Violet's Valentine: A Clean Friends to Lovers Romance (Love in Holiday Junction Book 1)

by Tami Franklin

  Vi folded. Like a cheap suit. “Fine. I'll go.”

  The Holiday Junction town meetings were held in the gym-slash-cafeteria of Holiday Junction Elementary School—a large beigey-gray room with basketball hoops folded up against the ceiling, and a stage at one end where they performed concerts and the annual talent show.

  It smelled vaguely of cheese.

  Vi sat in a metal folding chair next to Lou, near the middle of the room. Lou had wanted to sit in the front row, but Vi had talked her out of it. Or rather, she'd just kept talking until Lou finally gave up. Lou's closest friends, Mandy and Anne, sat across the aisle. Mandy Klein ran the Daily Grind, the coffee shop adjacent to Chapters, and Anne Patterson owned the Holiday Junction Bakery on the other end of town. Together, the three were a force to be reckoned with. An organizational machine that kept the town's holiday celebrations on track. A whirling dervish of glitter, twinkle lights, and comfortable shoes.

  The seats filled quickly—Vi waved to Lena, who was sitting near the front with Alice Camden, owner of and reporter for the Holiday Junction Journal. Then, just before seven, Kade rushed in and took the empty seat next to her.

  “Did I miss anything?” he asked, slipping off his jacket and hanging it on the back of the chair. He'd changed out of his work clothes and was wearing a black Henley that clung a little to his chest and arms. When did Kade get arms?

  “Vi?” His voice jerked her out of the daze apparently caused by Kade's recent acquisition of biceps.

  “Huh?” she said.

  “I asked if I've missed anything.”

  “Oh!” She shook her head. “No, they haven't even started yet.”

  “Okay, good.” He shoved up his sleeves and sat back, one leg propped on the opposite knee.

  “What are you even doing here?” she asked. “This doesn't seem like your kind of thing.”

  “I can't believe you would say that,” he said, affronted. “I care about this town, Vi.”

  She glanced pointedly at the snack table, laden with cookies and cupcakes. “I think you care about Mrs. Patterson's baked goods.”

  Kade, to his credit, didn't miss a beat. “Supporting local merchants is the responsibility of every Holiday Junc-tian, Violet.”

  “Junc-tian?”

  “Junction-ian?” Kade crinkled his brow, considering.

  A gavel pounding drew their attention to the front of the room, where Mayor Kendricks stood at a wooden podium. “The meeting will come to order!” he shouted over the various conversations.

  Joshua Kendricks had been the mayor of Holiday Junction for as long as Vi could remember. She figured he must have been in his sixties by now, his once blond hair was now white, but still slicked back with an abundance of pomade, his skull shining between the lines made by his comb. Tall and skinny, he was full of awkward angles and pointy joints. When she was little, Vi used to wonder if his knees and elbows would be sharp if she touched them. He wore gray trousers and a knitted cardigan over his white shirt, buttoned to his chin. His wife had died before Vi was born, and the mayor dedicated his life to his work. He owned the local real estate brokerage—and, as mayor, he took Holiday Junction very, very seriously.

  Vi thought that was probably why he was still in office. He annoyed a lot of people with his zealous pursuit of making HJ the number one tourist destination on the West coast. Who cares about Disneyland? But he was dedicated to the town, and they knew he would never do anything that would hurt it, or them.

  “I said come to order!” Mayor Kendricks pounded the gavel one more time, and the room fell into silence. “Thank you,” he said, setting the gavel down. “I've called this meeting to address several urgent issues at hand—” He looked up as the door opened and Liam walked through. “Thank you for joining us, Mr. Durant.”

  If there was one thing you could count on, it was that the mayor would shame you if you were late for a meeting.

  “Sorry, Joshua,” he replied, finding a seat across the aisle a few rows up from Vi. He looked back at her and smiled as he took off his jacket.

  Her stomach flipped, and she smiled back. Kade sighed heavily beside her.

  “What?” she asked him.

  “Shhh . . .” he said, pressing a finger to his lips, his eyes laser-focused on the man at the podium.

  “As I was saying,” Mayor Kendricks drew attention back to himself. “Replacing the stop sign at 3rd and Rockport with a stoplight—” A chorus of groans overwhelmed him.

  “What's all that about?” Vi whispered to Kade.

  “He wants to have a light installed in front of his office,” he whispered back. “He's been trying for almost a year, but nobody will back him on it.”

  “—expert testimony in support of the idea!” The mayor pounded the gavel until the room quieted. “Boomer, come on up here.” He waved a blocky man with a comb over toward the podium.

  “Boomer Benedict is an expert witness?” Vi asked. He'd been a few years ahead of them in school. A star linebacker, but not the sharpest knife in the drawer.

  “He does work in Joshua's office,” Kade explained. “I tend to think he may be a bit biased.”

  Boomer stood at the podium next to Joshua, who apparently was smart enough not to ask the man to speak freely.

  “Boomer, tell the people what happened the other day,” Joshua said, waving a hand toward the audience.

  Boomer looked at him blankly. Joshua rolled his eyes. “In the crosswalk . . . at lunchtime . . .” He leaned in and hissed. “With Jerome?”

  “Ohhh.” Boomer nodded, finally understanding. “Jerome hit me with his car.”

  Jerome Standish, owner of the insurance office next to Joshua's brokerage, shot to his feet. “I did no such thing!”

  Joshua slammed the gavel on the podium. “Boomer, you were crossing the street, right?”

  “Yep.” He nodded.

  “On the corner of 3rd and Rockport . . . coming back to the office after lunch?”

  “Yep.”

  “And the defendant's car—”

  “I'm not a defendant.” Jerome was still standing and threw up his hands. “I didn't hit him!”

  “—came out of nowhere and hit you, is that right?” the mayor asked.

  “Banged my knee up good,” Boomer said with a nod.

  “Which just goes to show,” Mayor Kendricks said smugly, “that a stoplight is desperately needed on that busy street corner.”

  Kade snorted. “Like any street corners around here are busy.”

  “Now wait a minute,” Jerome shouted over the mumbling crowd. “I should get to speak in my own defense.”

  “This is not a court of law,” Joshua said, waving a hand dismissively. “We should vote on the light.”

  “Oh, let the man speak,” Liam called out, and a few others agreed loudly.

  “Fine, fine, then.” The gavel sounded again. “Jerome, what do you have to say?”

  “Thank you.” Jerome straightened, and raised his right hand. “I solemnly swear—”

  “Not a court of law,” Joshua said again, releasing an annoyed breath. “Please just say what you've got to say.”

  “Oh, okay,” Jerome said. “It's true I was in my car on that day. I was eating a sandwich. I like to listen to audio books on my lunch hour and my headphones are on the fritz, so—”

  “What kind of sandwich?” Alice, the Journal reporter asked.

  “What does that matter?” Joshua asked in exasperation.

  “I need a complete report,” she replied, sniffing haughtily.

  The mayor said nothing but motioned for Jerome to respond.

  “Uh, meatloaf,” he said. “And barbecue potato chips. And one of Anne's brownies for dessert.”

  The crowd murmured in approval, and Mayor Kendricks looked like he was about to have an aneurysm.

  “Yes, yes, the brownies are wonderful. Now, can we please get on with it?” he prompted.

  “Right.” Jerome nodded. “Anyway, I was eating and I saw Boomer coming across
the street, and then there was this bird—”

  “Oh yeeeaah.” Boomer nodded slowly. “I forgot about the bird.”

  “It flew right into him and he was waving his hands and screaming—”

  “I wasn't screaming—”

  “And he wasn't looking where he was going and ran right into the front of my car.”

  “What kind of bird?” Alice asked, scribbling wildly in her notepad.

  “It was a really big bird,” Boomer said, holding his hands about a foot apart.

  “A crow?” she asked.

  He frowned. “No, bigger than a crow.”

  “Looked like a hawk to me,” Jerome offered. “Maybe an owl.”

  “It doesn't matter what kind of bird it was!” Joshua shouted.

  “It matters to me!” Jerome said, affronted. “Got a big dent in the front quarter panel. Gonna cost me five hundred bucks to fix it!” Jerome folded his arms, frowning at Boomer. “I wasn't going to make a big deal about it, but if Boomer's going to accuse me of hitting him—”

  “No!” Boomer held up his hands. “It was an accident. Jerome didn't hit me. I ran into him!”

  “That's better,” Jerome said with a defiant nod. He sat down and Mayor Kendricks wearily rubbed his hands over his face.

  “Given these developments, I think it best to table the topic of a new stoplight at 3rd and Rockport until the next meeting,” he said.

  “Second!” Jerome shouted out.

  “All in favor?” All hands shot up. “Opposed?” Nothing.

  “Motion passes. The issue is tabled,” Joshua said grumpily.

  “And this,” Kade whispered to Vi, “is why I come to town meetings.”

  Vi suppressed a giggle and eyed the cupcakes.

  It was good to be home.

  Kade hadn't realized how much he'd missed hearing Vi laugh. He hadn't really thought about it back then, but now—

  Well, turns out he'd missed a lot of things about Vi. Go figure.

  He could see her out of the corner of his eye, watching Joshua lead the town meeting, discussing the route for the Cupid 10K on Valentine's Day. He wasn't sure why. The route was the same every year. But Joshua was nothing if not thorough, and he supposed that was what made him a good mayor.

  Vi shifted next to him, and her thigh pressed against his for the briefest second. His breath caught.

  “Sorry,” she murmured, pulling away and crossing her legs.

  “No problem,” he rasped.

  She glanced at him. “Are you getting sick?”

  Kade shook his head, eyes focused straight ahead. These weird responses to Vi were getting out of hand. It was almost like he was seventeen again, and he had not liked being seventeen. All those hormones raging out of control. It was not a good look for him.

  “And you'll all be happy to know,” Joshua said with a victorious smile, “that the new hearts for the lamp posts will be delivered next week. Decorating can continue per the schedule. We will just move the hearts to the end, so everyone's happy,”

  There was a brief smattering of applause.

  “Which leads us to the decoration competition between local merchants,” he said, consulting the agenda before him. “Judging will commence the week before Valentine's Day, and the judges are, as usual, anonymous.”

  He flipped a page. “I feel it necessary to remind you all to keep the decorations tasteful. No naked Cupids—I'm looking at you, Nora. And no shirtless men. This is Holiday Junction—”

  “Not Las Vegas!” everyone shouted in unison. It was a familiar refrain, where the mayor was concerned.

  “All right then,” Joshua said, “that leads us to the Sweetheart Ball. Anne, where do we stand?”

  Anne Patterson got to her feet, adjusting her glasses. “Well, we've hit a bit of a glitch,” she said. “As you've all heard, Naomi's mom is sick, and she had to go back east. And Ellie Anderson went into early labor, so we're a bit shorthanded on the planning committee. Would anyone like to volunteer?” She glanced at Lou, who nodded slightly.

  Well, that was weird.

  The room fell into silence, which was also weird. The townspeople of Holiday Junction were always ready to volunteer for anything.

  Joshua looked out sternly over the audience. “Come on, people, it's time to pull together in this time of need—”

  Vi snorted. “Sounds like a national emergency.”

  “It kind of is,” Kade whispered. “Be ready for the telethon. Save the Sweetheart Ball.”

  Vi smirked.

  “We're not leaving here until we have some volunteers to help these ladies out,” Joshua said.

  He saw Lou elbow Vi, and the two had a quiet conversation. Finally, Violet's shoulders fell and she raised a hand. “I can help.”

  Joshua smiled widely. “Good, good. Thank you, Vi. I'm certain your Broadway experience will help make this a memorable event.”

  Vi opened her mouth, and Kade was sure she was going to reiterate that she'd never actually been on Broadway, but apparently, she thought better of it. “Thanks,” she said. “I'll do my best.”

  Lou grinned at Anne, who winked back.

  “We could use one more, at least,” she said. “Someone who could do a little heavy lifting?”

  This time, there was no wait for a response. Liam Durant raised his hand. “I'm in,” he said.

  “You, Durant?” Joshua looked surprised.

  Liam shrugged. “Sure. I have the time. And it's for the good of the town.” He smiled over at Vi, who smiled back.

  And Kade . . . he didn't like that one bit.

  Without another thought, his own hand shot up. “I want to help, too,” he said.

  “Excellent!” Joshua looked like the cat that got the cream. “I have full confidence in your team, Anne. I'm sure the Ball will be the best yet.”

  Anne smiled widely. “I'm sure it will be, too. Thank you, everyone.”

  At that point, Mayor Kendricks adjourned the meeting and everyone descended on the treats table. Kade sat, stunned, unsure of what had just happened.

  Liam approached them, offering a cupcake to Vi. She thanked him and licked the buttercream frosting.

  “Looks like we'll all be working together,” Liam said, his gaze focused on Vi.

  “Looks like it,” Vi said, breaking apart her cupcake so she could make it into a sandwich, the frosting in the middle.

  “Anne told me there's a meeting Thursday afternoon,” he said. “And we're still on for dinner Friday, right?”

  Dinner? He glanced sideways at Vi, wondering why she hadn't mentioned that.

  “Absolutely,” she replied, a blush crawling up her neck. “I'm looking forward to it.”

  Liam grinned. “Me, too.”

  Kade's own cookie tasted like dust in his mouth. He took a sip of coffee. So this was happening. Vi-and-Liam Version Two.

  Great.

  “Well, I should go,” Liam said. “I'll see you at the meeting Thursday.”

  “See you.”

  Kade straightened and stepped in front of Vi a little. “Yeah, see you Thursday,” he said. He held Liam's gaze, and why did it feel like a challenge?

  Liam didn't seem to feel it, though. He smiled at Kade. “Yeah, man. It'll be fun,” he said. “Like old times.” He said goodbye and walked away.

  Vi turned on him. “You're acting kind of weird. What was that all about?” she asked.

  Kade shrugged and said nothing. Because, in reality, he had absolutely no idea.

  On Wednesday afternoon, Kade had been uncharacteristically quiet on the drive home. Vi tried to initiate conversation a couple of times, but after several halfhearted, one-word answers, she gave up. When they pulled into the driveway, he looked over at her, almost seeming surprised that she was in the passenger seat.

  “I'll come over in a few and prune those trees for Lou,” he said.

  “Oh, okay. Thanks.”

  He nodded and got out of the car and headed inside without looking back. With a confused sigh, Vi w
ent inside herself. She couldn't figure out what was going on with Kade. He almost seemed mad at her for some reason, although she had no idea what she could have done. She set up at the kitchen table to correct some papers and got lost in theater terms for a half an hour, until Kade's knock at the front door brought her back to the question at hand.

  There was no point in guessing. She might as well just ask. Kade was one of her oldest and closest friends, after all. If he was upset with her, she couldn't make it right until she knew why. She stalked to the front door and threw it open, a surprised Kade standing with his fist poised to knock again.

  “Hi,” he said.

  “Are you mad at me?” Vi demanded.

  “What? No!” he stammered. “Why would you think I was mad at you?”

  “Oh, I don't know,” she replied, unconvinced. “You've been all quiet and weird since the meeting last night.”

  Kade seemed genuinely surprised. “I haven't been weird,” he said. “I just have some things on my mind.”

  “What kind of things?” she prodded.

  He arched a brow at her. “Private things.”

  She perched her fists on her hips. “Since when do we have private things?”

  “Oh, I don't know,” he replied. “Since when do you have dates with Liam and not tell me?”

  That stopped Vi in her tracks. “Well, since when are my dating habits your business?” she asked defensively.

  “They're not!”

  “Well then . . .”

  “So, if that's not my business, then why are the private things on my mind your business?” He waved one hand with a flourish, the other holding a set of pruning shears.

  “Well . . . I guess they're not—”

  “Right.”

  But Vi didn't like that. At all. What was he hiding?

  “I have a date with Liam Friday night. He's taking me to dinner,” she said, waiting expectantly.

  “That's nice.” He brushed by her and headed to the back door.

  “Wait!” She closed the front door and rushed to catch up with him. “I've shared my thing, now you share your thing.”

  “My thing?” He scrunched up his nose at her, playing confused.