You Only (Cameron Farms Book 1) - Melanie Jayne Page 0,51

efficient assistant. Hale was certain that she could pass the C.P.A. exam on the first try.

Hale opened the cover and then glanced at Wes and Moe. “So, what are we talking about?”

“I think your C.V. will be fine, along with a letter from your former firm in Tampa.” Moe listed.

“Will you have any problem with your old firm?” Wes asked.

“No, I don’t think so. I had to sign a Non-Compete but it is very narrow. I can e-mail a copy to you, so you can look it over.”

“That would be good. Moe can decide if you need to include that in your packet,” Wes directed.

“Since I am coming on as an employee of Wes’s, I think it will be fine. I had Izzy go over the N.C., so he can answer any questions.” She continued to make notes on her pad.

“That was smart to use Izzy.” Ina smiled at Hale. “But you were always bright. When you were younger, you didn’t believe it, but we saw it right away.”

Hale felt her heart swell with love for Ina. “Working for you all, well, it helped me, especially when I moved away. I had a direction and I needed that at the beginning.”

“You’ll have to keep track of your hours, and we’ll combine them with mine and turn them in to the council for review and payment. Now on to the critical point, I can’t pay you anywhere near what you charged working for that big firm.” Wes looked full of regret as he finished.

“I assumed that. I won’t say that my time isn’t worth big money, but between us, I consider this my civic duty.” Hale gave a rueful chuckle. “I’ll survive on the established rate.”

“Unfortunately, Wes can’t show you the work until you get approval from the council. I think I can push this through with just an approval from the mayor and the council president. I don’t see why it would be necessary to wait for the next meeting.” Moe advised.

“I can pull most of the paperwork together tomorrow. Moe, I’ll think about the recommendations and touch base with you, so you can advise who’ll pack the most punch from Cantor Hart.”

Moe laughed. “I sense a little bit of your father in that statement. You can overwhelm them with your references and accomplishments. They may gossip about you personally, but they cannot touch your professional life.”

“Well, I am my father’s daughter.” Hale joined in the laughter but soon turned serious. “I haven’t heard either of you mention that you’ve run this by Finn.” She hit them with a laser stare.

Wes shifted on his chair. “I left that to Moe.”

“I spoke with Finn and Matt yesterday. They’ve been in the loop for about two months regarding Wes’s concerns about the workload. They had offered some suggestions, such as approaching a few other C.P.A.s in the area.” Moe admitted.

“I bet that wasn’t viable,” Hale interjected. “They’ll all be hustling to prepare for the end of the year and take time off before the tax rush starts. Plus, I can’t imagine Wes wants to share his work with his competitors.”

“They aren’t my competitors. I haven’t taken on any new clients in the last five years.” Wes shared.

“Even if that is the case, I can’t imagine you want to give the council any ideas about looking for another accountant,” Hale countered. “Why find your own replacement?”

“That is true.” Ina answered and slowly nodded at Hale as if she had given the correct answer in the schoolroom.

“I understand that you can’t show me the books, but can you give me an approximation of your time from last year? And where you stand this year? That way, I can start moving some things around on my schedule.” She was already making notes and at the top of the list was to text Ashley about this new job.

“I can do that,” Ina promised.

“So, once again, I’ll be working for you all.” Hale smiled at the group.

“I think it sounds like we have a deal.” Moe clapped his hands together.

“Not so fast, I have to get approval from the council and I need to know that this isn’t going to irritate Finn. I don’t want any problems with him.” Hale looked pointedly at Moe.

“You are doing us all a huge favor. I can’t imagine the mayor having a problem with that,” Wes answered.

“I’ll see to it that Wes speaks with the mayor, Hale. It’s good of you to be concerned about Finn’s feelings. Does that mean that