“Last year?” Cooper snorted. “Oh right. You mean the God’s gift to charities article.”
Felicity paused. “How do you know which article I mean?”
Mrs. Brooks chuckled. “There’s only one that people remember.”
Felicity frowned. “I’m not following.”
“It went on for pages,” Cooper said, jumping in. “It covered a day in the life of me doing my work. The reporter followed me around, then interviewed all the homeless people about what they thought of us, then talked to the local government people as to whether we were good, poked over our finances, interviewed other charities about us, too. It was like getting a journalistic colonoscopy.” She shook her head. “I’ve never seen anything like it. Every other media story has always been a puff piece: three paragraphs, a few feel-good quotes, a photo of a cute dog, and that’s it. This one was like the reporter was going for a Pulitzer. We had to prove we were worth their endorsement. Then when the story came out, it was”—she shook her head again—“astonishing.”
Mrs. Brooks rose, walked to the table, and flipped open the folder she’d first offered Felicity. She drew out a photocopy of a newspaper article. “Want to read it? It brought us in hundreds of new donors from all over. And we also received the single biggest donation in our charity’s history from it.”
Elena’s donation. Curious, Felicity slid the article closer, looked down…and drew in a shocked breath.
Suddenly a great many things became clear.
WHEN LOVE HAS NO HOME
By MADDIE GREY
She didn’t even need to read it to know that of course the story would be exceptional. Because try as she might to deny it, the Australian was a phenomenal reporter; she had several international scoops and awards to her name these days. Felicity glanced at the publication date. August 29. Maddie had worked on this while she was freelancing in New York before she’d left for Vietnam on a travel-writing assignment.
Felicity scan-read it. Naturally, it was beautifully written. And touching. So of course Elena would have wanted to donate to a cause that was apparently so close to Maddie’s heart.
Now it all became clear why Elena had been so worried. It wasn’t about her missing money, was it? Well, that wouldn’t be her primary motivation. No, Elena would be concerned how it would look if her reporter friend had written a multipage love letter to a charity that might turn out to be corrupt. Elena was worried about Maddie’s professional reputation taking a dive. No wonder she had stressed to Felicity that she try and find subtle solutions.
She sagged. Why did everything come down to Maddie Grey? What did Maddie have that Felicity didn’t? Why was Elena so…loyal…to her, so connected? It was a mystery Felicity was no closer to solving.
“What is it?” Cooper asked, sounding curious.
Felicity looked up. “I…know her. The writer.” She waved at the story. “She used to work with me. Now she’s”—in photo frames on my boss’s desk—“a friend of my boss.”
“Maddie? She’s friends with Elena Bartell?”
“Yes. Good friends. So that explains why I’m here.” It really did. Why couldn’t Elena have just confided in her about this?
“Oh wow.” Cooper’s shoulders relaxed. “I get it. Right. Ah, sorry if I was a little hostile before. I didn’t realize y’all were such great friends. Hey, if you speak to Maddie, could you tell her how grateful we are? Her story will keep us in the black for years.”
“So the other article about your imminent closure really is a lie?”
“As I said, it’s just a thing Harvey does once a year to get new donors on our list.” Cooper shrugged. “Talk to him about it if you want to put your mind to rest.”
“I will.” She glanced at her watch. “When’s he due in?”
Mrs. Brooks spoke up. “I texted him a few minutes ago to tell him you were here waiting for him, but he said he has some meetings. He suggested in his absence that you do a ride-along with Cooper to find out what we do here. He apologized that he can’t see you sooner.”
Felicity folded her arms. He’d heard she was here, a big potential donor, and had begged off to go to meetings? Was that likely? She decided to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Mrs. Brooks spoke again. “He thought you’d find it far more informative to see firsthand what we do with Cooper before you and he sit down.”
That did make sense, but Felicity still felt a bit glad-handed. The thought of being forced to do meet and greets with the homeless and their animals hadn’t exactly been high on her to-do list today. She would, of course, cope. Felicity lifted her chin. “Well, it’s not as if I can do much else, is it?”
“I’ve never seen such enthusiasm for time in my company,” Cooper drawled. She grinned, and a matching pair of dimples appeared. “Well? Are you up for it?”
It suddenly occurred to her that these meet and greets with the homeless would also come with a lot of Sandy Cooper. That wasn’t unsettling in the least. Not at all. No siree. “Of course. I’m up for any challenge.” As long as she wasn’t expected to crawl under houses with the woman. She’d simply refuse that.
“You say that now,” Cooper teased, “but I do go to some unsavory places.”
Oh wait, was she expected to crawl under things? Worry snaked through her. Followed by horror. Then she remembered she didn’t work for Cooper and that “no” was a full sentence. “I’m sure you do,” she said neutrally.
Cooper’s eyes darted to her outfit. “I’d offer to loan you something more appropriate, but I don’t think we’re the same size.”
Felicity snorted. “An understatement.”
“So you can make do with what you have on. Now, just so you know, I expect you to follow my ground rules.”
“Which are?”
“I expect you to be polite to the clients—”
“The clients?”
“The homeless,” Cooper clarified. “I don’t want to hear any of the stuff you said earlier to me. About them being addicts. Yes, some are, obviously. Some have mental health issues. Some have PTSD. And some are just unlucky people, out of money or work, on hard times. The point is, I expect politeness and respect. Can you do that?”
“Of course.” Indignation rose. She could be diplomatic. She could!
