True, she hadn’t been there since she was nineteen, but all she’d have to do was coordinate meals and meal times for the guests, arrange transportation from the airport for them, plan recreational outings, handle intake if any new guests came along, and one or two bits of administrivia that might or might not require her input… in other words, a piece of cake. There’d be plenty of time to do things with Gideon. She expected that her afternoons and evenings would be virtually free.

And then had come this new e-mail from Annie. Tony’s brother, Jamie Gallagher, who was their accountant/bookkeeper, would be leaving for Minnesota in a couple of days, a long-awaited opening for arthroscopic knee surgery at the Mayo Clinic having popped up. Would Julie mind keeping an eye on his part of the business too?

“So now,” she said, “I’ll have to post expenses to the ledger, record income, make sure the peso-dollar conversions balance, pretty much all-around handle the revenue and expense streams, really. I hope the Hacienda survives.”

“I’ll help out,” Gideon said gamely, although he didn’t see how.

She responded with a gentle smile. “Thanks, honey, but I don’t see how. You have many wonderful strengths, but keeping expense accounts isn’t one of them.”

She was putting it nicely. He was hopeless with money. Before Julie came into his life, he had stopped even trying to balance his checkbook. Whatever the bank told him his account contained at the end of the month (and it often came as a great surprise), that’s what he compliantly posted.

“I could be your enforcer,” he offered. “You know, the strong-arm guy if they don’t want to pay up?”

“I’ll certainly keep that in mind,” she said with a smile. “Oh, heck, it won’t be that bad. The place is going to be practically empty. Only a few rooms booked. Frankly, I’m more worried about you.”

“About me? What’s to worry?”