13. Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Thirteen
W here is it?
When Tony had arrived back at city hall, he’d asked around about the missing laptop. No one had seen it. How could that be?
A laptop, no matter how small, didn’t just sprout legs and walk off on its own. Where could Aster have put it?
He was more determined than ever to raise the issue of a networking system for all city employees.
Things like this should not happen in this day and age.
Bluestar had to modernize, even if he had to drag the entire city council kicking and screaming into the current century.
They all wanted the money from a growing economy, but they didn’t want to take a portion of those proceeds and reinvest it in the island. That had to end.
The loss of the festival plans was a relatively small problem in the grand scheme of things.
However, if they didn’t nip this problem in the bud, he didn’t want to imagine the problems they could face with everything housed on individual computers.
What if those computers were to get infected with a virus? Or the hard drive died?
This pushed a networking system to the top of his priorities. He realized that making enemies of the city council wouldn’t help his chances of getting re-elected when the time came. And that was why he was going to have to go about this gently. He just hadn’t formulated a plan yet.
His afternoon flew by in a mix of phone calls, meetings and making various approvals. It wasn’t any different than most of his afternoons, except for the times when he kept getting distracted with thoughts of Lily. Now that part was definitely different.
And now...well, now their paths were intertwined...at least until the arts festival was over. Was it wrong that he wanted time to slow down? And was it bad of him that he wasn’t anxious to resolve the problems caused by the missing laptop?
He cleared his throat. Of course, it was. He was the mayor. It was his job to see that things ran smoothly on the island.
And the arts festival was highly anticipated by locals as well as people from the mainland. It wasn’t just visual arts. There were also musical artists performing in different parts of the town. He recalled all of this from his prior meetings with Aster.
Then it dawned on him that he’d taken notes during their meetings. He’d wanted to make sure he had talking points when he spoke to the city council, who were hesitant about all of the new events the island was instituting. The council was not quick to change.
His gaze moved over the top of his desk. It was all neatly organized. Everything was sorted and in its appropriate spot. He liked orderliness.
And then he thought of his leather-bound portfolio. He could write faster than he could type, so he often used pen and paper when taking notes. He also liked the feel of a pen in his hand.
He recalled taking notes at his last meeting with Aster.
He opened his bottom desk drawer and pulled out his portfolio.
Without even closing the drawer, his gaze was already scanning the notes.
They certainly weren’t what he’d consider detailed.
He mentally admonished himself for not taking the time to write more.
He sighed. Nothing could be done about it now.
He glanced at the little crystal and nickel clock his sister had gifted him when he won the mayoral election. It sat on his desk next to his computer monitor. It was now a quarter till six. He didn’t want to be late for his dinner with Lily.
He pushed the desk drawer closed. With his good arm, he grabbed the portfolio and headed out the door.
“What has you smiling?” Nora, the cleaning lady asked. She gazed at him from behind her black-rimmed glasses. Her eyes were sharp, as though she didn’t miss a thing.
He was smiling? He hadn’t realized. “I’m just happy to get out of here at a reasonable hour.”
As she nodded, a few strands of gray hair came loose from the bun at the back of her head. “Now you just need to get a social life so you can find a nice young lady.”
“Oh, Nora, you know that I’m a confirmed bachelor.”
“You just haven’t met the right person yet.
When you do, don’t let the moment slip through your fingers.
Before you know it, you’ll be my age and looking back on all of the lost moments in life—the times you should have said yes instead of no.
And you’re left wondering what would have happened if you had taken a chance. ”
Nora had a big heart and no family of her own. Maybe that was why she was always handing out free advice.
Most of the time, he let her advice go in one ear and out the other, but he was wondering if he should heed this particular warning.
Life was already going by rather quickly.
Perhaps he didn’t want to end up old and alone.
Maybe there was someone special in this world for him.
Just as quickly, Lily’s image formed in his mind.
“That look on your face says you might have found the right person for you,” Nora said.
He shook his head. “There’s no one serious in my life. But thank you for the advice. I’ll definitely keep it in mind.”
Nora beamed. “I think things are going to work out for you.”
She whistled a little tune as she pushed her cart down the hallway.
He stepped outside and enjoyed the warmth of the early evening sunshine. As he climbed into his cart, he realized he should have offered to bring something for their dinner date, um...dinner meeting.
But he had no idea what was on the menu, so he wouldn’t know what to pick up. Still, it didn’t stop him from swinging by the market.
When he stepped in the door, he glanced around to see if Neil was there.
He didn’t spot his friend. Tony grabbed a bunch of fresh-cut flowers they had displayed near the front of the store.
They were pink, yellow, and white blooms. He didn’t know the exact names of the types of flowers.
He just knew they would make Lily smile—at least he hoped they would.
He had just paid for them and was on his way out the door when Neil was coming in. His friend smiled when he spotted him, but when his gaze drifted to the flowers in Tony’s hand, his eyes widened.
“You shouldn’t have gone to the bother,” Neil said in a teasing tone.
“Very funny. What are you up to?”
“The better question is where are you headed with those flowers?” Neil arched a questioning brow.
Tony’s pulse raced as his mind searched for an answer—any answer that had nothing to do with Neil’s sister. “Um, they’re for a friend.”
“Really? Does this friend have a name?”
Name? He swallowed hard. “No. She doesn’t.”
Neil laughed. “Well, I hope you have a good evening with no-name. I’ll talk to you later.”
Tony continued toward his cart. All the while he admonished himself for thinking flowers would be a kind gesture. Maybe he should have told his oldest friend that the flowers were for Lily. He wondered what Neil’s reaction would have been.
After all, when Neil had warned him away from Lily, they’d been kids. It was different now. They were grown adults capable of making their own decisions. Maybe he’d see how this dinner went before he crossed that bridge.
He pulled up in front of the address Lily had given him. It was an older two-story home. The siding was a light teal with white trim.
The home was split into two units. One on the first floor and there were steps on the side leading up to the second story. Lily was on the first floor.
With the flowers held behind his back, he stepped onto the covered porch.
He noticed how she’d decorated it. There was a white porch swing at one end with yellow cushions and a couple of teal-colored Adirondack chairs at the other end with pink and white upholstered pillows.
There were flower pots in a rainbow of colors just like the flowers in them.
There was no real cohesiveness to the color scheme. He would have picked two or three colors and stuck to it, but Lily didn’t feel restricted when it came to her decorating. And even though it wasn’t his style, it was still somehow cozy.
“Do you like what you see?” Her voice drew him from his thoughts.
“Um, yes. It’s very...” He searched for the right word.
She pushed the door open and stepped onto the porch. “It’s very relaxing. It’s a place for me to escape in the evening. And if you like this, you should check out my back deck. It comes with a beautiful view.”
Then, remembering the flowers, he pulled them from behind his back and held them out to her. “These are for you.”
A smile lifted the corners of her mouth and made her eyes twinkle. She accepted the flowers and sniffed them. “Thank you. They’re beautiful. They’ll look perfect on the table.” She opened the screen door and held it for him. “Come on in.”
He wasn’t sure what to expect with the interior.
The place had been remodeled with an open concept floorplan with a wall of windows facing the ocean.
He suddenly regretted getting an apartment close to the office.
He moved to the sliding doors and stared out at the beach and ocean as long shadows of evening settled over them.
He turned to her. “This is really nice.”
“Thanks.” She moved to the kitchen and searched through the cabinets until she found a flower vase.
“If I knew you were interested in a beach view, I would have let you know about the unit upstairs. They just finished the remodel. Thank goodness. It was really noisy. But they’ve already leased it to a young couple. ”
“It’s okay. I just signed a five-year lease for my place in town.”
She turned off the faucet after filing the vase. “Five years?”
He turned to her and saw the puzzlement that shone in her eyes. “Why not five years? It locks in the rate so I don’t have to worry about them raising it on me every year.”
“But five years is a long time.” She trimmed the flower stems and then placed the flowers in the vase. “How do you know where you’ll want to live five years from now?”