The Cowboy Upstairs. Tanya Michaels

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       Chapter Four

      It was still dark outside when Brody called to say he was turning onto Becca’s street, but, judging by the enthusiastic dawn chorus of birds outside Sawyer’s room, sunrise was coming. He went down the flight of stairs behind the house and had just reached the bottom when a pair of headlights shone across the driveway. He swung open the passenger door of Brody’s pickup, greeted by the welcome smell of coffee.

      “You survived the night,” Brody observed.

      Sawyer climbed into the cab. “Sorry to disappoint you—I know you want my truck if Becca decides to spike my food with hemlock. Give her time. I don’t generally drive people to homicidal rages until they’ve known me at least twelve hours. I hear you were completely unhelpful as a character reference, by the way.”

      “You wanted me to lie to her? Cupid’s Bow is my home.” Brody sipped from a travel mug, handing a second one to Sawyer. “After you get on her nerves and she runs you out of town—or buries you in the city park—I still have to face her.”

      “Don’t want to run afoul of the new mayor, huh?”

      “It’ll be interesting to see who wins the election. Truitt’s sort of...blandly competent. Not someone who inspires devotion, but his cronies have a fair amount of combined influence in town. Becca could be great, if anyone bothers to vote for her. She’s outspoken—”

      “Gee, I hadn’t noticed.”

      “—and may have stepped on a few toes during her time on the town council. Half the town is afraid of her, and Jazz and I haven’t decided if that’s going to work for or against her. Maybe people will be too scared not to vote for her.”

      Sawyer chuckled. “Well, she doesn’t scare me.” Rather, she intrigued him, her steel-spined demeanor a seeming contradiction to the house she’d decorated with soft, frilly things. And she amused him, with her unexpected playful side, as well as impressing him with how much she clearly loved her kid. Sawyer had a lot of respect for mothers; the only person in his family he tried to maintain a relationship with was his mom.

      “Wait a minute.” Brody peered at him in the dim light of the glowing dashboard. “You like her, don’t you? I thought the two of you would drive each other crazy.”

      Because she was admittedly bossy and he had a habit of provoking people—especially when it brought fire to a pair of unforgettable blue eyes? “Like I said, give it time.”

      * * *

      “...AND YOU JUST know the bastard did this on purpose,” Sierra concluded, pacing the length of Becca’s living room as she ranted.

      Seated on the sofa with her legs tucked beneath her, Hadley Lanier nodded, her dark ponytail swishing. Her summary of the situation was the same as Sierra’s, but with significantly less cursing. “This is another lame attempt to sabotage you.”

      Originally, Becca had invited the two women over for a girls’ night, since Marc was spending his Friday evening at dinner and a movie with the Whittmeyers. But plans for lighthearted conversation over sangria had become an impromptu strategy session now that Mayor Truitt had abruptly cut the budget for the upcoming centennial celebration.

      “Emergency reallocation of funds, my ass,” Sierra said, snagging her wineglass as she passed by the coffee table on her next lap. “Everyone associates you with the celebration, which means you could lose the election if people are disappointed enough with the festivities. He’s manufacturing obstacles just to make you look bad.”

      “Let him try,” Becca said calmly. The idiot had been trying to steer public opinion about her ever since January, when the paperwork had come in with enough signatures to officially qualify her as a candidate. At the Valentine’s Day celebration—which she’d chaired—he’d been careful to praise the job she’d done, while vocally “worrying” that the town’s needs were cutting into her family time with Marc. In an April interview with the Cupid’s Bow Clarion, Mayor Truitt expressed his gratitude for the support of his wife and grown children, subtly undermining Becca by saying he couldn’t imagine how difficult the job would be for a single parent.

      In response, Becca had reminded everyone that Sheriff Cole Trent, the best sheriff in three generations, did his job successfully while raising two daughters alone. Of course, his circumstances had recently changed, now that he’d met and married Kate Sullivan, but Becca’s point had been made.

      “You’re taking this remarkably well,” Hadley said, her tone admiring. “I was so mad that on the drive over here, I was imagining far-fetched schemes to have Truitt disgraced. One of them involved costumes and code words and his ending up in a South American prison.”

      Becca shook her head at the younger woman. She’d wanted the librarian on her campaign because Hadley was bright and creative, but sometimes her imagination went to weird places. “We don’t need elaborate schemes—”

      “Code names could be fun,” Sierra said.

      “—when we have talent and skill,” Becca finished. “Truitt is shortsighted. He can create unnecessary obstacles, СКАЧАТЬ