Read Online Chasing Perfect by Susan Mallery - Free Book Online Page B

everyone.
    Charity paid attention, doing her best to remember everyone’s name. Pia rushed in a minute before ten.
    â€œI know, I know,” she said with a groan. “I’m late. So find someone else to plan the parties around here.” She sank into the chair next to Charity. “Hi. How was your weekend?” she whispered.
    â€œGood. Quiet. Yours?”
    Pia started passing out slim folders with a picture of the American flag on the front. “I worked on the plans for Fourth of July. I was thinking we could mix it up this year. Have the parade and party on the eighth.”
    Alice, the police chief, rolled her eyes, but the woman next to her, someone Charity thought might be named Gladys, gasped.
    â€œPia, you can’t. It’s a national holiday with a tradition going back more than two hundred years.”
    â€œShe’s kidding, Gladys,” Marsha said, then sighed. “Pia, don’t try to be funny.”
    â€œI don’t try. It just happens spontaneously. Like a sneeze.”
    â€œGet a tissue and hold it in,” Marsha told her firmly.
    â€œYes, ma’am.” Pia leaned toward Charity. “She’s so bossy these days. Even Robert’s afraid.”
    Charity’s gaze moved to Robert who looked more amused than frightened. He glanced at her and smiled. She smiled back, hoping for a hint of a reaction. A flicker. A whisper. A slight pressure that could be interpreted as a tingle.
    There was nothing.
    â€œWe have quite a bit of business to get through this morning,” Marsha said. “And a visitor.”
    â€œVisitors,” another woman said. “That always makes me think of that old science fiction miniseries from years ago. The Visitors. Weren’t they snakes or lizards underneath their human skin?”
    â€œAs far as I can tell, our visitor is human,” Marsha said.
    The mayor was obviously a woman with infinite patience, Charity thought as the meeting continued to spiral from one subject to another.
    â€œNow about the road repaving by the lake,” Marsha said. “I believe someone prepared a report.”
    They worked their way through several items on the agenda. Charity gave a brief rundown on the meeting with the university and the fact that the letter of intent had been signed. Pia talked about the Fourth of July celebration that would indeed be held on the appropriate date, then a five-minute break was called.
    Robert rose and left. The door had barely closed behind him when Gladys leaned across the table toward Charity.
    â€œYou were out with Josh the other day.”
    Charity didn’t know if the words were a statement or an accusation. “We, ah… He took me on a tour of the city. The mayor suggested it.”
    Marsha smiled serenely. “Just trying to make you feel welcome.”
    â€œYou don’t send Josh to see me,” Gladys complained.
    â€œYou’re already comfortable in town.”
    â€œHow was it?” another woman asked. She was petite, in her mid-forties and pretty. Renee, maybe? Or Michelle. Something vaguely French, Charity thought, wishing she’d actually written down the names as people said them.
    â€œI really enjoyed seeing the area,” Charity said. “The vineyards are so beautiful.”
    â€œNot the tour,” Renee/Michelle said. “Josh. You’re single, right? Wow, how I would love to spend some quality time with him.”
    â€œSometimes at night I see him walking around town all hot and sweaty,” Gladys said, a slight moan in her voice.
    â€œI know,” someone else added.
    Renee/Michelle glanced toward the door, as if checking to see if Robert was within earshot. “Once, he came to the spa.” She turned to Charity. “I run a day spa in town. You should come in for a massage sometime.”
    â€œUm, sure.” She couldn’t believe they were actually talking about Josh this way.
    â€œHe wanted me to wax