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I nod, but I don’t have any of Cassie’s assurance, and she knows it. Her eyes narrow like a fox sighting her prey, and I break out into a cold sweat.
Then her face softens, and she reaches for the bottom of my tie, rubbing it between her fingers. “You look nice. I almostdidn’t recognize you without all the hair.” Her gaze rises to meet mine. “You’re going to do great.”
Around us, the thwacking seats go quiet and my girls break into a collective “oooooohhhhh” with all their eyes on Cassie and me. One of them even makes a kissing noise.
Cassie lets go of my tie and steps back, looking at the girls with confusion.
The side door to the room opens and the city council members enter one at a time with Darlene Voglmeyer in the lead. Our eyes meet and her eyebrow raises a fraction of an inch. The reaction is barely perceptible, but it’s enough to send me the message that my presentation had better be good.
She doesn’t sit before picking up the mic in front of her chair. “This chamber will come to order!”
Her words echo through the room, and my girls go completely silent.
“Girls! You willbehave,” Darlene continues in a voice more appropriate for scolding hardened criminals than little girls. “This is a government building, not a playground. Now, sit!”
Next to me, I feel Cassie go stiff. Around me, I hear a few final thwacks as girls sink into their chairs. At the city council table, every member has a look of disapproval on his face—yes,his;they’re all men. And while I hope their disapproval is directed toward Darlene and the way she’s talking to the girls, she’s not the one they’re looking at.
“Is that Mayor Voglmeyer?” Cassie whispers to me. “Georgia warned me about her.”
“That’s her.” I shove my hands into my pants pockets. They’re already clammy, and I’m about to sweat through the button-up I’ve got on. I tug at my collar, barely resisting the temptation to tear off my tie.
“Are you okay, Bear?” Cassie brushes her hand down my arm, and my pulse slows to a more normal rate.
I nod, even though her question makes me more nervous.
The door opens behind me, and I turn to see my entire family—except for Mom and Grandpa—spill through the double doors. Even Adam is there, which means he closed the restaurant for the night, and Georgia must have driven back from Florence early because she’s with them too.
They each give me a smile, a thumbs up, or a hug. Things have been rough with half of them actively working against my plan, but ultimately the shop is just a thing. Nothing is more important than family, so we’ve always worked hard not to let disagreements—including this one—get in the way of making our family work. Mom drilled that into all of us.
“Everyone, take a seat!” Darlene yells. This time she doesn’t need the microphone, and we all follow her orders and take the seat closest to us.
Which is how Cassie ends up right next to me.
Before I can decide if I’m excited or more nervous that she’s so close, Darlene pounds a gavel on the city council table.
Once the room is quiet, Darlene sets down her gavel and pulls her mic close. “For those who are visiting tonight, I’ll explain our due process for this meeting.”
Cassie leans over to me and whispers, “That’s not what ‘due process’ means.”
Her breath is warm on my neck, and she smells citrus-y. Maybe it’s in her shampoo, or maybe it’s a perfume. Either way, my apartment and jersey still smell like it, and it’s my new favorite smell.
“And the gavel?” Cassie’s arm brushes mine, and I’m grateful for the long sleeves that hide how my flesh prickles with excitement at her touch. “I thought mayors only used it to start and end a meeting, not to emphasize every sentence.”
“Mayor Voglmeyer wields that thing like a sword at a Renaissance Faire.” I don’t know why I say it. Maybe because, tofill the time that used to be taken up by taking care of Mom, I’ve been reading even more medieval fantasy, and I actually googled Renaissance Faires. At this point, I’ll do anything to distract myself from worrying about Mom.
Cassie snorts a laugh, drawing a nasty glare from the mayor. She pulls in her lips until Darlene drops her gaze to the papers in front of her, then leans into me again. “And, pray tell, good sir, what you know about swords and Renaissance Faires.”
Now it’s my turn to try not to laugh. It doesn’t work any better than my attempt to keep my whole body from flushing with pleasure. No one uses the words,pray tellunless they’ve got some Renaissance knowledge themselves. Maybe Cassie likes fantasy too. I don’t know why I never considered that idea before. She obviously likes books if she wants to open a bookstore.
As the council works its way down the agenda to me, I spend the next boring twenty minutes entertaining myself by imagining what Renaissance costume Cassie would pick. Fanciful fairy? Nope. Too fantasy-ish. Comely wench? Absolutely not. Too submissive. All-powerful queen? Hmmm. Strong possibility. Elvin fighter? Fighter, yes. Elvin, no. She’s too tall.
Huntress with a bow and arrow?
This.One hundred and fifty percent, this.
I can totally picture her in a green gown that matches her eyes, pulling her bow back, her slender arms bent at a perfect angle, biceps flexed just before she releases the arrow.
Those are the thoughts that run through my head as the city council talks about things like stop signs and Darlene bangs her gavel to bring people who are half asleep “to order.” Not until I hear her say Cassie’s name do I pay attention again.
