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  “I wouldn’t ever dream of not giving my two weeks,” Paige replied. “I don’t think this job is the right one for me in the long run, but man is it nice to have a place to go every day, and things to do. And money!”

  She looked on her computer for some more event coordinator roles she might be able to fill, just in case. She was hoping she wouldn’t have to keep doing the freelance thing forever, because stability was what she most craved. Now, at least she had the stability, she just wanted to find the right position within it. Tessa made it seem as though an events coordinator role might open up for her, but she wasn’t going to hold her breath.

  Chapter Five

  If Doug thought things might settle down at the ranch after his mom and aunt’s big food fight on the lawn, he had another thing coming. If anything, they acted even worse towards each other. He wondered how they’d ever worked together on the ranch, considering the animosity they clearly felt. He didn’t know what had caused it, but it was much too far along for him to simply cure with some strong words and tough love. He’d felt guilty at first about putting up job listings behind their backs, but now he felt like it was just the right thing to do. He was a business owner, after all. He couldn’t let the business down just because his family was getting into fights and not getting along.

  All he’d posted was the events coordinator position, anyway. He didn’t think taking on one extra person would be a problem. Mom might even like having a minion to boss around, he thought with a smirk as he added the job listing to a few more popular employment boards.

  Doug was afraid to mention the job post to his mother and Aunt Bea, though. He felt like a coward, but he thought telling them closer to when he actually hired someone was a better way of handling it. He wouldn’t be coerced into taking it back, for one thing. There was no reason to tell them in case he didn’t find anyone good enough, too. It was highly possible there wouldn’t be any applicants that fit the bill. He was Helen Crofton’s son – pickiness and perfectionism ran in the family, even if he was nicer about it.

  One afternoon, Doug was in his office, working on crunching some numbers for the budget, when he heard the familiar sound of his aunt and mom arguing heatedly. He didn’t want to let this slide like he used to, so he left his office to investigate. He found them in the foyer, an easel set up with a large pad of paper holding their handwritten plans propped up atop it. They were obviously going over the timetable for the next event to come to the ranch. His mother was standing, arms folded across her chest, glaring daggers at her sister who stood nearby, holding a thick black sharpie. Doug looked at the pad. Something had just been crossed out… in black.

  “What’s going on?” he asked them.

  He noticed they became silent the moment he stepped into the foyer, but it didn’t mean they’d stopped fighting. They weren’t even very good at hiding the fact.

  “Bea is micromanaging me again,” his mom complained. “Whenever I’m supposed to be the one in charge, she disrespects me. I’ve noticed whenever it’s her turn, I let her be and it’s less of an ordeal. She’s not sharing the role the way you told us to.”

  It amused him a bit that his mother was acting more like the child in this situation and he the mature adult figure. He looked at his aunt, who shrugged at him. “I didn’t know I wasn’t allowed to make suggestions.”

  His mom scoffed out a laugh. “It’s more like nitpicking to me. You always want things done your way, but this isn’t your ranch to run, you know. We took you on to help us.”

  “And by suggesting things, I’m helping you!”

  Doug’s mom set her jaw and threw her hands up in the air. “It’s impossible to even talk to you!” she shouted. “I work so hard for this place, and I feel like you never appreciate anything I have to say. You don’t even hear me out. And I’m over it.”

  With this, she leaned into the board and crossed out another line of writing with her own red sharpie – the sharpie that had written most of the words on the pad of paper. Suddenly, she brought a hand to her chest and leaned into the board more than was necessary.

  “Helen?” Aunt Bea asked, concern taking over from her previous annoyance and frustration. “Are you okay?”

  Doug’s eyes widened. “Mom?!”

  His mom made a strangled sort of noise and fell all of the way into the board, causing herself and the easel to crash to the wood floor. He and Aunt Bea rushed over and he carefully rolled her over onto her back so her airway was clear. “Call 911,” he instructed his aunt. “Momma, it’s going to be alright.”

  He did his best to stay calm, but really he was terrified. He didn’t want anything to happen to his mother, of course. This was exactly the sort of thing he’d been worried about – that she’d work herself ragged just like his dad.

  The ambulance arrived outside the ranch within minutes and Doug allowed the EMTs to take over, carefully placing his mother onto a gurney and wheeling her into the back of the truck. He and Bea went along with her to the nearest hospital. She was suffering a heart attack so she had to be looked after by doctors right away. The EMTs administered drugs to help her while they were on the way to the hospital. Doug and Bea followed them inside once they were there, but then they had to wait, pacing, in the waiting area while doctors treated her in the emergency room.

  “I never should’ve defied her like I did,” Bea said, tears streaming down her face as she bit her thumbnail, staring vacantly into the middle distance.

  “You couldn’t have known this would happen,” Doug told her soothingly, pacing and biting his lower lip. He didn’t want to be mean to her now, but it would have certainly helped if the two women hadn’t been at each other’s throats so often. They could learn a thing or two about letting things go.

  Aunt Bea nodded, still crying and looking so lost now. He stopped his pacing and brought her into his arms, hugging her as she sobbed against his shoulder. “I was afraid something like this would happen,” he said. “This is why I wanted you two to find common ground. I don’t want you two to literally kill yourselves with all of this work stress…” Now that he’d said it, he felt the tears forming in his own eyes, hot and goopy but refusing to fall. He didn’t want to cry in front of his aunt and make her feel worse.

  She can’t actually die, he thought. She’s going to pull through. They came so quickly and we handled it the way you’re supposed to… Doug couldn’t actually be sure if they’d done everything necessary when someone was having a heart attack, but his instincts had kicked in and they were at the hospital within thirty minutes, so that was pretty good. What especially scared him about it was his dad had died this way… almost exactly, except at least he hadn’t been feuding with a sibling over work.

  He and Bea finally calmed down enough to sit down. He went to a nearby vending machine and bought them both bottles of water. After about an hour, a doctor came out to meet with them, carrying a clipboard.

  “Are you the family of Helen Crofton?” he asked them.

  Terrified he was about to give them the worst news, Doug nodded. “Yes. I’m her son Doug and this is her sister Beatrice.”

  “Is she okay?” Aunt Bea asked the doctor, her normally strong voice quaking.

  “Yes, she is going to pull through,” the doctor informed them to their great relief. “You brought her here just in the nick of time. She might’ve passed away if you hadn’t called the EMTs right away. She’s resting comfortably in her room now if you would like to come and see her. We recommend she stays here for the next five days for monitoring in case she has another heart attack, which does happen.”

  So we’re not out of the woods yet, Doug thought with a growing sense of unease about it. He didn’t like his mom having to be in the hospital for so long. He knew she wasn’t going to be thrilled about it either.

  He and Aunt Bea went back down the hall with the doctor to see his mom. They each gently hugged her and gave her a kiss. “I’m so sorry,” Bea said to her, tearful again at the sight of her. �
��I acted like an idiot. I won’t overstep again, I promise. I’m so grateful I get to be a part of your projects at the ranch.”

  “I’m sorry, too,” Helen said to her sister, squeezing her hand. “I’ve been bossy and a bit power mad, and you don’t deserve it. You’ve been such a big help to us over the years. I should be thanking you instead of squashing your every suggestion.”

  The two sisters hugged again. Doug was so glad to see them apologizing to each other, but he knew it wasn’t going to be the only thing to help fix their relationship at work. He strongly suspected as soon as his mother was able to get back to work, they’d be argumentative again about some other silly thing that ultimately didn’t matter. He knew the work was giving them both undue stress and that stress was in danger of inevitably damaging their sisterly friendship. He wanted to tell his mother about the job he’d posted online anywhere he could think of, but now was not the right time… He worried it would never exactly be the right time to tell her, but she deserved to know before someone just showed up to work.

  “The doctor says you have to stay here and recuperate for five or so days,” he told her instead, though she likely already knew. “We’re going to miss you.”

  “Oh, there’s so much work to be done for the Meyerhoff wedding,” his mother said, sounding alarmed but not shouting like she normally might have because she was currently so weak. She stayed with her head nestled on the white pillow, closing her eyes in her frustration instead of panicking. “I trust you can handle it, though, Bea.”

  Doug thought about it. It’s now or never. “She might not have to handle it alone,” he said. “I’ve advertised for someone to come and work for us as a sort of assistant events planner. I haven’t found anyone yet, but I’ve received a few resumes. I didn’t want to look through them without you both having input.”

  His mom opened her eyes and furrowed her dark brows. “You what?”

  “Oh, I don’t think we really need extra people,” Aunt Bea said with a pitying sort of laugh. “I think we might eat them alive.”

  Doug nodded a bit. “That’s just the thing. I think we need extra staff because you can’t work well together. We need people to take care of some of the work so you both can focus on your particular areas of expertise.”

  His mom closed her eyes again. “I don’t like this idea,” she said. “But right now, I think it might be some relief. It could just be a temporary thing, though. Til I’m back on my feet.”

  I don’t think it needs to be temporary, Doug thought. We’re past needing just a little bit of help. “Someone else, someone younger can shoulder some of the burden,” he said, being as diplomatic as possible. “Someone to do all of the running around during events so you can relax. You can plan the events, but let someone else manage it.”

  His mom sighed a bit. It was clear she was exhausted from the health scare. He decided to drop the conversation for the time being and let her rest. At least I let her know instead of putting it off and making her possibly even more upset about it. “We’ll leave you alone now so you can sleep,” he said to her. “We’ll come to visit you every day.”

  They each gave her another gentle hug and a kiss and then they took a hired car back to the ranch. Everything was in a shambles now because of Helen’s absence, but Doug was convinced things would be okay. He worked with Aunt Bea to go through the rest of the plans for the Meyerhoff wedding, knowing he was going to have to step in and help implement them during the event. He wished he could have a new person on their staff for it, but it wasn’t a good idea to rush someone in.

  One thing he really hoped to achieve was true consensus on who they hired. He’d worry about telling his mom their new position wasn’t temporary some other time, but first of all they had to find someone.

  And whoever it was would need to be a superman or superwoman in order to take on the task.

  Chapter Six

  Paige found her job easier the more she worked at GeNome Labs. The nerves she’d been feeling melted away as the days went by. She still felt a bit unsettled, though. It wasn’t the right atmosphere for her, no matter how much she tried to get used to it and enjoy it. She missed the public speaking aspects, the faster pace of event planning. Each day, when she returned home, she checked the job boards to see if there was anything new for her to apply for. She knew Iris would be sad to find out she wanted to leave the position so badly, but her friend also knew and understood what her heart’s desire was.

  One evening, Paige clicked around on a popular local job site and she found an ad that sounded perfect. It was from someone looking for an events coordinator on their ranch. She could just imagine the sort of fun things it could entail. Probably a lot of people get married on ranches around here, she thought, feeling a bit swoony as she imagined it. Paige wasn’t into horses much herself, but she knew they appealed to a lot of other women. She imagined a dude ranch meant it got a lot of people tourists from the city, too. It wasn’t the sort of wedding venue for just ranchers and their friends.

  Smiling, she replied to the ad with her resume and a cover letter, hoping this time could be the charm.

  Dear Mr. Crofton,

  This email is in response to your post looking for an events coordinator at your ranch. My name is Paige Lancaster and I believe I’m the best person for this job because of my experience as an events planner as well as my experience in public speaking, marketing, and administrative duties. Currently, I am an admin assistant at GeNome Labs and a part time freelance events planner. I am hoping to use my experience to become a full time events planner.

  I have attached my resume. Please give me a call so we may discuss it further.

  Thank you so much for your consideration.

  Sincerely,

  Paige Lancaster

  There was no way for her to know if this job would give her more of a chance. So far, people seemed to sneer when she mentioned her events work was only freelance. But all she could do was hope and have faith that things would work out in the end. She sent off this email and then got ready for bed, not entirely eager to greet the following day at work but at least she was no longer nervous.

  Two days later, Paige received a friendly email from Mr. Crofton, inviting her to come in for an interview. Wow, they must need someone quickly, she thought. She knew the job posting had been up for a while, so perhaps this had something to do with it. Instead of feeling nervous about having another interview, she felt excited. This was exactly the sort of position she wanted!

  During her lunch break at GeNome, she drove to Stony Creek Ranch so she could do her interview. She was greeted at the door by a smiling older woman who Paige determined was a maid or something similar. The ranch was huge with lush greenery and the house was essentially a mansion. She’d been to plenty of similar wedding venues but – maybe it was because she wanted to work at this one – she thought it was the most beautiful ranch she’d ever visited. The assumed maid led Paige over to a finely decorated living room with white silk furniture. She sat on the couch and watched as the maid walked away to go inform her boss that Paige had arrived. To her left, there was a window and from it she could hear the sound of water splashing. Too curious and restless with fresh nerves, she stood up and went to the window, peeking out to find a tall, three-tiered stone fountain. Birds were cheerfully chirping around it as they swept in for a drink or perched themselves down on the edge for a quick bath to cool off. Paige smiled at them. What a nice scene.

  Someone softly cleared their throat behind her and she turned to see a tall, ruggedly handsome man standing a few feet away from her. He had light brown hair and hazel eyes and a healthy tan. Paige imagined he got a lot of sun while out working on his ranch, though nowadays it wasn’t the home of cattle or horses in the way it might’ve been in the past. He wasn’t dressed like the kind of rancher she imagined. He was wearing a crisp dark brown suit with a matching tie instead of jeans and plaid. She wondered how long this ranch had been operating as an events venue. She
was so curious; she knew she just had to ask about it while they were chatting.

  “Hello,” he said to her, extending a hand. “I’m Doug Crofton. You must be Miss Lancaster?”

  Paige nodded her head and shook his hand, making sure to look him in the eyes and give a firm shake. “Yes!” she enthusiastically replied. “It’s so nice to meet you. Thank you for taking time out to talk with me.”

  Mr. Crofton gestured for her to take a seat on the silken couch again and she did so. He sat in one of the matching chairs. She noticed he wasn’t equipped with the usual clipboard and pen like she’d seen in other interviews. He also didn’t have a copy of her resume in front of him. Paige felt like she was under less scrutiny somehow.

  Oh no, did I already mess this up? she thought.

  “I was very impressed with your resume,” he said, still smiling his attractive smile.

  Paige felt her cheeks grow hot. It certainly wasn’t appropriate for her to think he was attractive! There was no denying it, though. She did her best to push this thought from her mind so she could focus on getting hired. “Thank you,” she said back, smiling and hoping he didn’t notice her blushing.

  “What sort of events have you worked so far?” he asked her.

  A fairly standard question; she was just thrilled to be asked about her work with events instead of constantly being forced to highlight her skills that were lower on her priority list. “I’ve done all sorts of events, but I’m most comfortable working social events such as weddings, bar mitzvahs, retirement parties, birthdays… I’ve delved into corporate events as well, but I’m especially fond of social ones.” She hoped she didn’t sound like a basket case. She’d thought, I love a good party! But that sounded better in her head than it would if she said it out loud.