Getting Over It: Sapphire Falls Book Six (16 page)

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

Hailey didn’t want to take anyone on, least of all Ty.

“Hey, wait a second,” Phoebe said, stepping in front of Lauren. “You’re a Bennett. You’re from the enemy camp. This is your brother-in-law.”

Lauren nodded. “We’re going to be a divided household.”

“What do you mean?” Hailey asked.

“Ty’s got a team around him,” Lauren said. “I was over there for his big announcement. He’s got TJ and Hope, Tucker and Delaney, and his mom and dad all campaigning for him.”

Hailey groaned. Only the most beloved family in town. There was no way she could compete with that. They were not only loved, the Bennetts were fourth-generation pillars of the community.

“Yeah, Hope and Delaney are too new to not side with their guys, I guess,” Lauren said. “But we were friends before Travis and I got together,” she told Hailey with a smile. “And girl power and all that. Plus,” she added. “You’re a great mayor. Ty is an Olympic athlete with an addiction to being in the tabloids. You’ve got this.”

Hailey felt a warmth spread through her and was startled by the intensity of it—and the source.

Lauren was a lot like her, which meant she wasn’t often the warm, fuzzy type.

Maybe the motherhood thing could be blamed here too. But Hailey would take the encouragement wherever she could get it.

“Thanks, Lauren. You’re hired.” She looked around the bakery. “I can only pay you in cupcakes though.”

Lauren laughed. “Well, these are Scott’s Sweets cupcakes, so they’re like gold.”

“Aw, thanks,” Adrianne said with a pleased smile.

“And I can’t really pay
you
for all these cupcakes either,” Hailey told her.

Adrianne waved her hand. “On the house, Madam Mayor. I also think you’re great at your job and completely deserve to win this election. As your past assistant, I can attest to how seriously you take the job and how much you love this town. These cupcakes are part of my contribution.”

Hailey felt the distinct sting of tears behind her eyes and she started blinking rapidly.

“Okay, so we head to the Come Again,” she said.

“And after you toast Ty, you invite everyone over
here
for
your
party,” Lauren said. “We’ll use it as a way to illustrate the fact that Ty might be a good time, but no one wants a frat boy in charge of their town. They want the serious woman.”

Hailey knew Sapphire Falls. A lot of people in town would be fine with a frat boy who could throw a good party. “I don’t know. Beer up against cupcakes?” she asked.

“I thought of that,” Adrianne said. “Which is why we have orange-ale cupcakes, whiskey-chocolate cupcakes and tequila-lime cupcakes. Along with the usual chocolate and vanilla.”

Hailey’s eyes widened as Adrianne pointed out the specialty cupcakes she’d made.

Lauren was clearly impressed. “Orange-ale?”

Adrianne nodded. “Used a wheat ale beer in that one.”

“Wow.” Lauren nodded. “This is a really good start. In fact,” she said slowly, her tone indicating she was brainstorming as she talked. “We can use that. Ty’s an average guy. They shouldn’t get star struck. He’s just buying them a beer. Like anyone else in town could. But
Hailey
,” she said, her voice growing excited. “She’s taking it to the next level. Like she will in office. Ty can do the basics. But Hailey is creative, willing to think outside the box, go that extra step to making everything better.”

Hailey kind of liked that. “But Adrianne was the one who thought up the cupcakes,” she pointed out.

“We’re a team,” Lauren assured her. “That means her ideas are your ideas. This is a great plan.”

Hailey appreciated Lauren’s confidence.

Hailey felt her first true smile bloom. “Okay, let’s go to the Come Again. Just let me change into my campaign color first.”

Hailey walked into the Come Again just after six.

An hour past when he’d expected her to come storming through the doors.

But she wasn’t storming. She was walking confidently. In sexy four-inch red heels that matched the red skirt that molded to her hips, thighs and ass, and a sapphire-blue blouse that hugged her high breasts and brought out the blue in her eyes. Her hair was piled up on her head in a twist.

She looked like sex on a stick.

Patriotic sex on a stick.

She also wore a smile.

He hadn’t been expecting that.

Right behind her were Phoebe, Adrianne, Lauren, Joe and Mason.

That, he
had
been expecting.

He wanted to grin at the show of support, including the way they flanked her like bodyguards. But he couldn’t give away that he was
too
happy to see her rising to this challenge.

He also couldn’t act
too
nervous about the fact that she was here without having talked to him about all of this prior to five o’clock, as he’d asked. He’d really intended to warn her, tell her his plan, make sure she understood that this was actually a grand romantic gesture.

He completely believed that she was capable of anything. But running unopposed twice hadn’t let her feel the full glory of winning, of being chosen
.
Hell, that was even better than the winning he did—no one picked him, no one weighed him against someone else and said, “You’re the best. We want you.” He just had to be stronger and faster than the others. When he crossed the finish line, there was no question where he stood. But Hailey was being
chosen
. She deserved that. She needed that.

He was sure it didn’t seem that way from where she was standing at the moment though.

“Good evening, everyone,” she greeted as a hush fell over the room. She focused on him.

He was seated across the room from her, lounging at one of the tables with his brothers.

The place was packed and he’d had to cut off the open bar about twenty minutes ago. But the crowd was happy, jovial even, and had been growing since five when he’d made his big announcement and news had gotten around town.

“I wanted to stop by and congratulate Tyler on this big decision,” Hailey said to the room.

Ty sat up straighter in his chair, charming smile firmly in place as everyone looked at him. “Why thank you, Madam Mayor.”

He saw the faint blush in her cheeks and grinned wider.

Hailey looked around the room and nodded. “And Ty really does bring a sense of fun wherever he goes. That’s important. It’s important to kick back once in a while, appreciate the good life we have here, enjoy the people who make us smile.”

Ty waited for the
but
that he could tell was coming.

“And like all of you, I’m happy whenever someone feels like their roots are here, and that Sapphire Falls is the home they come back to when life changes and they have a new perspective on what’s important. I’m sure Ty has shared with you what has prompted his move back to Sapphire Falls.”

Ty sat up even straighter at that. He hadn’t, actually, shared about his accident or Bryan’s situation. Bryan was from Sapphire Falls too, and Ty knew every one of Bryan’s friends and family members, but it was his story to share when he was ready.

Ty coughed and got to his feet. “Actually, Mayor Conner, I announced my candidacy and, um, bought a round or two. We haven’t gotten past the celebration into the nitty-gritty yet.”

Hell, it wasn’t as if he was actually trying to make this a serious competition. He was fine with never getting into the nitty gritty.

“Oh, well, don’t be shy,” Hailey said. “After all, you were living in Denver up until a few days ago. And for the past
eleven years
. We know that you haven’t contemplated and planned this for long, but sometimes big life changes can prompt rash decisions. I’m sure we would
all
love to hear why you’re suddenly running for mayor.”

Ty bit back a smile. She was good. She was pointing out reasons why his running for mayor was a complete joke while sounding friendly and almost concerned. She was also putting him on the spot. If he actually wanted to win this thing, he’d be feeling like an idiot right about now.

When she looked at him, he clearly read the
what the fuck?
in her eyes.

She thought he was messing with her. He knew a few people in the bar earlier had asked how much he’d had to drink. Another had asked if he’d been dared.

He was running. He just didn’t want to win. And she’d understand as soon as they had two minutes alone together. If she’d met him before five, she’d know all of it already and wouldn’t be looking at him like he’d spit in her root beer float—confused, ticked off, disgusted and even a little hurt.

Well, he wasn’t going to tell everyone about Bryan like this. He’d have to go with the truth about why he was running even before he told Hailey.

Ty got to his feet and tucked his hands into his front pockets. “I’m in love,” he said.

There was a collective gasp from the audience, but Ty was only looking at Hailey. She looked torn between wanting to puke and punch him.

“I came back to be with her,” he said, turning to the audience and hoping to pull their attention away from Hailey’s face, where it was easy to see that she was reacting to his announcement strangely for a woman who supposedly disliked him.

“Who is it?” someone called out.

“A high school sweetheart?” someone else asked.

“He dated Maddie Temple for a while,” someone suggested in the back.

“You’re running for mayor to impress her?” someone closer asked.

Wanting to take the speculation off of Maddie, Ty said, “I want her to see I’m serious about all of the things we’ve talked about. About my life and how I feel about her and how I see the future.”

He could feel Hailey’s tension even across the few feet that separated them.

“Being in love with someone is a strange motivation for running for office,” Hailey said coolly, crossing her arms.

Yep, especially when he was running
against
the woman he was in love with.

“Well.” He turned to her with a big grin. He happened to think it was perfect. “No one appreciates where they’re from as much as someone who’s been away and longed to come back.”

“And how does that qualify you to govern the town?” she asked. “Loving it and knowing how to take care of it are not the same thing.”

He nodded. “That’s true.” She was right. Everyone in the room at the moment loved Sapphire Falls. But no one in the room could lead them like Hailey did.

That’s what
she
needed to understand.

But he also couldn’t nod and agree with her and still expect to run a decent race. He intended to run maybe even a slightly better-than-decent race. Just not a
winning
race. “But I have some big ideas for increasing revenue here. And I’m a nationally known name and face. When the media finds out I’m running for mayor of my small hometown where I got my start because I’m in love and wanting to settle down, they’ll be all over it. Sapphire Falls will get some great attention.”

“Attention because the notorious troublemaking playboy who is really good at riding bikes and swimming decided to run for mayor?” Hailey asked. “How does that help anyone but
you
, Ty?”

And this was what he’d known would happen if she
didn’t
know about his plan ahead of time. She’d get bitchy and snarky toward him in public. It was also why so many people were looking at this mayoral race as a great source of entertainment over the next couple of weeks.

But that wouldn’t help her in
her
race at all.

She really should have talked to him before five like he’d asked.

“Well, I do know a little something about
races
,” Ty quipped. “Against
other people
,” he added. Okay, that was a dickhead thing to say, but if he was an ass, then they would all forgive her for being snotty in return. They would both look bad, but at least they’d be even.

Hailey drew herself up tall. “I would love to know your thoughts on the state-proposed highway expansion that would include the section that runs by Sapphire Falls,” she said.

He blinked at her. “You would?”

“If you win, I’ll be your constituent. I would really like to know what the man leading my hometown thinks about the major issues.”

Fuck, there were major issues? That was one of the things people loved about living here—there were no major issues.

He studied her face.

Or maybe it felt like there were no major issues because Hailey took care of them before anyone had to be bothered or upset by them.

“Expanding that section of the highway sounds great,” he said. He didn’t know what the expansion actually included, but he did know that if you got stuck behind a tractor or a combine on that part of the highway, there was no getting around it for miles.

“They’ll take out the sidewalk all the kids use to get down to the park and ball fields,” someone said.

Oh. Okay, that was a problem. The main city park where the swimming pool, ball fields and picnic and play areas were located was across the highway and two blocks east of the town square.