What a surprise. Adam managed to turn his laugh into a cough. “Okay, then. Wendy, Jerry, either of you want to weigh in on the public decency angle?”
“Not me.” Wendy, mom of teenagers and passionate about fundraisers, had promised voters she’d push for more community events. “It’s short notice, but if we set up a concession stand down by the water hole tomorrow, I’ll bet we’d pull in enough to buy the high school a new gym floor.”
This time he couldn’t help laughing. “Much as I love that idea, I?—”
“Just kidding. Operating an outdoor concession during a Montana winter is tough duty. Jerry, over to you, dude.”
“We should have Tracy look into the discrimination charge, but I’m guessing Kat’s out of luck on that. As for sharing the water hole, Kat and Eli will have to work it out.” A life-long rancher, Jerry was low maintenance and a dedicated public servant.
As the vice mayor, he’d stepped into the mayor’s job when Adam’s father died two years ago. Then he’d gently urged Adam to run for the office. He’d promised to stay on as vice mayor to shepherd him through the first couple of years. Adam was grateful.
He gave Jerry a nod. “That sounds good. Is everybody ready to move on?” When they all agreed, he turned back to the agenda. “Then let’s hear from our state highway department rep. Steve was kind enough to drive down from Helena to give us an update on the road project.”
The crowd quieted immediately. Improvements to a mountainous road west of town would increase accessibility and boost Mustang Valley’s economy. Last spring Tracy and his sister Mila had drawn up a petition and the Bridger Bunch had circulated it.
Adam had hand-carried all those signatures to Helena. Since then he’d been in constant contact with anyone connected to state road projects.
Money was tight, but he was cautiously optimistic the project would be funded. Since he'd read the report backwards and forwards, he had time to catch his breath while Steve went through his presentation.
His mom had laughed with everyone else during the Kat and Eli show, but now she gazed at him misty-eyed. She returned his smile, though. Tough lady. She’d always said he was the spitting image of his dad, who’d occupied this chair through many election cycles. As had his grandfather.
The titleMayor Bridgerbelonged to those two. He wasn’t even slightly used to having anyone call him that. He’d set a record for being the youngest mayor in Mustang Valley’s history.
Jerry hadn’t needed to lobby hard to get him to run, though. He’d always expected to sit in this chair, just not this soon. When Tracy had landed the job as the town’s legal counsel last spring, that had convinced him to go for it. She was so damn smart.
But she hadn’t been very smart on New Year’s Eve after the party at the Rockin’ Raccoon. And he’d been dumb as a rock.
Tracy had a very human excuse for making such a huge mistake. He did not. And now the warm friendship and camaraderie they’d enjoyed for more than twenty-five years was shredded to bits.
He'd written her a long letter of apology, hoping that sending it snail mail would carry more weight. She’d replied with a jaunty text saying all was well.
But it wasn’t. He’d been avoiding her ever since New Year’s, which had been easy considering all he had on his plate as the incoming mayor.
Maybe she’d been dodging him, too. Their only contact had been through email, texts, and last month’s online meeting.These days they had little reason to accidentally run into each other.
When she’d lived on her parents’ ranch it would happen all the time. But ever since she’d set up her office in town and moved into the apartment above it, they’d had less casual contact.
To keep in touch, they’d replaced happenstance with a new habit—coffee breaks at the Dandy Donut a couple of times a week. Sometimes his sister Mila came and sometimes it was just the two of them.
New Year’s Eve’s debacle had put an end to that routine. He missed her like crazy. The old saying was true.You don’t know whacha got til it’s gone.
His own damn fault. He’d crossed the line. Seeing her tonight had sent a jolt through his system, but he’d done his best to act normal.
Was she suffering, too? Her deadpan expression earlier told him she was. He looked at her again and this time her mask slipped. His gaze locked with hers, hungry for the connection.
The sudden heat that arced between them caught him off guard. His breath hitched and his groin tightened.
No!He would not allow himself to react that way. She’d been in a vulnerable place, probably still was. Taking advantage of that had been inexcusable and it would never happen again.
She broke eye contact, turned sideways toward Mila and murmured a comment. Her wavy red hair curtained her face, almost hiding the pink tinge on her cheeks. For the rest of the meeting, he made sure he never looked straight at her again.
Questions from residents about the road project took more than an hour. Then Adam gave a quick report on L’Amour and More, the bookshop scheduled to open this summer. Council meetings ended promptly at eight, so he had to table several items and called for a motion to adjourn.
Reg made the motion in his usual pedantic style.
“I second it!” Betty called out. “Rockin’ Raccoon time!”
The chamber emptied quickly. Years ago Adam’s extremely social dad had established the tradition of heading for the bar after a council meeting. Spence Bridger had believed that more problems were solved over a beer than across a bargaining table.
