Page 56 of Back to You

Especially with the space he’d built this into. He could think of several regional artists who would jump at the chance to sublet if it came to that.

His mind kept skirting away from explaining this to Ty. He’d find someone to keep mentoring him if the sleigh project went well.

Maybe Emi if she was a good fit. Students could always use a job and it had to be better than the one he’d had slinging lobsters up the coast. Maybe even sublet the apartment to her if she was going to stick around.

Wait and see. He still had a month for decisions like that and wanted to make sure it was a win for everyone he left behind.

He was just putting aside one more box that could go over to Vivian's office when his phone rang. What was with this week? Every time he tried to get some work done, there was an interruption.

He glanced down and there was a number from town he didn't recognize, so he figured he should probably answer it in case it was an emergency.

"Camden, this is Selectperson McCreary. We need you at town hall."

Not a request.

Cam wasn’t a fan of orders, but he also wasn’t a fan of waiting any longer for this job to get moving.

“Sure. When?" Cam glanced around his office at the stacks of papers he still wanted to get through tonight.

“We were thinking how about… Now?" It was half statement, half question.

Cam let out a sigh and then felt guilty about it.

Maybe getting down there meant starting things moving. If a few questions answered would speed things along, he was all in.

And it was one more thing to keep his brain busy today while he was still adjusting to his new future.

He made some notes about where he was in his planning and work, then locked up and headed over.

As he came up the hill, he could see several other people walking over to the town buildings and had a flash of Ms. Angie trying to steal a car and make a run for it with Captain Jack so he didn’t have to do doggie prison this weekend.

The jail was already being built, and he had to admit, it was pretty adorable. Two kids had volunteered to be Cat Cops for the video, and he figured they’d hit their ten-thousand-dollar goal with the under-twelve crowd leading the charge.

“Cam!” Jamie pulled up beside him on his motorcycle and cut the engine. “Heard there was a very quiet meeting happening in town.”

He snorted as he took in the throngs of people heading over.

“I guess this is quiet compared to some other meetings we’ve had.” He glanced at the bike as Jamie stored his helmet. “Couldn’t help yourself?”

“Nah. Was just working on Shelly to get her all spiffy and smooth and figured this would make a good break.”

They came around the corner of the town hall and stopped mid-stride.

“So, this is…”

Even Jamie was at a loss for words.

“This is a lot.” He glanced around, suddenly seeing the rest of his afternoon slipping away. “Not at all a smallwe could use your help for a secondsituation.”

“Ha. You fell for that? Selectperson McCreary uses that every time she needs something and it’s never pretty. I once ended up with a prospective governor's family on Shelly for a day because I fell for it. And the four-year-old hated sailing and was seasick the whole time.” Jamie shook his head in disgust as if it was the four-year-old’s fault. “Maine coastal family. Eighth generation. Seasick.”

“You’re all heart.”

“Hey, you do six hours on your boat, not getting paid, and dealing with not saying the wrong thing all day.Andadd a sick kid and a family unwilling to take the poor suffering child back to shore. What was wrong with people?”

“When have youeverworried about saying the wrong thing?”

“Oh, not me.” Jamie smacked a hand to his chest and tried to look innocent. “I didn’t care, but I knew you would, so I threw it in there.”

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