Chapter Five
“I never meant to agree to this,” Heather said as she bent over her daughter’s car seat and unbuckled the seat belt. “I said no, didn’t I? I distinctly remember saying no.”
But when she pulled out the car seat and straightened, she found herself staring at a large sign that read Valley Helicopter Services. If she hadn’t taken the job that Jim offered her, what on earth was she doing here at his office?
Heather secured her purse more firmly over her shoulder, then closed and locked the car door before heading toward the main entrance to the building.
There had to be a logical explanation, she told herself.
A reason that she’d changed her mind. Unfortunately, she knew exactly what that reason was—Jim had made the part-time job impossible to turn down.
Not only had he offered her a generous salary, the ability to set her own hours and the chance to work on an accounting program she’d wanted to learn for a long time, but he’d said she could bring Diane into the office with her.
Which meant that she wouldn’t have to pay for child care or worry about being apart from her infant.
Between this job and the other work Jim had sent her way, she was closer than ever to reaching her goal of a full-time home business.
She didn’t know that angels took the form of handsome six-foot-three-inch men, but she wasn’t about to start complaining now.
She’d had her chance to refuse and she hadn’t, so for better or worse, she was about to become a part of Jim Dyer’s world.
Oddly enough, she found the thought more comforting than upsetting.
She paused in front of the glass double doors and drew in a deep breath for courage.
She didn’t doubt that she could do a good job for Jim.
Working with numbers had always been easy for her and a real pleasure.
She was more concerned about how she would fit in with the rest of the employees.
She hoped no one would resent her for bringing her child to the office.
She’d just convinced herself that the sooner she went inside, the sooner she could get those awkward introductions over when the door was pulled open and a fifty-something woman with an incredible bosom and flame-red hair grinned at her.
“You must be Heather,” the woman said. “Jim told me you were coming, and I’ve been all excited at the thought of meeting you and your little girl.
” She took the carrier from Heather and beamed down at Diane.
“Aren’t you just the most precious little thing?
I’m Auntie Flo and we’re going to be best friends.
You’re even prettier than I was told, which means I’ll have to have words with your uncle Jim.
Yes, I will. He said beautiful, but that’s not good enough.
No, it’s not. You’re perfect. A perfect little girl. ”
Diane had slept through the entire introduction. Now she stirred sleepily, yawned, but didn’t open her eyes.
The older woman laughed. “I guess she told me.” She turned her attention to Heather and held out her hand.
“I’m Flo. Welcome to Valley Helicopter. I’m delighted to have someone else in the office.
It gets pretty lonely when everyone is out, and when they’re in, they’re too damned macho for my taste.
All those pilots thinking they’re God’s gift to women, not to mention the repair guys in their coveralls and dirty boots.
I’ve been telling Jim we need curtains on the windows, but what does he go buy?
Mini blinds. It’s not like a little gingham would’ve hurt anything. ”
Heather stared at the tall, curvy woman and hoped her mouth wasn’t hanging open.
Flo was unlike anyone she’d ever met. Her incredibly bright red hair was piled high on her head.
She wore a tight black blouse and an even tighter black skirt, both of which showed off a womanly shape that left Heather feeling about as appealing as a stick figure.
But it was Flo’s conversation that was the most disconcerting.
Flo shook her hand once, then released it and grinned. “Don’t pay any attention to me. I have an opinion on everything, and for the most part, I don’t care if anyone agrees with me. I just like to talk. Your desk is over here.”
Still carrying Diane, Flo led the way through a medium-size office furnished with a small sofa and two straight-back chairs placed by the front desk. Behind that, a low wall with a swinging gate separated the waiting area from the rest of the room.
An executive desk sat on the left, complete with attached credenza and computer station. The surface of the desk was relatively neat, with papers stacked into impressive piles. A couple of simple metal desks stood in the center of the room.
“The pilots use those for their reports,” Flo said. “Or to make phone calls and stuff. You’re back here.”
A doorway cut the rear wall in half. On the left side was a huge scheduling board, on the right an L-shaped desk flanked by several filing cabinets. Heather took in the computer setup, complete with printer, the neatly stacked files and a nameplate that read Heather Fitzpatrick, Senior Accountant.
“I’ve been promoted and it’s only my first day,” she said, confused by all that was happening.
Flo laughed. “Jim does that all the time. He likes to make people feel important. He claims it helps with morale. I’m the office manager, if you can believe it.
” She set the baby’s car seat on the desk.
“He’s that kind of guy. Always thinking about his employees and wanting them to do better.
He’s the best boss ever. Smart, too. Not to mention good-looking.
We fly some female executives and they’re forever requesting him as their pilot.
I swear they just want to eat him up for breakfast. But it’s been a real long time since he’s been interested in a woman.
He’s real careful before he makes a commitment. ”
Heather stared into Flo’s face, noting the perfect makeup that accentuated her full mouth and huge brown eyes.
She supposed she could be insulted by the obvious matchmaking, but instead it made her smile.
She’d been worried about being accepted by the office staff.
From the looks of things, it consisted of Flo, Jim and now herself.
Jim was already a friend and Flo seemed to be the kind of person who wanted to give the world a big hug.
“You’re preaching to the choir,” Heather said when Flo paused for breath. “I think Jim is terrific. He’s a good friend and I’m lucky to have him in my life. But if you’re thinking about matchmaking, I have to tell you that neither Jim nor I want that.”
Flo placed her hands on her hips. “Well, don’t that beat all?
Here I was so sure that boy had finally gone and fallen for someone.
” Her mouth twisted with regret. “Shoot. Are you sure you’re just friends?
He’s a sexy man. I could make a lot of money selling tickets to let women stare at his butt if I could find a way to make him cooperate. ”
Heather laughed. “Yes, Flo, I’m sure. Jim and I are just friends, and we both prefer it that way.” She glanced around to double-check that they were alone in the office, then she lowered her voice. “However, I do agree with you about his rear end. It’s pretty amazing.”
“That’s something, I suppose,” Flo said, but she still sounded disappointed. “Maybe I can change your mind.”
“Please don’t try.”
Flo’s gaze turned speculative. “There must be a reason Jim wanted you around. You swear it’s not personal, so I’ll have to figure it out. Don’t worry, I will.”
Heather didn’t know what to say to that.
“You probably want to get your baby settled so you can work,” Flo said with a swift change of topic that left Heather feeling a little off balance. “Come on back here. I’ll show you what we did to fix up a place for your baby.”
Heather trailed after Flo. They left the main room and entered a short hallway.
“Bathrooms are over there,” Flo said, pointing to her left.
“Boys and girls. A cleaning service comes in twice a week to keep things nice. Supplies are under the sink. In that back room is a refrigerator and microwave, along with table and chairs. We have a television, but Jim doesn’t like it on unless there’s some big news story or a play-off game.
” She gave a wink. “Sports and national disasters mean we have all the boys from outside tracking dirt on our carpet.”
She opened a door to the right. “This was a supply room, which is kind of a grandiose term because it’s not much bigger than a closet.
We put everything into two big cabinets in the lunchroom and then had this painted and fixed up for you.
” Flo stepped back to let her pass. “I picked out the colors myself, so I hope you like it.”
Heather wasn’t sure what to expect. She stepped through the doorway, turned on the light and entered baby paradise.
The room was small, as Flo had said, but pale pink walls opened up the space.
A crib and rocking chair in light oak took up most of the floor space.
Netting acted as a shelf in a corner of the room and held nearly a dozen different stuffed animals, while teddy bears painted in pastel colors danced across two walls.
“As you can see, there wasn’t much room to work with,” Flo said, stepping in beside Heather. She leaned forward to unhook what looked like a shelf from the wall. “Jim came up with this idea. Sort of a fold-out changing table.”
She demonstrated how to pull down the padded table. Safety bars that would keep the baby from falling snapped into place. When not in use, the entire unit could be raised and stored out of the way.