Page 70 of Rival Hearts

“Wondered if there was anything you wanted to tell your campaign manager?”

I wiped my mouth with a napkin and then took a long swig from the reusable water bottle Kelvin kept for me. “It’s none of my campaign manager’s business. But if myfriendwants to ask, Imighttell him.”

“I think I could probably guess.” With his hand, Kelvin made a circling gesture around me. “There’s some interesting energy coming off you today. Keyed up, but also weirdly relaxed. Youfinally forgive yourself for having the hots for your brother’s girl and tell her how you feel?”

Taking another bite of my sandwich, I contemplated Kelvin’s words. He might not have gotten what happened right, but he’d gotten pretty damn close. “I had it all wrong about her, about her and Trent. About a lot of things.”

Kelvin’s lips twitched. “You don’t say.”

“Yeah, yeah. You told me right from the get-go I was being a dick for no reason.”

“Can we agree I should run your life? Would have saved you a few months of wasted effort in the wrong place.”

“No,” I said, holding up a finger, “no, we cannot agree on that. You got this mayor campaign to run. Which, honestly, I’m thinking I should just abandon.”

“Seems about right.” He grabbed his own sandwich and unwrapped it. “You tell Maggie yet?”

A flush heated my cheeks. “Uh,” I said. “Not yet. I’ve been mulling it over.”

“Since when? This morning?”

“I spent all morning writing. No time for thinking about this mayor gig.” I flipped a coin across the back of my fingers, my sandwich done. My mind was divided in three: Maggie, a half-written song, and this conversation. “The last week or so, I guess I’ve been unsure of what I’m doing. I didn’t go into the election for the right reasons.”

Kelvin chewed and appeared to be considering something. I swigged my water and waited. What wisdom would Kelvin impart? Our friendship worked because we didn’t think alike in the slightest. It was good for getting a new perspective—at least it was good when I was ready for that conversation.

“What do you think Maggie will say when you admit that?”

I was mid-drink when the implication hit, and my water slid down the wrong spot. I coughed, almost choking on the realization. “She’ll think I’m an asshole.”

“You’ve caused her a lot of extra time, effort, and money to then throw up your hands and say,you win.”

I couldn’t help the smirk that rose to my lips. She’d won a few times last night, and she hadn’t complained.

“The mayor job might not matter to you, but Iguaranteeit matters to her,” Kelvin said, dousing my memories.

Whether or not Maggie realized it, I’d run for mayor to fuck with her, and that made me the shittiest person alive. “You think I should see the election through to the end.”

“You want to back off some campaign things, fine. But backing out? If I was her, I’d be pissed. It’s a hollow victory for her after the grief you’ve caused.”

Kelvin was right. She liked to win. So did I. But I’d never really wanted to win the mayor race. Maggie should hate me, but I was so fucking glad she didn’t.

Now, I had a bigger and better prize in mind than being mayor of Little Falls.

“Maybe I can float removing myself past her and see how she reacts,” I suggested.

“Be prepared for cannon fire to sink that ship.” He replied to a text on his phone and then sighed. “Trent okay with you and Maggie getting together?”

“As long as I don’t fuck things up, I think ‘okay’ is the right word there.”

“So, you’re sticking around here no matter what?”

“That’s the plan.” I nodded. “Write some songs, walk my dogs, organize fundraisers. A jack of all trades if you will.”

“That’ll be enough for you?”

The lure of the producer gigs my agent had dangled rose to the surface. The way I felt about songwriting today, I couldn’timagine writing ever getting old. But I knew that the well could dry up or I might long for something different. Becoming a producer was the right career step for someone like me, who embraced variety.

The only constant in my life since leaving Little Falls almost eleven years ago had been change. I’d never stopped moving. In the last twenty-four hours, Maggie and I had worked out our differences, and I hadn’t had a chance to really dig into Kelvin’s question. Would being in Little Falls be enough for me? I’d meant what I’d said to her. Wherever she was, that’s where I wanted to be.

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