Falling for the Enemy

by Samanthe Beck

  Melody glanced at her and raised her eyebrows. She shook her head, but inside, she scrambled. What was this about? Did Tom think he could mitigate the backlash of Justin’s behavior by throwing himself on the mercy of the church?

  Tom stood and walked the few steps to the podium. When he turned to face the congregation, she nearly fell out of her seat. He looked pale, haggard—like he’d aged into every one of his fifty-some years virtually overnight. Apparently she wasn’t the only one who thought so, because a little wave of concern rustled through the congregation.

  This has nothing to do with Justin spray-painting your shop. Somebody’s in the hospital, or the morgue, or…

  “Thank you, Reverend Carlson,” Tom started in a voice so rough and creaky he stopped, cleared his throat, and leaned closer to the microphone. “I appreciate the opportunity to speak here this morning. It’s fitting, because church is a place for confession and forgiveness. I need to do the first and hope, in time, you’ll grant me the second. But first I need to, uh…” He trailed off and dragged a white handkerchief across his sweaty forehead. “I resign as Mayor of Bluelick, effective immediately, and withdraw my candidacy for re-election.”

  A stunned silence followed his announcement, and then a rumble of conversation swept in as people digested the news.

  Melody grabbed Ginny’s arm. “Did you know about this?”

  She could only manage a head shake. Tom started speaking again and she strained to hear over the din of the congregation’s reaction to his news.

  “I know this comes out of nowhere, and I apologize for letting you down, but the truth is, I let you down well before today. I let all of you down—my neighbors, friends…my family. I am deeply ashamed to tell you, during my tenure as mayor, I accepted payments from the sheriff in exchange for renewing their contract with the city.”

  This time an audible gasp arose from the pews, and Ginny let hers fly right along with everyone else’s. She never admired Tom, but she never dreamed he was on the take. Did Shaun know? She replayed their phone call in her mind. Yes, he’d definitely known this morning. When had he found out? How long had he kept his father’s secret?

  “I want to assure you I acted alone. Nobody else in Bluelick participated in any way. Nobody knew anything about this until last night, when my son Shaun came home and caught me red-handed. It is a sad moment, as a parent, to look into your child’s eyes and know you’ve failed as a role model and forfeited his respect. I would like to publicly thank Shaun for being an honorable man, and requiring me to do the right thing. With his help, I contacted the FBI, confessed, and pledged to cooperate with their investigation, which has already commenced. Sheriff Butler and other officers within his department have been suspended from service pending a full inquiry. To that end, I’ll be accompanying federal investigators to Louisville today and…well…I probably won’t be seeing you for a while.”

  Conversation broke out all around as people processed the information.

  “Oh my God.” Melody turned to her. “I’m sitting next to the new mayor of Bluelick.”

  Ginny shook her head and a punch of panic pushed all the air from her lungs. “No. Uh-uh. I don’t want it this way.”

  Josh leaned across Melody and pinned her with a serious stare. “Man up, Boca. This town needs you. Now more than ever.”

  Commotion in the center aisle saved her from answering. Brandi stalked toward the pulpit, shaking off a dark-suited man who tried to rein her in. “Tom, tell this man I can’t go to Louisville. I have an appointment with the landscaper tomorrow morning, for that lap pool you promised me…” Her whiney tirade trailed off into an indignant squeak as the suit snagged her arm, spun her around, and marched her back the way she’d come.

  Tom’s voice pulled everyone’s attention to the front of the church again. “I-I know my apologies can’t repair the damage I’ve done, but I offer them anyway, and urge you not to let my shortcomings taint your view of our public servants here in Bluelick. You have a fine, dedicated city council, and a mayoral candidate with all the ethics, gumption, and good sense you could ask for in a leader. I hope you’ll give her your support. Thank you.”

  The two men in dark suits stood as Tom descended the pulpit, flanked him, and whisked him out the door, and that’s when it hit her. Tom Buchanan is in custody.

  Shit just got real.

  Chapter Seventeen

  “Hey, Miss Mayor.”

  Ginny looked up from the small reception desk separating her waiting area from the rest of her salon and smiled at Grady Landry, hovering half in, half out of her door. “Yes councilman?”

  “Got a minute?”

  “Sure.” She dropped her pen and gestured him to a seat in her empty waiting area. She was in-between appointments, trying to be productive, but his presence alleviated her need to stare at the minutes of last night’s city council meeting—her first as mayor—and pretend to focus while her mind stubbornly fixated on Shaun.

  According to Tyler, Shaun had gone to Louisville with Tom, but he’d been away for over a week now. Was he ever coming back? She’d hoped against hope to see him at her victory party last Tuesday at Rawley’s, or at her expedited swearing-in ceremony last Friday morning. She’d missed him like a vital organ, picked up her phone a thousand times to call him, but never followed through. What would she say? Sorry about your dad. Sorry I doubted you. Um…by the way, I’m in love with you.

  Of course, he hadn’t contacted her either. For all she knew, he’d kissed Bluelick good-bye permanently this time. He’d never wanted to get swept up in local drama, but circumstances and his own moral compass had landed him a central role. Who would blame him if he preferred to forget the place existed? Family didn’t hold him here anymore. Tom had already put the Riverview house on the market and taken an apartment in Louisville. Justin had been shuttled to his mother in Atlanta, and Ginny had declined to press charges for vandalism because she’d just as soon not have him back—even for a day in court. Nobody had seen Brandi since the infamous Sunday. Rumor had it when the Feds had spit her out she’d returned to Rabbit Hash.

  “How are you holding up, Grady?” she asked as he lowered his oversized frame into a chair. The last week hadn’t been easy on a lot of people in Bluelick, including the city council. Despite Tom’s assertions he’d acted without the knowledge or participation of the rest of the council, current and past members had endured long, sweaty hours of questioning by the Feds. Ginny, too, had spent quality time with investigators, and walked away with her nerves stretched to the limit, even without the cold eye of suspicion on her. The story had brought out regional and local press, who’d hovered like vultures over the town for days, before finally moving on to a high school football scandal in another county.

  “Hanging in,” Grady said. “Are you feeling effective, having your first major proposal as mayor unanimously approved?”

  They’d voted last night to establish the Bluelick Police Department and approved an initial budget. She laughed. “Under the circumstances, I’d have to say the proposal sold itself.”

  “Not at all. You sold it. After you left, the other council members and I had a little chat about who we might tap to be our police chief. We’re not fighting a daily battle against criminal elements here, thank my maker, but we need someone with law enforcement training, who knows when to deter by presence, and when to take action, and has experience coordinating a small team. Ideally, someone local.”

  She winced. “The local part is the kicker. There are plenty of deputies looking to exit the sheriff’s department at the moment, but rightly or wrongly, they’re tainted by Butler and his bad apples. This community needs a chief of police they can trust in the role from the get-go, not someone who might earn their trust over time.”

  “Yep. We couldn’t agree more. And we have the perfect candidate. Shaun Buchanan.”

  Her heart skidded to a halt, and then took off at double-time. “Shaun?”

  “Sure. He convinced his own d
addy to do the right thing. Didn’t turn his back or look the other way. If that’s not loyalty to this town and the law, I don’t know what is. People respect him for how he handled the mess, and we’re not the kind to punish the son for the sins of the father. He made the tough call, and he followed through. He served our country with honor, and graduated with flying colors from the academy in Rochester earlier this year. What more could we want?”

  She folded her hands and propped her chin on them. “I agree, and I… I think he’d do a great job. He’s got the right background. I trust his instincts and his judgment, but Grady, I don’t know what his plans are. I don’t even know if he’s returning to Bluelick.”

  “He’s back. Got in last night and was on the job at Longfoot’s site first thing this morning.”

  “Oh.” She swallowed that bit of news and tried to hide her disappointment. He hadn’t called. Hadn’t come by. “Does he plan to…stay?”

  “We’re thinking you might be able to shape his plans, if you speak to him about the job. Sell him on it. Make him an offer he can’t refuse.”

  “Me?”

  “You’re the mayor.” Grady grinned and hefted himself out of her guest chair just as Dilly Hill bounced in to get her roots touched up, and Mrs. Hill followed.

  “OMG. Ginny Boca, you’re the freaking mayor,” Dilly gushed, and wrapped her in a hug.

  “Yeah,” Ginny replied, and hugged her back. “OMG.”

  Forty-five minutes later Dilly danced out behind her mom, eighty dollars lighter a shade blonder than her daddy was likely to appreciate, but happy. Ginny waved at them, flipped her sign from open to closed, and started lowering the blind over her front window.

  A figure standing at the curb drew her eye. Shaun, hands tucked into the front pockets of his jeans, staring at her.

  She hurried to the door, never taking her eyes off him, but when she opened her mouth to speak, the chaos of words rushing to be freed clogged her throat. How are you? I missed you. Why are you back? What are your plans? I’m in love with you. Where should she start? “You could use a trim.”

  Nice.

  His lips tightened into a faint smile. “You’re the expert.”

  She tipped her head toward the shop. “Just so happens I have an opening in my schedule right now.”

  He glanced at her closed sign and then back at her.

  In answer, she stepped aside, held the door open, and inhaled deeply as he brushed past. His scent, the heat of his body, his proximity—the combination triggered longing so strong it almost made her dizzy. Everything inside her ached to hold onto him, but he’d rebuilt his wall of inscrutability since he’d been gone, and she couldn’t tell how he’d react. “Have a seat.”

  He went to the chair in front of her workstation and sat. She lingered in the waiting area for a moment, thought about lowering the blinds, but left them alone. Secrets weren’t her style—never had been. If somebody walked by and caught an eyeful of Shaun Buchanan getting a trim from his father’s successor, so be it. Let them speculate.

  She approached the chair, while memories of everything they’d done at this very workstation the first time she’d given him a haircut blew through her mind. Her hands were less than steady as she shook out a clean cape, draped it over him, and secured the Velcro at the back of his neck. Trembling hands…not the kind of trait a smart man looked for in a person about to wield scissors around his head. She inhaled slowly, and waited for calm before she leaned past him and dug a clean comb and scissors from her drawer. Her arm brushed his shoulder as she straightened, and the heat from the small contact zinged through her, leaving no molecule unscathed.

  She spritzed the back of his head with water and began working the comb through. “How have you been?”

  “I’m surviving. The Feds are done with me, for the time being, so that’s good.”

  “You look good.” God, did she sound like she was hitting on him? “I mean…you know…well rested.”

  “I am, strangely enough. I’m sleeping again.” His eyes found hers in the mirror. “I have you to thank for that.”

  “Not really. All I did was ask a few questions and listen.”

  “Listening is one of your gifts, sweet Virginia. One of many.”

  The sound of her name on his lips caused a spike in her pulse. She didn’t know how to respond to his observation, so she offered him a quick smile and concentrated on trimming a tidy line across the back of his neck.

  “Guess I should call you mayor now?”

  Was he teasing her? “Virginia is fine.” She snipped around his ear.

  “Congratulations.” This time his voice held no hint of a tease.

  “Thank you.” God, he might as well have been a polite stranger, instead of the man with whom she’d shared more physical and emotional intimacies than she’d ever dreamed possible. She moved around to the front of the chair and focused on his bangs. After a minute, the inside of his knee brushed her thigh. Her eyes dropped to his, but those bottomless brown depths gave nothing away.

  Something inside her snapped, and she dropped the scissors and comb down on her workstation with a clatter. “Why didn’t you call me? Or come by yesterday when you got back into town?”

  The corner of his mouth tipped up into what someone less attuned to him might have mistaken as a smile, but she knew better than to confuse the sardonic twist of his lips for a sign of amusement. “Last time we spoke, you said you’d had your fill of Buchanans.”

  She raised her hands, not sure if she planned to plead with him or strangle him, and ended up lowering them again. “Last time we spoke I didn’t know what was going on!”

  “Here’s what was going on: my stepbrother had defaced your building, my father had hatched a plan to derail your campaign with a false arrest, and was attempting to keep his sinking financial ship afloat by taking bribes from the county sheriff. Under the circumstances, I can’t blame you for deciding you didn’t want any Buchanans in your life.”

  He laughed and looked out the window at Main Street. “I can’t blame anyone in town for feeling that way. But that Sunday before I left for Louisville, I called Tyler to let him know I wouldn’t be at work, and why, and he made me promise to come back and finish the job when I could. I gave my word, so…here I am. They’re behind schedule at the moment, so I know at least a few people in town are glad to have me back.”

  “You idiot man.” She crossed her arms over her chest to keep from putting her hands on him. “Everyone in town is glad to have you back. You’re our hero, for having the strength and courage to do the right thing, even though it meant making your father turn himself in. This town respects you, and trusts you.”

  “That’s nice to hear, but I’m more interested in what you—”

  “I’m not spouting nice words, Shaun. Grady just spoke to me today, on behalf of the city council. We’ve voted to establish the Bluelick Police Department and they want you as the chief of police. I’m supposed to talk you into taking the job.”

  The information clearly came as a surprise, and she thought she saw a flash of interest in his expression. She pressed on. “It’s a chance to build the department from the ground up, almost literally. You’re the perfect choice. You’d be good at it.”

  “I am interested, but I have certain conditions.”

  Interested was good. Interested meant he might actually stick around, and if he stuck around, maybe she could figure out how to convince him to forgive her for not trusting him. Her heart beat a little harder at the prospect. “Name them. Anything. If it’s in my power, it’s yours.”

  “You,” he said, and his hands cupped her face. “I want you—all of you—your hopes and dreams, your body and heart. I want a chance to prove you can trust me with everything.”

  “I do.” She wrapped her fingers around his wrists and held on, trying to underscore the truth behind those two little words with her touch. “I swear I do, Shaun. I never should have doubted you. When we spoke Sunday morning, you asked me t
o calm down and let you explain. I didn’t. I jumped to conclusions because I was scared.”

  His eyes darkened. He rubbed his thumb gently along her jaw. “Sweet Virginia, don’t ever be scared of me.”

  “I was scared of me,” she admitted, and felt the burn of tears behind her eyes. “I was terrified because I-I’d fallen in love with you. I hadn’t meant to, didn’t particularly want to—”

  He cut her off with a kiss. Simply pulled her in, covered her mouth with his and stripped all her defenses away until she melted against him.

  “I love you, too,” he said against her lips, then eased back and gave her a firm look completely at odds with the tender words. “But I refuse to keep our relationship off the radar. No more sneaking around. I don’t care if it causes a scandal. We take this thing out in the open. That’s non-negotiable.”

  She wanted to shout “yes” at the top of her lungs. From the rooftop. From the bell tower at Bluelick Baptist, but a movement outside her shop window snagged her attention. She turned back to him, smiling. “Um…consider it a done deal.” Then she swiveled the chair so they faced the front of the shop. Ms. Van Hendler waved at them from the other side of the window.

  “Mark my words, sugar, before the sun goes down tonight the whole county’s going to know Virginia Boca gave Shaun Buchanan a really bad haircut in exchange for a really good kiss. I hope you’re prepared to find yourself at the center of another local scandal.”

  He smiled and lowered his mouth to hers, stopping just before their lips touched. “One kiss hardly qualifies as a scandal. Let’s give ’em something to talk about.”

  Epilogue

  Shaun stood at the front of a crowd of people, with Mendelssohn ringing in his ears, and watched Melody Merritt-Bradley bounce her newborn on her hip. Tyler Longfoot stood next to him, his attention locked on Ellie Longfoot positioned beside Melody in a similar rose-colored dress, cooing at the baby. Josh Bradley held the spot beside Tyler, and Shaun could feel the fire chief’s enthrallment with his baby boy from this far away. Would he be that far gone over his own kid someday?