The Single Mom's Second Chance. Jessica Keller

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СКАЧАТЬ bad, Brice.”

      “You do know there are only a few weeks left until my wedding. Maybe we can save bad news until after then? All the last-minute details are stressing Kendall out—which means they’re stressing me out, too.”

      “I’m sorry, but it can’t wait.” Evan inched toward the row of bar stools he kept tucked under the overhang on the kitchen island, pulled one out and sat down.

      Brice sighed. “Hit me with it, then.”

      “Turns out I’m not the only one running for mayor.”

      “But I thought you handed in your application at the last minute? We called this morning and there was no one else.”

      Evan looked down at his hand. “Well, there is now.”

      “Who?”

      “Claire.”

      “Atwood?”

      Evan let out an exasperated laugh. “Is there another?”

      Brice grumbled something low and unintelligible. Exactly the response Evan had figured.

      “What am I going to do?” He snagged a pen from where it rested next to a bowl of fruit, flipped over an old church bulletin and started sketching a plan for a playground that he’d been contracted to build at the Holcombs’ apple orchard.

      “Simple. Beat her in the election.”

      His pen froze. “You think I should still run?”

      “Of course you should still run. You have to.”

      Evan clicked the pen a couple times. “You know she’ll have Sesser’s muscle behind her.” And his money—her father was one of the wealthiest men in the state. He owned land and had his hand in businesses all along the shore of Lake Michigan, down into Indiana and on to Chicago. The tycoon might live in a cozy tourist town, but Evan knew not to underestimate the man’s power. Or the bite it carried.

      Evan still bore the scars from last time he’d crossed paths with Claire’s father.

      “That could be her greatest disadvantage.” Brice talked to someone else for a moment, saying he’d be only a few more seconds—Kendall. “Most people don’t trust him. Use that against her.”

      “I won’t run a smear campaign. Not against her.” They might not be on friendly terms, but the thought of bad-mouthing Claire publicly turned his stomach. He’d hurt her enough for one lifetime; he wouldn’t do it again.

      An uncomfortable silence pulsed over the phone line before Brice said, “Don’t tell me, after all this time, you still have feelings for her?”

      Evan straightened and ran his palm back and forth over his jean-clad thigh. “Let me rephrase that. I wouldn’t run a smear campaign against anyone. It doesn’t matter that it’s her. Claire and me? We don’t even belong in a sentence together. You know I let that go a long time ago.”

      “Did you...?” His brother lowered his voice. “You never told her about Sesser, did you?”

      Evan examined the calluses on his hands. Workman’s hands. Hands of a blue-collar man who did manual labor for a living and would never be good enough for a woman from Claire’s world. “She doesn’t need to know.”

      “It’s probably for the best.”

      “Not probably. It is—was. Everything is how it should be. Needs to be.” His voice sounded hollow to his own ears.

      “We have to beat her. Understand? No matter what you think about her or if you believe she has good intentions about becoming mayor, it doesn’t matter. Sesser will find a way to use her in that position to gain a stronger hold on everything.” Brice summed up the reasons that he’d used to talk Evan into running in the first place. “You and I both know that’s what’ll happen. You’re running to take back some power from him—so we can build a dock and remove his monopoly. We can’t give Sesser another foothold.”

      “I guess you’re right.” Evan kept clicking the pen.

      “He’d ruin this town. He’d use her to turn this place into somewhere we wouldn’t want to live. You get that, don’t you?”

      “True.” Click. Click. Click. “I wouldn’t put anything past Sesser.”

      That was the reason Brice had urged him to run, but in truth, Evan had decided to go for it because he cared about the people in Goose Harbor and wanted to fight for their best interests. Maybe the two were the same thing. Brice was the more levelheaded brother—the one who turned ideas over and looked at something from every angle before deciding the best course of action. Whereas Evan often found himself in hot water because of split-second choices that he hadn’t stopped and thought through. He’d trust his brother on this. On everything.

      The doorbell rang, making Evan slide off of the stool. “Someone’s here. I gotta go.”

      “If it’s that boy for Laura again—”

      “Don’t worry, papa bear, I’ve got it handled.” Evan clicked off and set his phone on the counter. Brice had a tendency to be overprotective with all the siblings, although he’d gained the right to be that way after protecting Evan, Andrew and Laura as best an eldest brother could during childhood.

      Their seventeen-year-old sister had moved in with Evan soon after Brice and Kendall had become engaged last summer. Brice had tried to talk Laura into remaining at his place, assuring her it was fine to stay until he and Kendall returned from their honeymoon, but Laura had still chosen to head to Evan’s. Their parents’ house was no longer a fit environment for their teenage sister, not that it had ever been an ideal place to begin with. Growing up, Dad had physically abused Brice and had lobbed verbal assaults at the rest of them, Laura included. And their mother had become a bitter hoarder over the years, turning the small house into something of a health code hazard.

      Besides, Evan’s home was bigger than Brice’s. His older brother lived in a cabin with one bedroom, which Laura had used while Brice had camped out in his office area for a couple months. Evan had three bedrooms and a fully finished basement. Laura had plenty of space to invite friends over or have parties here, where she hadn’t been able to be very social when she lived with Brice. And Evan never minded company. He thrived off it, whereas Brice was introverted, and even having their sister stay had been a strain on him.

      It was better this way.

      “Laura,” Evan hollered from the bottom of the stairs. “Are you expecting anyone?”

      No answer. She probably couldn’t hear him over the loud Broadway tunes blasting from her room. She had aspirations for a life in the theater and was starring in the high school’s production of The Music Man this year. In the last few weeks he’d listened to her belting out “Goodnight, My Someone” and “Till There Was You” too many times to count.

      Evan shook his head as he crossed to the front entryway. If it was the boy who’d been pursuing Laura since the summer, Evan would let him in. Laura was growing into a smart young woman; she could navigate her relationships without one of her brothers acting like a domineering father. He’d give her advice, of course—and СКАЧАТЬ