Page 12 of Make Me Love You

“Eli Carter isn’t hot. We hate him.” Suzie paused, considering. “Well, maybe he is a little hot. But he’s also the officer who arrested Emma’s dad. How do you not know? You’ve lived in Hart’s Ridge your entire life! It was huge news.”

Kate side-eyed them. “Gee, I don’t know. Maybe because we didn’t know each other very well back then? Or maybe because I was neck-deep in my own grief and dealing with a daughter who didn’t understand why her daddy was never coming home again.”

Emma winced. When her own life fell apart eight years ago, so had Kate’s. They hadn’t been close friends back then. Kate was only two years older than her, but they had gone to different schools their entire lives. Emma had gone to the local public schools, but Kate’s family, one of the wealthiest in Hart’s Ridge, sent her to private school in Piedmont.

She had known of Kate, of course—gossip travelled fast between the two schools, so everyone knew about the pregnant senior. Kate had married her boyfriend, Georgef, right after graduation, the day after her eighteenth birthday. Ethan had joined the Army and was immediately deployed to the Middle East. Four years later he was killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan, leaving her to raise their daughter, Jessica, alone.

“Fair enough,” Suzie said hastily.

“Sorry,” Emma muttered. “See? I’m too self-centered to be mayor.”

Kate snorted. “Right. Because the news shows us so many humble, generous politicians as examples.”

“You make a good point.”

“So back to Eli Carter. What’s the story?”

“Well, you already know that eight years ago, after her mom died and her dad got laid off, Emma’s dad was arrested for making meth with the intention to distribute it.”

Emma gritted her teeth. That was the charge, and it was technically accurate. Technically. But it wasn’t the truth, in her opinion. It wasn’t like her dad was hanging on street corners, making deals. He was the dealer’s source. Like...like a marijuana farmer, except he was a meth cooker. That was how she explained it to herself.

Kate nodded. “Go on.”

“Back then, Emma and Eli were...” Suzie hesitated. She looked at Emma. “Do you want to tell it?”

Emma shook her head. “I really, really don’t.”

“Okay. So back then, Emma and Eli were really close. They had been friends since, like, kindergarten. All three of us, and Luke, were friends in high school, but they were practically married.”

“We were not!” Emma yelled. “We never even went on a date. We were just friends.”

“Sure, whatever,” Suzie said in a tone that implied the opposite. “Anyway, after high school, Emma went to UNC and Eli joined the police force. When she came home for the summer, she discovered what her dad was up to. She confided in Eli, and he betrayed her. He arrested her dad.”

“Oh my God.” Kate’s eyes went wide as she digested this. “It’s like a soap opera. But holy crap, Emma, why did you tell a police officer your dad was cooking meth?”

“We were friends. Best friends,” Emma protested. “I didn’t know who else to turn to and he was...he was Eli. He was always the person I went to. I thought maybe he could help, because helping was what he did. Always. It’s not like I walked into the police station and filed a report. He wasn’t even on duty. I never thought he would arrest my dad.”

Emma bit her lip. That was true, wasn’t it? She hadn’t thought he would arrest her dad? It didn’t feel like a lie, exactly. Just...wrong, somehow. It was the truth, but maybe not the whole truth. The whole truth was buried in a deep, dark corner of her soul. If she shined a light there, what would she find? She didn’t want to know. Couldn’t bear to know.

She knew this much was true, at least: She loved her dad. When he was sentenced to ten years in prison, her life was turned upside down. That was Eli’s fault. And she would never forgive him for it.

“So what now?” Kate asked. “How are you two going to run this town together when we hate his guts?”

We. Emma appreciated that. Kate might enjoy a nice set of muscles, but she was nothing if not loyal.

“We made a deal. Communication will be one-hundred percent virtual. Texting, email, phone calls if we absolutely have to. Nothing face-to-face.” Emma lifted her fist, Scarlett O’Hara style.

“As God is my witness, I will never see Eli Carter again.”

***

The problem with making plans, Eli reflected, was that the universe had no qualms with breaking them for you.

He had been so sure that they could do this, that between modern technology and sheer stubbornness they could make this crazy arrangement work. So when Mrs. Whittaker called him early the next morning and asked him to meet her at City Hall, of course he had said yes. They needed to go over the basic housekeeping matters, such as getting him a badge and key to the building, passwords for the computer systems, and that sort of thing. Not to mention what the job of deputy mayor actually entailed, because Eli didn’t have a clue. As far as he knew, Mrs. Whittaker shook a lot of hands, kissed some babies, and...baked pies? There had to be more to it than that.

He hoped so, anyway. He wasn’t really the baby-kissing type. Although he did make a damn good apple pie.

He had figured he would meet with Mrs. Whittaker, get everything squared away, and text Emma after to give her the rundown. He was completely unprepared to hear Mrs. Whittaker say, “We’ll just wait for Emma and Thomas so we can get started.”

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