Trinity Falls

by Regina Hart

  “Does it matter who told me?”

  Yes, it does. “No, I guess not. But what makes you think your reelection is guaranteed?”

  Ramona hugged her coat in her lap like a pet. “The people in this town won’t vote against me. They’re afraid of what I can do to them socially.”

  “They should be more concerned with whether you’ll serve a full term. The fact that you’re planning to leave Trinity Falls at your first opportunity is not a secret, either.”

  Ramona’s self-assured smile faded. “Leave the town politics to me. You’d be better off figuring out what to do about the bookstore.”

  “You mean our bookstore? Our grandparents left it to both of us. Why are you trying to destroy it?”

  Temper flared in Ramona’s eyes. “I’m not. I’m trying to improve the town.”

  Megan studied her cousin in silence. “What is it that you want, Ramona? To run the town or leave it? You can’t have it both ways. Trinity Falls needs a mayor who’ll stay.”

  Confusion nudged out irritation in Ramona’s dark eyes. Her gaze shifted. Did she even know what she wanted? “I have plans for this town—”

  “How long will you be here to enjoy them?” Megan relaxed back into her seat, enjoying her cousin’s discomfort. It was nice to turn the tables on Ramona.

  “Are you going to make loyalty your campaign platform?” Ramona cocked her head. “I don’t think that will go over well, considering you’re my cousin. That’s taking family feuds a bit far, don’t you think?”

  Just that quickly, Megan’s enjoyment faded. “We may not be close—”

  “No, we aren’t.”

  “But you’re my cousin.” Megan ignored Ramona’s interruption. “I care about you. And I care about Trinity Falls. If you were honest with yourself, you’d admit that you’re not making changes to the center for the town’s sake. You’re doing it for yourself.”

  Ramona managed to cross her legs, despite the tightness of her skirt. Impressive. “From where I stand, you’re the one being selfish. You care more about the center than the town.”

  “Ramona, if you’re not sure what you want to do, take some time to figure it out.”

  “I know exactly what I’m doing. I’m making this town a better place to live.”

  “In your opinion.” Why couldn’t she get through to her cousin? “Most of the people in this town don’t agree with you.”

  “They’ll come around, once they see that I’m right.”

  Megan thought of the business owners who were struggling with the increased rent and faced an uncertain future for their businesses. “You’re gambling with their livelihood.”

  “Well, instead of worrying about my campaign, you and your friends should figure out what you can do to help your businesses.”

  “We already have. We’re going to find someone to run against you.”

  Ramona narrowed her eyes. “You won’t win, Megan.”

  “We aren’t children any longer, Ramona.” Megan swallowed back her temper. “If you break your toy, you can’t take mine. Books and Bakery isn’t just my livelihood. You draw an income from it, too.”

  “I’ve got a job. My interior-design firm, remember? I have two, if you count this mayoral gig.” Ramona shrugged a shoulder. “The town center is in my way. You can’t stop progress, Meggie.”

  “Stop calling me that.” Megan sat back in her chair.

  “What’s different about you?” Ramona’s scowl cleared and a smile slowly curved her full, red lips. “You’re wearing makeup. And you bought new clothes. That sweater’s not your usual drab color. Trying to hold on to your man?”

  Megan ignored her. “Why didn’t you stay in New York? What happened?”

  Ramona’s smile vanished. She rose from her seat. “I’ve told you before. I wasn’t ready to stay in the city then.”

  “Are you ready now?”

  Ramona didn’t answer. She just turned and walked out of Megan’s office, leaving behind a cloud of Chanel No. 5.

  Was Ean just biding his time with Megan until he and Ramona could return to New York?

  The question was a poisonous whisper in her mind. No way could Ean make love to her as he did last night if he was still interested in Ramona. She knew the two of them would never get back together. And she was starting to believe Ean would not return to New York. Then where had those doubts come from?

  Doreen rushed into her office, distracting Megan from those worries. “What did Ramona want? We saw her walk into the store as smug as the cat with the canary. Now she looks like I could fry an egg on her head.”

  Megan kneaded her shoulder with her right hand, trying to work out the knots of tension. “She warned me against challenging her in the election.”

  Doreen frowned. “Did you tell her you weren’t running against her?”

  “I didn’t see the point. Just because I’m not running doesn’t mean I don’t want someone else to.”

  “Like who?”

  “How about you?” Megan watched Doreen closely for her reaction.

  Doreen’s eyes grew wide. She gripped the back of the visitor’s chair. “You think I should run for mayor?”

  “Why do you sound so surprised?” Megan wrapped her hands around her mug of coffee. It was cool to her touch.

  Doreen’s mouth opened and closed several times before words came out. “It’s just not something I ever considered.”

  “Would you consider it now?”

  Doreen looked shocked, but she didn’t seem as though she’d refuse the proposition. She sank into the chair and was silent for several moments. Finally she raised her head and met Megan’s gaze. “Let me think it over.”

  Megan’s shoulders relaxed. “Of course. But keep in mind that the deadline for challengers to register is Monday. December ninth is ninety days from the primary.”

  “All right.” Doreen rose. She fussed with her clothes unnecessarily. “Do you think I’d make a good mayor?”

  Megan smiled. “I do. If I didn’t believe that, I wouldn’t have asked you to consider running.”

  Doreen’s face glowed with pleasure. “Thank you, Megan. That means a lot to me.”

  Megan watched her friend walk out of her office. There was a spring in Doreen’s step, an extra energy and confidence in her carriage.

  She hoped her friend decided to run for office. She also hoped Ean supported his mother’s decision. If not, regardless of whether Doreen won the election, Megan feared both mother and son would lose.

  CHAPTER 27

  Doreen led Leonard into the family room Thursday evening. She settled onto the thick rose-colored sofa, but it was hard to remain still. Her muscles trembled with excitement.

  “Tell me about your day.” She watched him set the tray with their mugs of hot tea and cookies on the coffee table. How would he react to her news? Would he pepper her with questions? Wrap her in a bear hug?

  Leonard was a tall, fit man. Her muscles quivered again when she thought of where their evening could lead after her announcement.

  He settled beside her. His brown eyes twinkled, deepening the creases around them. “You’re the one who’s glowing. What’s going on?”

  Doreen’s grin sprang free. “Megan suggested I run for mayor. Can you believe it?” Her voice rose to a squeak of excitement.

  Leonard’s dark eyes clouded with confusion. “But you don’t have any experience in office.”

  Hmmm . . . she hadn’t expected that response. What’s the phrase kids are using these days? “What a buzzkill.” “But I do have experience volunteering on community boards and working to get legislation passed.”

  Leonard angled his body to face her on the sofa. “That’s different.”

  “How? Because I didn’t get paid?” She thought he’d be excited for her. Why was he so condescending?

  Leonard shook his head. “That’s not what I mean.”

  “I’ve lived in Trinity Falls all of my life, and that’s about how long I’ve been actively invol
ved in community issues. My parents were volunteers. My father was a two-term council member.”

  Leonard raised both hands, palms out. “All I’m saying is that volunteering is very different from actually serving in office.”

  Doreen crossed her arms and legs. “Would I have learned more if I’d drawn a paycheck?”

  “Dorie.” Leonard spoke her name on a sigh. “You’ve supported a lot of changes that benefited the community. But as mayor, you have to consider both sides of an issue, not just the one that benefits you.”

  “Do you think I can’t do that?” Doreen pushed herself from the sofa.

  Leonard returned his mug of tea to the serving tray and stood. “I’m not undermining what you’ve done. All I mean is that your running for mayor is a bad idea.”

  Doreen’s eyes widened. “Why?”

  Leonard hesitated. “The campaign will give everyone an excuse to invade your privacy.”

  Doreen cocked an eyebrow. “We live in Trinity Falls. No one here has any privacy.”

  “People will gossip about you. They’ll speculate about our relationship.”

  “They’re already speculating about our relationship.”

  “What about me, Dorie?”

  “What about you?”

  Leonard planted his hands on his hips. “You have a full-time job running the bakery. It takes a lot of your time. What if you win this election? When will you have time for me?”

  Doreen studied Leonard’s closed expression. “You’re worried that I won’t have time for you?”

  “Why do you need another job?”

  “You’re asking me that? You’re a math teacher and a football coach.”

  “Coaching isn’t a yearlong position.”

  Doreen ground her teeth. She didn’t have to justify herself to anyone. “I don’t need this job. I want it.”

  Leonard turned away, pinching the bridge of his nose, and paced. “Where does that leave us?” He faced her from across the room. “I’m going to retire in a few years. I was hoping we could spend more time together.”

  Warning bells sounded in Doreen’s ears. He wasn’t implying marriage, was he? Proceed with caution. “I enjoy spending time with you, Leo. But this is an opportunity that I don’t want to dismiss. I promised Megan I’d think about it.”

  She’d hoped Leonard would be her sounding board. Instead, this discussion had been all about his feelings. He’d never once asked her why she wanted to run for office. To say his reaction was a disappointment would be an understatement.

  Leonard’s sigh lifted the broad shoulders she’d wanted to hold tonight. “Well, I hope you reconsider your decision.”

  “I won’t.”

  He didn’t respond.

  Doreen followed Leonard to the coat closet. She waited while he shrugged into his parka. His movements were slow. She could sense his reluctance to leave. But, after his reaction to her news, she didn’t want him to stay.

  “Good night, Leo.”

  Leonard hesitated before letting himself out. “Good night.”

  Doreen exhaled. She locked the door behind him, pressing her hand against the cool maple wood. This wasn’t the way she’d imagined the evening would end.

  “Mom didn’t mention that you’d suggested she run for mayor.” Ean leaned back against Megan’s white-marble kitchen counter Thursday evening.

  Megan handed him a mug of green tea, with fresh lemon juice. The hot brew seemed just the thing to make them feel better after their cold walk home from the bookstore. The walks had been so much more enjoyable in the fall.

  “She’ll probably tell you tomorrow. She wanted to think it over tonight.” Megan linked her arm with his and walked with him to the living room.

  Alicia Keys sang softly on Megan’s stereo system. Low light spilled in through the far archway leading to the foyer.

  “How did she seem when the two of you talked?” Ean sank onto her fluffy coffee-colored sofa.

  Megan sat beside him. “Excited.” She smiled at the memory. “I wish you’d seen her.”

  “Do you think she’ll do it?” Ean drank his tea as his olive green eyes searched hers.

  “I hope so.” She slid out of her black pumps and curled her legs under her.

  “I’m still not sure this is a good idea.”

  “Why not?” Megan sipped the hot tea. The lemon juice was tart against her taste buds.

  Ean shrugged. “The campaign itself will be stressful and demanding, not to mention the job.”

  “Doreen can handle it. She raised you. I’m sure that was stressful and demanding.” Megan sipped more tea. Delicious.

  “I’m serious.”

  “So am I.” Megan sat up, lowering her feet to the cream Berber carpet. “She’s not going to be the mayor of a large metropolis. She’s going to lead a town with less than fifteen hundred residents. And she won’t be running it alone. She’ll have the entire town council helping her.”

  “But she’s sixty years old. Don’t you think it’s time that she started slowing down?”

  “Your mother? No.” Megan cradled her mug of hot tea and drew another sip. She loved the way he loved his mother—as long as he didn’t smother her. “There are people running this country who are a lot older.”

  “Doesn’t it concern you that, if she wins the election, she’d have to split her time between the mayor’s office and your bakery?”

  Megan hid her smile behind her mug. Was that his attempt to sway her to his side of the argument? “Ean, would you feel this way if Doreen wasn’t your mother?”

  He set his mug on a coaster on her coffee table and stood to cross her living room. “But she is my mother and I can’t separate that. I realize she’s changed while I was in New York. But I don’t want her to change any more. Is that wrong?”

  “Yes, it is. Whether your mother changes, and how much, is not your decision.”

  A quiet contemplation seemed to drape over Ean. Megan studied him, standing across the room with his head bowed and legs braced. His dark gray Dockers hugged his hips. His broad shoulders stretched his burgundy sweater. She wished she could convince him he wasn’t losing his mother. Doreen had been, and always would be, there for him. She didn’t know any other way.

  “She didn’t want me to go to New York.” Ean spoke with his back to her.

  “I know.” Megan sipped her tea.

  “She didn’t want me to marry Ramona, either.”

  “That I didn’t know.” Megan had never guessed that Doreen hadn’t wanted Ramona for a daughter-in-law. In fact, her friend had seemed concerned when Ramona had left Ean in New York and returned to Trinity Falls.

  “She never tried to influence me in either direction on those things. She let me make my own decisions.” Ean faced her once more.

  “That sounds like Doreen.”

  “I can’t tell her what to do, but I don’t have to like it.”

  “Fair enough.” Megan finished her tea and set the mug on the coaster. Ean seemed a million miles away. “Why did Ramona leave New York?”

  “I don’t know.” He didn’t seem interested in the reason, either.

  “Could you tell that she wasn’t happy there?”

  Ean returned to sit beside her. “Ramona had spent her whole life in Trinity Falls, so I knew New York would be an adjustment.”

  “You adjusted.”

  “The transition wasn’t as hard for me. Remember, I went to college in D.C., then law school in New York. Ramona went to Trinity Falls University.”

  Megan still wasn’t buying that. “But she didn’t stay in New York for even a year.”

  “I was surprised, too.”

  Megan regarded him in silence for a moment. “Did the two of you have a fight?”

  Ean’s olive gaze was steady on hers. “I wasn’t unfaithful, if that’s what you’re asking.”

  “I told you, I know you’re not a cheater.”

  “Most women think all men cheat.”

  “I’m not most women,
and you’re not all men.”

  Ean rewarded her with his sexiest smile, the one that creased his dimples and sparkled in his eyes. “Thank you.” He leaned forward.

  Megan caught her breath and met him halfway. “You’re welcome.” She breathed the words against his lips.

  Their mouths touched, at first testing and teasing each other. Megan slid her hands up Ean’s arms toward his shoulders. She felt his muscles, enjoying their strength and power. She paused to linger over the shape and hardness of his biceps. Megan shifted closer to him and deepened their kiss. Ean tightened his arms around her. Megan sighed into his mouth. This was where she wanted to be. Forever.

  Then she realized the buzzing in her head wasn’t blood rushing through her veins or her pulse galloping in her ears. It was her front doorbell. She opened her eyes and pulled away from her lover’s embrace.

  Ean caught her. “Where . . . ?”

  “Someone’s at the door.” Megan stood.

  She smiled at the obscenity Ean bit off as he followed her into the next room. “Who the hell is it?”

  Megan blinked a few times in the brighter light of the foyer. She stood on tiptoe to check the peephole. “It’s Leo.”

  “What’s he doing here?” Ean asked the question that came to Megan’s mind. There was a hint of concern in his voice.

  Megan unlocked the door. She stepped back, bumping into Ean as she pulled it open. “Hi, Leo. Is something wrong?”

  Leonard stepped into her foyer. His gaze went briefly to Ean before returning to Megan. “Yes, there is.”

  “What is it?” Megan locked her front door, trying but failing to ignore her unease.

  “Is it my mother?” Ean’s question was sharp.

  Leonard’s hard eyes turned to Ean. “Did you know she was planning to run for mayor?”

  “I knew she was thinking about it.” The tension had left Ean’s voice.

  “Well, she’s made up her mind. She’s going to do it.” Leonard turned his anger to Megan. “And I was told that we have you to thank for that.”

  Megan’s gaze shifted between the two men. “You’re both very welcome.”