Page 58 of Christmas Cove

Leo backed away. “Do you need help getting back on the road?” His voice was calm and steady as though he had switched gears into mayor mode.

“No.” America took a step backwards. The car’s headlights lit the fog around her and Leo. She could clearly see his face and knew by the neutral smile that their conversation was over. For the moment. “My dad is going to drive. Thanks for checking on this situation.”

“Where are you staying?” he asked.

“I have a reservation at a local place,” she said. “It’s booked under my mom’s name, Vivian Rosa.”

“Of course, it would be the cabin.” Leo turned back to his truck and reached in through the driver’s window. He held out a set of keys and jingled them as he walked back to her. “Here. You know where the cabin is. Fully stocked and ready to go.”

Removing one hand from her pocket, she took the keys. Her fingers brushed against his and their gaze met like two ships in the night. He might be mad at her, but there was no doubt after that subtle touch that something was still brewing between them.

“Thank you, Leo.”

“Let me know if you need anything, and enjoy your stay in Christmas Cove.” Leo’s formality stung her.

“Can we get going?” America’s dad yelled out.

America locked her eyes on Leo’s truck as he pulled out and drove past her. The realization hit her mind that, like the ice pellets hitting her face, winning the man over was going to be harder than she had hoped.

CHAPTER31

America wastedno time in the morning. Her parents were still asleep as she crawled out of the loft and climbed down the ladder. Grabbing a pen and paper from the drawer beside the fridge, she wrote a note letting them know she was heading into town. Although, there was no need to worry about them. They had just spent a week traipsing across northern Italy, they could certainly handle themselves in Christmas Cove.

She reached for a granola bar from a basket on the kitchen island and shoved it in her coat pocket. Winter emanated from the windows, having arrived via the cold front overnight, and she would have started the fireplace if she were staying in. Outside the cabin, there was no snow on the ground, but with temperatures as cold as they were, she hoped it wouldn’t be long before the white stuff would flock the town. In the meantime, she wrapped her scarf around her neck and made her way out to the front porch.

“Morning sunshine.”

America screamed as she flung around. “Dad? You frightened me. I thought you were still asleep.”

He sat, rocking in a wooden chair on the porch. A plaid blanket draped across his legs, and he held a mug of something that was no longer steaming in his right hand. He looked at peace with a brightness in his eyes.

The sun was coming up and would soon be above the clouds. She knew from experience that the fog would roll in soon thereafter, and the day would turn to the bleak gray she had become accustomed to. It dawned on her, if she stayed in Christmas Cove, it was a view she would be living with for some time to come.

“Where are you running off to?” Dad asked.

“Main Street. I have a meeting with one of the town elders, Carol. She’s great. You’ll like her. She’s sort of salty though, until you get to know her.” America pulled on her gloves and made certain her laces were tight on her boots. “Any luck on the legal front?”

“Actually, I did hear back from my colleague that works in municipal law. He says the statute is clear, and both cities ratified it a hundred years ago. I doubt either town ever saw anything like this happening, but the idea is honorable. It provides that if one city should fall below the threshold that the other city will support its financial and governmental obligations.”

“So, there’s no way to break it?” she asked.

“Do you even want to?”

“I don’t know. It seems unfair to the people that are still here. This is their town. But what you’re saying is that the two towns had an agreement to help each other, either way the chips fell?”

“You got it,” her dad said. “I don’t know what’s right for this place, but the law is the law. If the people here are determined to save the town, their best chance is to find those last couple of people to move here. Your mom is excited about her new venture here, and well, I’m a retired man now, and,” he continued the next part with a British accent, “I’m at my leisure.” He sipped his coffee. “Cold,” he said. “I’m going to pour a fresh cup.”

Her dad rose from the rocking chair and placed the blanket over the seat back as though he had done the action a million times. The country suited him, and America could already see a change, a sort of calmness, wash over him. She embraced him with one arm and let him pass.

“Wait.” America flipped around. “I forgot to ask you. Didn’t you say you thought the other mayor—Mayor Thorpe—may have broken the law? Do you have anything new about that?”

“It doesn’t seem like there was a personal or financial conflict. All he did was request the article feature from your magazine. And since it wasn’t even about his own town, there is nothing he did wrong. In fact, if your plan works out for Christmas Cove, then his actions might constitute an in-kind donation to Leo here. And that’s a whole other situation.”

America considered the information and the question he posed a moment earlier. Would it really be the worst thing for Elizabethtown to help support the area? In the reverse situation, she knew that the people in Christmas Cove would gladly help their neighbors, too. “Thanks for checking on it anyway.”

“It was no trouble, really,” her dad said and gave her a quick hug. “Did anything come of the plea your assistant put in the teaser for the article?” he asked at the door.

America nodded. “I don’t know. Anyway, we only have two days, and I doubt people will be clamoring to move here.” Checking her watch, she said, “I have to go. I’ll catch up with you and Mom later.”

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