Chapter 6
Melbourne hadn’t been planning to run this term, but now, after talking to the current mayor, he decided that he needed to get out there and win the race.
He didn’t think he could lose, just run on the platforms that the current man promised and didn’t come through with.
There were a lot of things that he could get done just from his office in the house.
He looked over at Sammy when she said his name.
“Mayor Washington is pissed because I was thinking about running for his position in town.” She asked him if he was going to do it now. “Of course I am. He called me a lazy rich kid who didn’t have the sense to get in out of the rain. That was just what I needed to hear to get me going.”
“So you’re going to run because he pushed the right buttons?
That doesn’t sound like a good reason to run.
Won’t you have enough to do working with your family?
” He said that the job was easy once he started getting projects going in the right direction.
“Then by all means, run. I’ll not move into that house, by the way. I love this one.”
“I think we can live where we want, but we will get an allowance to live where we do.” She nodded and said that sounded good.
“He actually called me lazy. I think in one day I get more done than he does in a week. Just yesterday, he was under the shade tree in the park, taking a nap while I was going over contracts for the family. I should be a shoo-in for the job.”
“You’ll have my vote for sure.” He thanked her. “I also heard that he’s been seen at the ladies’ clubs when they don’t invite him. I guess he can eat his weight in food while he’s there.” He said that he’d heard the same thing.
“He called Sidney first, thinking it was him who was running. I’d tell him to run, too, if he had not just met his mate and was still working things out.
I guess they haven’t even bonded yet.” Sammy pointed out that she had a lot to get over.
“That’s true. I never thought of that. I guess Sidney is taking his time with her.
I would too. Poor thing. There is no telling how long she’ll need to get over what happened to her as a child. ”
“I don’t know that I would ever get over it.
She’s lived a brutal life. But she’s got Sidney and Thatcher now, and that should be enough for her to get some real time in getting over her trauma.
Still. It’s a lot to get over.” He watched Sammy as she put together sandwiches for their dinner.
The cook was off, and they didn’t either one feel like cooking.
“How much mayo do you want on your sandwich? I don’t want any. ”
“I don’t either. It’s been too hot, and mayo can make my belly upset. I don’t think my dragon cares for it either.” She put the mayo away and caught him staring at her. She asked him what was wrong. “I love you. Nothing wrong, but I just wanted to tell you that I love you very much.”
“I love you too.” She kissed him on the mouth and handed him his beef sub.
“Don’t forget when you talk to the mayor again to tell him that you’re running on his platform.
He needs to hear that we don’t believe that he got anything done.
I’m still waiting for a call back from when the water department said we didn’t have a water bill anymore.
That’s not right. It’s been four months and still no return call.
I even called his office since he’s in charge of that area, and he’s not gotten me an answer yet either.
What’s going to happen is that he’s going to find out we do have a water bill, and it’s going to be about fifty times more than it should be.
I don’t want to be blind sited by something like that in the middle of the winter. ”
“I’ll call again tomorrow.” He took three hardy bites of his sub and set it down for some carrot sticks.
“I was talking to Sidney about the computer shop that he wants to open. I think it will be a great thing for this area. As it stands right now, we have to travel all the way to Columbus to get a good deal on one. And then have someone come out and set it up for us. He could do it all in one shot.”
“I bet he puts it off for a while. The second house he is having remodeled will be great for a large shop, but I don’t know how much shop he’s going to need around here.
Unless he’s thinking of expanding enough so that he could take care of the entire valley for computer needs.
” Sammy said it might take up too much of his time.
“Then if he’s got that much time, he could run for mayor. I’m just saying.”
“I’m going to run. I’ll go down to the courthouse tomorrow morning, first thing, and see what I have to do to make it work for me.
You promise I’ll have your vote, right?” He was just kidding Sammy, but she pretended to think about it.
“I think my entire family would vote for me over Washington simply because he called me rich and lazy. I don’t know what one has to do with the other, but it pissed me off enough that I’m going to beat his ass at his own job. ”
“Good for you.” They finished their sandwiches and cleaned up the mess.
Every time he thought of Washington and the way that he spoke to him, he got even more upset.
“Don’t get upset about him when you have to go and fill out the paperwork at the courthouse.
You don’t want to burn the building down with your heat just because some old man—wait, you’re an old man too.
Oh well, there’s no help for it. You’re going to have to be the bigger man and—I don’t think you can be the bigger man either.
He’s really gotten huge in the last year or so. ”
“What’s your point?” She laughed and said that she didn’t remember anymore.
But she was having fun. “You sounded like it. I’m glad that I can be the better man, how about that?
I can too. He’s been in office for far too long to be able to do his job anymore.
I think he must be about eighty-something years old. ”
“No one has ever run against him before in a long time. I guess no one cared to do the job that he says is too hard. I wonder what would have happened if someone younger had come to town and taken over his job? He’d have a fit, I think.
” Sammy smiled up at him. “You’d do a great job if you can get in.
I don’t know about deadlines or anything, but you have to get your name out there, too.
I wonder where he gets his signage from? ”
They talked about that for nearly an hour.
Sammy started taking notes on the things that he’d remembered Washington saying that he was going to get done and hadn’t.
There were quite a few of them, too. The first thing he was going to do was clean up some of the yards in town.
They were a mess because no one had cared enough to get them cleaned up anymore.
There were buildings that needed to be taken down, too.
That had been on his platform for the last five or so years, taking down dangerous buildings that needed to be taken down before they fell over on someone.
“Remember when he said that he’d get the new ball fields taken care of?
I don’t think anything has been done to them since he had that little shed put down there for them to sell snacks from.
And it’s even named after him. What did that cost, but about five hundred dollars?
The fields are still in poor shape, and they need to be cleaned up.
That’ll have to be my first project simply because they will be using them in the spring again, and that’s not that far off. ”
“Don’t forget the football fields. They were supposed to be redone ten years ago.
” He said that he remembered that. “The seating isn’t so bad, but they’re not going to last another ten years.
Not the way they’re out in the weather or anything.
Not to mention the shed that they sell snacks from on football Friday nights.
It needs to be expanded by a great deal if they’re ever going to get enough money for another band bus. ”
There were many things that he could run on that were Washington’s.
Mostly, it was things around town. She asked too about the taxes that people had to pay out for things that weren’t done, and he said he’d have to look into that.
But he thought that one of the things that had been on the higher taxes was the yards being cleaned up along Main Street.
They had a long list of things that Washington had promised and a list, too, of things that needed to be taken care of soon.
Mostly, it was what benefited the kids around town, but there was the senior living building that had been in need of an air conditioner for some time now.
They had the funds for it, but no one to go in and do the job of getting it set up.
He thought that he could do that in his spare time and get it done.
“Why not get Olivia to do it? That’s what she does, doesn’t she?” He said he’d forgotten about that. “I’ll ask her about it after you get your paperwork filed. There is no point in his getting credit for something that he had nothing to do with.”
They discovered there were a couple of more things that Olivia could help them out with, and it was the football snack shack that would benefit the most. They not only needed a bigger building but also more power for it too.
He was going to have Sammy take the list to her and see if she could help out the town by doing a few extra jobs around the town.
Getting the football shed fixed up would make a great many people happy.