Her Perfect Proposal

by Lynne Marshall

  The warm welcome fueled the first-meeting excitement Lilly always got at interviews.

  They briefly exchanged small talk as Desi showed her down the hall, across creaky ancient wooden floors to the sunroom, where Gerda and a fresh pot of tea awaited.

  “Grandma, Lilly’s here.”

  Lilly shook Gerda’s bony hand, surprised by her warmth. Her aging blue eyes brightened as they smiled at each other.

  “I’ve been looking forward to interviewing our mayor ever since I came to Heartlandia. Thanks so much for agreeing to see me.”

  “Oh, I’d much rather talk to you than deal with all the headaches going on at city hall these days,” Gerda said, looking resigned and sitting back down in her classic oak rocker, as if she had the weight of the world on her narrow shoulders.

  “Well,” Desi said, “I’ve got my first piano student in five minutes. I’d better go get ready.”

  “Nice to see you again, Desi.”

  “You, too.”

  “I’d like to do a follow-up article on you and your dad sometime.”

  “Hmm, I’ll have to think about that,” the tall and lovely woman said as she closed the door, somewhat noncommittal.

  Glancing at the pale, nearly colorless grandmother compared to the warm-toned granddaughter, Lilly knew there was a lot more to Desi’s story to tell.

  Gerda poured them both some tea and Lilly got right down to the interview, beginning with the mayor’s genealogy going all the way back to the first founders of Heartlandia three hundred years ago.

  Her previously bright eyes softened and seemed to drift far away as she told her more recent family history. Pain crossed her face when she spoke about her daughter, Ester, and how she’d run away as a teenager and had never returned home, and how Gerda hadn’t gotten to really know Desi until after Ester had died from cancer.

  If Lilly wasn’t sure before, she was positive now about interviewing Desi from a different angle, not just about being the new town music teacher and favorite piano bar player at Lincoln’s Place, but the rest of her story, too.

  “These days, with Desi being engaged and planning her wedding to Kent, I should be thrilled. And don’t get me wrong, mostly I am, but being mayor came with a lot of surprises.”

  “Like what?” Lilly sipped her tea, trying to keep her cool while hoping Gerda might tell her more.

  “Oh, just a few things about our city that I’d never known before.”

  She’d already gotten in trouble with Gunnar for badgering him about the secret meetings, and he’d basically admitted they were going on. Plus, since she’d stumbled upon the aerial pictures, she knew they had something to do with the sacred burial grounds. She decided to go for it, bait Gerda with the little information she’d already acquired to see where it might lead. Wasn’t that what any journalist worth their salt did?

  “Do the things you never knew about city hall have anything to do with the secret meetings going on over there?”

  Gerda’s thin white brows tented. “You know about those meetings?”

  “Am I not supposed to know about them?”

  Gerda’s brows dropped low over her eyes. She seemed in a quandary. “Well, we haven’t gone public with any of our findings yet, but there will come a time when we’ll be forced to, I guess.”

  “Care to elaborate on what those findings are?”

  “No.” Gerda put down her teacup and folded her hands in her lap. “Sorry.”

  “May I quote you on the other part?”

  “Which part?” She knotted her hands together.

  “On your surprise about some of the ‘things about city hall you’d never known before’ and the need for a special committee and time-consuming meetings.”

  Gerda leaned forward. “Just how much do you know about our special committee?”

  Lilly sat straighter, not wanting Gunnar to get blamed if Gerda found out they were dating. “Anyone who reads the town website can figure it out.”

  “Really?” Gerda snatched up a nearby pencil and notepad, scribbling out a quick sentence. Evidently she hadn’t checked out the town website lately.

  “Are these meetings about Heartlandia’s upcoming birthday? Are you planning a celebration?”

  “Our tercentennial, you mean?”

  “That’s three hundred, right?”

  Gerda nodded. “I wish that was the reason. No. We’re dealing with a glitch in our history that needs to get ironed out. Once we’ve worked it out, we’ll let the community know everything.”

  “And may I quote you on that?”

  Gerda’s thumb flew to her mouth. She chewed her nail while thinking. Her previously serene face was now etched with crisscrossed lines and beetled brows. “I guess that’s okay, just maybe only mention we’re ironing out some issues regarding our town records. I don’t want to get overrun with questions I’m not able to answer at this time.”

  “That’s fine. Any idea when the community will be informed about what’s going on?”

  “It’s too soon to say, but hopefully in the next month or two? Maybe I’m being too optimistic, but I’m hoping this won’t be anything too earth-shattering to report. We just have to work out the particulars, present it in the right way and maybe…” Gerda’s gaze shot up. “Oh, goodness, I’ve said too much already. Please disregard everything I just said.”

  “So I can’t mention that you hope to have resolved the issue in the next month or two?”

  Gerda shook her head. “I’d rather you didn’t, in case we need more time.”

  “Okay, you have my word on that, but is it okay if I still mention the glitch in the town history being ironed out in the special meetings?”

  Lilly could tell she’d talked the poor woman in circles, and by now she wasn’t sure what would be okay to say or not, yet she pressed on.

  “I guess that part would be okay.”

  “I must say you’ve really piqued my interest.”

  “Oh, goodness, that was the last thing I wanted to do.”

  Lilly didn’t want to leave Gerda in a dither, so she changed tack and asked her what a typical day at city hall as mayor pro tem was like. That seemed to smooth out Gerda’s concerned expression as she explained the many duties of a sitting mayor.

  Fifteen minutes later, with a boatload of notes, Lilly finished her tea. “Well, thank you for your time, Mayor Rask. I truly appreciate it.”

  “My pleasure, Ms. Matsuda. By the way, I’ve really enjoyed your stories about our local entrepreneurs.”

  Knowing people were reading her little articles never failed to please Lilly, even though they weren’t big breaking-news stories. But in her bones, she knew she was on to something with those up-close-and-personal stories.

  Gerda showed Lilly out by way of the back deck, and as she trudged around the house, hearing the clunky piano playing of one of the young students through an opened window, she also overheard Gerda call out to Desi. “Do you know where my stomach medicine is?”

  Lilly hunched her shoulders, figuring she’d been the cause of the mayor’s stomach upset with her pointed questions, and a pang of guilt accompanied her thoughts about pushing the line with the dear lady. Was a breaking story really worth the discomfort it caused those involved? It wasn’t as if they were common criminals trying to hide something horrible, not if Mr. By-the-Books Norling was on board.

  *

  Gunnar had volunteered to work the evening shift again on Wednesday night due to the continued illegal activities down at the docks. He’d dressed in shabby jeans, a ripped T-shirt and a pea jacket and would drive an undercover car. He’d changed to lead the surveillance task force for the evening. This would be a double shift, since he’d been in uniform all day doing the usual job. Three other undercover units were assigned to the watch. But things weren’t set to officially begin for another hour.

  He hitched a bun on the corner of another officer’s desk in the department, and noticed the Heartlandia Herald, so he picked it up and began to per
use. Quickly, he discovered Lilly’s lead story in the I Dream of Sushi in Storybook Land column. The subtitle nearly made him choke on his coffee.

  What’s So Secret about the City Hall Meetings?

  She’d interviewed Mayor pro tem Gerda Rask and though the article started off with the usual personal history and charming anecdotes from the interviewee, Lilly had quickly veered off into another direction.

  “Word has it around town that there are secret meetings going on with a special panel. Would you like to tell us about them?”

  Looking uncomfortable with my line of questioning, the white-haired matriarch of Heartlandia, and acting mayor, commented, “[We’re] ironing out some issues regarding our town records.”

  When asked how soon before the town would find out the reason for these meetings, Mayor Rask declined to answer, but she assured the meetings didn’t have anything to do with the upcoming three-hundredth birthday of Heartlandia.

  A lightning bolt cut through Gunnar’s chest. His fists tightened and released as he used all his will not to wad up the newspaper and throw it in the trash. He counted to ten then strode out of the department, clomped across the black-and-white tile in the building foyer to the newspaper office entrance.

  Bjork and three other employees were milling around working, but Lilly was nowhere to be seen. Having caught on to Lilly and Gunnar’s relationship over the past few weeks, Bjork intercepted Gunnar’s question.

  “She’s taking a late lunch break at the Hartalanda Café.”

  Having gotten the information he’d come for, Gunnar left the office without uttering a single syllable.

  He counted to ten again before opening the door to the café. She’d really pushed things too far this time, especially after the incident with the aerial photos and promising him she wouldn’t blab about those meetings. Evidently his feelings on the matter didn’t mean squat to her.

  She glanced up from her salad, a smile beginning but ending just as quickly when she noticed his dead-serious stare. He approached her table, and she sat straighter, as if steeling for a fight.

  He wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of arguing. Nope. She’d taken things too far and needed to hear him out. If he got in her face, she’d tune him out, and it was really important for her to hear what he had to say.

  He sat across from her, determined to keep his voice down. “So let me get this straight. First you trick me into admitting I was involved in the meetings, I tell you I need to be able to trust you, you promise me I can, then you print the information for the whole city to read. What gives?”

  She blinked. “I printed what Mayor Rask said. I wasn’t quoting you.”

  “And that makes a difference how?”

  “Two sources. One verified the other. Plus the mayor said it was okay to quote her.”

  Still keeping his voice quiet, the intensity went up a notch. “So it doesn’t matter to you what I ask?”

  She reached across the table and grabbed his fisted hand. He didn’t pull away, just stared at their hands, wondering why he’d ever let himself get involved with a girl like Lilly. A single-minded reporter.

  “Of course it matters to me what you want. What’s the big deal if there’s a glitch with the town records and you’ve all been assigned to a committee to work it out? What’s the big deal, Gunnar? The people want to know and this should satisfy them until you make the big announcement.”

  Her voice wasn’t nearly as quiet or controlled as his. She had no idea how big of a deal it was, and still she was determined to report it and risk putting the entire town in a tailspin. Not to mention all the questions poor Gerda would have to stave off. At least Lilly hadn’t named the entire committee.

  He removed his hand from under hers and gestured for her to keep her voice down. “What about trust?”

  “You can trust me. This interview had nothing to do with you and me.”

  “So you think tricking someone into disclosing private business is okay?”

  “I didn’t trick her. She brought it up. Look, I’m a reporter. That’s my job. I respect our mayor and asked her on two different occasions if I could quote her. One she okayed, the other she didn’t. The second comment wasn’t in the paper.”

  He wondered how much more Gerda had told Lilly and it caused his stomach to twist with the possibility she’d exposed everything before they’d ironed out their line of action. But more so, it stung like hell to realize he simply couldn’t trust Lilly with everything in his life. “You need to let this go. Just leave this alone. Focus on the human interest stories.”

  “This is a human interest story.” She sat back in the booth and folded her arms, her brows tense and her mouth pursed. “You’re the bossiest man I’ve ever met.”

  He leaned forward. “And you’re too nosey for your own good.”

  “You call it nosey, I call it doing my job.”

  “If you’d just realize you don’t have to be the person your dad tried to make you.” Gunnar shook his head, thinking how his own father’s actions had shaped his life, making him an overcompensator and a stickler on rules and regulations, and sometimes rigid where his personal life was concerned. How he functioned in black-and-white with Lilly being in the gray area. He thought how Lilly’s father had pushed and pushed and pushed her to become a tougher person until her gentle spirit had given in. Her judgment was damaged.

  “Our fathers really jacked us up, you know?” he said. “But we’re in charge of our lives now, and you don’t have to play by your father’s rules anymore.”

  “Old habits” was all she mumbled as she tore off tiny pieces of paper napkin. “And you don’t have to be so rigid.”

  They played out a staring duel. He tried to read behind the steady set of her eyes, hoping she’d see his way of thinking, but he couldn’t see past the glare. Yes, making up for his father’s actions had made Gunnar inflexible at times but in his mind, trust meant everything.

  “On this one point, I can’t back down, Lilly. If I can’t trust you, there’s just no reason for us to be together, you know?” He cleared his throat, sad yet angry as hell to say what he knew he had to next. “I think it’s best for both of us if we quit seeing each other.”

  Her chin shot up. He detected a fleeting flash of sadness in her eyes, perhaps a tinge of moisture gathering making her irises shiny, but she quickly toughened up. “Fine.” Faced with his challenge, she put on her armor and turned as angry as he was sad.

  Tension simmered between them for the next few moments as he breathed deeply yet had trouble getting air into his lungs, studying her, trying with every brain cell to figure her out. She wouldn’t back down from the challenge and neither would he. Stalemate. Everything they’d shared, all the great moments, had been shot down because of a news story. That forced things into perspective for him.

  If she was incapable of seeing that, there was nothing left to say, so he stood. “Go ahead and print our breakup on the front page, why don’t you?” he said quietly struggling to sound nonchalant, as if his heart wasn’t squeezing so hard he thought it might pop. Tucking his lower lip inward and biting on it to keep from saying another word, he turned and left the diner.

  “Maybe I will!” she said in a strained whisper that broke at the end.

  His step faltered. Chitcha didn’t know how to back down. Her father had seen to that. He briefly closed his eyes and shook his head. Breaking up with her was the last thing in the world he wanted to do…

  But he couldn’t trust her.

  *

  Lilly’s stomach seemed to sit on her shoes. Her breathing came in spurts, and a panicky feeling that she’d just blown the best relationship of her life over a stupid snip of a story made her tear up. She was in public, she couldn’t melt down here. She pushed away her half-eaten salad and pretended for the sake of the waitress and the couple sitting at the adjacent table that absolutely nothing wrong had just happened. It was always important to save face according to her parents. Never show weakness. Never
.

  Guilt ate at the edges of her thoughts. You don’t have to be the person your dad tried to make you. Her stomach went queasy. Was she so success-oriented and hard-hearted that she’d betray Gunnar’s trust?

  She curled her lower lip and tensed every muscle in order to not lose it in public. Slowly, her mind stiffened up, too.

  How had she let a small town guy like Gunnar get under her skin in the first place? She’d lost sight of her goal. Why had she let that happen?

  She knew exactly why. Gunnar was the truest, most honorable and dependable person she’d ever met. Sure, he’d been trying to make up for what his daddy had done, but in his case, it was a good thing. Everyone trusted and respected him.

  It wasn’t just Gunnar who made her feel like kitty litter at the moment. Once she’d ventured out and put names and faces on the people of Heartlandia, she’d lost her edge. The entire town had found a way into her heart through trust and innocence.

  And she’d blown it all.

  Her self-control nearly gone, she picked up the tattered napkin, and with a trembling hand dabbed at the corners of her mouth and, when she knew the couple at the next table wasn’t watching, the corners of her eyes. Crying in public, showing weakness, failing in her father’s ways, made her mad. She had to brush Gunnar out of her mind in order to survive the moment.

  An inkling of fight returned.

  She’d concentrate on something else, anything in order to make it out of the café without making a scene. With her napkin thoroughly shredded, she squeezed her brain to think. Something was going on with the town history. The people in power had decided to keep it quiet. It was so big her boyfriend had just broken up with her over it.

  Stay focused, Lilly. She heard her father’s voice.

  As a reporter it was her job to bring the story out into the open. Full disclosure. Transparency. Wasn’t that the buzzword of the decade?

  As she reached for her purse and paid her bill at the counter, the guilty feelings gathered momentum again and invaded her breath. Do not cry. Do. Not. Cry. She had trouble inhaling, as if a blockade had been set up in her throat.

  She’d just ruined any chance of ever having a relationship with Gunnar. Was the kind of success her father taught her really all about the goal and doing anything to achieve it? Maybe Gunnar was right, she didn’t have to be that way.