Page 57 of A Touch Charmed

Part of me wanted to reach out to her, to see if we could mend anything between us, but that was just the old Chase family loyalty drilling through my subconscious. She’d never really been a mother, never put me first in anything. Even now, she couldn’t do something as simple as look at me and own her mistakes. It was too late to reach back now.

I craned my neck to see who else was present. Kenna sat near the back. Her gaze flicked to the glowing light between me and Finn and Wes and Audrey. Her face turned red and she looked away. I sincerely hoped Violet would be able to get through to her soon.

Jocelyn wasn’t here. She had no reason to be at this one. It was just some end-of-festival housekeeping, prep for the Fourth of July parade, and the bid for mayoral elections. I hadn’t talked to her yet.

That would be tricky.

I didn’t know if anyone had talked to her about her magic yet, let alone told her she’d been paired with Rafe. I sympathized with whoever got stuck with that chore. Though I had to assume it would be infinitely harder to tell Rafe he had to work with Jocelyn. Everyone expected Finn to do it. So far, he’d put it off.

Violet, Brooke, Galen, and Rafe weren’t here either. Audrey waved to Gretchen and Janessa in the back, who both owned businesses close to hers. It wasn’t as crowded as the last town hall meeting, but there were still a fair number of people who showed up in hopes that some shit would go down so they’d have something to talk about at coffee the next day. That was just life in a small town.

As Warren settled everyone down and droned on about town business that didn’t concern most of us, I rested my head against Finn’s shoulder. He smiled down at me. I couldn’t imagine trying to get through anything, big or small, without him, ever again.

“Next order of business.” Warren gave me an indulgent smile that had me gnashing my teeth. “The events coordinator post was abandoned right before the festival.”

Abandoned. Of course that’s how he’d phrase it. So if I ever tried to get another job on the island, he could already position me as a flake. And what a perfect place to make that announcement, when several business owners would be present.

A murmur went through the crowd as people added their speculation to that latest bit of news, while he stood up on stage, just like he had last time, and let it happen. He didn’t try to stop it or move the conversation along. He wanted them to tear into me.

The depths of his assholery truly knew no bounds.

He had more surprises up his sleeve, though. “The reason the festival went off without a hitch and became such a rousing success this year is because of the work our new events coordinator put in at the last minute.”

Finn made a move to stand up and defend the work I’d done, but I held his arm. It didn’t matter what my stepfather said. Anyone involved in the festival knew the truth. And I’d be the one getting the last word in tonight anyway.

“Please give a warm welcome to the new events coordinator, who will be in charge of the Fourth of July parade and fireworks show. Olivia Beaumont.”

Did not see that one coming. Though I probably should’ve.

“Can I kick his ass now?” Finn asked.

Despite the punch to the gut I’d just taken, the pleading expression on Finn’s face had me bursting out laughing. Several people around us gave me a funny look. Guess I wasn’t giving them the reaction they’d been expecting.

Olivia stepped onto the stage from the back room. Same as when Warren introduced me as the events coordinator weeks ago. Her presence didn’t cause as much of an uproar though. No one knew she’d stolen Finn’s phone, though plenty of people probably thought they’d slept together. I didn’t care what anyone else thought anymore, though. The crowd sensed the tension. Their gazes ping-ponged between the three of us as time stood still.

Audrey raised her voice over the whispers. “Can I ask what you’re waiting for, Mayor Chase? The paint to dry? The grass to grow? Can we get on with the meeting already? Some of us have lives we want to get back to.”

My stepfather’s face turned a light shade of purple, his extra-pissed coloring, but he glanced at the hard expression on Wes’s face and held his tongue. If he made a disparaging comment to Audrey, he could sign over the election now. He might’ve had influence, but he wasn’t a Latham. It was good for him to be reminded of that every now and again.

“Of course.” My stepfather cleared his throat. “We just have one thing left on the agenda for this evening. That’s the bid for mayor.”

This was the part that had everyone sitting up a little straighter. Occasionally, someone would run against him, but it was more to boost a personal agenda or an attempt to get some minor building permit passed. In Wes’s case, up until the last town hall meeting, his motivation had been getting cars back on the road in the summer. The room waited to see if anyone planned to half-heartedly challenge Warren for his seat, or if it would be business as usual.

Audrey’s idea of getting everyone a stamp collection for Christmas began to have some merit. This town needed some actual hobbies.

Warren held his hands out to quiet the room. “Now, I’ve run unopposed for the last two terms, though I appreciate the fight you gave me six years ago, Todd.”

The crowd chuckled as Todd Wilkerson tipped his hat. He ran his entire campaign on trying to get the festival grounds turned into a cat park to make it fairer for the feline owners on the island. Though his mission statement fell apart when it was pointed out that he was more than welcome to bring his cat to the regular park with all the dogs.

“At this time, we’ll open the floor for anyone who’d like to run.” Warren took a silk handkerchief out of his front pocket and dotted his forehead. “Though given the recent successes our island has seen, I think we’ll be hard-pressed to find anyone who can do it better.”

Wes moved to stand up, but Finn flung his arm out to stop him. We hadn’t told him what I planned to do. Finn liked the surprise of it and I was more than happy to indulge his weird sense of humor. “Sit. You’re not going to want to miss this.”

I sucked in a deep breath and got to my feet. As I stepped toward the podium, I wiped my palms on the sides of my skirt. My stepfather narrowed his eyes, then glanced at my mother, like he really expected her to stop me from approaching.

The entire hall went achingly quiet. No one so much as breathed when I raised my voice above the silence. “I’ll be running for mayor this year.”

Every resident in attendance exploded with noise.

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