Page 107 of Hottie on Her Shelf
“You mean about my parents’ bankruptcy?”
“Aw, hell, Hallie. I’d hoped you wouldn’t find out the dirty depths of it. But yes. I’m really sorry they’re having such a hard time. Will they be okay? Do they need a loan to tide them over?”
Hallie’s jaw dropped. “You’re too good to be true. How can you be so gracious? Offering to help people you’ve never met? Offering to loan your own money to people who obviously don’t have a great grasp of how to handle it?” Because he wasn’t a bank doing a business transaction. He was a man helping out someone who needed a hand to get back up. “I don’t need to know them. I know you. I know they helped you become the woman you are today. And I know they matter to you. So if they need my help, they’ve got it.”
“Thank you. Sincerely. But they won’t even take my help.” She leaned a hip against the railing around the pond. “How did you stop your parents from spreading that rumor around? Seems to me it would’ve been something they shouted from the rooftops to secure you as mayor.”
Fitz grinned. “I blackmailed ’em.”
“What?” The surprised jerk of her head made her ponytail bob.
“I’ll tell you the whole story once the election hoopla winds down tonight. Short answer is that I learned a secret that would reflect very poorly on the family name. I threatened to do my own rooftop shouting about it unless they backed off. Off of you and off of me. Off of the whole town.”
She pursed her red-slicked lips. “Does this secret perhaps involve your uncle?”
Ha! “Should’ve known your thirst for researching would’ve turned that up, no matter how well hidden. Good for you. Yeah. I leveraged that. Turns out my mom is sick—another long story—and they’ve decided to spend more time at our house in the Bahamas. The weather will be kinder to her. That’s the official spin, anyway. End result? They’ll both be gone and hands-off of Swan Cove.”
A couple of beats went by as she slowly squinted. “You…you wouldn’t really play that dirty.”
It freaking delighted him Hallie saw through to his core like that, in a way that, apparently, his parents never would. “Nope, but they don’t realize it.”
Hallie’s suspicious squint morphed into a smirking smile. “I think it’ll be interesting—and probably quite good—for this town to figure out how to do things by itself.”
“Like I said, a new path. New leadership.” Fitz hooked a thumb back toward the theater. “I think you’ll win tonight, Hallie. I know you should win. You’ll be a great mayor for Swan Cove.”
“Thanks.” Hallie dipped her chin. “You, ah, weren’t as horrible a mayor as I made you out to be, you know. Once I dug into how and why things had to happen for governance here.”
“I know. It doesn’t matter, though, because even if I win, you’d better be prepared to take over—I’ll resign right there on the stage.” God, it felt good and official to say it out loud. Which was why it’d slipped out loudly enough to startle a swan into a frenzy of wing-flapping.
After a sharp gasp, she asked, “Why?”
“A little personal off-roading. I’m taking your advice.”
“I like the sound of that. Doesn’t even matter the topic, since I give great advice.”
“You’d better be right. I’m going to work at integrating Swan Cove and Crow Harbor. It’s a two-pronged plan. I joined the expansion committee.”
“Why?”
“To keep them from hurting the fishermen of Crow Harbor. The expansion’s a good idea for this town. There’s no downside. Only for the fishermen we’re cutting off from the access to their route. I’m proposing we build them another one.”
“Different access to the harbor?”
“Yeah.” He pointed across to the water. “We’ll widen that canal and adjust the marina plans by a few blocks. Then build a drawbridge to make it all work, at our expense. Crow Harbor fishermen won’t be impacted at all.”
Hallie steepled her fingertips at her mouth. “This is all your idea? Because it’s brilliant.”
“I had help. Talked to the fishermen. Went down to the docks and solicited ideas. We came to it together, and it’s the only way expansion will go forward. It’ll have zero to do with who sits in the mayor’s office.”
“That’s one heck of a prong, Fitz. I’m going to stick with calling it brilliant. I’m so proud of you.”
That sounded good. He felt like he had momentum with this speech, enough momentum that it might catapult Hallie right back into his arms.
“The second prong is me moving my full-time attention to the community center. There, I’ll be working on programming and expansion to benefit as many people as possible. I can still help the people in this town—just on a one-on-one basis.”
Another gasp. If this kept up, he might have to get her a paper bag to breathe into. “Really?”
“Everything’s in place—except for my title.” As if the thought had just struck him, Fitz covered his mouth, then pointed at her. “Maybe you could help me come up with one, since you’re the queen of words?”
