Page 29 of Hottie on Her Shelf
“Yes. I believe I could effect positive changes in Swan Cove. I also believe that democracy works, that the citizens will vote for whomever they believe will do the better job. And I have to believe that I can make this happen without any recriminations from the Montgomerys.”
Not that Hallie particularly wanted to extend full faith to Fitz. He was still cocky. Still believed, just like her parents, that he would win, regardless. Nevertheless, it was…decent of him to offer to coach her, to make it a level playing field.
Her mom waved a hand back and forth, like she was trying to erase the last thing Hallie said. “That’s the part where we’re worried you’re too optimistic. People like the Montgomerys, they don’t play fair. They stomp all over the little guy. We don’t want you to be crushed.”
“They’re too powerful,” her dad insisted.
“Maybe part of that power is due to people building them up into oversize figures. Maybe this will turn out to be a real-life reenactment of The Wizard of Oz—there’s nothing big and scary behind the curtain. Just a man.”
Megan’s hand flew into the air. She started ticking off points. “Everyone almost dies in that movie. The scarecrow’s set on fire. The poppy field, the attack by the flying monkeys—how is that supposed to reassure us?”
Uh-oh. Her parents had officially infected Megan with their doubts. “Because Dorothy gets what she wants in the end.”
Very quietly, Gene said, “Dorothy goes home. Why not do that?”
“Pull out of the race,” Pam begged. This…this felt like there was something else behind this request. Something more dire Hallie wasn’t being told. “If you have to run for mayor, then do it here, in Crow Harbor.”
“I can’t. I don’t live here anymore. Being a citizen is one of the very few prerequisites for the job.”
“So move back here.” Gene slapped his armrest as if that made it a done deal. “You can stay in your old room until you find a place.”
Just what every thirty-year-old longs to hear. “I have a job, a good job. My dream job. In Swan Cove.”
“That’s what we’re trying to save, Ladybug. What if this run costs you the job at the library?”
This verged on ridiculous. They could what-if it to death. What if running for mayor made her ineligible to simultaneously run for state senator? What if it meant she could no longer play the lottery as an elected official?
“If they manage to fire me because I beat their son, I’ll still be mayor. I’ll simply rehire myself.”
After a warning finger shake, her dad said, “Don’t sass me, no matter how old you are.”
“I was not sassing. I was stating a fact. The Montgomerys have no reason to hurt me if I lose, and no way to hurt me if I win. You’ll just have to trust me on that.” Hallie got up—not as gracefully as the last time she’d planted on the rug. This required twice as much room for her arms and legs and a sort of tripod approach to pushing up.
“Pull out of the race, Ladybug. Please.”
“No.” Another pleading glance at Megan.
Megan, who was as stiff as a board on the couch, twisting the multicolored rings on every finger. She’d brought her friend along to distract her parents. Her uncharacteristic quietness was not helping.
It scared her more than her parents’ obvious trepidation. Residents of Crow Harbor built up everything and everyone in Swan Cove to mythic heights, but Megan lived there with her. Knew what was real, knew of the players if not on a first name basis with them.
If Megan was worried? Megan, who’d gotten her into this situation? The three people who loved her unconditionally and had stood by Hallie her entire life were telling her to quit.
They didn’t believe she could even make a run at it.
Hallie’s stomach flipped into a giant knot. What if they were right?
What if she did humiliate herself? What if her bad showing at the kickoff breakfast was the tip of the iceberg of horribleness about to be enacted?
What if Fitz’s dad decided to play dirty and threaten her friends’ jobs?
What if she let panic and desperation color her decision-making?
Good thing her mom hadn’t baked a cake. Hallie’s appetite was now as slim as…as her chance at getting more than five people to vote for her.
