Until She Met Daniel. Callie Endicott

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      Daniel quickly clamped a lid on his response—there was no way he’d get involved with an employee. And right now his divorce was too fresh and painful to jump right back into the hazards of another relationship, especially with a woman whose nature seemed utterly foreign to his own more sedate personality.

      In the kitchen he unpacked the box. Milk, eggs, cheese, bread, a small jar of instant coffee, lunch meat, yogurt and a basket of fruit. Nice. Just the sort of things to tide someone over until the person had a chance to go shopping. Yet a frown creased his forehead as he put the perishable items in the immaculate refrigerator. What hidden agenda had made them go overboard this way? Or at least it seemed overboard to him.

      One of the things Daniel had learned over the years, there were always hidden agendas, but hopefully he wouldn’t encounter any in Willow’s Eve that caused serious problems. He’d have to proceed cautiously, just in case.

      With that conclusion, he ate a sandwich and a banana, then went back to bed so he’d be well rested for his first day at City Hall. It was difficult to imagine staying in such a small town for longer than the twelve months he’d promised them, but while he was here, he would give them the best he had. There wasn’t any other way for him.

      Early in the morning, Daniel drove by the Handy Spandy market and bought a cup of coffee before heading to City Hall. His office door was open and he examined the room with appreciation—the clutter had been cleared away, the bookshelves dusted and various miscellany removed. It now looked reasonably ready for work, and the large, airy size was appealing—his office in Southern California had been little more than a closet.

      “Daniel?” Mandy stuck her head through a side door he hadn’t yet explored. “Hi. I thought I heard someone come in while I was double-checking the parlor for crumbs. If any food bits get left behind we can have an army of tiny critters, and that sort of involved citizen we don’t need at City Hall.”

      He gestured around the office. “Somebody worked hard in here. It looks good.”

      “Glad you think so.”

      Daniel walked to the side door where she’d come in and saw the executive assistant’s space. While his own office had a separate door into the hallway, this would serve as a reception area for most visitors.

      “Yeah, it’s a disaster,” Mandy said, agreeing with his silent assessment. “I thought about working on it, but I was, uh, busy last night.”

      She didn’t have to look so embarrassed about having a date, or whatever else she’d been doing. Of course, she might think it wasn’t appropriate to mention her social life to a senior city official.

      “Not at all,” he reassured her. “It’s just that this space gives people an immediate impression about City Hall and the city manager. Is the assistant on vacation, or does it normally look this way?”

      “There isn’t one. That is, an assistant.”

      “I don’t have an administrative assistant?”

      “’Fraid not. The last one left when the old city manager retired. There’s a rumor they were secretly married, and she did leave town around the same time he moved away. That’s what people tell me, anyway. Some of the folks in Willow’s Eve love to speculate about everybody’s private lives. Anyway, then the council debated whether they needed a manager at all, but the mayor kept saying they did, and to please get a professional from outside the area. When they finally agreed, next came a discussion on the salary. They settled on making the city manager’s income generous enough to get someone with experience, but unfortunately, that didn’t leave enough in the budget for an assistant to sit in an office and direct traffic.”

      “There’s more to administrative staff than directing traffic,” Daniel managed to say after sifting through the extraneous details Mandy seemed to throw out at will.

      “True, but I can pitch in with paperwork if I have any spare time, and the clerks upstairs are expected to help, too. Ask for Barbara, Janey, Ben or Ariel. By the way, just so you understand, you’re not my supervisor, even if I end up helping with typing and so forth. That’s purely voluntary.”

      There was a defiant tilt to her chin and a part of his brain wondered why, but at the moment he was still processing the fact he wouldn’t have any support staff. It was yet another reminder he hadn’t asked enough questions during his Skype interview with the Willow’s Eve city officials. Of course, he’d just finished comforting Samantha because her mother had forgotten to pick her up as promised...for the third time in a row. So he’d focused on making an impression good enough to secure the job and take his daughter away from the Los Angeles Basin. And the truth was, even if they had told him he wouldn’t have an administrative assistant, he still would have taken the job.

      “Thank you, Ms. Colson,” he said. “I appreciate the information.”

      He had a feeling she barely kept from rolling her eyes.

      “It’s Mandy. Nobody calls me Ms. Colson, not even dentists.”

      Daniel wasn’t stuck on titles and formality, but he thought Willow’s Eve could use a tight hand on the wheel for a while. On the other hand, most Californians tended to be casual, small town or not.

      “All right...Mandy.”

      “I’ll let you get settled. I expect the mayor and others will also be around to get acquainted.” She held out her hand. “Here are your office keys.”

      With relief, Daniel took them and watched her leave, reminding himself that the people of Willow’s Eve had never before had a trained professional managing the town. It was unusual for a community of this size to even have a paid full-time city manager. From what Mandy had said the previous day, it was partially due to a bequest. He needed to see a copy of the town’s budget, city council meeting minutes, copies of incorporation papers and...damn, those were things he’d have his assistant research...if he had an assistant.

      In the meantime, he sat at his new desk and finally took a gulp of the coffee he’d bought. It nearly sprayed from his mouth. What did they use in the stuff, floor sweepings?

      A knock sounded on the door and Mandy stuck her head back inside. “Oh, I forgot to tell you we got together last week and scouted up some stuff we thought might help you get oriented. It’s in the folder on your desk.”

      “Thanks. I’ll also need a copy of the town budget, the recent city council minutes and several other items, particularly any written procedures and regulations. Don’t worry, I’ll make a list. If you can’t do it, I’ll talk to the other employees you mentioned.”

      This time she definitely rolled her eyes. “We have some sense, you know. Why don’t you check the folder instead of assuming something isn’t there?”

      She closed the door with a firm snap.

      * * *

      MANDY MARCHED DOWN the hall, thoroughly annoyed.

      Daniel had a particular interest in procedures and regulations? Hell, she could have predicted that from the starched way he carried himself. As for his assumption they were just a bunch of rubes who couldn’t understand what he needed...

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