Page 10 of Love in the Details

Eleven to go. That was more manageable, and he would be able to get interviews done within a few hours.

Typing out an email to his assistant back in California, he asked that she contact the applicants and set up interviews for the next day. His grandmother had wanted him to work on this, but scheduling the interviews wasn’t as important as the actual choosing of the event planner.

What she didn’t know right now would be that much easier for him.

The next dayhe awoke to more snow. He was just glad he wasn’t driving in it on his way up here.

After his run up the hills by the mansion, Dustin was showered and dressed in his suit, ready by nine in the morning for the applicants to arrive for their interviews.

After the first five had come in at their designated times, his hope dipped that he’d ever find someone serious about planning the Christmas Gala. Each of the women had come in more interested in touring the home than actually planning the event.

He’d begun to wonder if his idea to include the tour of the mansion as part of the interview process was a good idea. It allowed the applicants to get an idea for the place so they could give him some ideas for what they would do for the event. Kind of like a pop quiz. Most of them had already forgotten that part and the best description they could give him was “decorate everything in reds and greens, bring in some trees, and hire a caterer.”

He was ready to cancel the rest of the interviews and fly someone in from California to plan the party after that last woman. The number of scents coming from her nearly made him gag, and the smells didn’t go away for several minutes after she’d left. It would be an extra expense, but he didn’t have time to babysit the planner through everything he or she needed to do.And with the Wakefield name on the line, he needed to be sure the planner could deliver.

The doorbell rang again, a few minutes early for the interview. That was the first good sign he’d had all day. When he opened the door, he couldn’t help but smile. He hadn’t really looked at any of the names on the applications and had only sent out emails to coordinate times for the interview. So seeing the woman from the bank standing on the doorstep made him smile more than he had since he got to Coldwater Creek.

“You,” he said.

“Me,” she said, giving him a close-lipped smile. She looked as though she’d been expecting to see him, so he must’ve been right about her discovering who he was. Even though the fire in her eyes blazed, no angry retorts greeted him.

He opened the door and waved her in. “So, you were a tellerandan event planner?”

She stopped in the small foyer attached to the hallway that led into the main part of the house. He folded his arms and stared at her, watching her squirm a little.

“Not quite yet, but I thought I’d take a leap, you know.” Her voice conveyed the defenses rising within her. “If you’re going to be like this, though, I’ve got other things to do.” She made a move to reach for the doorknob.

Dustin caught her hand, but a static shock caused him to yank away. He stood back, waving her into the house. “No, you drove up here. I might as well give you a shot, banker girl.”

She groaned and shook her head, causing Dustin to smirk. “It’s Kassidy, Kassidy McBride. And I don’t ever want to be associated with that place again.”

Her name clicked as the one the cashier girl had given him at the store on Saturday. “Sounds like there’s no love lost there, huh?” Dustin stuck his hands into his suit pants pockets and stared at her, surprised at the light brown of her eyes. For some reason, they reminded him of the root beer barrel candies his grandfather always carried.

They’d stood there for a few seconds when Kassidy said, “Um, did you want to ask me a question?”

She looked more nervous than Dustin had expected from her reaction at the bank, and he wondered if the need to get this job was causing her to tamp down her personality a bit.

“Of course. We’ll start with a tour of the house so you’ll know what this will entail. You can ask any questions, and then at the end, I’d love to hear what you would do with the place given the opportunity.”

Her footfalls were light, making it hard for him to hear her behind him. She followed along as he directed her through the offices, the library, and the giant ballroom on the first floor.

When they rounded back to the dining room where all of his papers and computer sat, he reached his hands out to the side and said, “What do you have for me?”

“Is the second floor not included in the planning of the event?” Kassidy asked, pointing upstairs. Great, she was just like the others. Only here to get a look at the mansion.

“No, we’ll be confining it to the first floor.” He raised his eyebrows, waiting for her to respond.

She surprised him when she pulled out her phone and started swiping. He was about ready to dismiss her, not willing to put up with being ignored for a phone when he was the one trying to hire someone.

Before he could say anything, she stepped a little closer so he could see the screen.

It was the Clipboard app, and she had several different boards filled with ideas for all holidays and events. As he glanced at the titles of each board, several were already assigned to Christmas themes.

“Here are a few ideas I came up with before seeing the entire floor. But I think going with a classic theme will be the best, to give that feeling of nostalgia. Someone said that last year was all silvers and blues, but that’s not Christmas. To me, anyway. Maybe something to do with ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’ orA Christmas Carol?” She swiped through a few of the images, giving Dustin a sense of what she meant.

“Old school, huh?” he said, trying to gauge her opinion. “You’re not all about the modern look?”

She stared into his eyes for several seconds, probably trying to read him.

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