Of course he had a girlfriend—she should have guessed it.
Ronnie watched Vivien walk out the door, her long dark hair in perfect beach waves. For Vivien being up all night, somehow her cute maxi dress draped down her thin frame flawlessly and without a wrinkle.
Obviously, she was born for the stage. Beautiful, elegant. Ronnie couldn’t fault her good taste in being with a guy like Peter.
And, no. That pinch of envy had nothing to do with their relationship. She had no interest in romance.
None.
Even if the guy did have great hair.
Ronnie gave herself a mental shake and finished her last bite of omelet. Focus. She had an EMS group to organize. She set her fork down. “Why don’t we go up to the fire hall and look over the equipment?” She slid out of the booth to wash her hands.
When she returned, Peter stood by the table. “Let’s go.”
“Wait. I didn’t pay.” Ronnie opened her bag and dug for her wallet.
“It’s taken care of.”
She looked up and narrowed her eyes at him. “You better not have.”
Peter shrugged. “It’s no big deal.”
“It’s a big deal to me. I pay my own way.”
His mouth tightened around the edges. “Then you can pick up the tab next time. Let’s go.” They moved to the door. Some of the customers glared at her. Even the sheriff’s stare wasn’t the friendliest. Others just looked irritated.
She tipped her chin up but lowered her voice. “Fine, but this is the only time. And if you’re saying ‘next time’ hoping I’ll forget, you have another thing coming.”
He shook his head as he held the door for her. “We just met, but I know you well enough not to underestimate you. In any way.”
She didn’t know why, but his tone didn’t suggest this was a good thing.
Ronnie got into her SUV and followed his truck to the fire hall. The big white metal-sided building was situated on the bay as if it were a sentinel looking out over the town. A cute town, but a confusing one.
She walked over to where Peter was unlocking a side door. “Can I ask you a question? I thought small towns were supposed to be friendly, but it seemed like people in the cafe were upset with me. Am I missing something?”
He glanced over his shoulder at her, a pained expression on his face. “You noticed that, huh?”
“So it’s not just me.” She folded her arms across her chest. “What did I do? I’ve only been in Deep Haven three days.”
“Yeah, but after that call at Hagborg’s, Gretchen wasn’t too happy with you. She’s a talker, so I’m sure people have already heard about that. And Charlie Zimmerman was mad that you wouldn’t let him drive the ambulance. But mostly, I think people are upset because Cole hired you rather than Kirby Hueston. He’s the sheriff’s brother.”
“So people were already against me before I even came? I’m here to help! Can’t they see that? I did save Gust’s life.”
He walked into the fire hall after her. “I think people will come around. But it wouldn’t hurt if you were a little more…”
Ronnie spun to face him. “What?”
“Friendly.”
So she was back to that kid glove thing. “Yeah, but Cole said the first ninety days is a trial period. I could be as friendly as Mr. Rogers, but if this town doesn’t like me, what am I supposed to do? I can be fired for any reason.”
“Then don’t give them a reason.” His stare was direct, but not cold or mean in any way. He leaned against the bright yellow fire truck. “Cole also said you’re a great medic, so keep doing that. Just remember, a little kindness goes a long way around here.”
She tried not to squirm as he watched her. For some reason, it mattered what Peter Dahlquist thought of her. If she could win Peter over, the town would probably follow.
A hint of his woodsy scent wafted around her.
Her job. That was the only reason why Peter’s opinion of her mattered.
“Kindness. Right. I can do that.” She nodded. “So, show me around. Please.” Ronnie gave him a saccharine smile.
After a chuckle, Peter turned all business, showing her the ambulance and rescue medical equipment. Much of it was terribly outdated. “This is the Deep Haven Fire Hall. We’re sharing the space, but Cole and Seb are looking for a better location for the Crisis Response Team HQ. This is what we have for now.”
She had learned how to work with what she had, but with all the technology developed in the last fifteen years, their kits could be so much better. She swiped her hand across the old training dummy. “This won’t do.”
Peter shoved his hands into his pockets. “We’re not a big county. I mean, it’s big in land area, but not heavily populated. Not a lot of funds.”
“How do we get more funds? They can’t expect us to save lives with this equipment. How am I supposed to teach all the volunteers we need to train on one decrepit dummy?”
“We do fundraising events when we can, but beyond that, we could apply for grants or try to secure private funding like Adrian donating the helicopter. We just haven’t had anybody able to tackle that.”
“All right. That’s what I’ll be working on then. I’ll start researching available grants and apply for those.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. That’s why I’m here. What are partners for, right?” She gave him a grin—and immediately wanted to cringe. For goodness’ sake, was she flirting with him? C’mon, Ronnie.
For one thing, he and Vivien were obviously close. Their easy banter. The way she made herself right at home next to him in the booth at breakfast. Ronnie wouldn’t go after someone else’s boyfriend.
And besides, relationships—boyfriends—made women weak. Gave a man a welcome mat to invade and take over. She would never be helpless like her mother. No, thank you.
She erased the stupid smile. “So, are you ready for that meeting tonight?”
A look of uncertainty flashed across his face. “Yes and no. I’m ready to get that vote over with, but I still don’t know which way I’m going to go.”
She shrugged. “Don’t overthink it. Just pick the better option.”
“That’s the problem. Both proposals are decent options. There’s no obvious choice.”
“So it’s the helicopter decision all over again and you’re afraid.”
His mouth opened, then he gave a snort and shook his head. “No, I’m not afraid. But this time I have family on both sides of the issue. And as you’ve already discovered, in a small town choices have lasting repercussions. Someone is going to get hurt, and I hate having to be the source of it.”
“What about Vivien’s idea?”
Peter kept walking toward the back of the fire hall. “Vivie’s idea would actually be really cool. But I’m not sure if Vivien and Ree can pull it off in time. Don’t get me wrong. I love Viv. She always has amazing ideas. But she’s not so great at the follow-through. She’s the queen of unfinished projects.”
He walked into the kitchen, which was actually more of a kitchenette with a small fridge and a two-burner stove. Not the kind of place that could foster the camaraderie they’d need for their Crisis Team.
She glanced at Peter, who had moved over to the window, staring out at the parking lot. The guy looked so conflicted that for some reason she longed to ease some of his discomfort. “Well, who needs a youth center anyway? It’s like living in a fairy tale here. You have backyard barbecues and how many summer festivals?”
He turned. “It’s a small town. Not Utopia. Kids get bored, get into trouble. Drinking, partying, drugs…it’s all here.”
What? “No. This is so far from…everything. Drugs and gangs—”
“You don’t need inner-city gangs to get into trouble. You can find bad choices in Deep Haven just as well as Minneapolis, Chicago, or LA. But maybe providing an alternative for the kids here would help…”
Ronnie’s stomach tightened. Here she thought she’d yanked Tiago out of all that temptation
and trouble. And now Peter was telling her it might not be far enough away?
She could kick herself. She knew better. Hadn’t she just said something similar to Tiago last night? This world was a messed-up place. How foolish to think she could hide him away from it all.
Maybe she should check on him—
“You okay?”
She looked up, not realizing she’d gone silent. Peter was considering her, frowning.
Ronnie offered him a fake smile. “Yeah. I’d better go and check on Tiago, and then I’ll start on a training schedule and researching grants.”
He nodded, slowly, then followed her out to the driveway. She opened the SUV door and he held it open. “You know, if you really want to get to know the town, you should come to the town meeting tonight, see how things work, who the players are. It’ll help you in this job.”
It probably would. “I’ll be there.” And not just for her job. She needed Deep Haven to be safe, which meant she’d better get to know what she was up against and figure out how to fight it.
He stood in the parking lot, his hands in his pockets again, watching her as she pulled out.
Interesting.
Ronnie drove to the skate park, which was just a few blocks uphill from the apartment. She spotted Tiago and Josh riding their boards over the cement forms, helmets on, high-fiving each other. Good. She breathed a little easier. Nothing on fire, no empty liquor bottles, no gang-bangers offering them opioids or even cigarettes.
Nope, this wasn’t the inner city, despite what Peter said.
They spotted her and ran over to the SUV. “Hey, sis,” Tiago said. “I’m hungry.”
“Hop in.”
Tiago and Josh dove into the back seat and she drove the boys home.
Josh ran up the walk, and Tiago shouted at him, something about his Madden game.
Okay, he probably needed something else to do this summer. They walked into the apartment and she set down her bag on the table. “So, T, there’s a play, a theater for kids, and I think you should try out.”
Tiago looked at her, frowning. “Why would I do that?”
“Because it’ll be fun. And you can get to know a lot of kids from your new school. Make some more friends this summer.”
“No way. I don’t want to be in a play. That’s for girls.” He kicked off his shoes by the door.
“Well, too bad. You have to.”
“You can’t make me.” He headed over to the sofa and picked up his controller.
She followed and stood in front of the television, folded her arms across her chest. “Uh, yes, actually I can. What do you think ‘guardian’ means? You’re going to those tryouts.”
“Forget it!” He threw down the controller and started to get up, but Ronnie blocked his way.
“Listen, I dropped everything and moved here for you. Now I’m stuck here because of you. And we will make the best of it, but that means you’re going to tryouts on Friday.”
In the silence her heart hammered, her own words echoing back to her. Okay, she sounded frighteningly like her…her mother.
She took a breath, intending to soften her words when—
“You’re just like Mom. You don’t want me.” His voice was so small. A sheen to his eyes showed him holding back tears.
What—?
But a memory pierced. She was about the same age as Tiago, standing in a different doorway, her mother ignoring her pleas to get up and eat. Go away, Ronnie. Stop bothering me.
Oh, Tiago. I’m sorry.
Ronnie reached for her brother’s hand, but he pulled away. “Tiago, I do want you. In fact, it’s because I want you that I’m flipping out a little here. I just…I just want you to stay out of trouble. I don’t want to lose you. And you heard what the judge said—he’ll put you back in foster care or send you straight to juvie if there’s another incident.”
“I told you I didn’t do—”
“I know. And I still believe you. But look what happened by just being with the wrong crowd. So that’s why it’s so important for you to have good friends and things to do. That’s why you’re going to tryouts.”
“But theater is lame.”
She sighed and sat on the sofa, pulling him down next to her. “Yeah, that’s kinda what I thought too. But you need this. We missed the registration for summer baseball. This play will give you something to do that isn’t gaming or boarding…”
He looked away, clearly undaunted.
Wait. “Peter was in a play. A musical even.”
He looked at her. “You made that up. No way would a guy like him do that.”
“I promise you he did. And there is nothing lame about Peter Dahlquist.”
Nothing lame at all, in fact, from that long dark hair and broad shoulders down to the six pack she’d felt beneath his flannel shirt the few seconds she was in his arms yesterday.
Yeah, she hadn’t forgotten that.
“He’ll even be at the tryouts.”
Tiago paused. His brows knit as he considered her words.
“Please go to these tryouts. Just give it a chance.”
“What if I don’t like it? I mean, Josh is fine, but there’s still nothing to do around here. And it’s weird.”
“I’ll tell you what. You do these tryouts and at the end of summer, if you still don’t like it here, we’ll find a new place to move.” With her job on a trial basis for the next three months, they might have to move anyway. Not that she wanted to go anywhere, but if she had to, she would. Tiago came first. He was the whole reason for moving up here in the first place.
She would simply convince her brother to like it here. She had eighty-seven days to do so.
He looked up at her. “Are you sure Peter did a musical?”
“He was the lead guy in Grease. Ask him.”
“Grease? That one with the car race that Abuela likes?”
“That’s the one.” She held her breath.
He fidgeted with the edge of his shirt. “I’ll see if Josh will do it too. If he’ll try out, then I’ll go.”
She refrained from breaking out into a victory dance or even cracking a smile. And she’d make sure Megan talked Josh into going. “Thank you.”
“If I do these tryouts, can I go out with Josh tonight too? He said there would be a group of guys at the skate park after dinner.”
“Yes, but you have to promise me you’ll stay out of trouble. I’ll be at a town meeting.”
He gave her a fist bump in agreement.
And that’s how she got things done.
Chapter 6
The closer Peter’s truck got to the Cook County Courthouse, the more his foot slid off the gas. He parked in the far end of the lot, took in all the fresh air he could before walking up the steps to the main entrance of the yellow brick, cube-shaped building, dragging his feet like a prisoner about to face the firing squad.
Or the Deep Haven City Council meeting.
“Peter, wait up.”
Great. Seb Brewster. He liked Seb, but that title in front of his name changed things today. Just like the huge columns lining the front of the courthouse. They added a touch of grandeur to a small county government building. He still remembered the awe he’d felt as a little boy when he walked between them the first time to finalize his adoption all those years ago. Something on any other day he’d be proud of, happy to see.
But today the friend was now a mayor, a person of authority, and the looming pillars of marble only added to the dread pooling in his stomach.
“Hey, I know you’re in a tough spot on this vote tonight, Pete, but you’ve got to make a decision. We can’t put this off anymore.”
Sure. No big deal. But could someone tell him which side of the family to cut himself off from? Because if Vivien and Ree didn’t present their youth center idea—and knowing Viv, the odds were not in his favor—he was doomed.
Peter took his seat next to the other four council members and Seb. The heat of so many bodies packed into the city hall r
oom stifled him despite the cool evening air outside.
No doubt as the night progressed, it would get even more heated. Everyone went through the security checkpoint, so there were no weapons to worry about—at least the kind that caused physical harm. With so much riding on the issue, feelings and egos were bound to be bruised by the end of all this.
Probably Peter’s most of all.
Reminders of what was at stake were stationed everywhere in the room.
Dad—who could never sit for too long—stood in the crowd against the back wall, Mom on one side of him, Uncle Gordy on the other. Tens of thousands of dollars already spent on architectural plans and pressure to rebuild Pierre’s—a Deep Haven icon.
Meanwhile, Uncle Charlie had a front-row seat, with Elton Zimmerman on his left and Grandpa Zim on the right. The drive for them to compete with all the other lakeshore hotels and reclaim a property that was once theirs was understandable.
Each family had plenty of supporters with them too—employees and other business owners that benefited from one side or the other. So many people’s lives affected by his choice.
Lord, what do I do? How am I supposed to choose?
Ree sat next to Seth, recorder and pen in hand, ready to report for the Deep Haven Herald.
Peter pulled at the collar of his T-shirt and searched the crowd for his one ticket out of this mess. Vivie.
Nope. She wasn’t here. He was on his own.
His gaze landed instead on Ronnie. Her dark hair and golden-brown skin stood out among the pale Scandinavians in the room, and her eyes were full of honey-colored light—a beacon in the crowd.
Huh. He hadn’t expected an ally, nor the weird feeling her thumbs-up and wink gave him.
Seb called the meeting to order.
They rushed through accepting the last meeting’s minutes and all the usual agenda items. Councilman Lewis introduced the Westerman business proposal and opened up the floor for discussion.
No surprise, Uncle Charlie was the first to the mic on behalf of the Zimmermans. “I think we all know that the Westerman deserves a chance to shine again. We will make the place a wonderful getaway for families, a place where they can enjoy all that Deep Haven has to offer. It will benefit every other business in town to keep that property as a hotel.”
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