it could bring.
“ Nothing special today,” Seth answered. He might as well tell them. They’d find out eventually. There weren’t many secrets in a small town. “I hired a new secretary.”
Jason laughed. “Are we taking bets on how long she’ll last?”
Seth ’s mother, Marion, poked her fork in Jason’s arm. “Stop teasing your brother. He’s had a run of bad luck with secretaries that’s all. I’m sure everything will work out fine this time.”
“ I’d hardly call over a dozen secretaries a run of bad luck ,” Jason smirked. “I’d say that my hard ass, control freak brother is a jerk to work for. There isn’t a woman in town who will work for him.”
Seth couldn ’t argue with Jason on that point. He probably wasn’t the easiest man in the world when it came to his work. “Maybe. Hopefully she’ll do fine.” He really didn’t have a choice. He needed to keep an eye on her to keep her safe. “She’s from out of town.”
His statement grabbed everyone ’s attention. New people in town were always a hot topic of conversation.
His mother smiled with enthusiasm. “Where is she from? Is she married? Does she have kids? Where is she living? You should invite her to dinner tonight.”
His mother fired off her questions w ith lightning speed. His father patted her hand. “Take a breath, darlin’. Give the boy time to answer one question before asking another.”
His mother blushed. “Sorry, Seth. It’s just exciting when new people come to town.”
Seth wiped his mouth with his napkin and avoided his mother ’s first question. “She’s not married, and no kids. She’s going to live in the apartment above the station, at least for now. I cleaned it up and it looks pretty good. I promise I’ll bring her to dinner one night soon. I’m letting her get settled in. She got in late last night.”
“ How did you find her?” Sarah asked.
“ She was a friend of an old friend. She was looking to make some changes.” Seth had already practiced this part of the story. “You can grill her with questions when I bring her here. Let her tell you about herself. I only know her professional story.”
His mother wasn ’t done. “She’s not married? Is she pretty?”
Seth sighed in exasperation. His mother was desperate to get him married off and seemed to think he was avoiding the institution just to frustrate her.
“She is pretty. And young, Mom. Too young. Besides, I have a girlfriend.”
Marion Reilly pursed her lips in disapproval. “There’s no passion between you and Eliza. No spark. You act more like buddies. You need fire and desire, Seth.”
Seth wanted to crawl under the table. He didn ’t want to talk about desire and fire with his mother, for chrissake.
“ Nothing’s wrong with a younger woman.” George Reilly waved his fork. “Your mother is younger than I am. Priscilla was younger than Elvis.”
Seth ’s father loved Elvis Presley. It probably wasn’t the moment to remind him that Elvis and Priscilla divorced.
“ Her name is Presley,” Seth admitted reluctantly. It wasn’t her real name but his parents would never find that out.
“ It’s a sign,” his mother crowed.
“ It’s not a sign, Mom.”
“ It’s a sign that she’s the one,” his mother insisted, her eyes alight.
“ It’s only a coincidence.”
“ A weird one,” Sarah conceded. “Is she nice? Maybe I should invite her to lunch or something since she’s new to town.”
Seth remembered Presley ’s tears in his truck. His heart had twisted at her heartbroken expression. “I don’t know her well enough to say whether she’s nice or not. She didn’t seem not nice. She has a good work ethic. She offered to start working today.”
“ I’ll come by sometime in the next few days and ask her to lunch.” Sarah set her napkin on the table. “It’s