Chapter Twenty
L iv had never been around someone who fit into her life so easily. The digitization project, and time with Artur and her family filled her days after the party. It was wonderful. Until the Wednesday morning when her phone rang with an unfamiliar number.
But the number had a label: county government . Which meant she had to answer it. “Hello, Mayor Nachman. How can I help you?”
“Hi,” said the woman on the other end. “Lacy Bryant Williams. I’m going to be your caucus leader in the County Board of Legislators, and I’m calling to welcome you to the caucus.”
“Thank you,” Liv said. “I’m looking forward to working with you.” And she was. The caucus leader was a pretty well-known figure; she was responsible for creating proposals that initiated a bunch of changes that had happened in the county over the last few years; the cross-county train system and shuttle buses, as well as a few other important items.
“I’m looking forward to working with you as well, Mayor.”
“Would you be able to attend our Hanukkah celebration here in Briarwood?”
“Hanukkah?”
Liv smiled, used to the confusion from those who lived and worked beyond the towns in the hyper local area. But she pushed forward. “Yes. In conjunction with the New York Empires the Briarwood Synagogue, and the Briarwood Temple Sisterhood. It’s the first year that we’re doing this, having a celebration that allows our Jewish residents to feel seen and welcomed in our community. I hope it’s a tradition that the next mayoral administration continues.”
“You’ll have to give me more details,” the caucus leader replied. “But yes. I’d love to come. Send my office the invitation and I will be there.”
“Thank you,” she said. “I appreciate it.”
“I look forward to it,” she said. “See you soon.”
And as she hung up the call, Liv knew that things would be kicking into high gear. Timelines needed to be tightened; schedules needed to be fixed. She pulled out her checklist and began take notes on what needed to be done.
*
Artur began the Wednesday morning after the party with an update call from Emily Gould-Smythe. “Good morning,” Emily began. “Is everything else going well on site?”
“Actually, it is,” he said, grinning. He launched into the story of how things had progressed since the two meetings, as well as the contributions from the residents, the sisterhood, and the chamber of commerce.
Not the members of the chamber who were interested in acting as the mayor’s personal watchdogs. Of course.
“That’s wonderful,” she said, pushing his brain and his train of thought back to the subject at hand. “I really like hearing about the way that this event has progressed since you took the reins.”
“It’s been great,” he said, sitting back against the chair. “I think what they needed was a sympathetic ear, someone who wants to listen to them.”
“You seem to know what they need, which is important.”
“Speaking of interesting,” he continued, not wanting to keep the conversation on him for too long. “The JHPA head is not only a local but also an Empires alum.”
“Why wasn’t he…?” Emily began before stopping.
He didn’t know why Flaire hadn’t involved him previously; he didn’t want to even guess.
“You know what?” she said, probably tapping into something he’d been thinking of. “Never mind. If you don’t get it; I definitely am not going to understand why he wasn’t involved.”
He laughed. He couldn’t help himself.
“That aside,” Emily continued. “I’m really looking forward to seeing how it goes on the ground.”
For a second, in the guest room he’d spent a lot of his life in, he let himself dream. “I’m really excited,” he managed.
“And the mayor?”
Nothing to bring himself back to earth faster than a personnel evaluation request disguised as a casual question.
But how much did he want to reveal? He clearly knew a great deal, more than he wanted to tell. So, he hedged his bets.
Professional, he reminded himself. Professional. “She’s smart. Has a good head on her shoulders and a good pulse on her community. I like working with her.”
“Mmmmhm.”
The noise was non-committal, which was good. He didn’t know what she was looking for. What kind of judgment did she want from him?
“I wondered how it would be for you, working for a woman in a position of power.”
And that’s what it was. Some people still had issues working for women in positions of power, to the point where they made things difficult. Emily was making sure that he wasn’t one of them.
That concern was answered quite easily. “She’s good at what she does,” Artur replied before deciding to add a little bit. “And then she’s twice as good because she’s being watched by pretty much everybody nearby. As I said, she’s easy to work with.”
“Glad to hear that. You and I are definitely going to sit down and keep this conversation going. Think about involving female athletes in what you do for the ceremony, hm?”
Female athletes.
Interesting. As his brain started to run through the possibilities, there was a break in the silence. “Absolutely. I can talk to the JHPA head about any of the NAWHL players joining in.”
“Oh,” Emily said.
“What?”
“If there are any more problems that arise, with the sculpture or anything that we are responsible for providing to the Village, including the sculpture, don’t tell the mayor. You presumably have a plan in place to fix any problems that may arise, so just leave her out of the loop. We’ve already had enough trouble with this event. We want the rest to go smoothly and want the Village residents to enjoy this and themselves without worrying about anything else.”
Which was normal, usual in his line of work. NDA’s between his employer and someone in the situation always could spring up to protect the employer from something . Usually he understood.
Except this time it left a nasty taste at the roof of his mouth that not even sour cream could clear. It found its way to his stomach, toward town hall when he’d ended the call. He and Liv had made plans to meet after the day ended, ostensibly to try out some of the special knishes Jason had persuaded his brother to make.
Instead, she wanted to try out the new ice rink. Skates were easy to find, and after they’d taken a turn, they sat on one of the benches with a bunch of knishes in hand.
But he was too distracted to really taste anything, too in his head about how to explain his life and his choices. He could feel the tips of her fingers following the space of his cheekbones through her gloves, and when he turned toward her, the expression on her face meant there was something she was about to say. “What?”
“In moments when I let myself dream,” she said, “I think this may end up okay. You know?”
“What?” he asked. “What do you mean by this ?”
“The term, the celebration, the…legacy that this event’ll leave behind when I’m no longer involved in politics here in town.”
And if nothing else, this was the moment when he understood, when he realized why everything was so important. The event, the cycle, whatever they were calling this, was going to be the last gift she gave to her hometown before she went off to do greater things.
“I will do my best,” he said, his words a solemn vow. “No matter what it may seem like, to ensure this happens perfectly. You deserve more than this.”
“I have everything I want right now,” she said.
And when she kissed him, under the lights of the rink, not knowing or caring who was watching, he knew he was sunk.
He knew he was lost.
And he’d get her whatever information she needed, no matter the cost.