Page 20 of Close to Heaven

Seven

Jax entered his office on Monday morning and found his hat with the headlamp sitting on his desk. He smiled, recalling how he’d placed it on Avery’s head Friday evening. He hadn’t seen her the rest of the weekend, and he’d purposely kept his distance. He hadn’t told anyone that they’d gone hiking together, especially not Cody, who would have jumped to the wrong conclusion. Their outing hadn’t changed anything; she was still his employee, and he was her boss.

Around mid-morning, he heard Mary telling Avery she was going to the post office, and when he saw from his office window that she had left, he went into the lobby.

“Hey,” Avery said, glancing up from the computer screen.

“Got a minute?”

“Sure. What’s up?”

“I need your help with something.” The words sounded foreign on his tongue, but in this situation, he needed a woman’s touch.

She eyed him curiously. “Okay.”

“I want to throw a going-away party for Mary, but I need some help planning it.”

Avery perked up. “You came to the right person.”

He smiled, as that was the reaction he’d been counting on. “Since Friday is her last day, I thought we could plan the party for late that afternoon, but I want it to be a surprise.”

Avery took out a notepad and pen. “Got it. Who do you want to invite?”

He rattled off a list of people, including his siblings and Mary’s family.

She scribbled down the names. “What else do you need me to do?”

“We need food. Nothing fancy, just some appetizers—”

“And cake! We have to have cake.”

He laughed at her enthusiasm. “Cake would be good.”

“What time should we shoot for?”

“How about four o’clock? That will give everybody time to get here if they’re coming from further away.” He was specifically thinking of Dakota.

“I’ll call Dakota today, but I’m sure she’ll want to come. Maybe she could even stay for the weekend,” Avery said.

“What about your boyfriend?” he asked, shifting uncomfortably.

“What about him?”

“I thought he might come up this weekend too.”

She looked down at the list. “I don’t think so.”

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to pry.”

She popped her head up. “You’re not. Anyway, is there anything else you need for the party?”

She obviously didn’t want to discuss her personal life, and he felt bad for asking. He quickly shifted back to neutral ground. “A card and gift would be nice, but I have no idea what to get.”

Avery tapped the pen against her chin. “Leave that up to me.”

“You can take the money out of petty cash to pay for everything.”

“Okay, and don’t worry. I’ll take care of everything.”