Page 28 of Just a Plot Twist (Tate Brothers #7)

Claire

I hobble into work on Monday with a severe hangover—and no one can know the real reason why.

And when I say “hangover,” I mean this severe malaise that can only come from one thing.

I’m interested in Benson.

And it ticks me off.

It all happened so quickly, and I’m full-blown having feelings for Benson Kilpack.

Which cannot happen—thus the foggy, headachy sensation.

My body is at war with itself.

I blow through my Monday morning work routine, and let’s face it, I’m distracted, okay? I’m not doing my best work right now .

I’m pretty sure Benson likes me, but he may not be ready to date yet. He’s a wonderful person, but I wasn’t imagining my grandparents’ looks of disapproval that he was there with me.

Not that that matters when it comes right down to it. I need to do what makes me happy. Still, I want them to be pleased with my life choices.

I maybe want that too much.

To make matters worse, my body is sore from going kersplat on the ballroom floor.

My ankle hurts. And I haven’t slept well because I keep reliving Saturday night with Benson and smiling so hard it hurts every time I remember his laugh, or our inside jokes, or the fact that he carried me (again!) after I fell.

I’m waiting for that phone call of disdain from my grandparents to dissect what I was doing antagonizing their swans, falling, and being hauled out of the extravaganza by a man well before the close of the party.

I haven’t heard from them yet because apparently, according to Sophie, after Grandpa surprised Grandma with a diamond gold necklace near the end of the event, he whisked her off on a surprise trip to Majorca.

It’s a second honeymoon of sorts. First the extravaganza was more elaborate than any wedding I’ve been to and now they’re on a luxury trip? What has gotten into them?

I’m happy for them. I just wish I could have seen Grandma’s face when she finally got the diamonds she’d been jockeying for.

Not that I’m regretting the time I spent with Benson.

I’m sure I’ll hear plenty from Grandma and Grandpa when they get back about all that—including how embarrassing my behavior was. Until then, I’m pressing forward as best as I can.

Brace yourselves, I have a city manager position to win right now .

Which is exactly where I’ve managed to switch my focus when Mayor Whitten approaches my office with a grim expression. “I saw you had a fall on Saturday night, Claire.”

Had a fall? One can only say the elderly “had a fall,” right? I can’t be alone in this.

I laugh nervously, my cheeks flaming hot. “Oh that? It was nothing.”

“It looked bad.”

Gee thanks. “No, really, I’m fine and ready to go.”

Inez catches up to him, rubbing her belly and breathing heavily. Discomfort simmers in her eyes.

“Oh my gosh! Is it time?” I ask, jumping out of my chair so quickly it bumps hard against my legs.

“I’m not in labor , Claire,” Inez says roughly, rolling her eyes.

“I’m just pregnant with twins .” She starts ticking things off her fingers.

“I can’t sleep. I can’t lie down. I can’t sit.

I can’t stand. And basically, I can’t stand anything or anyone right now.

” She blinks rapidly, coming to herself. “No offense.”

“Inez is a trooper,” Mayor Whitten says to both of us before turning to me. “You ready to take over the trailways project?”

“Absolutely!” I beam.

“She’s already doing most of it, to be honest, Mr. Mayor,” Inez says. “It’s in very good hands.”

“Good.” He nods. “It would be great to get the work crews going on repairs before it gets too far into the summer,” he adds before leaving on his merry way, sipping through the lid of his Styrofoam cup, saying something about needing to meet up with his golf buddies .

He’s right. With budgeting concerns and Inez not able to work as much, the project is behind.

“So.” Inez sighs after the mayor leaves. “Have you finished your application yet? The city opened the position up externally, so there are no guarantees. But we both know you’re going to make the best new Inez.”

“Mayor Whitten might not agree.”

“He doesn’t know how much you’re interested because you haven’t even finished the application yet, have you?” Her voice is veering towards exasperation. “But come on, everybody hates Rich.” Inez grimaces as she breathes in and out slowly and presses a hand against the top of her belly.

“The mayor loves Rich like a son,” I counter. “I don’t get it, but he does.”

Inez frowns with a tilt of her head. “He doesn’t see what we all see where Rich is concerned.” Inez slumps down in my chair…slowly…and takes a breather. “I need a sec.”

I smile. “Be my guest. Can I get you anything? A glass of water?”

Her eyes grow wide. “I’ve been drinking so much water, I’m sick. And I have to go to the bathroom every half hour. It’s torture.” She pauses to take a couple of deep breaths. “I heard you made quite the spectacle at your grandparents’ anniversary party.”

“Extravaganza.”

Inez gives me a look.

“Sorry. Reflex.” I shrug, before the embarrassment hits me all over again. “But yeah. I mean, what did you hear?”

“Just that some tall, dark, and handsome man carried you out of the ballroom after he—” She leans forward for emphasis. “—fell on top of you.” A wicked grin highlights her face .

“Who fell on top of you?” Elaine from Accounting asks as she walks past my office, her face buried in a screen. She’s using an e-pencil to scribble all over it.

I groan and rest my head in my hands.

“Just kidding. I already heard.” Elaine stops near my door, pressing her stylus into the little holder on the side of her tablet. “Are you okay? Two falls in a week? Are you having balance problems?”

“What? No. But thanks for the concern. Some people only care about the embarrassment I caused them.”

“It’s nothing to be embarrassed about!” Inez insists. “Who cares? People were probably thanking you for spicing up the party.”

“Thanks, Inez. But it was so extra.” I bury my face in my hands. “I don’t even want to know what my grandparents thought.”

“Don’t worry about them. There’s nothing to be done now but move on.”

I swallow and nod. She makes it sound so easy.

“You should get one of those ACE bandages and wrap it up,” Elaine observes, glancing at my ankle before continuing along to her own office.

Inez nods. “At least prop it up or something.” She gives a resolute sigh.

“Alright. As much as I’d love to take a nap right here right now, I’ve got to get back to my office.

” She rocks forward on the balls of her feet so she can heave her body up and out of the chair.

“Lots to get done before I pop in a couple of weeks.”

And I admit it, Inez being so miserable might slightly curb my desire to have kids of my own, but it’s still there. Always.

Before kids, though, there’s the little matter of falling in love with someone first. Predictably, an image of Benson flashes through my conscious mind.

The way he looked on the beach, his white shirt unbuttoned so casually, his broad shoulders.

The steady warmth of him as he gathered me in his arms while we sat in the sand and looked at the stars.

But.

There is no time for daydreams.

Inez side shuffles to my door, hanging onto her belly for dear life. But instead of leaving, she gives me a leveled stare. “So? Saturday night was fun, eh?”

This again? I try to cover my smile, but it doesn’t work. “Most of it wasn’t fun, considering. But it was surprising. Benson had Sebastian Tate set up a burger delivery for us and we sat on the beach and talked.”

“Burgers on the beach? Okay. That’s hot.”

I snicker. “Not as hot as Benson was with his tux tie all undone and everything.”

Inez sobers. “Shut. Up.” She returns to the chair and sinks down into it again.

“I’m serious. It was like a scene from a movie.”

“You go, girl.”

I refuse to meet her gaze. “Well, it was fun, but nothing more.”

“Why not?”

“Technically, he’s a Tate and my grandparents hate the Tates.”

“He’s not, though. He’s a Kilpack. And they like Oliver fine.”

I finally dare to look at her. “They tolerate him. But their tolerance doesn’t spill over to the rest of the family.”

“Do you think he likes you?”

“We sort of…snuggled? Is that what you’d call it?

So what does that mean? He was hanging out with me at the extravaganza at first out of ch ivalry, with my bum ankle and all.

He’s duty bound.” I snort. “Which of course makes him that much more attractive.” I send out a blip of a groan, then slam my hands down on my desk.

“But no!” I have to focus on getting the city manager job.” I finish that last part in a low voice. No use Rich McClain or anyone else hearing my deepest desires for my career.

“You can date and be a city manager. This isn’t the 1950s, Claire. You don’t have to choose.”

“ You kind of did have to choose though,” I point out. She’s giving up her job for her family, which I totally respect. It’s not as easy to juggle everything as people pretend it to be.

What Inez doesn’t understand is that I secretly love the 1950s. Not the oppression of women part or the no-internet or lack of choices or resources parts.

But the celebration of domestic life was kind of a glorious thing. The pretty aprons. The perfect hair. The glorification of motherhood and housecoats and cooking three square meals a day for your family.

It’s what Grandma did for us. Despite her strong personality, she was totally the whole “the kids need cookies and a glass of milk after school” type of person. Complete with fabric napkins, which I actually loved.

And okay, I don’t want to go all in on the 1950s thing. Please don’t make me wear a girdle! Give me my leggings and swingy belly shirts, thank you very much.

And…could I cook just maybe one square meal a day and the rest we can eat from a box or get takeout or something?

Honestly, I want a family so dang much. A chance to create something that I never got to have as a kid .

But Benson and his family, as adorable as they are, aren’t what I pictured in my head. Having to share the kids with their mom and stepdad would be hard. It’s not what I’ve imagined for myself.

I stand and rest a hand on Inez’s elbow. “Hey, I’m sorry you’re not feeling well. Is there anything I can do? Anything I can take off your plate?”

“You’re already doing like three-fourths of my job right now. And like you mentioned, I am having to choose one or the other. I go back and forth on if I’m ready to leave permanently, though.”

“You do?” Maybe she’ll decide to come back after maternity leave.

“When I found out I was pregnant, I had every intention of coming back. I did not want the city manager curse thing to come for me, too. I always swore I wouldn’t let it!”

“I know,” I say. She and I have discussed this many times.

“But when we found out it was twins? The childcare costs for twins are staggering, Claire.”

She waves me away. We’ve talked about this for months, but I think she needs to process it a little more.

“In the end, I just couldn’t imagine being away from both of them all day, every day. I’m lucky I can stay home with them.” She presses on her abdomen and takes a slow, deep breath.

“You’ve felt good about it, but it’s still hard.”

She nods. “And I’m excited. It’s going to probably be the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but it will all work out. There is something that still haunts me at night, though.”

“The trailways project,” I supply .

“Yeah. It’s so new, I’m worried it will get lost in the shuffle. It’s not been on anyone’s radar except ours.” Inez gestures between us before laboring to stand.

“And if it doesn’t go well, the state will think twice about giving us funding for other things,” I add. She and I wrote grants, for heaven’s sake.

Ever tried to write a grant? It’s basically torture in a fifty-page document.

“Exactly,” Inez says. “It has to work. Beyond that, though, Longdale deserves this. If we don’t have some unifying systems in place for our trails…”

“…They’re going to all deteriorate into oblivion. Listen, you worry about your babies. I’ll worry about this, okay? This will be my baby now.”

Hope flits across Inez’s expression before it’s replaced by a cringe. “Sorry, my back hurts something fierce,” she says, massaging her back at her waist. She turns to sidestep out of my office but then rotates to face me. “And thanks, Claire. It gives me comfort to hear that.”

“We’ve got this.”

She lifts a finger in the air. “There’s so much to talk about.

I should share the rest of the files with you.

But don’t be discouraged by our lack of funds.

” She begins to waddle out of the office like she has a full body sunburn.

“A lot of it is on hold until we can get enough allocated. It’s not looking good and with me out the door soon, I… ”

“Don’t worry,” I assure her. “I’ve told you I’ve got this. Your baby is my baby.” I reach out a hand and motion to her belly. “I mean. Your babies are your babies, I’m not—” I shake my head.

Is this how a city manager acts? No.

I have to pull it together .

I give Inez a quick hug and then a stare down. “Go try to rest. Find a position that might help your back, okay?”

“Looks like your grandparents’ complaints are coming sooner than you thought.” Inez points to my phone on the desk, where a video call request is buzzing through.

Oh no.

I am not ready for this.