6. Chapter Six
Chapter Six
Grady
T he horrified look on Kelvin’s face told me I hadn’t quite hit the mark. “You don’t like it?” I stared at the sign on my float. The wind kicked up for a moment, reminding me we were out in the country surrounded by open fields.
“Taste the new, quit the old,” Kelvin said the words slowly, as though that might make them different.
“Yeah. Maggie is old. I’m new.”
Kelvin narrowed his eyes and tilted his head. “Aren’t you supposed to be good at this?”
“At coming up with a slogan? Nope. That’s got nothing to do with my job.”
“No, I mean at arranging words.”
“Well, it was either this or ‘The new game in town.’ I thought you’d like this better. Sabrina said you’d like this better.” I wasn’t quite as baffled as I was making it sound. Yes, I’d let Sabrina pick my campaign slogan, and I knew it wasn’t a good one. I’d had to give her something in exchange for helping me, and the slogan was it. I wasn’t taking the chance of sleeping with her now that I knew she had three kids.
“I mean.” Kelvin scratched the back of his head. “You’re inviting the town to eat you.”
“Yeah,” I said, nodding. “There is that.” We stared at the incredibly large words emblazoned on the float for another minute. “I thought about going with ‘If Bush can do it, God knows I can too, ’ but it seemed a little long.”
Kelvin rubbed his face with his hand. “You promised. I even gave you a list to choose from.”
“It’s a fucking slogan. I could have put up there—This time, Vote Castillo for Mayor.” I gestured to the large decals. “At least this is memorable.”
“Sure, if you were a high school senior obsessed with eating things.”
I grimaced. Sabrina had labeled all of Kelvin’s suggestions as too boring. So, I had let Sabrina pick from a website devoted to student council slogans. Those options had seemed as good as anything else I could find on the internet. “You told me I needed people on my team. I got people.”
Most of my team were women. I’d tried to talk some of my old buddies from high school into helping, but they’d laughed at me in a good-natured way. Run against Maggie Sullivan? Fat chance. They wanted to save themselves the embarrassment. So, I’d approached their sisters and mothers instead. They’d been more agreeable. One of the benefits of my short stint with fame was my ability to switch on the charm. I lived in someone else’s skin when I slipped the charming mask on, a persona Center Stage cultivated and taught. Helpful, for sure, but it always felt a little slimy too.
“I was hoping—I don’t know what I was hoping for—but it wasn’t this.” Kelvin sighed and pulled himself onto the float.
A pang of regret pierced my chest. “Look, Kelvin. This is going to work. I promise. Today will be better than you expect. If there’s one thing I learned, it’s how to put on a show. It’ll be fine. Is it a shitty slogan? Sure. But when I’m done, it won’t matter. You gotta trust me.” I hopped onto the float beside Kelvin, and we stood staring at the rolling countryside. I didn’t want the float to be in town until the last minute. For that, I figured Kelvin was probably grateful. Everything about the float was loud, designed to be noticed, to shake things up.
Kelvin walked around the bed of the truck, surveying all the details. I hadn’t skimped on them. Lights, neon colors, huge lettering for my name and slogan. The stage would raise and lower as the float went down the town streets depending on the song I was singing. There were bubble machines, and some of my female helpers would pass out badges with my campaign slogan on them. My crew agreed to meet the float in town.
“What’s in these boxes?” Kelvin gently kicked one with his foot.
“Fireworks.” I also managed to recruit the summer students working at city hall with Pete. Both of them were in their early twenties, aspiring musicians looking for input into the industry. Talking them into borrowing the fireworks to give back at the end of the parade had been too easy. Technically, the two boys had stolen the fireworks, but they hadn’t been bright enough to make that leap. I may have told them it was a prank. It was, sort of. Mostly, the theft was a way to make myself look good. Grady saves the fireworks display , would be the headline.
“Please tell me you’re not setting those off on here.”
“You are correct,” I said. “I am not. You’ll see. It’s a grand gesture of a sort. One that’ll be sure to get Maggie’s panties in a twist.” An unfortunate choice of words.
Maggie’s panties .
The mental picture almost made me groan. A thong? A piece of lace? Simple cotton? For years, I’d done my best not to think about her. Deep under the surface, her hooks were secured. During my travels, I’d wake up soaked from a dream, those dark eyes, auburn hair, and the smattering of freckles across her nose the feature attraction. I’d sit on the edge of my bed, head in my hands and wish I’d dreamed of anyone but her. In some ways, the insane pull toward her was half of the reason I disliked her. My desire for her had overshadowed any loyalty to Trent. Unforgivable .
“Where’d the fireworks come from?” Kelvin gave me a skeptical look. An expression I was used to seeing.
“It was a goods and services exchange.”
“You did something illegal, didn’t you?”
“Me? No. Did I encourage other people to do illegal things? Possibly.”
Kelvin sighed.
“Petty theft,” I clarified. Though, I wasn’t sure the fireworks qualified for petty theft since these ones were probably expensive. I’d avoided an internet search so I could claim ignorance. That was a defense, wasn’t it? “It’ll be fine. The only people who could charge anyone would be Pete or Maggie, and they won’t.”
Kelvin laughed, but the sound didn’t hold much humor. “By the end of this, Maggie might be quite happy to see you in jail.”
My expression clouded at the mention of prison, and Kelvin reached out a hand to squeeze my shoulder.
“Sorry, man. That was shitty.” Crossing his arms, Kelvin looked at me. “Why haven’t you looped your brother into this, anyway?”
A loaded question. I’d called Trent the other night, but the conversation hadn’t accomplished much. Maggie had gotten Trent his job in Utica when he got out of prison. No matter how I had tried to position my campaign for the mayor’s job, Trent hadn’t believed I was running for the right reasons. In fact, he’d told me even if I won, I’d never stay in Little Falls, so why bother? Those words had made me clench my jaw and hang up on Trent. What did he know?
“It’s complicated,” I said.
“Yeah,” Kelvin agreed. “I guess. Most people around here didn’t give him much leeway when he got out of jail. Maybe having him as part of the campaign isn’t a great idea. He was lucky that mechanic in Utica took him on as an apprentice.”
I checked my phone, more to avoid talking about Trent than because I wanted to know the time. It was later than I expected, and I nodded at Kelvin. “You driving into town or coming on the float?”
“What would I do on the float?” Kelvin raised his eyebrows.
“Talk. I sing. I don’t talk. You can work the crowd anytime I need a little break.”
Kelvin looked thoughtful and then gave a slow nod. “I could do that.”
My cheeks were sore from grinning, and Kelvin continued his spiel for the crowd. There were few friends like Kelvin.
“When you have day-old donuts, do you keep them? No! Why? Because no one likes the taste of stale things. You don’t keep that—you throw it out. Get something newer, fresher, better.”
For a guy who had hated my choice of slogan, he was embracing the absurdity of it while the float glided through the streets, and the crowds cheered us on.
“How about another song? Who wants to hear your soon-to-be mayor play another tune?” Kelvin nodded at me as a burst of cheers erupted from the crowd.
Maggie’s float had led the parade, and when they got to the end of the route, she was supposed to be there thanking everyone for participating and inviting them to the fireworks display tonight. I wondered how much of a panic my petty theft had caused her earlier in the day. As I sang another song from my hit record, my grin widened. I couldn’t wait to see Maggie’s frustrated face. There were only a few streets left and then the grand finale.
As the parade slowed near the end, I turned up the speakers on my float, hoping the song would carry all the way to her. There were days when playing felt tiresome, but today wasn’t one of them. We glided past her like I’d instructed What’s-his-face the summer intern to do. The song finished as we came to a stop, and I was sure if we’d practiced, we couldn’t have timed it better.
I removed the microphone from its stand and jumped off the stage. “Ladies and Gentlemen of Little Falls,” my voice boomed out, echoing all around, overtaking the noise from the crowd and the other floats. “I want this year’s fireworks display to be better than any other year, so I’m donating to tonight’s display. It’s going to be the longest, biggest display yet. We’re breaking bylaws tonight, people!”
Another burst of cheering soared all around us as I put down the microphone and picked up one of the boxes at my feet. I stepped off the back of the truck bed and stood in front of Maggie, relishing the pissed-off look she was trying so hard to hide. I held out the box.
Her eyes narrowed, and she took the box from his hands, her shoulders curling under the strain. When she looked down, her jaw clenched. “So kind of you to already have the boxes stamped with Property of Little Falls City Hall .”
I chuckled. “Summer interns did that for me earlier. I didn’t want these boxes to get lost. Can you imagine losing all these expensive fireworks? Pretty irresponsible. It would be a shame if the people didn’t get a decent display for once.” The women who handed out my buttons crowded around me, talking to each other and grinning. The buzz amongst them propped me up, made me bolder.
“Gosh, Grady. It’s so good of you to buy more fireworks. The last few years the display hasn’t been the greatest.” Sabrina touched my bicep and fluttered her fake lashes. She had on more makeup than she needed, but there was still something pretty about her with her petite features, shoulder-length dark hair, and dark eyes. I couldn’t deny her attractiveness, but the presentation seemed so empty and fake, as though the makeup was compensating for something she felt was missing. Had my high school self really been so swayed by the package? It made me a little sad for both of us.
“Oh.” Maggie gave Sabrina a pointed look. “Will you be attending the fireworks display? I was under the impression you’d be home looking after your three children.” The artificial sweetness in her voice almost puckered my lips.
“Of course not.” Sabrina smiled. “They’ll be with their dads. I’ll be helping Grady.”
“Seems you’ve already been quite busy doing that already,” Maggie mumbled so low I was sure I was the only one who heard her.
I held back a laugh threatening to burst forth. The contrast between Sabrina’s obliviousness and Maggie’s laser focus amused me more than I expected. Maggie had always been sharp, witty, a verbal sparring partner like no other.
She turned her attention back to me. “You’ve assembled quite the team.” She looked from me to all the women crowding around. They ran a spectrum of age and for that, I was quite proud.
“I know my demographic.”
Maggie’s eyes reminded me of dark chocolate, and she scanned my face. “Demographic. That’s a big word. Did one of them teach it to you?” Her words had a bite, but her tone danced across them so lightly anyone casually listening might not catch it.
“Kelvin, actually.” I let my gaze roam over Maggie in a way I hadn’t since I’d returned. Sinking into this was dangerous. Better if I skimmed the surface of things. When we made eye contact, a jolt of electricity shot through me, a feeling I hadn’t felt in a long time. Pinpricks darted across my skin. An awareness of her electrified me. I closed the distance between us a little more, our gazes locked.
“Interesting choice of slogan,” Maggie murmured.
I grinned, but it faded when my attention strayed to her lips. People were talking in close proximity, but the bubble around us muted everything else. “Kelvin said it was in poor taste.”
A hint of a smile tugged at Maggie’s lips. “You seem to have a lot of volunteers willing to risk poor taste.” Maggie’s eyebrows arched, and she flicked her gaze pointedly to the women still hovering.
While Maggie might be a liar, and someone I didn’t quite trust, I’d loved this aspect of her. Few women I’d met had made me hold back a smile or a laugh quite as often as she did. Her sense of humor had been one of the things that had surprised me when she’d started coming to Sunday dinners. At twenty-one, I’d known seventeen-year-old Maggie was pretty—anyone could have seen that—but the glossy fa?ade had held a sharpness, slicing me open. She saw me, all of me, and it had been fucking terrifying and exhilarating.
“Grady.” Sabrina cut into our moment with a tug on my arm. “Let’s get out of here.”
My eyes didn’t leave Maggie’s face when I said, “We need to unload the rest of those boxes.”
“Kelvin already did.” Sabrina’s tone rang with annoyance.
At that, I half turned, reluctantly breaking the connection between Maggie and me. The loss was a bit like coming off a Tilt- A-Whirl or stepping onto a rocky boat only to discover I didn’t have the sea legs I’d expected. Kelvin stood on the back of the float, and his focus shifted between Maggie and me, a frown creasing his brow.
“Enjoy the fireworks,” I threw over my shoulder.
Maggie muttered something I didn’t catch. I wanted to turn back, ask her to say it again, watch her lips move as each word left her mouth.
Instead, I hopped onto the float and said, “It’s not what you think,” in a low voice to Kelvin.
A laugh burst from Kelvin, and then his hand stretched across his face before he slapped me on the back. “If you know how it looks, then it’s exactly what I think.” He leaned close to my ear. “Maggie Sullivan is your fucking wet dream come to life. How did I miss the signs the first time around?”
As all the women in my crew scooted onto the float to sit, legs dangling over the edge for the return ride to the parade’s starting point, I didn’t deny Kelvin’s claim. What had everyone else seen between Maggie and me?
Fireworks of a different sort.