His Curvy Distraction E-Book

Mary E. Thompson

• Herausgeber: BluEyed Press
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Beschreibung

Omar
Running for reelection in the small town I’d made my home should have been a slam dunk. I had the support of my staff, the backing of the rest of the town, and a damn good track record. 
I also had new competition. Not for mayor. That was a lock. No, the competition was for my sanity. 
By the way of the woman who thought she should be able to do whatever she wanted in town just because she was doing it for the kids. There were still rules. Rules I was going to make sure she followed. Even if it meant I had to check in on her every single step of the way to make sure she was doing as I wanted her to. 
Which she never was. I wish that was the only thing about her that made me out of my mind crazy. 

Natalie
Ugh. Could the interim Mayor be anymore of a pain in my backside? First, he needs details for all of my plans for the new rec center. Then he wants bi-weekly updates on where things are going. Then approval for the company doing the work for me.  
He might be the mayor, but he wasn’t in charge of my project. I had half a mind to tell him what he could do with his overbearing, stubborn, demanding… 
He kissed me. In the middle of a meeting. When I was telling him where to shove his demands. Instead, I ended up shoving my tongue down his throat. 
Was it wrong to find fighting with him as much fun as making up? Did I care? 

Leseprobe

HIS CURVY DISTRACTION

A SMALL TOWN CURVY GIRL ROMANCE

BOOK BOYFRIENDS WANTED

BOOK 17

MARY E THOMPSON

His Curvy Distraction

Book Boyfriends Wanted, book 17

Copyright © 2024 Mary E Thompson

Cover Copyright © 2023 Mary E Thompson

Cover Photo from depositphotos, Copyright © kmlPhoto

Cover background from depositphotos, Copyright © tomert (lights) and Milanares (blue)

Cover watercolor stripe from depositphotos, Copyright © ronedale

Published by BluEyed Press, All Rights Reserved

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

This is a work of fiction. All characters, businesses, locations, and events are either products of the author’s creative imagination or are used in a fictitious sense. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

NO AI TRAINING: Without in any way limiting the author’s exclusive rights under copyright, any use of this publication to “train” generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to generate text is expressly prohibited. The author reserves all rights to license uses of this work for generative AI training and development of machine learning language models.

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-953879-68-4

Print ISBN: 978-1-953879-69-1

Audiobook ISBN: 978-1-953879-70-7

Created with Vellum

BOOK BOYFRIENDS WANTED

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Happy reading!

CONTENTS

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Epilogue

About the Author

For L…

1

OMAR

Do. Not. Get. Hard. Do not. Keep it together, Omar. Do not thrust yourself against her hand. Bad idea.

The flash of the camera just behind Natalie Edwards, on her knees in front of me as I tried to pull up my pants, was the reminder I needed that I was the damn mayor of MacKellar Cove.

I looked up at the photographer, a man I didn’t recognize, but he clearly knew who I was. The smirk on his face when he looked at his phone said the picture looked so much worse than the reality of the situation.

“Hey,” I barked, drawing the man’s attention.

He jerked his head in my direction, smirked at Natalie, then turned to go back into the crowd.

I started to follow him, then remembered the beautiful woman on her knees. I saw when she walked out of the bathroom and the guy rushing by slammed into her. When I reached for her, she fell, and she grabbed on to me. But she still hit the ground, hard.

“Are you okay?” I asked, my need to find the asshole who took our picture warring with my need to make sure she wasn’t hurt.

Her hazel eyes widened under that curtain of bangs I wanted to brush out of her face so I could get a good look at her. She cradled her hand to her chest and looked up at me, those doe eyes doing almost as much to my dick as her hand did.

Although her eyes hurt a lot less than her fist.

“I’m so sorry.”

I shook my head. “It’s fine. You couldn’t help it. But I need to find whoever took that picture and make sure it doesn’t end up ruining my re-election. Are you going to be okay?”

She nodded, reaching for the wall to brace herself as she stood.

I took her other hand and helped her up. Those bangs slid back, revealing more of her face when she looked up at me.

For a minute, we were alone. The bar vanished, the outside world melted away. It was just the two of us in that hallway, her beautiful eyes staring up at me and my brain telling me kissing her was a very, very good idea.

“You’re huge.” The way her eyes widened before she slammed them shut said she didn’t mean to say that. “I meant tall. You’re tall. I’m used to looking at kids, not adults, and you’re really big. Tall. I need to go.”

Before I could reply, she was gone, disappearing into the crowd just like the photographer.

Dammit. I needed to find him.

I dove into the crowd, searching for the man with the picture of Natalie and me. Hudson Grant, the owner of O’Kelley’s and a good man, was behind the bar. I approached.

“Mr. Mayor,” Hudson said when he saw me. He didn’t let anyone else serve me if he was there.

“I told you to call me Omar.”

“We’ll see. What can I get for you?”

“I’m looking for a man. About my height, brown hair, maybe late twenties. Flannel shirt and jeans. Have you seen him?”

Hudson’s brows climbed higher with each word of my description. “Uh, I saw a guy matching that very detailed description walk out a few seconds ago. Do you⁠—?”

“Thanks!” I rushed toward the door, not listening for the rest of Hudson’s question.

I sidestepped around people and waved to a few who tried to stop me, then burst out into the cool evening. I looked left and right and saw a man strolling toward Catherine Park.

I instantly regretted my choice of shoes, but I had no choice. I took off after the guy, hoping I could catch up to him and talk him into deleting that photo.

He stopped to cross the street, then jogged across to the park.

I was a few steps behind him when he stepped off the curb. I hurried across with him, then spoke. “I need you to get rid of that picture.”

He startled, spinning to me with his hands up to defend himself.

I took a step back and held my hands up. “Whoa. I know you know who I am. I just want to talk to you.”

The guy looked around, realizing how alone we were. “What do you want?” His voice cracked with the question, the bravado from the bar gone.

“I just want you to delete that picture.”

“Why should I?”

My mind raced with reasons, but if he was willing to take the picture in the first place, it was unlikely those reasons would convince him to delete it. “I can pay you.”

His brows went up, and the smirk came back.

Fuck. Wrong answer.

“If you’ll pay me, someone else probably will, too.”

“That picture… What you think you saw wasn’t what you saw.”

He smiled and crossed his arms. “What do you think I think I saw?”

I opened my mouth to argue but quickly shut it. Admitting anything would only give him more fuel.

A different tactic might work.

“The woman runs a summer camp program. Something like that could ruin her.”

The guy shook his head. “You can’t tell who she is. The only face visible is yours, Mr. Mayor.”

“I don’t believe you.”

The guy started to reach into his pocket, but he stopped.

Dammit.

“I’m not going to fall for that. But I will keep your offer in mind.”

“That picture isn’t going to be good for anyone.”

“It’ll be good for me. Think of how much I can make with it. A nice night out with my girl. Good Christmas present for her. I think I’m going to hang on to this picture for a little while.”

“That’s a bad idea.”

He smirked and shook his head. “I don’t think it is. But you have a good night, Mr. Mayor.”

I wanted to throttle the little dipshit, but that would only make things worse. Instead, I stood there while he walked away and took my hopes of getting elected mayor with him.

Explaining something like that to the residents of MacKellar Cove was going to be nearly impossible. I was the interim mayor. Temporary. Only there because the last mayor was a misogynistic jackass who tried to fire the woman who ran the tourism department.

And now someone had a picture of me in a public place with a woman on her knees in front of me. I didn’t look any better than the last guy.

Which meant I was going to lose the election. Unless I got that picture back.

Because I wanted to be mayor. I wanted to be elected. I was good at my job. And keeping it meant continuing to serve my adopted hometown and the people who lived there.

Including the woman who put me in that position.

* * *

I scoured social media and the local paper for weeks, past Thanksgiving and into December, and saw absolutely no sign of the picture. I met with the town’s legal counsel and was told there was nothing they could do since it was a personal matter and not a town matter. I considered calling Ramsey Holland, who was an acquaintance and a local lawyer, but decided against it. Ramsey was well-connected and could easily become as much of a risk. I didn’t expect it from him, but I also didn’t know him well enough to be sure.

A knock on my office door brought me out of the latest attempt to find the man who took the picture. I called out for Jane, my assistant, to enter.

“Mr. Mayor, you have a visitor. Ms. Rucker from the community center asked if you’re available.”

I nodded and waved for Jane to let Amelia in. Amelia and I had worked together on a few projects and I found her to be friendly and as much of an advocate for the center as she was the kids it served.

“Good morning, Amelia. How are you?” I asked, standing and extending my hand to her. A man I didn’t recognize followed her into my office.

“I apologize for barging in, Omar, but Harry stopped by this morning and I wanted to make sure we spoke to you about his proposal.”

I smiled at Amelia and Harry, curious about what the man had to say. He appeared close to sixty with a sprinkle of gray hair at his temples that circled the back of his head. He wore faded jeans and a flannel shirt, a nod to the chilly winter that sank into the area over the last few weeks.

“Nice to meet you, Harry. What can I do for you?”

“You, too, Mr. Mayor. Um, so I went to see Amelia, and she insisted we come straight here. I didn’t realize this was such a big deal.” Harry glanced at Amelia, who grinned widely at him.

“Tell Omar what you told me. About the campground.”

Campground? They definitely had my curiosity piqued.

“I own the property where Mountain View Campground used to be. It hasn’t been open in a while, a decade maybe?” Harry looked at Amelia to confirm, and she nodded. “Anyway, my wife and I held on to the property, trying to decide what to do with it. We had plans, but we’re getting older, and now we’re moving away, leaving the cold behind and heading out west to where our kids live, but we love MacKellar Cove. We loved having kids up at the campground, and families, and we hate the idea of it just being destroyed and sold to some developer who will ruin everything the place used to be. You know?”

I nodded. It didn’t happen as often in MacKellar Cove, but it still happened. The area was beautiful, but relatively untouched. Perfect for the right developer, and keeping them out of the area and maintaining the quaint, small-town feel was important.

“My wife and I want to donate the campground. Thought it would be a great place for the community center to use. I suggested summer camp, and Amelia got really excited.”

My brows shot up. A former campground as a summer camp? It definitely sounded perfect.

“What I was thinking,” Amelia said, “was we could relocate the new program that Natalie Edwards started up last summer. She did all the outdoor stuff, and her camp was massively popular with the older kids. She wanted to expand, but she’s at the community center, so there’s not a lot of space. But if she took over the campground, she could take a lot more kids, and we could expand what we do at the community center.”

My mind stalled on Natalie’s name, and it took me a minute to catch the rest of what Amelia said. “Is there a need for that?”

Amelia nodded, her smile fading. “We’ve already had some families reach out. It’s more than six months to summer, but the parents who work full-time need options. We had to turn some away last year, and a lot of them had to find spots in other programs out of town.”

“That’s not what we want.”

Amelia shook her head. “No, it’s not. But there’s only so much we can do. With this property, we can do more.”

“Have you spoken to Ms. Edwards about it?”

Amelia shook her head again. “No. I wanted to speak to you first. Make sure you were okay with it. It’s a big plan, and since Natalie’s camp is under our umbrella, it’s a town program. She has her own budget under the community center since she’s fulfilling a part of our need, but she falls under my cost center. There’s no way we can afford all the work Harry said it needs.”

And there it was. The reason they came to me. Money.

“I know, I know,” Amelia said. “There’s no budget. I get it. But this will pay for itself. And since Harry wants to donate the property, all we need to pay for are the repairs and updates.”

I nodded. It was the best deal around. Free land. But if it cost more to update it than we had available, and more than we could get back out of it, did it make sense? “What does the property look like?” I asked Harry.

“It’s just over five acres. There were hookups for thirty campers, but they’re all disconnected. Need to be removed, though. There’s an old camper we used as an office that’s in okay shape. It’s not pretty, but it’s functional. Needs to be cleaned probably since no one’s been there in a long time. There’s a lot of recreation space. A pool that hasn’t been open in a while but was okay when it was last used, sand volleyball court, and basketball court and whatever other games. A few other things you might want to remove.”

“Like?”

“Fire pits, driving paths, picnic tables. There’s no water access, which is why the pool is there. It was fenced, but the fence is not up to code and needs to be replaced. The road in and out is gravel. It’s… The land is the value, Mr. Mayor. I’m not going to stand here and tell you I’m giving you a prime piece of real estate. It’s in rough shape. But I think it could be great. I think it will be great.”

The smile on Amelia’s face told me she agreed. It was going to be a big job, and one that had the potential to cost more than it was worth. If I agreed, it was something that could define my campaign. Something that could win me the election, or something that could sink my chances faster than a failing pool.

But without risk, there was no reward. And this risk was almost as big as the reward had the potential to be.

“I think it can be great, too.”

Amelia squealed.

“But.” I met her gaze. “We need to keep an eye on the budget. We need to figure out what it really needs and be smart about what we do.”

“I agree. But this is going to be great. Thank you, Omar.”

“Yes, thank you, Mr. Mayor. I really appreciate your time and the chance to do this for the town.”

“Thank you, Harry. It’s very generous of you, and it’s a huge thing to give back this way to the town.”

“I love this place. I hate to leave it, but I know we’ll be back to visit. My oldest just had a baby, and my wife is itching to be out there with their family. Our first grandchild.” Harry puffed up like a proud grandfather.

I couldn’t help but smile. Even without my own kids, I knew the pride people felt when their family grew. I’d hoped to feel that one day, but it wasn’t meant to be for me. Not yet, anyway.

“This will help so many local grandchildren. You’ll be like their honorary grandparents,” Amelia said. She was good. She knew the right thing to say.

Harry dabbed at his eyes and swallowed hard. “Thank you, Amelia. Thank you so much.”

Amelia hugged Harry. “You and Sue make sure you call me before you head out west, okay?”

Harry nodded and moved toward the door. Amelia followed him, then stopped and said she needed another minute with me but would see Harry soon.

“Thanks again, Mr. Mayor.”

“Thank you, Harry. Enjoy that grandchild.”

“I will. Thanks.”

Harry stopped outside my office and spoke to Jane while Amelia approached my desk again.

“The campground is in rough shape. I know that. And I know this is going to be tough, but if anyone can make this happen, it’s Natalie. She’s amazing, Omar. I don’t think you know each other, but she’s really passionate about helping kids, and she’s a special person. Leaving this in her hands is the right move.”

“I’ve met her a few times, but I don’t know her well.” My dick still twitched when I thought about her fist wrapped around it. “But if you think she’s the right one to lead this, I’m not going to tell you no. I will tell you I meant it when I said we need to watch the budget. No going overboard.”

“When have you known me to go overboard?” Amelia asked. She was right.

“You don’t, but that doesn’t mean Natalie won’t. Give me a few days to look at what we have available and what we can spare. We might be operating on credit for some of this until we get the income from the summer camp in.”

“We can also do fundraisers and ask the community to help out. There are a lot of people who would be willing to do things like that. We organized a big event in my neighborhood a few years ago. Helped fix up the community center. And every week there’s a group that comes and does little projects at the center, even now. This is a great town, Omar, and we can take advantage of it.”

I nodded. “Let’s see what Natalie comes up with, and we’ll go from there. I’ll be in touch early next week with a budget, and the three of us can meet to make a plan.”

“Sounds great. Thanks, Omar. I’m really excited about this.”

“I’m glad it’s going to work out.”

Amelia shook my hand, then let herself out of my office, stopping to speak to Jane for a few minutes and gush over pictures of Jane’s eleven-month-old.

I turned to my computer to come up with a budget for Natalie’s new project. Yet again, Natalie Edwards had the potential to make or break the election for me. And she didn’t even know it.

2

NATALIE

“Natalie!” Amelia called across the community center. “I need to talk to you!”

I hurried out of the storage room at the back of the basketball court. The panic in her voice put me on edge as I rushed to find her, with a tennis racket in my hand.

“Whoa!” Amelia said, holding her hands up and coming to a halt.

“You scared me. What’s wrong?”

“Are you going to hit me with that?” Amelia asked, a smirk telling me she was not worried.

“I was trying to see what we have for activities. I was thinking of a new game I could teach the kids at summer camp. Something that doesn’t take up a lot of space since we’re limited outside.”

“That’s what I want to talk to you about. I have a new property for you. A huge one. Where you could do anything you want.”

My heart raced as she spoke. I could feel her excitement pulsing through me. “What are you talking about?”

“The meeting I had earlier? A local couple is moving and wants to donate their campground. To us for use as a summer camp.”

“Are you serious?” A campground? That would be a ton of space.

“Yes!” Amelia squealed. “It’s perfect. You can do everything you’ve ever dreamed about doing. You can expand. You can take more kids. There’s so much that can be done.”

“Wow. That’s…” My mind raced with the possibilities. A campground would mean so many options. So many kids we could take. More than I ever thought possible. We could play games and be outside and spread out and⁠—

“Natalie!”

I shook my head, realizing Amelia was talking to me. “Sorry.” My cheeks warmed. Amelia knew me well, and she was used to my awkwardness, but I still hated when I went off into my world.

“You don’t have to apologize to me, Natalie. I know you’re thinking about all the things you can do. But before you get ahead of yourself, it’s not perfect.”

“Nothing’s perfect.”

“True, but this place is probably even less perfect. It’s five acres, but that’s about the only good thing about it from what Harry said. It will need some work to get it into shape for camp, but I think it’s possible.”

“I don’t have the money to do a lot of upgrades.” My anxiety ramped up, making the dreams I let filter in slip away just as quickly as I conjured them up.

“Don’t worry about that yet. Omar is going to look at the budget and see what the town can afford.”

“Omar?” I squeaked. Oh, no. It was bad enough that the man was my boss’s boss and could fire me whenever he felt like it, but after the way I manhandled him just a few weeks earlier, there was no way he was going to be on my side for the summer camp.

“I took Harry to meet with Omar earlier. Omar agreed that it’s a great option for summer camp, and he’s going to come up with a budget for us. Something the town will support since the camp will be under the community center umbrella. It wouldn’t be on you to come up with the budget.”

“Okay. But if there’s that much work, do you think I can actually do it?”

Amelia grabbed my hands and held them together, hers on the outside of mine. She waited until I looked up at her. “Honey, listen, it’s a lot. I know it’s a lot. But I know you are only thinking about the kids. It’s worth it for the kids. It’s worth it to go to Omar and hear what he has to say. And if he doesn’t have enough of a budget for us, we will figure out the rest.”

“How will we do that?”

“Fundraisers, community events. We can have some of our repair nights out there, too. You know people will help out.”

“I don’t want charity, Amelia.”

“It’s not charity, Natalie. It’s why we live in a place like MacKellar Cove. We all look out for each other. We are all here for each other. You know this.”

“I guess, but I don’t like taking from others.”

“Let’s talk to Omar first, and we’ll go from there. But for now, let’s just enjoy that you don’t have to worry about creating games you can play in small areas. You’re going to have five acres to use, Natalie. Including a pool.”

“A pool?”

Amelia nodded, her smile growing.

“Okay. I will stay open-minded. It might be worth it to have everyone help out.”

“Yes, it will. You’re providing a service for the town, Natalie. People appreciate that.”

I nodded. She was right. I was told so many times by parents how much their kids loved camp last summer. So much so that they were already trying to sign up for this summer, months before registration was open.

But if I had five acres of space, I could take on three or four times as many kids. I could offer so much more. And I could hire more teenagers to help out and run things.

It was a dream. As long as it was in the budget.

It would be. It had to be. It was for the kids. There was no way even a scrooge like Mayor Knight would say no to something for the kids of MacKellar Cove.

* * *

My best friend and roommate, Daisy Lincoln, was just as excited as I was about the campground. We spent the entire weekend dreaming about things we could do to the property.

“Ooh, look at this,” Daisy said, turning her computer toward me. She looked up the site online and was pulling up satellite pictures and old photographs of the place. “The pool is nice.”

I nodded, staring at the screen. The old pictures of Mountain View Campground were stunning. It was a campground, sure, but it was beautiful. Wide open spaces with lots of room for activities. Volleyball and basketball. The pool was ideal.

I just wondered what it looked like now. “It was great.”

Daisy laughed. “Oh, just wait. It’ll be amazing.”

“You can’t possibly think that. Why would someone give this place away if it was in amazing condition? Amelia said it’s in rough shape. I’m sure it’s horrible.”

“And if it is, we’ll fix it up. We’ll make it perfect.”

“There’s no such thing as perfect,” I told her.

Daisy waved her hand, always dismissing my pessimistic attitude. I wasn’t sure why we worked, but she adopted me as her best friend the day we moved into our college dorm. Daisy was happy and bright and optimistic about everything. She dated constantly and was the happiest person I knew.

As opposed to me, where I was anxious, tense, and expected the worst in every situation. Daisy made me believe not everyone was bad, but it was not a lesson I had an easy time learning.

One I still wasn’t sure I learned when it came to men.

“When is your meeting with the mayor?” Daisy asked, bringing the one man I had the hardest time with to the front of my mind.

“Tuesday. Amelia said he was coming up with a budget, and we needed to see what we could do after that.”

“So, come up with a plan. Figure out what you can do, what you want to do. The pool is a must. It’ll be amazing for the kids. And you need to have clear space for the activities. The basketball and volleyball courts will be great. And parking for employees and parents. Ooh, what about a tennis court or a soccer field? I mean, with five acres, you could do just about anything. A huge sheltered area would be great to get the kids out of the sun, too. Picnic tables and a grill, so you can do lunch for the campers once a week or something. There are so many things you could do.”

I nodded, imagining all of it. It would be amazing. I couldn’t wait to get out there and see what the place looked like and jump in and make it exactly what I wanted.

“I might not be able to do all of it, but it would be amazing. Eventually.”

“Of course. Eventually.” Daisy flipped through more pictures and dreamed with me until my phone dinged with a message. “Is that him?”

My cheeks warmed with her teasing tone. I’d been talking to a guy online. I never thought I’d be one for online dating, but it gave me a chance to slow down and gather my thoughts before I replied.

Not that it led to an instant connection. I’d met a few of the guys I spoke to online and it did not work out, but the latest match made me feel like I wasn’t such an oddity.

I grabbed my phone from the coffee table and smiled.

“What did he say?” Daisy asked. She was happy for me, even though there was nothing to be happy about. We were talking, not engaged.

I read the message and shook my head. “He asked what my favorite time of day is.”

“He has a weird way of flirting,” Daisy said, scrunching her nose. She was cute, blonde and curvy and always smiling and laughing. She drew the attention of men wherever we went.

“We’re getting to know each other.”

“As long as you like him, that’s what matters.”

I got up from the couch so I could talk to him without feeling like Daisy was hovering. “I’m going to go talk to him.”

“Have fun.” Daisy grabbed the remote and turned on the TV.

I went to my room and closed the door, crawling under the blankets to talk to him.

ThisIsAwkward

I love late at night. I have a roommate, and she’s my best friend, but she’s a morning person. I’m more quiet than she is, and at night when she slows down, I feel like I can breathe a little better.

BigCityConvert

Same. Not the roommate part, but the slowing down and able to breathe part.

ThisIsAwkward

What do you like to do in the evenings?

BigCityConvert

Go for a drive. I love to get out and clear my head. What about you?

ThisIsAwkward

I’m not a car person. I prefer to sit and read a book. Something quiet. Something alone. I spend a lot of time with people during the day and like to have time alone at night.

BigCityConvert

Me, too. I work in a busy place, but driving has always been a way for me to clear my head. Head up the river and find a small place for something to eat.

ThisIsAwkward

Favorite food?

BigCityConvert

Tough question. There’s not much I don’t like, but I think favorite is anything on the grill. It’s a treat I don’t get to enjoy often.

ThisIsAwkward

We don’t ever grill. I like it. Reminds me of my childhood. My dad loved to grill in the summer.

BigCityConvert

Did you grow up in the area?

I hesitated. We hadn’t shared a lot of personal information. We’d been talking for a month, and it made sense he was pushing to learn more.

I drew a breath and answered.

ThisIsAwkward

A little north, but yeah, in the Thousand Islands. You?

BigCityConvert

No, not even close. Down state, closer to NYC.

ThisIsAwkward

What brought you up here?

BigCityConvert

Vacation with my ex-wife. When we split, I moved up here. I loved it and wanted to come back. Small town feel was exactly what I was looking for.

Ex. Wife. I was not expecting that. I also wasn’t sure how I felt about it. He was honest, but was it something I was okay with? Did it mean he had kids? Did it mean he wanted kids?

That was why I didn’t date. My brain ran away on me, spiraling without knowing anything.

BigCityConvert

Did I scare you off with that admission?

ThisIsAwkward

I’m trying to decide.

BigCityConvert

Thanks for that honesty. Full truth, it’s been years. There were a lot of reasons, but at the end of the day, it was not a good marriage. No kids, and no regrets about my marriage ending.

ThisIsAwkward

Thank you for telling me.

BigCityConvert

Does it give you a little less anxiety about me?

ThisIsAwkward

If you only knew how funny that question was. But yes.

BigCityConvert

Maybe one day you can tell me.

ThisIsAwkward

Maybe one day.

When I didn’t hear from him for a few minutes, I plugged my phone in and got ready for bed, dreaming about all the things I wanted to do for the summer camp.

* * *

Amelia and I met at the community center on Tuesday morning. She was excited about our budget meeting with Mayor Knight, but I was just hoping I didn’t throw up.

“Since the snow has stopped, I think we should go out and look at the campground today. I haven’t been there in years, but I would love to get a look at it.”

“Sounds good,” I told her. I was curious about the place, too. I was ready to get started on cleaning it up and making it work for the summer.

Amelia insisted I didn’t need to bring anything, so we climbed into her SUV and headed toward town hall. She parked in a visitor space and we hurried inside to beat the chill soaking in through our coats.

Amelia knew everyone. She stopped and talked to half the people we passed, asking how their families were and details about their lives.

I didn’t know who any of them were. I smiled awkwardly, not saying anything while she talked. I hated being in social situations. I never knew what to say, and I always felt like I was interrupting, even though I had every reason to be there.

We finally continued to the mayor’s office, and Amelia warmly greeted the woman sitting outside the office.

“Jane, how are you? Is your son sleeping better?”

“Oh, Amelia, thank you. You saved us with your tips. I don’t know how we can thank you.”

“No thanks necessary. It’s not easy being a first-time parent. It’s been a while, but I remember those days.” Amelia smiled.

I stood there, again feeling out of place.

“Jane, is— Oh, Amelia. You’re here. Ms. Edwards,” the mayor said, appearing out of nowhere.

Mayor Omar Knight was the kind of man that was impossible to ignore. And impossible to relax around.

Amelia didn’t seem to feel the same.

“Omar, so good to see you again. Thank you for making time to speak to us.” Amelia smiled and winked at Jane, then followed Mayor Knight into his office.

I followed behind them like a child going to work with her parents.

Amelia took a seat and wasted no time asking Mayor Knight about the budget. “What are we working with, Omar?”

Omar drew a breath and gave her a number that made Amelia suck in a breath.

“I know it’s not as much as you were likely hoping, but it’s the best we can do right now.”

“Omar, you know that’s barely going to be enough to do the minimum. We need more money,” Amelia argued.

“I told you I wasn’t sure we could afford much.”

“You and I both know we can do better. This is for the residents of MacKellar Cove. The summer camp helps out the working families with kids in school. The families that need kids somewhere safe.”

“Amelia, I don’t really know what else to say.”

“Say you’ll do better.”

He groaned softly. His gaze cut to mine and held. “What plans do you have for the campground? I understand you’ll be the one running it.”

I opened and closed my mouth and looked at Amelia. I wasn’t prepared with a proposal. I didn’t have any idea of what I wanted to do.

But Amelia nodded, silently telling me to speak.

I thought back to the things Daisy and I spoke about and channeled my best friend.

“The pool needs to be repaired so we can use it. The kids will love it. And the courts fixed up. A large covered area with picnic tables for a place to sit out of the sun during lunch, and for when the weather isn’t so great. And a paved lot for cars would be ideal. Maybe a soccer field, tennis courts. Lots of space for the kids to run around and play and enjoy their summer.”

Mayor Knight stared at me like I was out of my mind. His gaze hardened with every suggestion I made. “There’s no way all of that is in the budget.”

“She’s talking big picture, Omar. Not right now. We know it’ll take time to get to that point.”

“But it’s for the kids. This is going to help the town and give the kids a safe place to be. We have to do whatever it takes.”

“No,” he said.

Well, crap.