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“You’re not so bad yourself.”
She might have had more to say, but the front door opened, and Tara stood there with Daisy barking at the unknown vehicle in the driveway.
“I’ve got to go,” she finally said.
“You do,” he agreed. “Say hi to Gabe for me.”
She jogged to the front door where Tara was waiting.
“Not one word,” Alli said. “Not a single word.”
“I’m not going to say anything,” Tara said, unsuccessfully hiding her grin. “I have no commentary on this whatsoever.”
Alli gave the dog a cuddle and headed straight for the shower. Thirty minutes later she was out the door, heading for the local television station. This time, there was a different, and much more polite, receptionist in the lobby.
“You can head on back,” the woman said, pointing to a hallway. “Third door on the right. Gabe is waiting for you.”
Alli thanked her and walked down the hallway, finding Gabe’s office door open. He sat at his desk watching a video on his laptop, but he looked up and smiled when he saw she had arrived.
“Come on in and have a seat,” he said, getting up and ushering her inside his office before closing the door. “I’m so glad you could make it this morning. I know I shouldn’t be asking for any of your time until your official start date, but it would be great if we could get some of this paperwork out of the way. Then you can hit the ground running your first day.”
“Sam was fine with it,” Alli assured him. “I’m guessing he won’t have any trouble replacing me. He has a firm full of qualified people.”
“I suppose he does. Let’s get to it then. How about you jump on my laptop and fill out all the new hire stuff, then I’ll give you a tour. Introduce you around. We’re happy to have a new set of hands here.”
At the last station Alli had worked at, there had been a great deal of competitiveness, and she’d worked with more than one backstabbing colleague. Although it was early days, she didn’t get that vibe at all from the people Gabe introduced her to as she toured the station. They seemed genuinely warm and welcoming.
What a relief.
Most of the people she’d met since moving to Winslow Heights had been nice, but she knew well that the world contained all kinds. Even in a charming little town such as this.
“I’m glad to see you smiling after all that I’ve thrown at you this morning,” Gabe said when they were back in his office. “I hope I didn’t overwhelm you too much. I promise you won’t be tested on remembering any of the names of the people you met on your first day.”
“That’s good because I wouldn’t remember all of them. Actually, I’m smiling because it’s nice to have a job in my field again. I’m excited to get started.”
“Was it tough to work with Sam? He can be…intense.”
“No!” she said with a shake of her head. “He’s been wonderful. Great, honestly. Whomever he hires will be very lucky.”
“That’s not something you hear about the Winslows too often,” Gabe replied. “You know…how awesome they are to work for.”
“Why do you say that? Are they terrorizing the town or something?”
“Not at all,” Gabe laughed. “Unless you count the old man. Now he’s done plenty of terrorizing. I don’t know anyone who worked closely with him and came out unscathed.”
“His children don’t seem anything like that. They all seem really nice.”
“They are good people,” he said. “But they’re still Winslows in the end.”
“You make it sound rather dire.”
“It’s not,” he said, holding up his hands in surrender. “It’s just that the Winslow family is damaged in ways that we can only imagine. They’ve suffered a terrible tragedy and have deep wounds, not to mention that they’re competitive as hell. With each other, with other people. They’re driven to be the best. A legacy from Joel Winslow, I would imagine. I should know, too. I was on the debating team with Frankie in high school. Damn, that girl hated to lose more than she liked winning. I guess that carried over to the tennis court because she was a real killer there as well. Anyone getting involved in that family should know they carry baggage they clearly haven’t dealt with.”
Alli could see that competitive streak in Sam, although he didn’t seem to be ruled by it. She couldn’t argue that Frankie was a tiger on the tennis court. She’d been known for it by her fellow tennis pros. Cooper, Tate, and Zack didn’t seem to have the killer instinct, however, and Piper really didn’t.
Yet…she’d heard that Zack had climbed the ladder on Wall Street, and Cooper was at the top of his profession as a writer. Tate had one of the most successful businesses in town, and Piper had a successful YouTube channel with over a million followers. That didn’t happen by accident.
Maybe I’m being blind to it.
