Page 20 of Love is a Game
“Whatever she needs, okay?”
“Of course.” Andrew screwed up his face in frustration but kept his voice even.
“Great. Thanks, man. Keep me posted on how it goes. I’ll let you know if I hear anything on my end. Talk to you later.”
“Yup. Bye Robby.”
So much for what he had said at the Connors’ the other night. As it turned out, he would be giving Sadie all the help she could possibly need.
She arrived at the library a few hours later as Andrew was checking in the books from the overnight bin. He didn’t look up when she approached the circulation desk.
“One moment, please,” he said, continuing to scan books.
There looked to be about fifteen in the stack, and he intended to make her wait as he checked each one back in. She put her hands on her hips and out of the corner of his eye, he could see her glare.
He made it through five books before she snapped.
“Okay, enough,” she said, stomping her foot. “You are acting like a child.”
“I’m just doing my job,” he replied. “Seems to me you’re the one acting like a child if you can’t even wait for me to finish.”
“Fine, go ahead and finish,” she said, leaning forward and placing her hands on the desk in front of him. “I’ll wait.”
He tried to continue, avoiding eye contact, but at this distance it was hard to ignore her fervent stare. He wasn’t about to be intimidated by her though. He continued at the same pace until he checked in every book. He set the last one aside to be sorted and reshelved later, then stood up straight, turned to her, and asked with his best customer service voice, “How can I help you today?”
He saw her nostrils flare, but when she spoke, her voice was calm. “I don’t know if Robby had a chance to talk to you yet, but it looks like we will be working together on this Cypress thing.”
“No, no. Not together,” he corrected, shaking his head. “I’m supposed to give you access to the documents, but that does not mean that we’re working together.”
She rolled her head back in an exaggerated gesture. “For Pete’s sake. Do you realize how ridiculous you’re being? With Maddox, the Cypress has the best chance of being successful again. It’s going to need to be fixed up. It’ll need good marketing if it’s going to attract visitors, not to mention what a nightmare hiring an entire staff from scratch can be. You really think some private buyer can handle that better than Maddox can?”
“I’m just trying to preserve the economic integrity of Briar Cove,” he told her. “Unlike you, I am unwilling to bow down to our corporate overlords.”
“Oh, give me a break.” She rolled her eyes.
“I’m telling you, Sadie; this is how it starts. First Maddox takes over the hotel, then the fast-food chains come in. Next thing you know, Murray’s Grocery and Hardware will be replaced by a Walmart.”
“Don’t be so dramatic. Are you really trying to hold me responsible for the future downfall of the entire town?”
He shrugged and crossed his arms. “It’s a slippery slope; that’s all I’m saying.”
Sadie sighed. “You know, you were so nice to me at the grocery store the other night, for a moment there I thought you were ready to turn over a new leaf.”
“That was when I thought I wanted your help,” he explained as he began to sort the books on the reshelving cart.
“Oh.” She nodded in understanding. “So you were just using me.”
“I like to think of it as utilizing the resources available to me.”
“Kind of backfired for you, didn’t it,” she asked, scrunching up her nose, “since I’ll be the one utilizing your resources. Now, can you please just show me what I came here to see?”
He couldn’t stop her. If Robby wanted her to see the paperwork, there was nothing he could do about it. His only chance of preventing this was finishing his proposal and getting the state to take on the hotel before Maddox could make an offer, but he wasn’t confident he’d be able to get it done that quickly.
He couldn’t give himself more time, but maybe he could slow Sadie down.
“All right,” he said. “I’ll give you everything you need, but there’s one very important condition.”
She crossed her arms, looking fed up with his nonsense. He didn’t mind. Maybe if he annoyed her enough, she would even give up.