Chapter Two
“Y ou look mighty determined today. All done up in your suit and all,” Minnie Smith noted as she finished the last of the breakfast buffet in the dining area on the back sun porch for the guests in the four small cottages at the back of the property, which all had porches with rockers overlooking the large flower garden and fountain. Tori had coaxed her into remaining at the Primrose Inn after Tori had finally been able to make the down payment and take it over from Addie Sims. Minnie was a feisty housekeeper/major domo around the inn, and she enabled Tori to venture out into the community and eventually run for office.
And Tori had definitely jumped off the end of the short pier into deep water. Running for mayor on the slogan of “Destiny’s River…a future for everyone,” she had simply embraced the country town that had embraced her and an orphan cat long ago. It was home, and she would make sure care was taken where needed for anyone who called it theirs.
“I have some meetings today. And I do believe my ‘power’ suit is called for.” She laughed. The truth was she liked the newest purchase for her wardrobe. The navy jacket with thin white pinstripes, tailored slacks of the same material was given a flash of color by the bright scarlet silk blouse with its scarf tied casually and secured on her shoulder by a small gold ladybug pin her siblings had given to her when she began her term as mayor.
It was going to be a good start to the week. She could feel it. She gathered her scarlet shoulder bag and material for the office and with a last wave was on her way.
*
And that thought lasted within her mind all of fifteen minutes as she drove around the town square, found her reserved parking spot and then came to a screeching halt just in time to narrowly miss the bumper of the huge black truck that sat in her parking space…clearly marked with a sign that specified it was Reserved for the Mayor . The last time she checked, she was that mayor and that had been her parking space for the last six months, since her election. Everyone in town knew that.
Therefore, the lawbreaker must be from out of town. Spying another spot across the street, Tori pulled around and slid her small blue SUV into the parking place. Her door might have had an extra hard push as she put her hip into closing it with exasperation fueling her. Her arms full of the city maps and tax books she had taken home to study the evening before, she balanced them, her traveler’s mug of coffee, and shoulder bag as she waited for clearance at the streetlight to cross the two lanes of traffic and head up the steps leading into the side door of the courthouse. Usually she would stop and admire the newly planted pecan trees sprinkled across the lawns, or the green squares of grass that the Ladies Garden Guild had planted to beautify the town’s square, but she needed to stop into the sheriff’s office before she went upstairs to her own.
“Morning, Ms. Mayor,” came the greeting from the uniformed deputy behind the long counter as she stepped through the open doorway from the wide hall. Then he dropped his pen and hurried to come through the swinging gate that separated the reception area from the desks and other workers. “Here, let me help you out there.” His arms were already taking the maps and the heavy books from her.
“Thanks, Monty, I appreciate it. I hadn’t planned to stop here but I do have some business with the sheriff. Is he in and available?”
“That depends. Is it my sweet sister or the mayor of our fair town who is asking to see me?” The tall, uniformed figure nodded at his deputy standing with her items in his arms. “Monty, why don’t you deliver those up to the mayor’s office?”
“Yes, sir, on my way.” He left the pair.
“Thank you, Monty,” she called over her shoulder at his retreating back. “I owe you a milkshake over at Tillie’s.”
“Anytime, Ms. Mayor,” he called out from the hallway.
“He’s such a nice young man,” she commented to the man standing in front of her, his arms crossed against his chest, waiting. “He’d be perfect for Reverend Lowry’s daughter, Jennifer.”
“So, this is you stopping in and giving me an update on your latest attempts as the quasi-town-matchmaker?”
“No, brother dear. This is me , a concerned citizen of this town, making a complaint to the sheriff. There is evidently a visitor to our fair county who doesn’t know how to read signs. I almost collided with this hulking big truck parked illegally in my parking space out front. I think you need to have a deputy cite him or her.”
“I see. Well, I shall certainly see that one of my deputies, one who is charged with making the rounds of the parking outside the courthouse, finds out about this interloper who had the audacity to displace our favorite city official from her rightful place.”
Her hands went to her hips and she gave him her familiar big sister look …which spoke volumes without many words needed. “Look, little brother, you may have a shiny badge on your chest, but just remember whose dinner table you grace more often than not for home-cooked meals. That know-it-all grin can just starve if you get smart with me.”
His hands went into the air to establish the fact he was giving in to an apology. “This department would never want to be accused of any complaint being made light of. We’ll handle it with our utmost diligence.”
“I am leaving it in your competent hands then.” She smiled up at him. “It’s meat loaf night, so don’t be late.” She turned and headed out the door. Another smile crossed her mind as she thought about how the lawbreaker in her parking space would soon get a special lesson.
“There you are,” came the usual greeting from the older man seated behind the oak desk in the middle of the room, with its row of matching chairs rimming the two side walls. Wallace Samuels was the gatekeeper to her office. No one saw the mayor without being on his list. He guarded her time and he guarded her as well. It was a mixture of the benevolent uncle, the overprotective father, and the pit bull persona of an office manager that made it all hum with efficiency and she was forever grateful each day to be blessed with the man. If there was one word that was banned from everyone’s vocabulary in the entire building, it would be retirement . He had retired once before in the previous administration. But he had come out of retirement in order to ‘save the day’ and bring order from the chaos left by his predecessor in the position. He was the epitome of country welcome guarding a steel streak underneath the friendly demeanor. He was her treasure, barometer of the day, and trusted advisor.
Wallace shared the large office space with two smaller desks in the back corners. Two office assistants, Gina and Dorothea, were his backups and handled other areas of the mayor’s office and city business.
“Here I am.” She nodded, continually moving even as she passed his desk and he handed over the stack of open mail that required her attention that morning, and any phone messages on their corresponding-colored paper indicating importance from the high priority of lime green to sunny yellow meaning it could be handled sometime that day, and the pale blue for maybe this week. He stood and followed her inside her office in his normal routine, ready to go over the daily calendar that he held in his hand. Gina would handle the outer office.
“Monty indicated you were in the sheriff’s office and all the items you took home last night are on the sideboard behind you. I won’t mention the fact again that homework is a bad habit to get into.”
“And I thank you for not mentioning that” she said as she began looking through the messages. “Seems we have someone who doesn’t understand that a sign might keep one from getting a ticket for parking in the wrong space. But the sheriff’s wonderful deputies will handle it all quite well.”
Her smile slowly died away as she read and then reread the brief missive on the top of the messages…highlighted by being on lime-green paper.
“There is that ,” he commented as he settled into a chair in front of her desk.
“What is this?” she asked, the sticky green note wiggling on the tips of her two fingers as she held up the offending paper.
“Well, that would be a message from Mr. Caden Wright Lockwood. He stated that since the mayor kept later hours in the morning, he would just leave a phone message instead of wasting his valuable time in returning. He was here at eight a.m. on the dot this morning, at the office door when I opened it. When I told him you had not come into the office yet, he stood over me and dictated the message so I would get his wording correct. His words not mine. I will add that his presence made quite the impression on Gina and Dorothea.”
“You mean by being an insufferable bore with an overstated sense of self-importance?”
“I believe they stated it in different words…such as ‘drop-dead gorgeous’—that was Gina’s comment—and ‘a man’s man but a woman’s dreamboat’ from Dorothea. He did give them rather nice smiles before he left. But I suppose he might be considered by some as full of himself.”
“He is conceited,” she corrected.
“He presents himself well. And he is somewhat of a huge rodeo star.”
“A has-been showoff,” she amended.
“Seems very determined to discuss a matter of importance with you.”
“He can take a number, make an appointment like everyone else. He is not above anyone else in importance who comes to this office.”
“I don’t recall him being in this office since last year before the elections. He came in to speak to the former mayor for about five minutes.”
“Yet, he lost the write-in election to me. That’s what a person gets who doesn’t invest his time in the community but simply sends emails to his minions. And then thinks he can expect to know what is best for this community. If he can’t invest his time, then he can take his money and ego elsewhere.”
“Now that’s a shame,” came a low drawl from the doorway, causing their heads to swivel up and around in its direction. The tall figure lounged against one shoulder in the open doorframe. “I was going to make a large donation to the city park renovation…since you haven’t been very adept at pulling in donations. Maybe complete the campaign for you so that the youngsters might get to enjoy it sooner than later.”
“Mayor Parker,” Wallace said, getting to his feet and smiling at the newcomer. “May I introduce you to Mr. Cade Lockwood.”
“I think she knows who I am.” The rancher smiled in return. The Stetson he had held between the fingers of one hand slowly went back into its place on his head. His gaze went straight to hers. “And she knows where to find me if she wants to do the city’s business.”