Page 11 of Hottie on Her Shelf
Hallie had thought of it on her way back to the library (done at half the speed of her sprint to city hall. Actually, done at more of a sloth-like pace as the enormity of what had just occurred swamped her with fear. And regret. And the resurging waves of humiliation as she remembered her stained shirt).
“Why did you order all this”—Randall waved his hand holding a stub of pretzel covered in beer cheese dip—“if you weren’t wallowing?”
“Or celebrating?” Megan added.
“Food is calming. It helps every situation.” Hallie decided to be brutally honest. Her friends wouldn’t judge her for being a fence-sitter. She’d judge herself, but they wouldn’t. “And the thing is, guys? I don’t honestly know what I’m feeling, which frustrates me above and beyond anything else. I’m a strong, fast decision-maker. I don’t waffle.”
Ana clasped her hands, then pointed her index fingers, each wearing a hammered silver ring, at Hallie. “Do you want to run for mayor?”
“No.” It would take time, so much time. Gah. She’d probably have to use some of her precious PTO hours for campaign events.
“Do you want to be mayor?”
“No.” Her only career aspiration ever was to be a librarian. To live and breathe books. To help others discover the magic of fiction. To spread the wonder and knowledge encapsulated in non-fiction.
Where was the wonder in going over the line item details of the town’s water bills?
Ana leaned back against the green leather booth and fluffed her thick, dark waves forward to coil across her bright red tee. “Well, that seems clear-cut. You’re screwed.”
Randall laughed, coughed, and snorted simultaneously. “That’s not helpful! Save that for when the three of us discuss how stupid this was in the parking lot after Hallie leaves.”
Yeah, yeah.
It’d been impulsive, that was for sure, and not anywhere in her life plan, which was simply a five-bullet point list in her senior yearbook:
1) Graduate with honors from undergrad
2) Get another scholarship to pay for grad school
3) Graduate with honors again
4) Become a librarian
5) Fall in love with a man who would kill bugs for her and not complain about the teetering stack of books on her nightstand.
Honestly, Hallie was more than good with having crossed off the first four. She didn’t think it needed a number six: lead the town with zero experience and simply a passion for responsibility and fairness.
Hallie didn’t do impulsive. Except that it was too late to undo anything. So it was imperative she circle back and embrace the reason that had launched her off this particular cliff.
“I do want there to be a different, better mayor. No one else stepped up.” She scooped more than her fair share of the potato skins onto her plate. Nobody else was stress eating. They were just sympathy eating. That meant she deserved the ones topped with the most bacon. “You can’t complain about a situation without bringing at least one solution to the table.”
Megan’s green eyes dripped with…pity? Yikes. “Oh, honey, you absolutely can. That’s how complaining works.”
“You chose to do something for the good of the community rather than take the easy way out and do nothing.” Ana raised her glass in a toast. Her deep red lips, which contrasted so beautifully with her tawny skin that always looked tan even in the darkness of a Maine winter, spread into a wide smile. “That’s admirable. It proves you’ll be a good leader.”
“While that strikes me as a vast overstatement, I’ll take it.” The first vote in her favor! Hallie beamed at her friend. “Thanks, Ana.”
“However, we may be the only three people in all of Swan Cove who know you’ve got what it takes to assume the mantle of mayorship.” Ana never pulled any punches. Megan and Randall were the rah-rah cheerleaders of their group. Ana stuck to the facts. Which Hallie usually appreciated.
“You need a mantle.” Randall shook out his napkin and draped it around his glass. “A cape. If you win.” His eyes flitted quickly among the three of them. His tongue darted out to lick his lips. “I mean, when you win. You’ll totally win. I believe in you, Hallie. It was just a slip of the tongue. I’m still coming to terms with this big bomb you dropped on us.”
Laughing, Hallie covered his mouth with her palm. “Randall. Stop. No need to backtrack. I know you’ve got my back. Just as much as I know that there’s an exceedingly strong chance that I might not win.”
Chance. Ha! It was all but guaranteed she wouldn’t win.
Hallie, like Ana, also preferred to subsume herself in facts rather than hope. She’d taken a stand on principle, but in all likelihood, it would be no more than that. A grand gesture with no discernible outcome.
Aside from her abject humiliation.
