Chapter 21
SIENNA
“I warned you that you shouldn’t have come here. I’m everyone’s date but yours.”
I really don’t mind.
While there are pink and red hearts floating around the large hall of Town Hall, I’m getting nauseated by it all. If you weren’t in love before you walked inside, it was going to be shoved down your throat by the end of the night.
And, being in any sort of love or adoration with Thaddeus Delacroix, I don’t see it ever happening.
Nor did I see it with Jonah.
Nope, my attention span is as short as one of my students, because Jonah was great, he just didn’t excite me at all.
Thaddeus is no different.
In fact, he’s worse.
Meetings, budgets, town complaints, plans, renovations, new bills, and his five-year plan have all been constant topics of conversation with Thaddeus since I met him. I thought going out a few times with the mayor would be something new—it is—and someone who could keep my mind busy.
It’s not working.
The idea of being the mayor’s anything gives me hives, and the attention he receives makes me want to go hide in a dark, secluded corner somewhere.
Not that there is one.
And, if there were, someone would surely be dragging me out of it.
With Thaddeus comes too many eyeballs, and I’m not aspiring to be Jackie Kennedy of Magnolia Ridge. The townsfolk here have Thaddeus on a pedestal, and he lives for it.
Even though he says he doesn’t.
However, he couldn’t be less humble if he tried. In fact, when someone isn’t speaking to him, he searches for someone to.
It’s…ridiculous, to say the least.
We’ve been nonstop spoken to from the moment we hit the door, and his charm that he throws on everyone puts me on edge a little. It comes so easily for him that I can’t constitute anything he says to me as true or valid.
“Are you thirsty?” Thaddeus asks as he strolls with me on his arm to a long table with beverages and a punch bowl, where a few groups of people are conversing.
More people.
“Yes,” I lie because I want to see if he gets me a drink first or gets caught up in another conversation. “I’m parched.”
“Lemonade or—Mr. Parkins, I got your note the other day about a neighbor painting their home the wrong shade of white.” Oh my God. “I think we should schedule a time to meet up to go over it.”
I don’t bother honing in on Mr. Parkins or his response. I just stand still, thinking about how I’m going to call off dating to begin with.
“He’s going to lose his mind,” I hear a woman suddenly whisper loud enough for me to hear. “He liked that girl.”
Focusing on the whereabouts of the voice, I find two middle-aged women cuddled together conspiratorially, both sipping on red punch and staring at something behind me.
Maebelle and Agnes.
I should’ve known.
“He was no good for her anyway,” Agnes replies loud enough for me to hear and anyone else not in another conversation. “That was years ago.”
“You know how he gets. He’s a man-child.”
Mindlessly, I smirk, immediately getting caught by Agnes and Maebelle’s stare. I swear, I would’ve hated to be their kid. You couldn’t get away with anything.
“Ask sweet Sienna over there,” Agnes says with a nod in my direction. “She teaches his kid.”
I frown as Maebelle shrugs. “A kid raising a kid. Except Luca has always shown up for his.”
We’re talking about Micah.
“He’s going to lose his mind. He liked that girl.”
“He was no good for her anyway. That was years ago.”
What girl from years ago?
Heath’s mother?
“How is Heath?” Agnes asks me from the other side of the beverage table, appearing concerned. “Is he doing okay?”
I guess it depends on your definition of okay.
“He’s…good,” I finally reply. “He’s a smart kid.”
“Good,” Maebelle says with a bit of sighed relief. “His mama doesn’t need to be in his life.”
“Not at all,” Agnes tacks on. “She’s trying to get custody, and Micah has been fightin’ tooth and nail to stop that from happening.”
“Has a big city slicker boyfriend, I hear.”
“Corrupt.”
“Sells cars but lives in a two-million-dollar home?”
Agnes scoffs. “Luca has been raisin’ that child since he was a few months old. She ran out quicker than a church potluck casserole.”
“And she knows better than to show her face around here, too.”
“They’re in the middle of a custody battle?” I ask, because why not? I’m just feeding into Maebelle and Agnes’s need for gossip and I already knew that. But they’ll spill everything I need to know as Heath’s teacher, right?
“Big one,” Maebelle responds.
“Dirty one,” Agnes adds. “Whole town has been feedin’ him.”
That’s good.
“Didn’t expect to see him with Zoe Ridgeway, though.”
My stupid brain doesn’t compute to not look for a Zoe Ridgeway and Micah in the same sentence, but I still turn to look.
It’s what I get.
I locate Micah Wolfe in three point five seconds with black jeans and a red button-up shirt with a beautiful blonde on his arm.
She’s in a form-fitting pink dress that’s still modest, and her hair is wavy, cascading down her shoulders as she laughs on Micah’s arm at something the group around her said.
And, as if on cue, Micah’s blue eyes flick and latch onto me like he knew I was standing here all along.
My skin prickles in excited goosebumps, but my heart…she slows because he’s here with a female whom he can openly parade around town without any consequence.
“I did,” Agnes says through the silence. “It’s an ego play.” Both Maebelle and I glance at Agnes at the same time for information and input on that comment. And like any other small-town gossip, she doesn’t disappoint. “Luca hates Tad.”
“Still?” Maebelle wrinkles her nose. “That was decades ago.”
“They still live in the same town, Maebelle,” Agnes scolds, bringing her punch glass to her ruby lips. “Rivals never die here.”
“Does make it more interesting.”
“Why rivals?”
Sienna, shut up, will you?
Agnes steals a look behind me, where Thaddeus is, and must be in the clear because she says under her breath, “Immature boy stuff, really. Luca and Tad never liked each other before, but I remember—well, it was rumored that Luca drove Tad’s car into Bellewood Pond.
That boy just got it a week before for his birthday. ”
“Then he stole his girlfriend.”
My eyes bulge. “What?”
Maebelle nods toward where I was just looking at Micah. “Zoe Ridgeway.”
“It’s not confirmed,” Agnes retorts. “However, the two of them got closer after that.”
“And they’re still close.”
“We’re hopin’ for a friends-to-lovers kinda deal, but it’s been a long time.”
“But maybe it’s blossomin’.”
“Could be. Zoe doesn’t stir up drama. She’d be good for Luca. But that rivalry with hers and the Hales. Luca is friends with the Hale boy.”
“They haven’t done anything to each other in a while, so I think it died down. Besides, Luca needs a woman.”
“She’s pretty enough.”
“Good family.”
“Her mama could be a little less talkative, though. She just told Adeline Baker that her apple pies were better than mine, and I have a mind to fix that wrong today.”
“They are,” Agnes conveys without a bit of empathy construed in her words. “But you make a better blueberry, Maebelle.”
Her friend gasps loudly. “How dare you make an assumption—”
“It’s not an assumption, Mae. I’ve had ’em.”
A palm suddenly presses into my lower back, and Tad’s voice is in my ear with, “You didn’t grab any lemonade.”
Irritation suddenly runs through me because he’ll charm and flirt with anything moving in this town for his own benefit, but he won’t grab me a glass of lemonade.
“I thought that was your job,” I deadpan at the same moment Agnes walks away from Maebelle, and she immediately follows her away.
Great.
I was hoping they’d keep Tad company for me or grill him on some town problems, but pies are more important now, apparently.
“Of course,” he drawls with a small chuckle. “Where are my manners now?”
Used up on anyone but your date.
“Peach or regular? I recommend—”
“Why, Thaddeus Delacroix,” declares a young, feminine southern voice from my left. “How could you let this pretty young thing stand here with no beverage?”
Tad and I both glance over to find the beautiful blonde I discovered earlier next to Micah.
Which would mean…
Oh crap.
Her beautiful green eyes suddenly flick over to me, and I’m in sheer awe of how gorgeous she is.
Her blonde hair alone makes her pop out because it’s long and this exquisite shade of gold. A plethora of freckles are sprinkled along her high cheekbones and cheeks that give her this warm feel.
Even her smile that she’s giving me is welcoming.
Except, the man I know she’s with is something I just can’t deal with now.
“Zoe,” Tad breathes at my side, sounding almost nervous but definitely caught off guard. “What are you doin’ here?”
“It’s a town event,” she deadpans for a moment, her deep Southern drawl from earlier gone, and that pretty grin she had on her face suddenly disappears. “Aren’t I supposed to give back to the community?”
“Since when do you do that?”
She opens her mouth to say something, but then I hear Micah cut in with, “You wouldn’t notice, Tad. Your head is shoved up too many asses to notice the folks that actually contribute around here.”
The woman known as Zoe doesn’t allow Thaddeaus another word when she extends her hand to me and asks, “You’re the new-ish schoolteacher, yes?”
I nod, taking her hand, even though I don’t want to, and reply, “I am. Sienna Vesper.”
“Zoe Ridgeway. I’ve heard nothin’ but nice things about you through all the town gossip.”
I gape at her. “Thanks.”
She smiles again. “Though I would like to know…is it true you moved here because you lost a bet and had to move somewhere with three stoplights?”
“What?”
“Or is it because you’re a writer and needed background characters?” She’s teasing me, and she’s perfect at it. “Town gossip.”
Right.
How could I get confused?
Although I was hoping it would’ve been something a little more dramatic.
I shake my head. “Neither of those. I was running away from my evil stepmother, who wanted me to marry a prince who couldn’t cut up his own food.”
Zoe’s smile widens. “I figured. Welcome to Magnolia Ridge. My family is one of the first settlers in this place, and that’s the only interesting fact I have about myself.”
“A bit egotistical. Magnolia Ridge. Ridgeway.”
I half expect Zoe to get offended, but I’m quickly learning she’s not like most women in town and can take a joke because she chuckles.
“I still brag about it.”
“Didn’t think about going into the world of politics?”
Zoe’s focus lands on Thaddeus, still behind me. “I dunno. I think Tad could use a run for his money.”
“I couldn’t,” he chimes in flatly. “You wouldn’t like it.”
“You seem to be havin’ a ball.”
“That’s because I love this town and you were trying to get out.”
“Yes,” she confirms. “But you made sure I stayed with you. I’d say it was fate. Maybe Sienna just unlocked a new path for me.”
“She’s well-liked, too, Tad,” Micah emits, sending a faint ripple of goosebumps up my arm. “I think I might help her run and be her campaign manager.”
Thaddeus scoffs. “Do you even know how to read, Wolfe?”
Whoa.
I’ve seen nothing but overly polite and proper Thaddeus Delacroix, but now I’m starting to see what lies behind the perfectly pressed suits.
“Not good,” Micah admits as if that’s true. “But I’m sure Miss Vesper could tutor me.”
Ha.
Never.
“I believe you’re a lost cause,” Thaddeus returns simply. “And Sienna’s time is valuable.”
“She’s already taught me a few things,” Micah imparts with amusement. “She’s very giving.”
Heat rushes to my cheeks as I try, with everything in me, not to squirm or move. I haven’t looked at him yet, but I can feel how close he is.
And I know damn well he keeps stealing looks at me.
“Sienna would be an asset under my team,” Thaddeus announces as if we’ve discussed it. “I’m sure she and I can use that to our advantage.”
“Her time is, like you said, valuable, Tad. I don’t think she’ll be wasting that on being the mayor’s bitch.”
Lord.
“Bitch?” Thaddeus immediately gripes, taking the bait and running into the game Micah is playing. “I’ll have you know—”
“Let’s dance, Tad,” Zoe interrupts, stepping forward to make him do it. “We can talk politics. I’m interested in this mayor thing now.”
“I’m with—” Zoe reaches for him and pulls on his arm toward the dance floor, sending Thaddeus almost stumbling on his feet.
She doesn’t allow him to argue with her, guiding him to the dance floor where a slow song is playing that I don’t bother to register.
However, what I do is Micah and his sudden three steps in front of me, so I’m forced to look up at him.
I can’t stand being in this small town while he resides in it.
I’ve tried for three months to get over what we had, and it’s just a painful reminder that I’m more pathetic than I thought I was.
I’ve spent less time with this man, but I can’t do anything but compare him to any other dude in Magnolia Ridge. I still walk around looking for him so I can dodge him. I look at Heath in class and wonder how he’s doing.
All things…that shouldn’t matter, but they do.
“Tell me, Miss Vesper,” Micah starts, and I hold my breath for what he could possibly want from me. “How, on this God’s green Earth, did you have the misfortune of landing yourself within the confines of Thaddeus Delacroix?”
“School,” I manage to pass through my lips. “He…was there to inspire the youth to dream and—”
“He won his election because the guy he was running against was seventy-five years old and couldn’t remember how he got into the race in the first place.
He stayed in it because it entertained the town to watch Tad lose his shit on all his vote for me signs that were borderline inappropriate but equally funny. ”
“And you’re telling me this because…”
“You’re wasting your time.” He takes that moment to step closer, and the oxygen to my lungs stops on his dime. “I told you…you won’t be moving on without me unless I approve. And, Sienna…I’m never going to approve.”