Page 31 of Make Me Love You

“Three days, huh?” It had been three days since he kissed her, and apparently it had left her in as bad a mood as it had left him. He tried not to look too pleased about that. “Well, ladies, I’m real sorry about that, truly I am, but there’s nothing I can do about it.” Not until she let him, anyway. “So unless there’s something else I can do for you—”

“There is,” Suzie interrupted. She exchanged a look with Kate, who nodded. “You can drop out of the race.”

He should have seen that coming, much like the entire ambush. But he had forgotten how devious Suzie Barnett could be, and how much she loved running people’s lives for them. Helping, she called it. He always heard “helping” in quotation marks.

“Now, why would I do that?” he asked.

“Because if you win, Emma will leave. And we don’t...that can’t happen. We love her. And she loves Hart’s Ridge. This is her home. She’s been through enough, with her mom and her dad. Just let her be happy, already.”

His chest felt like someone had placed a fifty-pound brick on it. Would she really leave Hart’s Ridge if he won? Yes. He knew that in his bones. She had as good as told him that herself, right before he kissed her. And that was what he had wanted, wasn’t it? For her to admit that he wasn’t nothing to her, because hate, at least, was something.

Funny how it hurt just the same.

He had only ever wanted her to be happy...and safe.

But Emma leaving Hart’s Ridge? Over his dead body.

“Then I guess you better make sure I don’t win,” he said.

***

The last three days had been the busiest of Emma’s life. Her mind was made up. She had to defeat Eli in the race for mayor. And since defeating Eli meant proving to the people of Hart’s Ridge that she was the best mayor they ever had, she threw herself into the work heart, body, and soul.

Mostly body, actually. Who knew being mayor was such a physical job? Her arms and shoulders still ached from scrubbing and painting the streetlights. Now in addition to that, her feet ached from walking up and down Main Street, talking to the owners of each and every business along the way.

Cesar had taken full responsibility for the food truck, roping in his grandson, who was a few years younger than Emma, to help. They were doing little better than breaking even there, but it was hard work now that they no longer had an easy setup. But that would change, she hoped, once she got the bed and breakfast up and running.

The first thing she had done, after leaving Eli Saturday morning, was submit her paperwork to City Council to get on the ballot. Well, no. The very first thing she had done was fume and cry to Suzie and Kate about how unfair Eli was, although she neglected to mention the kiss. Then she submitted her paperwork. From there, she hit the ground running.

And it was a lot of running.

If Hart’s Ridge was going to get tourist money, those tourists were going to need a place to stay—something slightly classier than Goat’s Tavern. And that meant turning her home into the bed and breakfast of her parents’ dreams.

It was surprisingly fun, picking out new furnishings for the guest bedrooms. Cost was a factor, but she had savings. So long as her plan worked, she could recoup the cost with future customers. Of course, if it didn’t work, she’d be screwed. And broke.

And her dad—

And Hart’s Ridge—

She gritted her teeth. No. She wasn’t going down that path. Everything was a risk, sure. Success wasn’t guaranteed. But failure was guaranteed if she did nothing. Not just for her, but for Hart’s Ridge.

They were all in this together. There was no other way. With that in mind, she headed for Goat’s Tavern.

The moment she crossed the threshold, nostalgia made her insides ache. Years ago, when they were kids and this was nothing more than a ramshackle barn, they all used to hang out here for long stretches of lazy hours—Eli, Luke, Suzie, and her. Luke had done a lot of work to turn it into a tavern when his parents had made the decision to retire from farming, but the bones remained the same. In fact, they had left their mark on one of these walls. It must still be here, somewhere. It was hard to get a sense of where, exactly, because Luke’s decorating taste seemed to be “more is more.”

The tavern was decorated for the holidays—all of them. Christmas lights were strung up behind the bar. Some of the tables had Halloween-type centerpieces, and some had Easter bunnies and eggs. Patriotic bunting in red, white, and blue lined one wall. It was...a lot. But somehow it worked. The whole place looked cozy and festive.

“Emma Andrews, it’s about time you came to see me! Get your tiny ass over here and give me a hug.”

Emma laughed. She wasn’t tiny, but she supposed that compared to Luke, everyone was. At six-three, he looked like he had just stepped out of a lumberjack catalogue, if there was such a thing. There ought to be, because she had the feeling that most women and some men would pay good money to see Luke Buchanan, flannel sleeves rolled up to his elbows, chopping wood. Or whatever it was lumberjacks did.

She let him lift her off her feet in a big hug. “It’s good to see you again.”

“How are you, Emma?” He set her down on her feet again, smiling. “Let me tell Ethan to take over the bar, and we can catch up.”

“Actually, I’m here on business.”

His smile cooled. He crossed his arms over his chest. “Right. Okay. What can I do for you, Acting Mayor Andrews?”

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