Page 52 of Starting Over in Cedarwood

“Me, too.” Kevin hesitated another moment. “Get moving. You don’t want to be late to get those pictures back.”

“No, I don’t.”

“I can’t make you dinner if you’re not home.” Kevin grinned. “To celebrate.”

He wasn’t sure what they were celebrating and didn’t care. “I’m in and I will hurry as much as legally possible.”

“See you tonight.” Kevin grabbed his shirt, water bottle and keys. “You can do this.”

“Love you.” Shaun wanted to ignore everything else in his day and be with Kevin. God, he was lucky to have such an understanding man in his life.

Chapter Nine

Once Kevin left, Shaun showered and shaved. He dressed in khakis and a short-sleeve button-down. His outfit wasn’t haute couture, but who needed to be super fashionable? Not him. He wasn’t going to meet Jonah to impress him.

He ate a granola bar and filled his water bottle, then headed to work. Since Monday, he hadn’t heard anything on three of the houses he’d inquired about and wondered if they’d already sold. The first two houses had been a bust—too small, and he’d never afford the renovations on his salary. He spent his shift working on the newest ads and rearranging the Sunday page to accommodate the garage sale listings.

Remy caught up with him in the hallway. “I wanted to tell you I’m pleased with your work and I love the stories about the pets. You’re making them so adorable I want to adopt them all. Who is next week’s feature?”

“I’m not sure. The one we had lined up was adopted, so we’ll have to pick another tomorrow,” Shaun said. “I’m glad. I’d rather have to keep looking for new ones than have a poor critter linger there.” He still wanted to adopt his own cat, too.

“I know.” Remy stopped him. “I had a strange email today and wanted to discuss something with you.” He gestured to Shaun’s office.

“Sure.” He had no idea what Remy might have been emailed about. He shut the door. “What’s up?”

“Did you tell anyone you needed an assistant?” Remy asked.

Shaun chuckled, then sobered. “No, why?”

“A man emailed me saying you’d requested an assistant—him—and would I consider this person for the job,” Remy said. “I give him props for having the balls to ask for the job, but it sounds so strange. You didn’t say anything, even something in a stray comment, did you? It didn’t sound like something you’d do, but I have to ask.”

“I haven’t asked for an assistant or mentioned it to someone in passing. I appreciate you being thorough and asking, but it wasn’t me.” Shaun folded his arms. “I haven’t met enough people socially that aren’t with the paper to have such a conversation.”

“I suspected as much.”

“This person used my name?”

“They did.”

“May I ask who it was?”Who would want to use my name for a reference?

“Kyle Beglin.”

Shaun sank onto his chair. “He works for the ballclub. I thought he did their promo.”

“He did—until he was fired.” Remy sat across from him. “I did some checking. Not only was Mr. Beglin fired, but escorted out of the building. I guess he’d been mishandling team funds. He stole money from the promotions department, paid it back, and the team isn’t planning to use legal methods to handle it—as long as he never returns to the premises. It’s a mess.”

“So he needs another job.” Shaun leaned back in his chair. “My assistant—if there was such a thing—wouldn’t pay much. I’m guessing he hadn’t thought of that.”

“But it’s a job,” Remy said. “I suspect once people see why he was terminated, they’ll be less likely to hire him, which is why he tried for this before the news came out all over town.”

“But why use my name? I don’t even like him.”

“Because of Kevin?”

“Among other things. I met Kyle at the newspaper day we held at the stadium. He got right in my face, told me we’d be good together and was too pushy. That’s what turned me off. The connection to Kevin was an extra annoyance,” Shaun said. “He was rude to Kevin, too. I don’t want to work with that kind of person.”

“I can see where it might be difficult.”

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