Page 31 of Condemned By Secrets

“I’m calling from Mayor Landstrom’s office. The mayor requests a meeting with you this afternoon.”

Anna wanted to roll her eyes.Politicians.They believed everyone should be at their beck and call. “Oh, well . . . I have plans. Can we schedule this for tomorrow?”

“I’m afraid not, Miss Hendricks. The mayor would like to see you right away.”

Anna sighed. “All right. Fine.”This is my luck lately.

“Can you come to Town Hall in half an hour?”

“Sure.” Resigned, Anna absently rubbed at the headache that had reawakened.

“Thank you. She will see you then.”

“Great.”

“Goodbye.”

“Wait! What is this about?”Ugh!She should’ve asked that sooner. The woman had already hung up.

Anna disconnected and stared at Sandy. Her blue eyes were concerned, her expression pinched. “The mayor wants to see you?”

“You heard?” Anna asked.

Sandy nodded.

“I have no idea what about, but I guess the farm will have to wait.” Anna huffed out a breath in annoyance at the change in plans.

Sandy was frowning now. “Anna, about the mayor . . .”

“Yes?” Anna had never seen the typically chatty Sandy at a loss for words. “What is it, Sandy?”

Sandy clasped and unclasped her hands in a nervous gesture before clearing her throat. “She can be . . . difficult. Ever since she was elected, the society has been at odds with her. I’m afraid we’ve had little luck getting her to see things from our point of view. Several times, we’ve proposed a preservation project only for her to shoot it down.”

Anna nodded. She’d known the mayor was not a fan of historic preservation. Her remarks to Anna at their first meeting had made that plain. “You’re worried she’ll do the same with the Cooper project.”

Sandy smiled softly. “Perhaps you’ll have better luck with her than we have.”

Anna had little confidence in that, but she returned Sandy’s smile, not wanting to worry the woman. “Let’s hope so.”

Rising, Sandy said, “At least Town Hall will be a change of scenery. Get you out of this room.”

She winked and Anna chuckled. “Yes, it will.” Leave it to Sandy to find the bright side of things.

???

Anna parked in front of Town Hall, realizing she hadn’t been there since her first day on the job.So much has happened since then!She still couldn’t believe someone had deliberately damaged her tire. With everything that had been going on with Richard, she’d thought little of it, but being back at the crime scene stirred up the worry already brewing in her gut over what the mayor might want with her.

You won’t find out sitting in your car.

As the thought made her stomach tense, Anna pressed a hand there to ease it and stared at the glass-fronted building. It had to be like a greenhouse. Though it was only June, not even the hottest part of summer yet. It must be a waste of energy and taxpayer dollars to cool the giant ugly box. If the mayor wanted to add more buildings like this to Rolling Brook, Anna had a long battle ahead of her.

Anna sighed. Thinking about things like that would add to her stress level. She shook herself and headed for the building. Nerves danced along her skin at what she was walking into. She clutched the strap of her work bag and hoped whatever the mayor wanted wouldn’t be at odds with the society’s plans for the town.

Blowing out a breath, she approached the reception desk outside the mayor’s office. “Good afternoon. I’m here to see the mayor.”

The young blonde behind the desk looked up; the abrupt end to the sound of her nails tapping on the keyboard made Anna aware of how quiet it was. “Anna Hendricks?”

Anna nodded. The silence added to her nerves, and she spoke to break it, “Yes.”

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