Page 89 of No Place Like Home
He winced. “Apparently, my father has a different calendar than me.”
“I see.” Cade for mayor. Shetotallycould see it. But…“You still aren’t ready, are you?”
“No. I went to Dad’s office today to tell him that, but he’d already announced it on the news.” This sigh was longer, deeper. “I’m also having a campaign party in a few weeks to start ‘winning over the town.’” He air-quoted with his fingers.
Rosalyn touched his arm, then immediately let go as her fingers fairly sparked on contact. “Don’t worry about the town voting for you. Everyone really seems to like you.” She grinned. “Except maybe Mrs. Peters. But hey, if you flex a little, I bet Madame Paulette will vote for you twice.”
“Ha.” He positioned his arms around his legs. Had he felt it too? “Liking me as a face for Magnolia Bay, as someone to run events and raise the money and bug about filling potholes, is a lot different from finding me capable of running the entire townlike my dad. I couldn’t even get this festival going without crises.”
“I never liked that word.” Rosalyn tilted her head. “Crises. Seems like it should just be crisis-es.”
“Correcting that will be my first act as mayor.”
Finally, a smile from him. Rosalyn grinned back, but it only lasted as long as his—not very.
He continued, brow furrowing. “I don’t have a choice. Dad needs me to do this, so I will.” He cracked his neck to one side. “I’m a Landry.”
“You said that back in high school.” And she’d always hated it. Like he was rubbing in his family’s position and power, drawing lines between them. He was better, even when she won.
“I’m sure I did.” He stared at the ceiling. “Dad drilled it into me every time I got in trouble…so, a lot.”
Rosalyn waited a beat. “But you know it’s okay to just beCade. Why are you so bent on self-sacrificing?”
He shot her a side-eye look. “What do you mean?”
“Why are you running for mayor when you don’t want to?” She matched his posture, hooking her arms around her knees.
“Technically, I never said I didn’t want to.”
She rolled her eyes. “You definitely did, if not with words.”
“Reading me like a book, huh, Ace? What is that, thirty-two now?” He winked.
Her stomach flipped. “Don’t start flirting with me to get out of this conversation.”
His grin inched higher. “It’s more fun that way.”
Good grief, this tent was getting warm. “I’m not arguing that.” She shifted into a more comfortable position, angling toward him, folding her legs to lean closer. “I’m just saying your opinion matters too. You shouldn’t have to do something you don’t want to because of some misplaced obligation to your dad.”
“Misplaced, huh?” Cade raised an eyebrow. “If I say something about pots and kettles, will you get mad?”
Her back stiffened. “My situation is different. I owe people—scary people—money.”
“But you’re determined to handle it on your own. Not talk to your parents, not get help.”
“Because it’smyproblem to solve.”
He exhaled. “Like with the volcano, huh?”
“What do you mean?” She narrowed her eyes.
“Sixth grade. You wouldn’t let me help.” He waved a hand through the air. “Then got mad at me when I helped anyway, tried to make it more interesting to get us a better grade.”
She sorted. “More like you were goofing off. Trying to prove you were better than me.”
“No, I wasn’t.”
“But you thought you were.”
