by Dana Volney
She took in a couple of breaths to calm herself before she spoke, “What are you doing here?”
“I was checking out an anomaly I found.”
“It doesn’t matter.” She set her purse on the island. “The vote already happened.”
“Honey, it ain’t over until it’s over. And this ain’t over.”
“What?” Candace’s day had been long, but he wasn’t making sense.
“I checked out the tunnels like you asked. You were right. They don’t end where the city thinks they do.”
“Really?” Candace felt a ping of excitement in her chest, but she couldn’t muster a lot of hope. She couldn’t live through more disappointment.
“Yes. And I just inspected my hunch. Did you know you have a basement?”
“No.” She crinkled her nose. None of the businesses on this block had basements.
“You do. If I got a look at The Pub, I’d say they do, too. That pub has been there forever. I think the tunnels connect to them because they served booze even back then. You have two separate tunnels that intersect under your building to The Pub. That second one runs south. Probably goes under the tire place.”
“We can get certified as an historical district?”
“Yep.”
“Holy bananas!” She flung her arms out and hugged Frank like he’d just saved her from falling off a cliff. “This means regardless of what the city council voted, we’ll be saved, right?”
“That would be correct. I’ve called in a favor and have a meeting with the main city inspector first thing after Christmas. I’ll get you the paperwork you need to present to the historical preservation society.”
“You’re the best. I’m so glad I called you.” Her body felt weak. All the pent-up tension and aggression from this entire ordeal was leaving her body. Frank walked her back out to her car. She was going to sleep great tonight – if she could keep Luke off her mind.
In the grand scheme of things, she didn’t want him out of her mind – she only wished they were on better terms. And that she hadn’t fallen in love with him.
* * *
Candace knew Luke would be at The Pub with his entire family celebrating Christmas for what they thought was the last time. She didn’t want to hold on to information and torture the Carrigans by letting them go through the mourning process when it wasn’t necessary. Her family’s annual Christmas Eve party was starting soon, but she detoured downtown first.
Dressed in her crimson Christmas dress that started sleek on the top, ruffled at her hips, and ended above her knees, she walked into the pub in her silver heels with a purpose. She could hear her heartbeat as she swept the room for Luke.
Sleeping last night had been a lost cause. Every time she closed her eyes she either pictured Luke kissing her under big snowflakes or his disappointment after the final vote. The latter was the picture that kept her awake. She couldn’t stand to see him unhappy. A quick phone call would’ve sufficed, but delivering the good news might be the last time she was able to have a conversation with him. They were business neighbors and she had a sinking suspicion that was all they were now. The flirting would end. She would miss him. Hell, she already did. She blinked back a sudden rush of liquid to her eyes and spotted him in the crowd at the same time he noticed her. They met in front of the bar. Even though his family was all in attendance, there was ample room in the pub, and they stood alone.
“Merry Christmas.” She smiled, but her nerves quickly took it away.
“Merry Christmas.”
“I don’t mean to interrupt,” she said.
“I’m glad you’re here. Want a drink?” he asked.
“No.” He’s glad I’m here? “Thank you. I have to get to my parents’ for dinner.” She was having trouble keeping eye contact with him. His green eyes were beautiful and she wanted to stare at them for hours, but right now she was scared of what she might see. “I just wanted to tell you that your pub is safe.”
“What?” His hands moved to his hips.
“Actually all of our businesses are safe. I figured with Christmas and all, you’d want to know now.”
“Ya, thanks. How? Did the council change their minds?”
“Not exactly. A family friend was able to find underground tunnels beneath our places that run to Billy’s, then back into the main part of downtown. Those tunnels are what saved us. Them and the historical society.”
“And your persistence.”
“I know I get caught up in business and winning, but that’s not all there is to me or what I want out of life. Thanks for sticking the fight out with me. I’ll let you get back to your family.” She turned to leave and felt his hand around her wrist.
“Candace. Not so fast.”
At first glance, he looked mad. She braced herself. Then his face softened and she felt a pull so strong she couldn’t take it anymore. She knew he didn’t feel the same way. But she wasn’t going to be some sniveling, lovesick woman begging him to love her back. Nope. She would tell him how she felt, lay her feelings on the line, and then move on with her life. She knew with his family around, this wasn’t the best time to discuss feelings. But, really, her timing only made the one-sided discussion they were about to have all the better – she could escape and go back to seeing him only now and then. She wouldn’t drink at his bar or go to The Steakhouse anymore. Casper was a decent-sized town; she could avoid him for years. Maybe. Probably. If she lived at Kiss From A Rose and never had to go outside.
“Everything okay?” he asked, his eyebrows scrunching together.
“Yes. Well, no. Actually, yes.” She jutted her chin.
“That wasn’t meant to be a confusing question.” He let her wrist go.
“I’m not confused.” She shook her head and locked onto his eyes. “I’m just in love with you. I had to tell you so I can get over it.”
“What?” His brows rose and his head cocked to the side. “You’re what?”
“It’s not a big deal. I wasn’t sure what else to do, so I told you.”
“You’re here to tell me that you’re in love with me, and that you’ll be getting over it soon?”
“Yes.”
“That doesn’t sound like love. Sounds like a cold. Why do you think you’re in love with me?”
She thought she saw him start to smile, but he didn’t. Was he really going to make her explain it? Was that part of the healing process? She took a deep breath. She was calm. She wasn’t fidgety. She wasn’t even all that nervous. Telling him why she loved him seemed like the perfect way to put the past behind her and start a new year with nothing hanging over her head.
“Because you understand me. You really seem to get me.” She stood straighter and clasped her hands in front of her. “I can trust you, even if you think you can’t trust me. I know for certain you’d never do anything to hurt me. I know we have our tiffs and whatnot, but they’re almost… I don’t know, they’re different. You look at me like no one has ever looked at me before.”
“Still doesn’t sound like love.” He swayed his head back and forth.
“I love how you think you can hide your emotions, but you can’t with me,” she said. “I always know. Well, usually. I understand you. I like who you are. I think you are amazing and…” She suddenly found it harder to catch her breath with him only inches away. He’d moved closer somehow. “The best part of my day is when I get to see you. I swear I feel a flutter in my chest. It’s dumb, I know.” She chuckled and tried to look away, but she couldn’t. “Talking to you is so easy and showing you who I am is easy, too. You’re the only person I’ve ever felt this way around.”
Confessing her feelings should have been scary, but it wasn’t. She felt good. She’d probably overanalyze this moment later and want to unsay every word in favor of self-preservation, but right now she felt like the weight of the world had been lifted off of her shoulders.
“Then why do you want to get over me?” he asked.
“Because I know you don�
�t feel the same and we will be business neighbors for a long time. I wanted to deal with these feelings so I don’t dread coming to work every day.”
“You’re wrong.”
“About?” Her eyebrows knitted together. I think I know my own feelings.
“You can’t read me as well as you think.” He moved his hand from his side and stuck a finger out at her. The twinkle in his green eyes she’d seen when they’d danced in the snow and caroled in the wind returned.
“Why do you say that?”
Luke turned and walked across the bar to the jukebox, pressed a couple of buttons, and returned. He held out his hand to her, like he had the only other time they’d danced together. She placed her palm in his and he pulled it to his heart. The music to Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Christmas Time Again” started and she smiled. He kissed her and pulled her closer. Her free hand automatically slid around his waist. She felt him clench her lower back, leaving no space between them.
“Because if you could,” he whispered into her ear, his breath sending chills down her back, “you’d know that I am completely in love with you. I have been for a long time.”
Holy smokes, he loves me? She’d never been so happy to be wrong before in her life.
“How long?” She moved her head back to look up into his eyes.
“Elementary school long.”
“Oh.”
She didn’t know what to do with the unexpected information. He loved her, too? She grinned. Could she really see herself being with one person and trusting him for the rest of her life with her heart? She looked deep into his eyes. Yes.
“You are a real person with highs and lows in life, like me, and I want to be with you for every step. I want to be an active part of your everyday life for the rest of mine. There is no one else on the face of this planet I enjoy more. Hell, I love to make food for you, dance with you, and argue with you.” He grinned. “I really love arguing with you. Because I know, at the end of it, we’ll be together and that bond is stronger than anything life can throw at us. You’re the love of my life.”
She swayed into him and brought her lips up to meet his.
“I love you.” She barely moved her mouth away from his.
She’d never forget the sparkle in his eye and the softness to his touch. Merry Christmas to me. Together they’d create a bright, feisty future.
Epilogue
“Hey babe, here’s a coffee.” Luke handed Candace a ceramic mug and kissed her forehead.
“Thanks.” She tapped her keyboard with her fingertips, not actually pressing any buttons. “Why do I have to write an acceptance and concession speech beforehand? Can’t I just wing it?”
“Says the woman who likes to be prepared for every possible situation.” He sat down on the couch next to her, the morning sunlight peeking through the blinds in their living room.
His hand rested on her thigh as he drank his coffee and craned his neck to see her screen. Candace hit the delete button and let out a loud sigh.
“It’s too early in the morning to think,” she said and sipped her coffee.
“Which one are you working on?”
“Both. Well, right now the acceptance. It just feels, I don’t know, stiff and canned. If I win, I want to say something inspiring to everyone who’ll be there and who helped along the way.”
She bit into her bottom lip and slowly released the soft skin. Luke studied her face, like he’d been doing for nearly eleven months – five of which had been lived in blissful matrimony. She’s so beautiful. I’m one lucky man. He leaned over and kissed her cheek, and keeping their skin together, faced her screen to get a better look.
“I don’t think this is the place to talk about injustice. I think you were on to something with your ideals and plans in their purest forms and thanking the people there.”
“Sounds like bragging.”
“Sweetheart, when you beat Jeffrey Dean tomorrow for a spot on the city council, you will have earned the right to brag.”
She adjusted to face him and her brilliant blue eyes took his breath away. Some days it was actually hard to believe they were married and she was all his.
“I really want to win,” she said.
“You’re going to. I know it.”
She’d run a solid campaign and had done well in the one debate that had been set up for all of the candidates. The press had been fairly kind, but she’d had to face criticism over her family and their already big influence and her motivations.
“What if I don’t?” she whispered.
He could see the fear and uncertainty in her eyes. “Either way, I’m proud of you for seeing a problem and stepping in to make a difference. You’ve brought attention to issues that people might not have heard about otherwise. You’re making the average citizen in Casper more aware. And that’s commendable.”
“If I lose you might have to give my concession speech. I’ll be huddled in the corner in the fetal position.”
He laughed at the image knowing Candace would never show that much emotion in public. If she lost, she’d wait until she was home, with him, before breaking down. He swallowed hard. He hated when she was upset.
“I don’t think so.” He gathered her legs and swung them over his lap. “To either statement. If, if, you lose, you’ll be gracious and come back in four years and do it all again. You’ll be an excellent councilwoman. And I will make a great first councilman to the councilwoman.”
Candace laughed, set the laptop on their coffee table, and leaned her head back on a throw pillow. “I don’t think that’s a thing, babe. Nice try.”
“Sure it is. I’ll get free coffee all over the place.”
“Nope.” Her dark hair swayed in the sunlight and she brushed a stray strand out of her face.
“I’ll make you a deal. Go shower and put on your prettiest I’m-your-new-councilwoman suit and I’ll finish your speeches.”
“You will?”
“Yep. We can’t take a picture of you voting today in this getup.” He eyed her very short boxers and green tank top. “Well, we could, but it would not be for the public to see.”
She sat up quickly and kissed him. “I love you.”
“I know.”
He watched her walk to their bedroom before setting his coffee down and opening the laptop to her acceptance speech. That was the only one she was going to need today.
* * *
Luke stood in the voting booth and stared. Candace Carrigan. Her name is in black and white. With my last name. He smiled to himself as he colored in the bubble next to her name with the black pen provided in the little private voting station.
He hadn’t been able to wait long to ask her to marry him. He’d gotten down on one knee just before the ball dropped on New Year’s Eve. For a reason he’d probably spend the rest of his life figuring out, she’d said yes.
“All done?” he asked Candace as he handed his ballot to the lady who put it into their machine and handed him an “I voted” sticker, which he prominently displayed on his navy button-down dress shirt.
“Yes. It was weird to see my name on the list. Should we take a picture?”
They’d started a habit in which every time they did something wacky or life-changing they commemorated the event with a selfie. Luke took out his phone, switched the camera to face them, and they stood in front of a voting booth. He snapped a couple of pictures and then made sure to get one with them kissing. He hoped the photo would be to remember the day she was voted into office.
* * *
Candace stood in the pub watching the news. Luke had made her a Moscow Mule, but she hadn’t touched it yet. She couldn’t. Nor could she eat. When this was all over she was going to have to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
“You’d think they were announcing a new president of the United States with how they are treating the results,” she said to Luke as he walked up beside her.
He wrapped his hand around her waist and she leaned into him. She longed for his touc
h and welcomed his closeness. She’d ended up with the sexiest, sweetest husband in the whole world.
“I take it they aren’t to our district yet?”
“No. They’ve been talking about the voting sites and turn out and just taking so long.”
The pub was packed with family, both hers and Luke’s, supporters, and people who’d volunteered their time to her campaign.
“Soak it all in. Soon you’ll be so busy with council issues and the flower shop.”
She slipped her arms around her husband and smiled up at him. “Are you worried I won’t have time for you?”
“I wasn’t. Now I am.”
“I’ll always have time for you, Mr. Carrigan.” She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him.
“I love you,” he said.
“I know.” She rolled her head on his chest to look at the television screen.
Her name, Jeffrey Dean’s name, and Fran Hesher’s name, their other opponent, showed in white block letters against a bright blue screen.
She held her breath. This is it. Luke held her tighter.
“No matter what, you’re awesome,” he whispered into her hair.
Figures flashed on the screen. Jeffrey Dean had a forty percent and next to her name, in big numbers, read fifty-two percent.
“I won!” She yelled and jumped up and down in Luke’s arms.
He picked her up and twirled around. “Congratulations, baby.”
He set her down, put his hands on her cheeks, and kissed her.
“Go get ’em, my love.”
She had everything she’d ever wanted in life. And now she was going to make a difference in the community she loved. The eyes of the man who loved her twinkled with excitement. She was one lucky lady.
Candlelight Conspiracy
To Mary Billiter and Jami Wagner: because we all need (and I’m grateful to have) people in our lives who push us to be better, achieve crazy, self-imposed goals with us, and do it all while laughing.
Chapter One
