Page 9 of Summer Showdown
"That's all I ask," Mayor Snowcroft said, rising to his feet. "Though I do need your answer as soon as possible. The festival begins next week, and we'll want to coordinate yourappearances." He straightened his lapels. "Tourism revenue from the festival funds nearly forty percent of our town's annual budget. These past few years..." He sighed. "Well, let's just say we could use a boost."
After he departed, I remained on the porch, turning the card over in my fingers. The rational part of my brain insisted this was a terrible idea—more complications when I should be focusing on clearing my name. But another part, one I rarely indulged, whispered that perhaps this strange opportunity was exactly what I needed.
I pulled out my phone and typed a brief message to the number on the card:
This is Lark Hayes. Mayor Snowcroft spoke with me about his... unusual proposal. Perhaps we should discuss this in person? I'm free tomorrow morning.
The response came faster than I expected:
Mistletoe & Mochas, 9am? It's the café on Main Street with the green awning. -Wade
I replied with a simple confirmation, then set my phone aside. Curiosity got the better of me, and I pulled up the Wintervale Whispers blog post again, studying the photo more carefully.
Wade was undeniably attractive—tall and athletic with sun-bleached hair and impossibly blue eyes. The camera had captured him mid-laugh, his expression open and genuine. We did look good together in the photo, I had to admit. There was something in the way our gazes met across the distance that made it seem like we were already in mid-conversation. A connection I couldn't quite define but couldn't deny either. No wonder Zoe had jumped to conclusions.
"This is insane," I muttered to myself, closing the browser.
Yet I couldn't deny the flutter of interest I felt at the prospect of tomorrow's meeting. It had been a long time since I'd had anything resembling a date, even a fake one arranged by a small-town mayor for publicity purposes.
I made a promise to myself then and there. I wouldn't fall for the handsome lifeguard, regardless of his lake-blue eyes or the way his smile had momentarily short-circuited my thoughts. I couldn't afford any real entanglements, not with my career hanging by a thread and my future so uncertain. This would be a business arrangement, nothing more—beneficial to whatever his reasons were and to my need for a distraction from the Andrew Cavendish situation.
And yet, as I watched the sun begin its descent behind the mountains, painting the garden in amber and gold, I found my thoughts drifting back to the photo. To blue eyes and an easy smile. To the possibility of stepping outside my world, even if only for pretend. What would I discover about this stranger whose life was so vastly different from my own? And what had compelled him to agree to this charade?
Tomorrow at Mistletoe & Mochas, I would establish clear boundaries. No real dates. No actual romance. Just a mutually beneficial arrangement.
I only hoped those boundaries would hold when faced with the real man, rather than just his photograph.
Chapter Four
Wade
I arrived at Mistletoe & Mochas twenty minutes early, a habit my mom had drilled into me since childhood. "Early is on time, on time is late," she'd say, and it had stuck. Scanning the café, I chose a corner table with a good view of both the door and the street outside. Privacy was key for a conversation like this.
The familiar scent of coffee and cinnamon rolls filled the air, but the café looked different today. A rhythmic drilling punctuated by the occasional crash of demolition work filtered in from next door, making the vintage coffee mugs on their shelves rattle slightly with each impact. New cat-themed decorations adorned the walls—framed vintage posters of felines, small wooden shelves shaped like cat silhouettes, and paw prints stenciled along the baseboards. A stack of freshly unpacked cardboard boxes lined one wall.
Edna Twinkleberry stood near the counter, dressed in what could only be described as a riot of color. She wore a flowing tie-dye skirt that swirled around her ankles, a bright purple t-shirt featuring multiple cats in various yoga poses, and—completing the look—a headband with fuzzy cat ears perched atop her silver bob. Birkenstocks peeked from beneath her skirt, and her lips shimmered with frosted pink lipstick that perfectly matched her toenail polish. Beside her, Piper Walsh, the café's twenty-something owner, was excitedly unpacking items from one of the boxes, occasionally wincing when a particularly loud crash came from next door.
"Wade!" Edna called out, waving enthusiastically over another drilling sound from next door. "Come see what we've got!"
Curious, I made my way over. "Morning, Edna. Morning, Piper. What's with all the..." I gestured vaguely at the decorations, "...cats?"
Edna beamed, linking arms with Piper as if they were co-conspirators in some grand scheme. "Haven't you heard the news? Theodore and I are underwriting the creation of a new cat sanctuary to rehabilitate and rehome homeless and abandoned kitties. Mistletoe & Mochas will be Wintervale's first official cat café!"
Piper nodded excitedly. "We'll have a special enclosed area where customers can enjoy their drinks while interacting with adoptable cats. It's going to be amazing for tourism, not to mention all the animals we'll help."
"That's...something," I said, picturing the town's beloved coffee spot overrun with felines. It was exactly the kind of eccentric project Edna would champion.
"You arrived just in time," Piper said, reaching into a box and raising her voice over another crash from the construction. "We're about to hang the new sign for the shop. What do you think?"
She pulled out a beautifully carved wooden sign. "The Purrfect Cup" was painted in elegant lettering, with a silhouette of a cat curled around a steaming coffee mug.
"Theodore insisted we keep some reference to coffee in the name," Edna explained, adjusting her cat ears. "I wanted 'Whiskers & Wishes,' but he said people needed to know they could still get their caffeine fix. We considered 'Meows & Mochas' too, but this one just felt right—perfect with a purr!"
The bell above the door chimed, and I turned to see Lark stepping inside. She wore a blue sundress that caught the light as she moved, her blonde hair loose around her shoulders. She paused for a moment, looking around until she spotted me at the corner table.
Our eyes met, and for a moment, neither of us moved. Up close, she was even more beautiful than I'd first thought—wide eyes, full lips, delicate features. She stood a head shorter than me, her feminine curves somehow both slender and soft in a way that made me suddenly self-conscious. Zoe's blog photo hadn't done her justice. There was something disarming about her prettiness, something that made me feel suddenly vulnerable in a way I hadn't anticipated. Being a lawyer, she was clearly accomplished—definitely more than I'd ever be. Women like her didn't stick around small towns for guys like me. I'd learned that lesson the hard way with Vanessa.
I cleared my throat, pushing away thoughts of my ex. "You're right on time," I said, gesturing toward our table. "You're just in time to see the new sign for the shop."
