Page 110 of Always You (A Lilac Bay Novel)

“Ladies and gentlemen, we’re going live in two minutes,” Gina called over her megaphone. “I need you to hold your places now.”

“I can’t believe all this, Riley,” the mayor said, coming to stand beside me.

“It’s pretty crazy.”

“I’m very proud of you, you know.”

I smiled up at my boss, resplendent today in a lime green shirt and a bowtie in an appropriate shade of lilac. “Thanks. I’m proud of the whole town.”

“When this is all over, let’s sit down and have a talk about your ideas going forward,” he said, sounding way more serious and professional than I was used to. “I think I may have been too quick to dismiss anything new. But you obviously have a good eye for what we can accomplish around here. I think it’s time for a promotion, don’t you?”

“Really?”

“Really.” He winked. “Just make sure I’m there when you tell Millie.”

I laughed and he squeezed my arm.

“One minute!” Gina called.

My eyes scanned the crowd, looking for any flash of red. I’d left Andrew a message right after I heard from Heather. When he didn’t respond, I checked with Edward to make sure he knew about it. “He’s going to try to be there, Riley,” he’d told me, his eyes sad. I wanted to ask what they’d talked about that night I’d interrupted them at Rose’s, but I knew he wouldn’t tell me. He was a good brother.

But now the show was about to start, the culmination of all of our hard work, I couldn’t imagine it happening without Andrew. None of this would have happened without him. He might not have wanted to serve on the committee or be on TV or get any kind of credit, but the truth was, he had every bit as much to do with our success as I did.

“Thirty seconds.”

The crowd was whispering excitedly, Heather Dale fluffing out her hair on stage. This was it.

“Sorry!” Andrew whispered, sliding from nowhere to my side. “Almost didn’t make it. Boat traffic in the marina is insane.”

I gaped at him, finding it hard to believe it was really him. “You’re here.”

“’Course I’m here,” he said, offering me a brief grin. “You didn’t think I was going to let you take all the credit with Heather Dale, did you?”

I wanted to burst into tears, wanted to hug him, or maybe kiss him—but his eyes were on the stage, apparently nowhere near as affected by the moment as I was.He’s here for the town,I told myself.Let it go.

The beginning of the broadcast was a blur. Heather welcomed everyone to Lilac Bay—it was so trippy to have my idol here, talking about our town!—and then showed some footage from the previous episodes. Our audience laughed at the scenes of the Fish Fry, our trivia game, the flash mob. Then there was Andrew and I on stage, acting out the Legend of the Lilacs, while our friends laughed and cheered for us. They didn’t show the kiss, and I found I was grateful. My heart felt too raw with Andrew here after all those days without him.

After the footage, she moved into the interview portion. First up was Libby, looking freaking fantastic in a fifties-style sundress and Manolos.

“Libby, I hear you host a very special club here on the island,” Heather said.

“Oh, absolutely. We’re called the Libbies—”

“Named after you?”

“Named after me, and also our favorite pastimes. We’re the Lilac Bay Book, Booze, and Baking Broads.”

There was scattered laughter across the crowd and a few of the Libbies cheered.

“That sounds very—unique.”

“Everything about this island is unique,” Libby said, grinning. “We don’t have a single dance club. Our movie theater is in the back of the aerobics studio. We don’t even have cars. We have to make our own fun. And we do.”

That got a huge round of applause and I grinned at Libby. She was good at this.

Fran and Crystal were up next, and I held my breath as they were interviewed about the tradition of fudge and chocolate making on the island. To everyone’s obvious shock, they didn’t argue once. Then Jerry was talking about what a comfort the island was to him after his wife died. “I never considered going anywhere else,” he said. “This place is home.”

I felt a lump come to my throat as my neighbors continued to tell the story of this place. I was sure it was obvious to Heather Dale—and all her fans at home—just how sincere they all were. How much it meant to them.