A Second Helping Read Online Free PDF Page A

belongings?”
    â€œYep. Make sure she hands over my keys too,” he added.
    â€œGood.” And with that said, Bernadine made her exit and added Help find a new cook to her mental list of things to do.
    Â 
    The locals called the short, squat, fire-red building where Bernadine worked the Power Plant. Although it had nothing to do with physical power like electricity or wind, it had everything to do with the fact that her office was housed inside. She was the town’s engine, the conduit. Nothing happened in town she didn’t have a hand in, and because she was the owner with the money to back it up, very few people stood in her way.
    She pulled open the heavy metal door and went inside. Shaking off the shivers left by the cold April morning, she walked down the silent hall toward her office. Sunlight poured through the glass atrium roof overhead and through the sparkling clear windows that were partially submerged below ground. The light filled her path to her office and thelarge leaves of the healthy green plants lining the way.
    Much of the flat-topped, circular building was underground. The design made the facility green and would hopefully keep it from becoming a tornado snack.
    The mayor’s office was across the hall from her own. It had been almost finished when she left for Barcelona. She wondered if the work had been completed. Walking over, she stuck her master key into the lock and stepped inside.
    The carpet was covered by a tarp and there were large, shrink-wrapped boxes stacked throughout the expansive, white-walled suite. When Bernadine first came to Henry Adams, she hadn’t known a wall-bearing beam from a sump pump, but now, after a year of rubbing elbows with contractors and the like, she viewed the interior with knowledgeable eyes. Wall plates for the electrical plugs were on. The covers for the air and heat ducts were in place as well. She took note of small details like the caulking on the windows, and that there were knobs on the doors. She hit a light switch. On came the recessed lighting above her head and a ceiling fan. Turning them off, she looked around the space again. Unless there was a problem she couldn’t see, the place looked ready to be occupied.
    On the other hand, Bernadine’s suite of offices had been the first one completed. The stylishly furnished outer office, done in the earth colors she preferred, held chairs and a few loveseats to accommodate folks waiting to see her. The inner sanctum was where she worked.
    Entering it now, she took one look at the mountain of mail covering her desk and wanted to call Katie Skye, have her refuel the jet and fly her back to Barcelona. She couldn’tbelieve how much mail there was. She was still eyeing the pile when her BlackBerry sounded. It was Lily.
    â€œHow much mail do you have?” Lily asked.
    â€œEnough to start my own country.”
    Lily laughed softly. “You want me to come in and help?”
    â€œNo. One of us should get to enjoy the day. You wait for Devon and I’ll get this mess sorted out.”
    â€œYou sure? You’re making me feel guilty.”
    â€œGood, then my work is done.”
    They both laughed, and Bernadine said, “I’ll see you later. Let me know when everyone gets home.”
    â€œOkay. I—”
    â€œDid you fire her?”
    The interrupting voice made Bernadine look up to see Amari standing in the doorway. “Hold on a minute, Lily.”
    She said to him, “Don’t you see me on the phone?”
    He looked down at his shoes. “Sorry.”
    Bernadine spent a few more moments talking with Lily before ending the call. “Now, what can I do for you, Amari?” She stashed her Hermès bag in the bottom drawer of her desk and hung her coat on the coat tree nearby.
    â€œFirst off, welcome home.”
    â€œThank you.”
    â€œAnd second. Did you fire her?”
    â€œNo. She quit.”
    â€œI’ll take