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“She wanted to confirm that you were going to be working here and wanted to let me know that you might not be the right candidate for the job.”
“She did what?” I hissed, my blood beginning to boil in my veins.
Carol stepped back toward me. “Don’t worry, Roxy. I let her talk, and everything she said went in one ear and out the other. She’s a conniving person; I was able to pick that up right away. I’m not sure what your relationship is with her, but I can see why you had trouble with your business if she was always sneaking around behind your back.”
“Ugh, you don’t know the half of it, Carol.” I shook my head. “I’m sorry about that. I promise that whatever she said is not true. I’m a very hard worker, and it is very important for me to put my clients first and make sure they are happy.”
“I know, Roxy, that’s why I wanted you to work here. The last event coordinator did a piss-poor job, as you saw. I’m thrilled to have you here, and I can already tell that you are going to do a fantastic job.”
I thanked her, and then we went to eat. Over lunch, we went through the majority of my questions that were focused on this weekend’s events. I could catch up on the rest later. The wedding reception on Saturday would be easy to deal with as most everything was already handled. It would only require me to oversee final preparations and be present in case there were any issues.
Sunday’s was a fiftieth wedding anniversary party, and they expected close to a hundred guests. The details of that were also ironed down, and again, I’d just need to make sure things went off without a hitch.
Carol explained that on Monday, we would have a staff meeting, and I would officially be introduced to everyone. She said that after the meeting, I was free to call my own staff meetings and make whatever changes I thought would do well, within reason. All significant changes would need to go through her until I truly got my feet under me.
As I entered my office two hours later, I was again grateful for this incredible opportunity. Much of it owed to Lee for having invited me to his mother’s birthday party in the first place. As my phone sounded on my new desk, I smiled as I saw a message from Lee. My life was getting better every moment, and I couldn’t wait to see what was coming next.
* * *
The last weekhad been a whirlwind, and I was up to my eyeballs in wedding and event planning. I had taken an afternoon off to go look at a few houses for rent in the area with Lee when he’d had the day off, and I found the perfect one.
A little three-bedroom ranch with a beautiful back porch and updated kitchen and a garage—a garage! No more standing in the cold to clean off my car. That alone almost sold me on the place, but the rest of the house was very nice and within my price range. In fact, it was slightly less than my townhouse had been, and now that I was actually getting a steady paycheck, I was ecstatic.
After I had signed the papers and put my deposit down, Lee had come up behind me and wrapped his arms around me. “I hope you are going to let me help you christen that bedroom.”
I grinned over my shoulder. “That depends.”
“On what?”
“Are you going to smash my headboard with a bottle of champagne?”
He threw his head back and laughed. “That’s how you christen a boat, not a new house.”
I pulled my bottom lip under my teeth as he continued to chuckle. “I love you,” I blurted suddenly.
He sobered immediately and turned me in his arms. “Do you?”
As I’d listened to the sound of his laughter and watched the sparkle in his eye, I knew that I loved this man. “Yes, I do.”
He took my face in his hands and kissed me tenderly. “Someday I want to hear you say those two words in front of all our friends and family.”
I was somewhat speechless as I stared at him, but I finally got my mouth working again. “You do?”
“Yes, Rox, I do mean it. I realized last week just how much you mean to me. I have missed the hell out of you, and I hate sleeping alone. I’m not proposing or anything right now, so don’t panic, but I want you to know that I’m in this for the long haul. Someday, I do want you to be my wife.”
“I think that might be nice.”
“I do, too.” He kissed me again and then pulled back, looking me right in the eye. “I love you, Roxanne Novak.”
I would have jumped into his arms and thrown my legs around his waist, but the real estate agent that had been working with me came back into the room.
“You can move in as early as this Saturday. I just spoke to the owners. They are going to have their house cleaners go through and clean it one more time tomorrow, and then you can grab the keys.”
“Wow! That fast? I thought it wasn’t available until the end of the month.”
“It was listed that way, but the homeowner is leaving on vacation soon and wanted to make sure you got moved in and there were no problems before they left.”
“Well, that’s very nice of them.” I turned to Lee. “You’re working this weekend, aren’t you?”
