Page 50 of His Curvy Distraction

“Mayor Knight is the best thing that’s happened to this town in a very long time. I’ve been a resident here my entire life, and Mayor Knight is professional and understanding and he is a huge supporter of the community. He would never do any of the things you’re saying,” Amelia said, standing tall and proud.

“You work at the community center, right?” the reporter asked.

“I do. I run it.”

“It stands to reason you would support the mayor when the funds that are in question are going to pay for the new summer camp. I’m not sure your word is going to sway voters.”

Amelia closed her mouth, looking unsure.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” I growled. “Mayor Knight wants the best for this town. He’s worked hard to make sure the town is thriving. Mayor Knight has done everything to support initiatives to improve the town, to build tourism back up. If you’re calling his character into question, it’s because you’re grasping at straws to find fault with the man. You’re here to stir up trouble where there isn’t any. Maybe you should go find a real story instead of trying to bury a man who has no skeletons in his closet.”

“Are you sure about that?” the reporter asked me, a smirk lifting his lips. “He’s divorced. He has no ties to the community. Why would he be here? Why would he want to run this little town if he wasn’t getting something for it?”

“He is getting something for it,” I continued. “Personal satisfaction. Pride in his community and staff. Knowledge that he’s making a difference. He’s making MacKellar Cove better. His personal history has nothing to do with his capabilities as the mayor. He’s intelligent and compassionate. He sees this town for what it could be, instead of letting toxic garbage like you drag us down. Why shouldn’t he be investing town funds into the new summer camp? If he was only interested in himself, he’d be using that money to give himself a raise instead of trying to help the working families of MacKellar Cove. The parents who either have to quit their jobs for the summer to take care of their children or who need to rely on family and friends to do so. I’m failing to see why this is a bad thing. Except that you want to bury the man. A man who is so much better than you that you don’t deserve to even speak his name.”

Amelia slid her arm through mine and tugged me toward the restaurant. “If you’ll excuse us, we have somewhere else to be.”

I wanted to keep fighting with the jerk reporter, but I finally looked around and saw he wasn’t the only one there. A dozen people had gathered and were filming me. Some had phones, but other news stations had arrived.

“How much did they get?” I whispered to Amelia as we walked into Cracked.

“All of it. You were amazing.”

If only I felt amazing. Instead, I felt like it was one more piece of evidence I was all wrong for Mayor Knight.

12

Omar

I stared at my screen and watched Natalie tear the reporter to shreds. I still couldn’t believe she did that. But there it was, in a shaky video posted to social media and shared hundreds of times.

When I first saw it late yesterday afternoon, I was sure she was going to agree with the reporter and talk about how bad I was for MacKellar Cove. She obviously thought I was bad for her. I wasn’t surprised when Amelia defended me, but Natalie?

I had to have watched it a hundred times. There were four versions, all of them showing the same conversation from different angles. All of them telling me the same thing.

I needed to thank her for defending me.

It felt like groveling after the way things went the last time we spoke. And after the dozen unanswered messages I sent her. I said goodbye, and I meant it. If she didn’t want me, I wouldn’t push.

But we had to work together. We had a meeting in a week, and MacKellar Cove was too small for us to avoid each other forever.

I owed her my gratitude. I would keep it professional and not think about how much I wanted her.

My morning was productive, and I didn’t have any afternoon meetings, so I left the office for lunch. Early January was cold and snowy, but the sun was out and the snow had melted. I needed the fresh air and a chance to clear my head.

I stopped for a sandwich and took it to my SUV so I could drive around a little. I rolled down the window and let my mind wander while I made turns at random and tried to get lost. Not that it was possible in a town as small as MacKellar Cove, but I tried.

After a few minutes, I realized I was getting close to the campground. Amelia wanted to show me the property, but I hadn’t made it out there yet. With my job and support of the camp in question, I decided to check the place out and see what it looked like and how much work was really needed to make it functional.

The branches on the overgrown bushes next to the driveway scraped the sides of my vehicle when I pulled in, making me cringe. Those definitely needed to be cleaned up or removed altogether. For a campground, it was nice to have the driveway a little secluded and feel like you were going to a new place. For a summer camp, that was not a great thing.

Once I made it through the brush, the space opened up in front of me.

“Wow,” I breathed, surprised at how stunning it was. No wonder Amelia wanted to do so much there. It was perfect for events, and it was going to be great for the kids lucky enough to go there for summer camp.

I continued up what was left of the driveway toward the camper parked next to what used to be the parking lot. A blue SUV was just on the other side of the camper, out of sight until I got closer.

Who was there?

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