CHAPTER EIGHT
Garrick
Blue is silent in the seat next to me as I pull out of the parking lot. She’s staring straight ahead, probably waiting for me to give her shit.
I’m not going to.
She got lost in the woods. It could happen to anyone. It’s happened to me.
Sure, she was only there because she wanted to pull a stupid prank on me, but I barged into her apartment with a chainsaw three days ago. I’m in no position to complain. I was pissed as hell when I left her apartment the other day, but I’ve cooled down and can admit I took things too far.
I’m pretty sure I truly scared her and I feel like shit about it.
“Where’s your car?” I ask.
“Eagle’s Nest trail head.” She leans back in her seat and gives me major side eye. “Just to be clear. We’ve called a truce, right?”
I snort. She can’t be serious. “Hell no. You were in the woods to string me up by my ankle in front of a group of clients. I’m not going to just let that go.”
“But I didn’t do it. This is the second of my pranks that has failed. You’ve won. I won’t retaliate. Can we just move on?”
Move on and let her continue blocking every one of my requests? Move on and let her think I’m okay with her being mayor and changing everything I love about this town?
She’s probably right. We should call a truce. I’m clearly not going to scare her out of town without upping my game to dangerous levels.
Still, letting her off the hook too easily is boring.
“Like I can trust you to stick to a truce. You’re a sneaky little demon, and the only way to keep myself and my business safe is to never declare a truce.”
She huffs in frustration, and I bite back a smile.
“Look, maybe we can call a truce if you do a few things for me,” I say as I park at the trailhead next to her car. Hers is the only one in the lot. It’s after five and getting dark.
I don’t even want to think about what would have happened if she’d been too proud to ask for my help.
I don’t want her to be mayor anymore, but I want her out of office because she’s admitted defeat, not because she froze to death in my forest.
The image that thought conjures, of her lifeless, ice-encrusted body, makes nausea roil in my belly.
“Do a few things for you? Did you hit your head today? I don’t owe you anything, Garrick Evergreen.”
“I’m not talking about you owing me. I’m talking about building trust. You do a few things for me and I can believe you’ll keep your word about the truce.” I’m already imagining all the things I could get her to do under the guise of building trust, most of which would require her to spend more time with me. A scenario I don’t at all hate the idea of.
But only because it would give me more opportunities to prank her, not because I like her. Obviously I don’t like her. I can’t stand her.
She’s the worst. The worst of the worst.
“No way. Not happening.” She unbuckles her seatbelt, throws open her door, and gets out.
My phone vibrates in my pocket. I pull it out and see it’s my parents calling. Again. I talked to them twice yesterday, and it was the same story Hudson gave me. They won’t pressure me to work for them, they just want to know I’m doing well.
They’ve threatened to visit me here if I don’t visit for Christmas. I shudder at the thought. No one in this town knows I’m related to the Riverton family who owns the ski resort in Sugar Valley, and I don’t ever want them to know. They already judge me for being an outsider. I don’t want them judging me for being a rich outsider.
Going home is the only option, but I’m dreading it. Hudson’s idea of a girlfriend is genius, not just to get Mom and Dad off my back, but because I really like the idea of a buffer.
I’ve spent hours going over my options, considering every woman I know who might be willing to pose as my date. The town is too small and there aren’t very many single women my age who I can trust not to gossip about my family who also haven’t, at one time or another, made it clear they’d like to date me.
I’m not interested in leading anyone on. I don’t need more enemies like Tilly Jenkins.
Blue crosses her arms over her chest and glares at me. Does she want to finish our conversation? Or is she up to something?
She’s beautiful in the failing light, her cheeks red from the cold, her eyes lit by sheer annoyance with me. There’s no way in hell she’d ever fall for me, even in a fake dating scenario.
And of all the people I know, Blue is the least likely to be intimidated by my family.
She’d have no reason to gossip about them, either, since I’m going to give her an excellent reason to want to stay on my good side.
And, as mayor, she has every good reason to never leave Yuletide. She’s the perfect person to convince my parents I’m staying here.
Blue bares her teeth at me, shakes her head, and stomps over to her car.
It’s a crazy idea and there’s a very good chance we’ll annoy each other too much to be a believable couple.
Although, if we annoy the hell out of each other, it’ll only help in my mission to rid Yuletide of Blue.
It’s a win win, really. My parents are happy and I get to continue tormenting Blue while I’m out of town. I wouldn’t want to leave her here alone for a few days and let her get too comfortable without me around reminding her of all the reasons she shouldn’t be mayor.
Blue’s already in her car, glaring at me through the windshield. I jump out of my truck and stand, feet wide, in front of her vehicle before she can drive off.
She rolls down her window and sticks her head out. “Now you want to talk to me? We weren’t finished discussing—”
“I’ll agree to a truce.”
Her jaw drops, and she studies me warily. “Really?”
“I’ll agree to a truce if you do one simple, simple thing for me.”
She sighs and pulls her head back into the car. I expect her to start the engine and run me over, but she opens her door and gets out, meeting me in front of her car. “This better be good.”
“I need you to go home with me in three days, and I need you to pretend you’re my girlfriend.”
Her glare intensifies. “You made me get out of my car to fuck with me?”
“I’m not fucking with you. I swear. My parents are after me to come home, but I need a buffer.”
She rolls her eyes. “You need a buffer from your parents?”
I stare her down. “I’d think you know a thing or two about needing a buffer from a parent.” I have met her mother. She’s pushy, selfish, and arrogant. And Blue clearly can’t stand her.
“Ouch. But fair.” She looks out at the forest to her right and taps her fingers on her thigh. When she looks back at me, I see the decision in her eyes. “Nope. That’s way too big a favor for a guy who attacked me with a chainsaw.”
“I didn’t attack you. I just waved it around in your vicinity.”
She shrugs. “Still no.”
I open my mouth to argue, but she slaps at her snow pants and holds up one finger. She pulls her cell phone from her pocket and puts it to her ear. “Yvonne, how are you?” Her face pales. “I’m not exactly dressed for a… You heard about that?” She looks up at me. “He’s here with me… Both of us? I think he might have… Now? Okay, I’ll tell him.”
She hangs up and looks at me with wide eyes. “The council wants to meet with us at the courthouse. Now.”
I run a hand through my hair. I have no idea what this is about, but it can’t be anything good.
***
I’d rather be back in the woods with Blue with no way out than stuck here in this conference room surrounded by council members. Ten of them, to be exact. Most of them have been friendly enough to me in the past, but whenever I’ve wanted anything from them, there have been hoops to jump through and strings attached. They’ve always helped me out in the end. They just had to make sure I understand my position as a Yuletide outsider.
I don’t know what I ever did to them. I suspect they just enjoy having power and they believe me to be beneath them.
If only they knew.
Although they do apparently have the power to force me to be here when I should be out with clients. Because of the council, I had to call in a part-time guide to lead my group on her hard-earned day off. No one is happy about this, least of all me.
“I suspect you both know why we’ve asked you to be here,” Yvonne Cutright says. She’s a small woman in her sixties with salt and pepper, short-cropped hair and a perfectly tailored pantsuit. She seems sweet and grandmotherly on the outside, but she’ll flip into attack mode in a moment.
I experienced it when I took a group camping last summer without realizing we’d set up camp on her property. Oops.
“I have no idea why we’re here, but I’m glad to finally be included in a council meeting,” Blue says without a hint of emotion.
I swing my head around to look at her. They haven’t been including her in council meetings?
Yvonne sniffs. “This council meeting was called, at a time we’d all rather be at home with our families, for the sole purpose of discussing your behavior.”
Blue’s eyes pop wide and there’s a vulnerability in her expression I’ve never seen before. She looks genuinely cowed. I fist my hands in my lap to stop myself from reaching for one of hers. The urge to comfort her is as intense as it is disconcerting.
“What behavior are you talking about?” Blue asks.
“The constant immature prank war that’s been going on between you and Mr. Evergreen.”
That shocks me so hard my mouth falls open. I shut it quickly. I should say something, but I have no idea what the council knows or wants to do about any of this.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Blue says.
“This is a small town,” Gary Bluxton says, his thin-lipped mouth pinched in distaste, his expression and tone scolding. He’s about five years younger than me, and he sneers at me whenever he sees me. “We’ve all heard about you tampering with Garrick’s lunch, Blue. We’ve also heard about Garrick breaking down your apartment door with a chainsaw—”
“That’s a blatant—” I start.
“And today, Garrick had to leave clients, VIP guests of this town, to rescue you from the woods,” Yvonne says. “I can only assume that was a stunt you pulled to cause Mr. Evergreen more trouble.”
“She was out for a hike and got lost.” I don’t know why I’m defending Blue. Maybe I feel a kinship with her as a fellow outsider. “She called me rather than bother search and rescue. And the tour with the VIP guests had already ended.” Those ‘VIP’ guests were Yvonne’s son, daughter-in-law, and four grandkids in from Portland, but I don’t think pointing that out would help anything.
“We were having some fun,” Blue says. “The lunch and the chainsaw were just jokes, but I see now how they were inappropriate and I promise nothing like that will happen again.”
“We’re going to need more than that, I’m afraid,” Yvonne says. “The town needs to see that the mayor and one of our most successful business owners are getting along. The two of you will plan and host the holiday festival together.”
Oh, for fuck’s sake. Most successful business owner? She’s definitely buttering me up. “You’re trying to blackmail us into this job because no one else will do it, aren’t you?”
Several council members gasp in shock. Across the table, Anita Jarrow, a woman in her forties with long braids and round glasses, who’s always been kind to me, ducks her head to hide her smile.
“You are so crass,” Harriet says. “No one is blackmailing anyone. We’re asking you to demonstrate how well you get along and to support this town. That shouldn’t be too much to ask.”
Except planning the annual holiday festival, a week-long affair with live bands, food trucks, rides, and games is a full-fucking-time job. “I’ve got more VIP clients scheduled for tours, fishing trips, and camping trips than I can handle this season. I don’t have time to plan the festival.”
“Which is why you two will work together,” Yvonne says. “It will lighten the workload considerably.”
“I’m sure Garrick and I can figure out a schedule that will work for both of us,” Blue says.
“No, we won’t.” I push back my chair and stand. “Find someone else.”
As I storm out the door, I hear Blue apologizing and asking for a minute. There’s no way I’m agreeing to this. I pick up my pace.
“Garrick, wait.”
I move into a jog. There’s just about fifty feet of linoleum between me and the stairwell. I should be able to outrun Blue with no—
“Ooof.” I hit the ground hard, a human body pinning me to the floor. “What the hell, Demon?”
“I asked you to wait.” Blue doesn’t move off me.
I’m flat on my face and she’s sitting on my ass, her legs straddling my hips. There is absolutely no reason I should be hard right now, but my dick is irrational and attracted to women brave enough to tackle a man to the ground.
“I could have broken a bone.”
“You’re fine,” she says. “If you’d broken a fingernail, you’d be whining about it already.”
“I do not whine, Demon. I’m a—”
“I’ll do it.” She’s laying over me now, her breath warm against my skin as she whispers. “I’ll pretend to be your girlfriend. I’ll go with you to visit your parents if you plan the festival with me.”
Damn it. I really do need her. But I really, really don’t have time to plan this festival. “Get off me and let me think.”
She doesn’t get off me. “I need to prove to the council I’m serious about being mayor. I need to—”
“This is absolutely atrocious behavior,” a familiar female voice screeches.
Blue scrambles off me. “He fell. I was making sure he’s okay.”
I push to my feet without groaning, even though I bashed my knees pretty good when she took me down. The entire council is standing in the hallway and staring at us.
“I slipped,” I say. “Fell flat on my face. Hit hard enough to have a change of heart. I’ll plan and host the festival with the mayor.”
Blue smiles at me, but her left eye is twitching.
“I mean it,” I say. “I love this town. I’ll do whatever I can to make this holiday festival the best it’s ever been.”
“I should hope so,” Yvonne says with another sniff. Maybe she’s allergic to fun. “I will be checking in with you periodically to make sure the festival is progressing as planned.”
Most of the council members turn away, heading for the elevator on the other end of the hall. I turn to Blue to hash out details about the visit to my parents and festival planning, but a heavy hand lands on my shoulder, along with the scent of peppermint and cigars.
I turn to face one of the few council members I actually like, Charles Rutherford. “I’ll walk you out, Garrick. Good night, Mayor.”
“Good night, Mr. Rutherford. Mr. Evergreen, I’ll be in touch.”
I nod and let Charles lead me to the stairwell.
The door has barely closed behind us before Charles speaks. “I understand gossip often gets things wrong, so I wanted to ask directly if you and the mayor are truly waging a war against each other that began with animosity.” He starts down the stairs and I keep pace beside him.
I sigh. There seems little point in lying. “I’ve heard you support the mayor, but she’s trying to change this town in ways no one wants. And she’s doing everything in her power to prevent me from getting the permits I need to expand my business and take my clients to new locations.”
I’m three steps down before I realize Charles has stopped. When I turn to look back at him, he’s staring down at me in disgust. “What could possibly have given you that idea?”
Why is he acting so shocked? “She’s made no secret about not wanting me to use city vehicles for my business.”
“She’s right about that,” Charles says sternly. “And has she told you she’s been blocking your requests for permits?”
“She hasn’t denied it.” I feel like I’m in the principal’s office, about to get suspended from school for the third time in a year. I care a lot more about Charles Rutherford’s poor opinion of me than I did the principal’s.
Charles makes his way carefully down the stairs and stops next to me. “You should be careful about the assumptions you make, son. You might very well make an enemy of one of the few people actually on your side.”
He continues down the stairs without saying more. “Are you implying that Blue’s been supporting my requests?” It doesn’t seem possible.
Charles doesn’t glance back up the stairs. “I find I no longer want to discuss this with you. You aren’t the person I thought you were.”
Damn. That’s a blow that will haunt me for weeks.
But maybe not as much as wondering if I’ve been wrong about Blue all along.