“How cool that you’re getting that kind of response after all your hard work.”
“Claudette’s a genius. I’ve been so focused on the physical adoptions that it never occurred to me that folks who can’t manage that would digitally adopt one by contributing to their upkeep for a year.”
“It helps that you’ve given them all names.”
“Oh, yeah, that’s huge. The pictures Luis, Claudette and I took are important, too. They were labor intensive and we still missed some, but this will be a game changer for Hearts & Hooves.”
“I wish Spence could be here.”
“That was my first thought, too. My second thought was we’re being good stewards of his legacy.”
“That’s for sure.”
“Anyway, enough about H&H.” She lowered her voice. “What’s going on with you and my brother? He seems totally chill.”
“So true.” She couldn’t see him from this angle, couldn’t hear the conversation at his table, but his achingly familiar laugh gave her heart a jolt every time she heard it. “I’m a wreck.”
“He takes after his dad.”
“You’re right, he does. I keep forgetting how good he is at hiding his feelings because he doesn’t do it with me. Or so I used to think.”
“You’re no slouch at keeping your feelings to yourself, either.”
“I guess that explains how we got to this situation in the first place.”
“And where are you, exactly?”
“Good question. Saturday night was… amazing.”
“I’m not surprised.”
“I was. I didn’t expect it would be all that different. I thought all this talk about chemistry was a bunch of garbage.”
“Even after New Year’s Eve?”
“I discounted that because I was toasted and then Adam brought up the whole rebound thing so I had two reasons to doubt my reaction. I suppose I could still be on the rebound, but I’m afraid I’m just plain attracted to him. I—” She paused when their order arrived.
Mila waited until Julie, their server, had left. “So now what? Is that it? One and done?”
“No.” Her cheeks warmed. “We agreed to keep seeing each other through Friday.”
Mila’s gaze sharpened. “Doesseeing each othermean what I think it does?”
“Yep.”
“Holy smokes. How can you pull that off?”
“He’ll drop by my office.”
“You’re kidding.”
“He comes into town nearly every day so nobody will think anything of it.”
“Yeah, but still?—”
“The mayor needs to keep in touch with his legal counsel when a road project is in the works that will affect the town’s future.”
“Who came up with this scheme, you or him?”
