more bent, tattered files trying to escape. The shelves had been dusted, and the books, from what I could tell with just a glance, had been reorganized by category. There were a few smaller framed photos on the shelves, too. Gertie pointed to one.
“I hope you don’t mind,” she said, her voice still breathy with excitement. “I got some photos from your family because I thought it might be nice to have a few personal touches in here.”
I stepped closer and felt tears prickle my eyes. There was a picture of me with my sisters standing in front of the Lilac Festival Parade, taken the summer before Emily ran off to marry Chloe’s father. We’d had a good time that day. It was one of my favorite memories. There were a couple of pictures of me giving the graduation speech to my class of nine, and me standing with the other teachers outside Trillium Bay School, and a photo of me and my dad. He was wearing his sunglasses and had about as much of a smile as he ever had in pictures, but we were standing close together, and he had his arm around my shoulders. I was leaning into him. I wasn’t sure when that one had been taken, but my smile was wide, and I looked completely comfortable and happy there with him.
“These are fantastic, Gertie. I can’t believe you did all this in such a short time.” I dashed a little tear away and sniffled. I’m so not a sniffler, but she’d really caught me off guard with this incredible gesture of kindness.
“Dmitri helped me. He did most of the painting and carried the computer in here. We worked on everything else together.”
Still in awe, I went back to my desk and lightly traced my fingertips over the fancy new keyboard. “Who paid for this?” I asked.
“I checked with Sudsy Robertson, since he’s the city treasurer. He said we had a line item in the budget for technology upgrades, but Harry never took advantage of it, so there was plenty to get all this new stuff. We have a new printer, too. That’s sort of for me. Hope you don’t mind.”
“Of course I don’t mind. You deserve a new printer. Shoot, you deserve a medal, a day off, and a raise after all this work. And I guess I owe Dmitri a nice dinner or something, too.”
“Oh, he said he was glad to help. You know how he is. Always ready to lend a hand.”
“This is just amazing. Oh my gosh, you even got me a new chair? How did you manage to get all this stuff here?”
“The chief and I went over to the office store in Michlimac City and got some of it. They were able to ship the rest.”
“My dad? You went with my dad?”
“Yes. Is that a problem?” She adjusted her glasses nervously.
“No, not at all. I’m just surprised. That’s not the kind of thing my dad usually does.”
Today was proving to be another head-spinny kind of day. Leo leaving for an interview. Dmitri painting my walls. Gertie rearranging my office. My father helping. It was all very surreal. I sank down into my fabulous new chair and adjusted it to the right height. I moved the keyboard closer and tilted the monitor a bit.
“Gertie, you are simply the best. Thank you so much.”
My assistant beamed at the well-deserved praise. “It was my pleasure, Madam Mayor. I’ve got some emails to answer, so I’ll let you get to your work. There’s a password to log in to your computer, by the way. It’s wonderwoman, but you can change it if you want to.”
I smiled, and answered, “I think wonderwoman will do just fine.”
Chapter 14
“Oh my.” Gloria Persimmons stared into the beveled-glass mirror on the wall of the lady’s room of the Trillium Bay Courthouse and belched like a teenage boy who’d just chugged two liters of soda. She covered her shimmering pink lips with the back of her hand.
“This baby makes me burp. I hope I can get through my vows without blowing Cheez Doodle breath right into Tiny’s face. Do you have a mint?”
“I do,” Emily said, digging her hand into a white satin bag labeled BRIDAL EMERGENCY KIT. As the maid of honor, it was her job to make sure Gloria’s day went as smoothly as possible, and since Gloria’s emotional needs were potentially a multi-person job, she’d drafted me to help. I didn’t mind. It distracted me from Leo