your own to worry about?” Jill teased.
“I’m going, I’m going.” He swung his legs off of her desk and headed toward the door. He turned back and smiled, his voice softer this time, “Tell Grams I said happy birthday.”
And that was one of the many reasons why she loved Billy. He adored her grandmother. More importantly, though, he was just a good person, through and through. And they were as close if not closer than most married couples. Everyone said so and constantly asked why they weren’t a couple, and they’d always laughed it off, said it was impossible as they’d been friends forever, and were like brother and sister as well as business partners. So, the realization that she might be in love with him was troubling. Especially when she considered that Billy had never given the slightest inkling that he was even remotely attracted to her.
Chapter 2
Mandy Lawson was running late, and that was unacceptable. She was never late. She had called ahead, told the girls at the club she’d be there at a quarter past ten and they told her not to worry. But she couldn’t help it. Mandy was a worrier. It was her Virgo nature; she craved organization, and made to-do lists for everything. And things generally went smoothly— except for today, when everything seemed to be out of sync.