Page 10 of Rival Hearts

“Still,” she hedged. “There must have been something about the town that pushed you to run. To make you feel like you’d be good for the residents of Little Falls as their leader after having been absent from everyone’s lives for so long.”

I clenched my jaw. There she went again with that absentee nonsense. I’d come home whenever I was needed.

“Now, Margaret.” Jim rose. “We’re not getting into a political debate on the sidewalk. Did you want to come in? Coffee? Wehave a little shitpoo in there, but she’s fairly well behaved, at least with other dogs.”

“Dad, it’s shih-poo.”

“Yes, well, it shits and poos wherever it wants. If I didn’t love your mother so much, it would have gotten a one-way ticket to the vet years ago. How hard is it to housetrain a dog?” Jim gave my two an appraising look. “Unusual-looking dogs. What are they?”

“Strays I picked up on my travels.” I smiled, and I ruffled their soft fur on instinct.

Jim looked me in the eyes. “Takes a lot of commitment to cart two large dogs around from country to country.”

“Not cheap, either.” I enjoyed their company and their enthusiasm for any person, any environment. While you might have to win over people, you rarely had to win over a dog. I tightened my grip on the leashes when Maggie rose, and the dogs strained toward her. “Worth it, though.”

“A constant captive audience,” Maggie mumbled and flashed me a sardonic smile.

“Loyal. Trustworthy. A dog doesn’t lie.”

Maggie flushed, and I felt a surge of satisfaction.

“Coffee?” Jim asked even as his gaze shifted between me and Maggie. His jaw hardened for the briefest moment.

“Not tonight,” I said. “I should get home. I’ve got some work to do.” The words left my lips before I could reconsider.

“Oh.” Maggie perked up. “You’ve got a job?”

A slow smile spread across my face. “I’m sure you looked at my candidate information. My job was listed there.”

Her cheeks rosy, Maggie didn’t deny the accusation. “Musician.”

“Yep.”

“Another album coming out?” Jim asked, a slight frown creasing his brow. “That first one was such a hit.”

And more than one song blatantly about your daughter.Had Jim never realized? Noticed the subtle references? He’d probably heard more of my songs on the radio than he realized.

“No new album for me,” I said. “Just odds and ends I still do for people I know.”

“Well,” Jim said, “like the rest of the town, I was pretty proud of you when you wonCenter Stage.”

My heart sank at the realization that screwing with Maggie’s mayor race might damage my relationship with Jim. A loss I hadn’t considered. I’d always been this way. Dive headfirst into something and then assess the fallout. Unfortunately, Trent had also been like that. After our dad died, we’d run wild around the town for a couple years. Grief stamped us all in different ways. In some respects, I was amazed the people of Little Falls had voted for me the first time. Now, in theory, I was asking them to do it again.

“The experience definitely opened a lot of doors for me. It was nice catching up with you, Jim.” I stepped around them and started down the street. Not far down the sidewalk, I stopped and turned back. “Oh, and Maggie May—I’ll see you at the Fourth of July celebrations. I have a good feeling about them this year.”

Maggie smirked and crossed her arms. “I have a good feeling about everything that’s going to happen between now and November. Campaigns are so much fun. Let me know when you start yours.”

I laughed and turned around, my brain ticking through all the ideas circling. A sense of competition had been lit in me by the smug look on her face. If these ideas starting to form were any indication, she might wish she hadn’t looked at me with such certainty.

Chapter Five

Maggie

Ihad finished taking Tyler and Emily through all the ways I needed their help for the celebrations when Ruth knocked on the partially open door. I glanced up from the parade planning, Tyler and Emily flanking me at the desk.

“What are you doing here, Ruth? It’s Saturday.”

“I know.” Ruth came forward with a sheet of paper outstretched in her hand. “Kelvin Brown dropped this off at the close of business yesterday, and I forgot to put it on your desk. Seems he and Grady Castillo put together a little float.”

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