“Because it’d be good for the town. Please just listen to what I have to say tonight with an open mind. I need your support.”
Kline appeared by his side. “Mrs. Anderson, let me help you.” She quickly moved in front of Ben and grabbed Gram’s elbow.
“Why, thank you, Kline. You always were such a nice girl.” Grandma looked over her shoulder and smirked at him.
Ben shook his head and moved around them to open the front door. Once they’d made it to the meeting hall, Kline helped his grandmother into her seat on the raised dais, so he found a seat in the front row of folding metal chairs to wait for his turn to speak. Kline walked down the steps and sat next to him.
She whispered, “Your grandmother is getting older, Ben. You guys need to help her more now.”
Ben opened his mouth to explain but Kline quickly added, “Oh, and I talked to my federal biologist friend again. He said he’d try to make the end of the meeting. He had some things to tie up first and then he’s driving in from Denver.”
Her Fed friend was a guy? “Where is he going to stay? I thought I read on the loop the whole hotel is booked by that sheikh from Abu Dhabi.”
She nodded. “Yeah, Mom mentioned that at dinner. He can stay at my house. We . . . know each other . . . well.”
A pang of jealousy made Ben’s fist clench around his stack of papers as he leaned so close he could smell her flowery shampoo. “How well?”
“Asks the man with”—Kline made air quotes with her fingers—“a long list of willing lady friends.” She frowned and crossed her arms, which only made her breasts look even more enticing, dammit.
He hated that someone had opened their yap about his former dating habits. That made him sound like a player. Admittedly, right after she’d left he had been, but the one-night stands had gotten old quick. Nowadays he didn’t sleep with a woman unless he genuinely liked spending time with her.
He whispered, “I’m just saying it might look bad if my dad thinks your ex-boyfriend is the one doing the evaluation.”
“Nate’s loyalties are to the environment before anything else. It’s not going to be a problem,” she said quietly.
His father cleared his throat. “Ben, if you and Kline are done bickering over there, can we begin?”
All heads in the room turned their way. While they’d been talking, a few others had joined them in the audience, which rarely happened. Ben smiled. “Sorry.”
They got started with all the usual Robert’s Rules that seemed never-ending, as Ben ran what he was going to say over in his head again. His phone beeped with a text so he answered it and then the three more that followed right behind. Between his family and his patients, he never got a break.
While the council droned on over miniscule details about office supply budgets, Kline leaned close. “So do you really just have one-night stands now?” Her scrunched nose indicated her disapproval.
“No. Sometimes it’s just dinner. Did you date the Fed guy?”
“None of your business.” She turned her attention back to the meeting.
He leaned his shoulder against hers. “Why do you get to ask and I don’t?”
“Do I have a gun in my hand? No one made you answer my question.” When Kline smiled at him, he felt it all the way to his gut. He’d missed seeing that cute grin when she teased him.
Dad cleared his throat again, so Ben lifted both palms to show they were through. But he still wanted to know. It really could affect things if Dad thought the Fed and Kline were in the owl thing together just to spite him. It was Kline’s favorite birding spot. He could see her wanting to save it at all costs.
When the new topic, snow removal, was batted back and forth so long it drove him nuts, he picked at the lint on his slacks. As the discussion carried on, he alternated between straightening his stack of papers to swiping at his pants.
Kline’s hand covered his, trapping it against his leg. She whispered, “Relax. It’ll be fine.”
He nodded, but his hands itched to straighten his papers one more time. He tried to slip his hand out from under hers, but she shook her head as she held his hand in a death grip.
Resigned to his stack remaining crooked, he focused on her warm, soft skin instead. She’d always had the prettiest hands. Long, tapering fingers and a small, delicate palm. He turned his hand over and weaved their fingers together. Her thumb slowly caressed the top of his and before long his urge to straighten melted away.
When it was time for Ben to speak, Kline gave his hand, still in hers, a quick squeeze for good luck. Holding hands in public with Ben wasn’t going to help the gossip network, but it seemed to calm his restless behavior, so she’d been willing to do it. Never mind that it had felt kinda nice to simply hold hands with him again.
Kline listened as Ben presented his plan. It made a lot of sense, but the mayor’s scowl proved it’d be a tough sell. Pam, the town’s bombshell hairdresser, Toby, and Santa Claus Fred were the non-Andersons on the council, so Kline watched their faces carefully. Unfortunately, they kept glancing the mayor’s way, presumably to see how he felt about the proposal.
The mayor was just as big a bully to the townspeople as Lisa and Rachel had been to Kline as kids. Each time the mayor glared at someone to shut them down, it brought back all the unwanted memories from her childhood. Someone needed to shut the mayor down in return, but no one had the guts to do it.
A soft kiss landed on her cheek, bringing her thoughts back from the dark place they’d wandered off to. She glanced up and smiled at Nate, the sexiest biologist she’d ever met, and had dated for many months until he’d wanted to move to the next level. She didn’t trust that a player like him would ever settle down, and she didn’t want to risk the heartbreak. Ben had left her with deep scars.
She moved her coat from the chair beside her. “Hi. Glad you could make it. And thanks for rushing the paperwork through. Have a seat.”
“Catch me up.” Nate sprawled his tall, muscled body into the metal folding chair.
Kline quietly whispered the condensed version into his ear. Then she said, “Ben might need for you to explain how this works.”
Nate nodded. “No problem.”
She glanced Ben’s way again and was greeted with a frown. He said to the group, “But just today, Kline found something that might make building on the site across from the hotel problematic. And she’s invited an expert to help explain things.”
She took that as her cue, so she stood and introduced Nate.
Nate sent the council members one of his sexy smiles. Pam sat up straighter and proudly displayed her impressive cleavage as she grinned back.
Nate winked at her and then said, “Thanks for allowing me to speak. I haven’t seen the Mexican spotted owl in person yet. I’ve only seen the picture Kline sent me today. But presuming we find a resident pair of owls, which are protected by the Endangered Species Act, they will surely nest in the same spot next spring during the breeding season. According to Section 7 of the ESA, it’s unlawful to disturb their critical habitat.”
As Nate explained all the technical details, Ben sat down beside her again. He leaned close and whispered, “You’ve definitely slept with that guy.”
“I guess you’ll never know for sure.” She smiled. Jealous was cute on Ben.
His warm breath tickled her earlobe as he hissed, “Oh, I know. He looked at you like he was seeing his first Lamborghini . . . naked!”
“Bad analogy,” she whispered behind her hand. “He drives an electric car like I do. Now stop talking before we get into trouble again.”
Ben crossed his arms and turned his attention back to Nate. Right in the middle of Nate’s explanation of biological site assessments, the mayor raised his palm to cut Nate off. “I have plenty of friends in state government who will be willing to work with me to get things cleared up. Thanks for your time, but I think we need to go ahead and vote.”
Nate shook his head. “Sorry to disagree, Mayor, but you’re dealing with the fe
deral government on this one. There’s no favor that’s going to fix the situation. You have to follow proper procedure. I’ll be assessing the area tomorrow and then I’ll file my report. What the government does after that will dictate what you do with that land, no matter who owns it. Thanks for your time.”
Nate turned and sat on the other side of Kline, making her the middle of a hunk sandwich. “Thanks, Nate.”
“Welcome.” He stuck his hand around her and held it out to Ben. “Hi. Nate Banks.”
Ben slowly moved his hand to return the shake. “Ben Anderson. Nice to meet you.”
Ben stood again and said to the council, “I think we have enough information here to propose a delay on the vote you planned to take tonight. And maybe we should form a task force to study this before we move on.”
While Ben pleaded his case, Nate leaned closer. “Ben looked like he’d rather beat the crap out of me than shake my hand. You’ve slept with him too, right? Is he the one who ruined you for all the rest of us guys?”
Men!
“Shhh. I want to see what happens next.” She was grateful she’d never told Nate that it was Ben who’d broken her heart. She should still be angry with Ben for it, but after all the years that had passed, and after being around Ben again, she realized how much she missed her best friend. She’d never had another like him.
She tuned back in just as the mayor’s face turned a deep red. “I’m in charge here, Ben. And it’s my property in question. We’ll vote just as planned. Now, all in favor—”
“Mayor?” Pam interrupted. “We need to have a motion—”
“Nope.” The mayor pointed a beefy finger at poor Pam. “I don’t give a damn about all your silly rules. Now everyone shut up so we can vote!”
“Wait!” Outrage over the mayor’s dictatorial ways made Kline jump from her chair. “Just because you own things doesn’t give you the right to disregard the law. You’ve run this town so long, and bullied everyone so often, that you’ve forgotten there are rules outside of Anderson Butte that you have to live by just like the rest of us. If you take that vote without giving due diligence to the issue, I’ll figure out a way to get you thrown out of office.”
Jaws dropped on all the council members’ faces.
The mayor’s brows rose. “First off, Kline, you’d never stick around long enough to go through with your little threat, would you? And second, everyone here knows that area was your dad’s favorite birding site. I think you’re getting your emotions mixed up with logic.”
Oh, she could just choke the man. It took all her resolve to speak at a somewhat normal level. “You’re disregarding the law. You need to be stopped. Clearly you’re so afraid of being overruled, you’ve made sure over a quarter of this town, the Grants, have no representation in your kangaroo court.”
The mayor laughed. “If you think you could do a better job, then run against me. It’s reelection time. Now sit down!”
She was boiling mad. So angry she was tempted to do it. To show everyone how corrupt the mayor was. Besides, she might be stuck in town for a few months anyway because of her mom. “How long is the term?”
Ben’s grandmother smiled. “We just recently voted to make it two years because my son is getting older and might need to have one of the boys take over soon. But Anderson Butte has never had a mayor who wasn’t an Anderson. We’ve always outnumbered the Grants. It’d be futile to try.” Ruth winked at Kline.
She wasn’t one to shy away from a challenge. Especially one thrown down at her in front of everyone. If she could endure a nasty jail cell for six weeks while waiting for justice to prevail, she could endure anything for two short years. “So all I’d need is a nomination? And then it’d be official?”
The mayor crossed his arms and scowled. “You might want to knock off the righteous indignation act, Kline, and think this through. The pay is only a stipend. I live off the businesses I own. Not this job.”
Kline met Fred’s amused gaze. “Will that teaching position be available if I win?”
Fred’s face split into a huge grin. “Yep. It’d be all yours, win or lose, Kline.”
Righteous indignation act, her ass. She’d meant every word. Her body shook with anger and outrage.
She glanced at Ben, who lifted his hands in an “it’s up to you” gesture. Before she could decide what to do, her uncle Zeke’s voice rang out from the back. “I nominate Kline Grant for mayor!”
The onlookers all cheered. She turned around to see who was there and it was half the town. Even her mom had come. Someone must’ve put something on that damned loop.
She caught her mother’s eye, who gave her a thumbs-up before she called out, “And I second it!”
Pam, the secretary, said, “This is out of order and should be under new business, but who cares? Kline Grant, do you accept the nomination?”
Did she want to go up against the tyrant, a man who’d never thought she’d been good enough for his son? Oh, hell yeah! She stared into the mayor’s narrowed eyes and called out, “I accept.”
As a throng of people surrounded her, she shook their hands. Pats on the back, hugs, and thank yous from people she’d known from her childhood made her feel better about her rash decision. It’d be good for the town, and clearly people wanted change.
Her heart rate had finally settled a bit by the time the mayor gave up trying to calm the room and declared the meeting over.
Then reality punched her square in the gut.
What have I just done?
Ben had waited until the crowd surrounding Kline in the meeting hall thinned before he moved by her side. Her friend Nate stood next to her, smiling and chatting up Kline’s mom like they were old friends too.
Since when did biologists look like muscle-bound male models? Ben had expected a skinny guy with glasses who hugged trees like Kline did. They seemed to have a lot in common. And the guy was clearly into her.
He needed to stop thinking of Kline as his. She’d already laid down the “hands-off” law between them. They were just going to be friends.
But he needed to have a serious talk with his friend about what she’d just done. “Kline. Can I speak to you for a minute, please? In private?” He tilted his head toward the empty side of the room.
Kline nodded and then laid a hand on Nate’s arm. “Why don’t you and Mom head home, and I’ll catch up in a bit? Uncle Zeke wants to talk to me too.” She held up a finger to her uncle, who was talking to Josh.
Her mother slipped on her coat. “When I heard you were coming, Nate, I made you a batch of snickerdoodles. I remember how much you used to like them.”
“Thanks, Betty.” Nate stuck his bent arm out for Betty to lace her hand through, the suck-up. “See you around, Ben.”
Ben hitched his chin and waited until they were out of earshot. “Snickerdoodles, huh?”
Kline rolled her eyes. “My mom used to send me care packages when I was in impoverished countries. Nate and I worked on a few projects together, and I shared.”
“Looks to me like he’s back for seconds of more than just the cookies. He must’ve dropped everything to get here so quick.”
Kline crossed her arms. “What did you want to talk about? Besides Nate, that is.”
He took her arm and led her to a chair. Then he grabbed another and turned it so they were facing each other. After they sat with their knees almost touching, he said, “You do realize that if you become the mayor you’ll actually have to live here, right?”
“Of course I realize that.” Kline chewed her bottom lip as she always did when she was uneasy. “If I win, I’ll just stay for my term and then I’ll move on. It’d do this town good to have some fresh blood in charge.”
“We need someone who’s dedicated to seeing Anderson Butte prosper, not someone who took the job because she won’t back down from a challenge.”
Kline’s gaze dropped to her hands in her lap. She kneaded her fingers together for a few moments, and then finally looked him in the
eye again. “You know I’ve never liked the way your father treats you or your brother and sisters, and the way he runs this town. He’s a bully.”
Ben raised a finger to stop her, so she quickly added, “I also know how strong your loyalty is to your family, so while it’s the truth, I’m sorry if it offends you.”
“I appreciate that. But I’m not saying you’re wrong.”
“Thank you. Anderson Butte is run like a dictatorship. And I truly want to end the whole Anderson-versus-Grant feud. You and I fought it when we started dating, and while I can see it’s gotten a little better with time, why not wipe it out completely? So the Grants can stop feeling like second-class citizens around here. Maybe having a Grant run the town, and a few serving on the city council, would help equalize things. I’d be doing it for my family, more than to spite your dad.”
“And to show Rachel and Lisa that you won’t be bullied anymore?”
Kline nodded. “Maybe that too. I spent too many miserable years dealing with that to want to see an entire town living with your father’s tyrannical ways.”
His father had never approved of Kline. Ben had never known if it was purely because she was a Grant, or because she stopped being intimidated by him when she was in high school. “You’ve avoided coming home all this time. What if a few months in you get bored with life here again? Then what? It’d be worse to win and then quit, leaving us in a lurch.”
Kline laid her warm hand on his knee. “I’ve really enjoyed exploring the world, seeing what else it has to offer, but now I’m feeling the need to be a bit more grounded. To actually own living room furniture, plant a garden, and still be around to enjoy the harvest.”
“Wait, what? Kline Grant, who never cared for possessions, especially big flat-screen televisions, wants to be a homeowner?” He never thought he’d hear those words pass her lips. But it gave him hope.
She smiled. “You’re still mad I wouldn’t split the cost of that seventy-inch screen when thirty-six was just fine for our apartment, aren’t you?”
It Had to Be Them (An It Had to Be Novel Book 4) Page 7