Maggie furrowed her brow, and again, Louisa wondered what would be the least offensive way to buy the woman a pair of tweezers.

“What’ve you got so far?” Maggie plopped down as if she’d been invited to do so. Louisa wondered if the old woman ever planned on going back home.

Louisa glanced at the whiteboard.

“What are we raising money for?” Ally asked.

“Jackson Wirth’s family,” Louisa said.

Ally frowned. “That’s a bad idea.”

“Why?”

“Because the Wirth family has been very outspoken against the Coast Guard.”

“Right, so we’re taking the higher ground here,” Louisa said. “It’s good PR.”

“Good PR would be doing that interview with McKenzie Palmer.” Ally sat on the couch and crossed one leg over the other.

“How do you know about that?” Louisa moved to the other side of the desk and sat. She didn’t like feeling cornered.

“She called me,” Ally said. “Look, the Coast Guard needs to expand their reach in the community, but so do we, Lou.”

“I agree, but not at my expense.” Louisa’s accident made her feel foolish—why would she want to plaster that all over the Internet?

“Well, we at least need to get it out there that you and Cody are working together on whatever this is.”

“No, we don’t.” Louisa leaned forward, arms on the desk. “That’s the last thing we need to do.”

“Are you kidding? People will go crazy for the idea. You working on a project with the man who saved your life? People will eat it up. Everyone loves a good romance.”

“This is not a romance,” Louisa said. “This is business. Right now I need you to focus on ours.”

“Fine, but you’re missing out on a great opportunity.”

“And a great guy,” Maggie added.

Louisa disagreed. She needed to think. She needed to fill the whiteboard with ideas, the same way she had a million times before. “Can we focus, please?”

Both women hesitated, then finally relented.

“We could do a ‘Men of the Coast Guard’ calendar?” Alyssa suggested. “I’d buy that.”

Maggie waggled her fur babies. “Me too.”

Louisa rolled her eyes. All right, so she was on her own.

For whatever reason, that intimidated her for the first time she could remember.

On Friday morning, after hours of brainstorming, Louisa drove toward the Coast Guard office, eager to present the men with several options she’d finally come up with for potential fundraising ideas.

Every Valentine’s Day, the Coast Guard held a community dance, and it was always a big hit—that was the kind of event they needed here. Something that would draw in the community, make the Coast Guard look good and effectively raise funds for a very worthwhile cause.

She had a handful of ideas, but one in particular that excited her.