Chasing Perfect (Fool's Gold #1)(32)

Charity laughed. “You’ve got to stop trying to fix me up. I’ll figure it out on my own. My first order of business is to get settled and get Fool’s Gold new businesses. My love life can wait.”

“It seems to me you could do both. You’re still thinking of buying a house?”

“Yes. I’m going to some open houses this weekend.”

“You’ll have a good time. There’s a lot to choose from in town. You should talk to Josh. He always knows when a new property is coming on the market.”

Charity raised her eyebrows.

Marsha shook her head. “I mean that in the real estate sense, I’m not trying to fix you up.”

“I don’t think I believe you.”

Marsha winked. “You probably shouldn’t. I can be wily.”

Once again Charity was delighted she’d taken this job. Working for Marsha was a pleasure and she hoped she and the mayor could become good friends. Marsha was easy to be with.

There was a knock on her open door. She looked up and saw Robert walking toward them.

“I’m sorry to interrupt,” he said, handing Marsha a legal-looking letter. “This couldn’t wait.”

Marsha scanned the letter. “It’s from the State of California.”

“They’re following up on money they sent. It was earmarked for road repair. They want confirmation that it was used correctly.”

“Road repair. I don’t know anything about this.”

“None of us do,” Robert said. “The money was never received by my office. It’s missing.”

Charity shifted her gaze to Marsha, who looked stunned.

“How much are we talking about?” the mayor asked.

“Seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars.”

“THANKS FOR TAKING CRYSTAL’S place on the committee,” Pia said as she and Charity walked to the recreation center by the park.

“I’m looking forward to it,” Charity said. “I want to get involved with town activities.”

“Uh-huh. You say that now. But let me be clear—you’ve agreed so there’s no backing out. Don’t come whining to me later.”

Charity laughed. “How bad could it be?”

“Ask me that again in three months when you’re signing in fifteen hundred racers.”

“There’s an actual race?” Charity said, pretending surprise.

“Very funny.”

“I’ll be fine.”

“You’d better be. You’re new and have energy. I plan to use you shamelessly.” Pia shifted her tote to her other shoulder. “Love the jacket, by the way. Red is so your color.”

“Thanks. I did some shopping.” The black pants were new, too. Boot cut and long, which worked as she was in high-heeled boots. The black short-sleeved sweater provided a simple backdrop for the deep Red Riding-inspired jacket.

Pia slowed, then stopped. “Oh, God. I’m having a weird out-of-body experience. The other night, at Jo’s, did I say something about your clothes?”

“You mentioned they were a little out of date.”

Pia winced. “I was so drunk. I’m sorry. At Jo’s place—I was hideous, wasn’t I? Can you forgive me?”

Charity touched her arm. “There’s nothing to forgive. You weren’t wrong. I was dressing too conservatively. Hiding from my life. It’s not like I need therapy or anything. You were a good wake-up call.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No. Stop apologizing. I needed to hear the truth about my clothes. You were right—I was dressing like someone a lot older.”

Pia winced. “Note to self. Never have alcohol again.”

“How long will that last?”

Pia grinned. “At least a week.”

They walked into the recreation center. There was a small snack bar with a few dozen tables, then a long, wide hallway with classrooms on either side. As they walked, Charity saw a group of older women scrap-booking, while across the way, grade school kids did some kind of martial arts.

“You can learn just about anything here,” Pia said. “Last year, someone flew up from L.A. and did a class on Feng Shui. It was interesting. I shifted my entire bedroom to draw in love and power. It didn’t work. Maybe I should have worked on my money center instead.”

“Um, probably not in your bedroom,” Charity told her.

Pia grinned. “You’re right. That would be illegal.”

They walked into the large auditorium at the far end of the building. There were already about twenty people standing around talking.

“I know we don’t need a space this big now,” Pia said, “but we will later, and I’ve learned to grab the big space early or someone else will claim it. Do you know everyone here?”

“I think so.”

Charity saw several familiar faces, including Morgan, who waved at her. There was one of the women on the city council and a—

The hair on the back of her neck stood up. She felt a ripple of awareness tiptoe down her spine and without turning she knew Josh was in the room.

Ever since the kiss, she’d done her best to avoid him, and so far it had worked. Looked like her luck had run out.

She turned slowly and saw him talking to several people. Even in the crummy fluorescent lighting, he looked amazing. His gold-blond hair needed cutting, but that only added to his appeal. He was tall, built and had a face that would make an angel want to sin. Worse, he kissed with a fiery passion that left her past weak and nearly to begging. How was anything about the situation fair?