The mayor returned to the lectern. “I promise you we are going to do everything we can to make sure that doesn’t happen. We’re asking for any volunteers with accounting or small business experience to help us go through six months of town transactions to reconstruct the reporting we’re missing. Be advised, this is a massive undertaking,” Beckett cautioned.
“When is the auditor coming?” asked a woman in a long caftan.
Beckett looked like he was going to be sick. “The auditor will be here at eight a.m. Christmas Eve.”
The murmurs in the crowd cranked up to full volume.
“That’s the day after tomorrow,” Sammy groaned. “Exactly how bad is very, very, very bad?”
“Even worse than you think,” Ryan said. “The town risks losing all future state funding. Property taxes will sky-rocket to cover the difference. People won’t be able to afford to own real estate. Which means foreclosures, a mass exodus. And that’s not even touching on potential jail time if Blue Moon can’t prove the town didn’t commit fraud or embezzle the money.”
“We’re fucked,” Carter Pierce muttered under his breath.
Aurora’s red head swiveled around and eyed her uncle. “I heard that, Uncle Carter,” she whispered. He reached forward and tugged a fire-red curl.
“If you have the experience we’re looking for and you have time you’re willing to donate, we will be eternally grateful,” Beckett said. “Please see Rainbow Berkowicz after the meeting, which ends now.”
Bruce popped back up at the microphone, blowing his nose noisily into a handkerchief. “I would like to issue a public apology to the fair and just people of Blue Moon. Amethyst and I plan to throw ourselves on the mercy of the court—”
“This isn’t a court, Bruce,” Beckett said, wrestling the microphone back. “You can apologize later when we don’t have a Solstice to celebrate and six months of financial records to recreate. Thanks, everyone, for your time. If you can volunteer, please see Rainbow.”
Ryan had every intention of seeing Rainbow, he thought grimly.
Beckett made a gesture toward the back of the theater. The spotlight dimmed and the microphone’s audio cut as Bruce launched into another convoluted bid for forgiveness.
Ryan saw Sammy eyeing the line that was already forming. “I should volunteer,” she said half to herself.
“Do you have accounting experience?” he asked.
“Not exactly. Phoebe Pierce handles my books.”
“Then I suggest you leave it to the experts.”
“Who? Mason?” She nodded at the aisle where Mason was surrounded by a crowd five people deep in all directions. Everyone was volleying rapid-fire questions at him.
“If you get involved in that mess, you’ll regret it,” he advised.
“That’s not how things are done around here,” she said, blue eyes narrowing. “We don’t just turn our backs. We help each other out.”
“Relax, Sparkle. I have a feeling the perfect solution will present itself,” he assured her.
She raised a skeptical eyebrow. “Since when are you Mr. Positivity?”
“Me? I’m just a guy trying to save a farm and get on a plane.”
“You know something, don’t you?”
He most certainly did. But he couldn’t afford to tip his hand just yet.
“Excuse us.” Carter the Beard was standing. “We’re heading out.”
The gorgeous blonde next to him grinned. “This was the fastest meeting in history. We’ve still got an hour on the clock with the babysitting grandparents.”
“Ah,” Sammy said. “Have fun, you two.”
Sammy got to her feet, and Ryan did the same so the couple could step into the aisle and haul ass toward the door.
“Does everyone in this town have libidos in overdrive?” Ryan wondered.
“Sure looks that way,” Sammy said wistfully.
She glanced back at the table where a long line had formed. The Berkowicz guy was dancing around the people with his camera, asking them to “look concerned.” Ryan was willing to bet his entire portfolio of CDs that ninety percent of the Mooners in line did not have the experience necessary.
“I guess I should get home and get some work done,” she said.
“I guess this is goodbye. Again,” he said, sticking his hands in his pockets so he wouldn’t try to touch her. Every time they said goodbye, he felt less enthused about the idea that he wouldn’t see her again. Which, frankly, was annoying. He’d known her two days. Forty-eight hours. That wasn’t enough time to miss someone.
“I feel like I keep saying goodbye, and you keep turning up anyway,” she said, biting her lower lip.
He forced himself to look away from that tempting mouth. “Maybe we should stop saying goodbye then,” he suggested.
She held out her hand to him. “In that case, I’ll see you around, Ryan.”
He took her hand and held it firmly in his own. “I can’t wait,” he said.
With a smile hovering on those kissable lips, she slid her hand free and walked down the aisle. He watched her all the way, hoping for one final look. He should have kissed her again. Might have seriously considered it if they hadn’t been surrounded by an entire municipality.
Finally, once she’d reached the concession stand, Sammy paused and glanced over her shoulder. She found him in the crowd and gave a little wave. He blew out a breath and tried not to think about how much he was going to miss those blue eyes despite the fact that it made no sense.
When she was out of sight, he wandered over to the volunteer table and got in line. For once, he had nothing but time on his hands.
Which was convenient since he ended up waiting nearly twenty minutes. The woman in front of him, Kathy Wu, went into great detail about her qualifications due to an at-home vibrator business.
By the time he got to the front of the line, a sweaty Bruce Oakleigh was hovering behind Rainbow.
“Evan, put Kathy on the Only If Absolutely Necessary list,” Rainbow said to the kid next to her. Gia and Beckett’s oldest, Ryan guessed. He had an owlish, serious look.
“You got it. That brings us to forty-seven Only If Absolutely Necessaries and three Actually Know What They’re Doing. And two of those weren’t volunteers. They were nominated.”
Rainbow rolled her eyes.
“Oh, thank goodness you’re here, Ryan!” Sweaty Bruce exclaimed, mopping his brow with a hand-stitched Team Angel handkerchief. “Ryan will save us. He’s a corporate accountant, you know, Rainbow.”
“I am aware of Ryan’s qualifications,” she said testily. “What I don’t understand is why he’s here.”
“Obviously he’s here to help,” Bruce scoffed.
“I’m not so sure about that,” Rainbow said.
Evan glanced back and forth between them, then shrugged. “I’m gonna see if there’s any popcorn left.”
Rainbow steepled her fingers. “What can we do for you, Ryan?”
“I think the question should be what can I do for you?”
“What can you do for us? Tell us!” Bruce begged. He was leaning so far over the table that he was almost prone.