Page 53 of Pregnant by the Texan
Gil smiled. “Aaron, you come with us,” Gil said, and led the way. There was an aisle cleared to the stage at the front of the room.
As she approached the stage, people greeted her and shook her hand and she smiled, thanking them. Dazed, she couldn’t quell her surprise.
At the front as she climbed the three steps to the stage, more people greeted her. She shook hands with the town council and other city dignitaries. The sheriff greeted her, and the heads of different agencies in town crowded around to say hello.
“Stella, Stella, Stella,” several people in the audience began chanting and in seconds, the entire room was chanting her name. She saw her friends Paige and Edie in the front row, smiling and waving.
“Mercy, Aaron, what is all this?” Dazed, embarrassed, she turned to Gil. “Gil—” She gave up trying to talk with all the chanting. Smiling, she waved at everyone.
Gil stepped forward and held up his hands for quiet. “Thanks to all of you for coming out tonight. The Texas Cattleman’s Club is happy to have nearly everyone in Royal come celebrate the Christmas season and the holidays. We have a bit of business we wanted to discuss before the partying begins.”
The crowd had become silent and Gil had a lapel mike so it was easy to hear him. “We have some people onstage—I imagine everyone here knows them, but in case they don’t, I want to briefly tell you who is here. Please save your applause until I finish. I’ll start with our sheriff, Nathan Battle.” Gil ran through the list, reeling off the names of the town council members and heads of various agencies, and when he was done, the audience applauded.
“Now as you know, Mayor Vance was critically injured by the tornado. He is off the critical list—” Gil paused while people clapped. “He is still in the hospital and unable to join us tonight, but he has sent a letter for me to read, which I will do now.
‘To the residents of Royal,
I am still recovering from the storm and most deeply grateful to be alive and that my family survived. My deepest sympathy goes out to those who lost their loved ones, their homes, their herds or crops. We were hurt in so many ways, but from the first moment after the storm, people have helped each other.
It was with deep regret that I learned that Deputy Mayor Max Rothschild was also killed by the tornado. Since I will not be able to return to this job for a few more months, Royal will temporarily need an acting mayor. I have talked to our city officials, agency heads and concerned citizens, and one name comes up often and we are all in agreement. I hope we can persuade Ms. Stella Daniels to accept this position.’”
Gil paused to let people applaud and cheer. The noise was making her ears ring. Just then, Aaron leaned close to whisper in her ear, “I told you everyone wants you.”
She smiled and threw kisses and waved, then put her hand down, hoping Gil could calm the crowd. She was stunned by the turnout and the crowd’s enthusiastic support— for the first time in her life, she felt accepted by everyone. She glanced at Aaron, who smiled and winked at her, and she was certain he was the one behind this crowd that had gathered.
Gil raised his hand for quiet. “Folks, there’s more from Mayor Vance.
‘Please persuade Ms. Stella Daniels to accept this position. Since the first moments after the storm Stella has been doing my job. Now that I have recovered enough to read the mail I receive, I have had texts, emails, letters and cards that mention Stella and all she is doing for Royal and its citizens. I urge Stella to accept this position and I am heartily supported by the town council, other officials of Royal and by its citizens.
Merry Christmas. Best wishes for your holiday,
The Honorable Richard Vance, Mayor of Royal, Texas.’”
There was another round of cheers and applause and Gil motioned for quiet. “At this point, I’m turning the meeting over to Nathan Battle.”
Nathan received applause and motioned for quiet. “Thanks. I volunteered to do this part of the program. Royal needs an acting mayor.” Nathan turned to Stella. “Stella, I think you can see that Mayor Vance, the town council and the whole town of Royal would like you to accept this position that will end in a few months when Mayor Vance can return to work. Will you be acting mayor of Royal?”
Feeling even more dazed, she looked up at Nathan Battle’s dark brown eyes. Taking a deep breath, she smiled at him. “Yes, I’ll accept the job of acting mayor until Mayor Vance gets back to work.”
Her last words were drowned out by cheers and applause. Nathan shook her hand as he smiled. “Congratulations,” he shouted. He stepped back and applauded as she turned and Aaron gave her a brief hug.
Everyone onstage shook her hand and tried to say a few words to her. The audience still cheered so she waved her hands for quiet.
“I want to thank all of you for this show of support. I’m stunned and amazed. I’ll try my best to do what I can for Royal, as so many of you are doing. Let’s all work together and, hopefully, we can get this town back in shape far sooner than anyone expected. Thank you so very much.”
As the crowd applauded, Gil stepped forward and motioned for quiet again. “One more thing at this time. We can go from here to the dining hall. There’s a buffet with lots of tables of food. Everyone can eat and during dessert we’ll have Stella perform her first task as acting mayor and make presentations of gifts. There will be singing of Christmas carols in the dining room and then dancing back in this room, games in other rooms and the children’s center will be open for the little ones. We have staff to take care of the babies. Now let’s adjourn to the dining hall.”
They applauded and Stella started down the steps to shake hands with people and talk to them. She lost track of Aaron until he showed up at her side and handed her a glass of ice water.
Gratefully, she sipped it and continued moving through the crowd toward the dining room. “You did this,” she said to him.
“All I did was tell people we would do this tonight. No one would have come tonight if they hadn’t wanted you for acting mayor and hadn’t wanted to thank and support you.”
“Aaron, I don’t know what to say. I’m still reeling in shock.”
“Congratulations. Now you’ll get paid a little more for what you’ve been doing anyway. That’s the thing, Stella. You’re already doing this job and you have been for the past two months.”
“If people know I’m pregnant, they might not want me for the job.”
