He gave me a look. “Are omegas any better?”
I chose to ignore his comment for now, especially as we walked inside the office.
“My boy, what are you doing here? I was threatened within an inch of my life to not call you in.” The voice that greeted us was booming, echoing on the walls of the lobby. The shining marble floors and murals up above paired with the dark wood gave it that typical government building feel. Prestigious, but not pretentious. I could see why Jack took pride in his work here.
“My mother can be quite convincing, can’t she?” Jack mused, shaking his head. “I just wanted to check on things. You know me.”
The mayor shook his head, smiling fondly. Despite all the stubbornness I heard about him, the mayor seemed like a good guy. He seemed to care about Jack at least, and that made him a pretty great alpha in my book.
The mayor followed Jack and I down the hall as the two caught up with small talk. I knew it was Jack’s office that we stopped in, his scent of peppermint and mocha clinging into the air in here.
It was clean, meticulously so, everything in the proper place, not a hint of dust in sight. Maybe the brothers weren’t quite so different after all.
“You’re alpha here has a good head on his shoulders,” the mayor told me as Jack logged into his computer, not even bothering to hide the smile.
We were just talking about how hard it was for their fathers to not be present, and I was glad he had someone like the mayor on his side at least. He was a true father figure.
“Except for my intention to work with Harvey and the board to make this festival a reality, huh?” Jack teased.
The mayor’s smile faltered and he let out a sigh. “You know I’m not the Grinch that everybody seems to think I am,” he protested weakly.
“Of course not,” Jack mused with a fondness that made the older man smile again. “Here, I didn’t get a chance to give you these before I left, but I noticed them come across my desk and wanted to make sure you had them before the festival.”
“Are these the final numbers?” the mayor questioned, surprise lowering his eyes. “The way the committee was talking they were going to expectmorefunds.”
“I’m fairly certain that they were just trying to screw with you. We have more than enough. I saved for the last few years while we didn’t have the festival. Their allocated untouchable funds were more than covered,” Jack promised.
The mayor read over the spreadsheet, looking impressed.
“I don’t know how you managed it, son. This is good. EvenIcan’t argue with this.”
“But you probably will,” Jack teased.
They went back and forth a few more times until the mayor seemed properly satisfied.
“Now, you need to get out of here before your mother hears that you were here. I appreciate the oversight and I won’t interfere,” he promised, holding up his hands in defeat.
“This is what the town needs.” Jack’s parting words hung in the air between them, the heaviness seeming to dissipate slowly.
“We’ll see,” was all the mayor would give him before looking pointedly at the door.
Jack snorted and took the hint. “Alright. I need to go feed my omega anyway.”
“Congratulations, you two,” he told us, beaming again.
“Thank you,” I said, grinning up at my alpha.
It took us another fifteen minutes of greeting other Town Hall employees before we managed to get back to the truck. Jack looked relieved, and I was glad that we made time to come here.
“It seems like everything’s in order and ready to go,” I said.
“Yeah,” he agreed. “I was just waiting on one final thing, and I put it in last night after we were all supposed to be sleeping,” he admitted. “We mention nothing of this to my mother. She would kick my ass.”
“My lips are sealed,” I promised. “ But, just for the record. I won’t be mad if there’s anything you need to do for this festival. Just because your mom says you need to take time off doesn’t mean you do.”
“Thank you, baby girl. I appreciate that. I might have to check in on a thing or two, but honestly my job with the festival is done. Now that I have squared away budgeting, everyone has submitted everything they needed. It’s out of my hands,” he said, sliding his hands against each other as if washing them away.
“All I want to do is focus on my omegas and this holiday,” he promised. “I’m right where I need to be.”
