Nate touched Lottie’s arm and addressed the woman directly.“Because of periodic improvements over the years to the sidewalks directly in front of your stores, there will be no need to redo them.There will still be direct access to your business.”The woman opened her mouth again, but Nate spoke before she could start.“As far as noise and other issues, those will be unavoidable, but with the project already fully funded thanks to all of your generous donations, construction should be faster than normal.”
Hearing Nate talk about the town’s donations had guilt blooming in Lottie’s chest, but she also needed to address the crowd before anyone spoiled her little secret.“That all sounds wonderful, Mister Mayor.”Lottie smiled at Nate and looked back out at the crowd.“Any other concerns?”
A few people had questions about parking and where the construction equipment would be stored, but Nate answered all of them smoothly.As he stood there and commanded the room, Lottie retook her seat, needing the support underneath her as she wondered if or when she should tell Nate that all of the “generous donations” provided by the town had actually come from her bank account.The Citizens for a Brighter Applewood was the pseudonym she had used when Lottie donated money to the town project Nate had wanted so badly.She’d used a good chunk of money provided to her by Mrs.G to do it, and she had no regrets about it except for the fact that she’d kept it a secret from him.
Nate was so passionate about his project, and while the people of the town loved him and believed he would be a good mayor when the time came, there was no way they were going to approve such an ambitious and costly project for someone so young, and the necessary vote to do so would have been so much more work for him.Lottie had never been able to see him struggle, unless of course she was the cause of it, so she’d done what she thought was right.After contacting a lawyer and her financial manager to put it all together, Lottie donated the money.It was something she’d always felt good about, helping him, but now she wondered if Nate might not resent her for it.
As the meeting continued and eventually wound down, Lottie felt as though she should tell him the truth, but if he took it the wrong way, she would lose what they’d started to form again, and the thought of that happening felt like a hot knife to the heart.Vowing to tell him as soon as he had all the approvals for the project in place, Lottie smiled over at Nate as he shook hands with community members and hugged his family.
When the evening was over, he approached her with a wide smile on his face.“You were amazing tonight,” he gushed.Lifting her up out of the chair, he crushed their bodies together in a passionate embrace.“Thank you so much for helping me.”
“You’re welcome.”Lottie accepted his kiss on her cheek happily, but her elation at having helped him make one step towards his goal was dampened by her fear of how he would react to what she’d done.He was thanking her now, but would he be as appreciative of her past assistance?As Nate took her hand and led her out of the gym, Lottie tried to push the worry aside, hoping that his feelings for her would outweigh any irritation he felt at her actions.It hadn’t helped in the past, but things were different now.They had to be because her heart wouldn’t just break if he ended them again, it would be destroyed.
Chapter Thirteen
Nate
Christmas with the Kemps was an annual tradition for Nate’s family, a party thrown at their house where a select group of friends of the family would come to celebrate the holiday with food, cocktails, and plenty of fun.The house was decked out in every kind of decoration you could imagine.Tinsel, colorful lights, and homemade ornaments from when the boys were young decorated the tree, wreaths and garland were hung from every surface imaginable, and stockings for every member of the Kemp family hung above the fireplace.Nate couldn’t help feel an ache in his chest as he read off the names, noticing that each of his brothers had another name next to theirs while his sat alone at the end.
Nate rubbed at his chest, knowing exactly which name belonged next to his but wondering how long before it would be there.The public forum had gone amazingly well with Lottie helping to come up with ideas to get most of the more reluctant community members on board.There were still a fair number that opposed any kind of change, but that was to be expected.Nate was confident that with a few more tweaks to his plan, the downtown business association would give their final approval and he’d have accomplished what he set out to do.Then he could focus more of his attention on winning over the woman he loved.Lottie hadn’t said it back the night he had confessed his feelings, and Nate hadn’t brought it up since, but he knew she loved him.He just had to prove to her that he wasn’t going to ruin things again.
Nate felt like he was doing a fair job of that, but then again, he’d invited Lottie to come tonight, and she was nowhere to be seen.A burst of raucous laughter drew his attention over to the living room where people were participating in one of the yule tide themed games orchestrated by his father.This year Nate’s dad had been excited to try Candy Cane Olympics where teams would perform various tasks using the peppermint treat in some form or another.By the looks of it, the current task was to see who could balance a large candy cane stick on the bridge of their nose the longest.Nate chuckled as he moved to the sidelines, watching as each person got eliminated until only two of his brothers and Parker’s daughter, Kit remained.
“You’re cheating,” Aiden told Travis.He then bumped the other man with his shoulder in an attempt to win, but even though Aiden was taller, Travis was built far more solidly and barely moved.
Travis chuckled at their eldest brother’s lame attempt at winning.“If anyone’s cheating it’s you.”Travis continued to balance the stick perfectly as Aiden seemed to struggle.“Big nose of yours gives you an advantage.”
Aiden tutted.“I don’t think Mom will appreciate you finding fault in her genes.”It was true that Aiden favored their mother, as did Felix and Beckett, but Travis seemed unfazed by the threat of involving the older woman.
“Not what I was implying—” Travis bit off before his words turned into a yelp.The candy cane that was perfectly balanced on his nose dropped the floor and cracked in two.Travis turned toward their mother who had just pinched his side.“What the hell—I mean heck, Mom?”
Cora smiled serenely and patted Travis on the shoulder as she reached over and pinched Aiden’s side as well.When his stick dropped to the floor, everyone cheered at Kit having won the game.“Looks like my favorite little lady is the winner.”
Kit beamed up at Nate’s mom before she turned to his brothers.“Better bring your A-game next time, boys.”After nabbing her prize from the box of wrapped presents, she skipped over to show her mom who was giggling along with everyone else who’d witnessed the event.
Travis soon joined the pair, congratulating the little girl and hoisting her onto his shoulders.Nate looked around the room at everyone else gathered there and smiled wistfully.Aiden walked over to Nicole and pulled her into a hug, kissing the top of his fiancée’s head.Beckett and Willa sat on the couch, his hand resting on her small baby bump as they chatted with Felix and Autumn who sat on top of one another in a small chair.Envy stabbed at his heart like a dull knife, the ache low and persistent.Nate knew that if he didn’t have what his brothers did with Lottie then he wouldn’t have it at all, and that put all the more pressure on him to not be his usual, quick to push self.
