Redemption (Reunion Book 1)

by Adrienne Ruvalcaba

  Mrs. Horta spoke again, interrupting his thoughts. “I know Delilah is a pretty girl, and you probably think it would be fun to have a fling with her, or whatever you kids call it nowadays. She’s a good person, and she has a kind heart. I’m not sure who or what you are yet. You either came here because you genuinely care about what happened to my son, or you’re trying to get on her good side so she’ll sleep with you. I can’t tell which it is, but I will tell you that if you do anything to hurt her, I won’t keep quiet about it. I may not be on the city council, but a lot of people in this town listen to me. I could convince people to avoid your bar and your gym until you have no choice but to close and move somewhere else. I have thousands of Facebook and Twitter followers.”

  For some reason, her threat struck him as funny, but he suppressed the urge to laugh or even smile. For the first time in more than ten years, he was more honest with someone else than he had ever been with himself. “I’m not going to hurt Delilah, Mrs. Horta. I was in love with her back in high school, but she never knew it. I was too stupid and immature to talk to her back then. Last night, every time I looked at her, I kept imagining myself married to a woman just like her,” he said. “I’m sorry I offended you when I first showed up, but my heart is in the right place, Mrs. Horta. If you think of anything you need from me, please give me a call.”

  With those final words, he stood up to leave. Mrs. Horta surprised him by coming forward to give him a hug before he walked out the door. As he wrapped his arms around her small frame, he was reminded of his mother.

  On his way home, he thought about everything he knew about the night Adrian Horta died. Echoes of Misty’s voice replayed in his head as he thought about that night, and the next day. He and Misty had been an item since their sophomore year, not because either of them had formally asked the other to go steady, but because they had been seen together often enough for everyone to assume they were in love. Diego had enjoyed her company, but he had never been able to tell her he loved her. He knew that saying the words wouldn’t make them true, and he had always felt guilty for having feelings for Delilah while dating Misty. Senior year, he had planned to break up with her, but then the accident had happened.

  That night, when he got home from the baseball game, Misty had called him to talk about it. She had been so distraught she cried all night. She had babbled about being sent to jail and having her life completely ruined before it began, and Diego had listened and sympathized with her. She had said things like, “What was that stupid kid doing riding his bike down that road at night anyway?” and Diego had agreed with her. He had said whatever it took to make her feel better than night.

  The next day, they had talked again. He had gone home from practice to find her waiting for him. She had been a miserable wreck, her mascara still smeared across her face and her breath still smelling of alcohol. After one look at him, she had collapsed into his arms in a heap of angst and need, and he had stood there and held her, because she had needed him. She had been wearing his letterman jacket at the time, and he had resisted the urge to ask her if she had been wearing it during the accident.

  “I promise I’ll stop drinking so much,” she had hiccupped multiple times as he held her.

  It had never felt right to him to stay with her, especially after that, but he had owed it to her. His father was on the city council and her father was the mayor; he didn’t have the option at that time to tell her he never wanted to see her again. He had taken the coward’s way out of the relationship. He had stayed with her through the rest of the year, but after graduation he had decided to go to a different college without telling her.

  When Diego got back to his house, Misty’s tearful voice had been replaced by the voice of Mrs. Horta. “Can you bring my son back to me?” rang in his ears over and over again as he paced his living room.

  He knew he couldn’t bring Adrian Horta back, but he could do something else—something that he had considered doing many times before. Tucked away in the back of his closet was a dusty box filled with his high school memories. There he dug out a crumpled wad of papers he could hardly stand to look at…Misty’s original discharge papers from the hospital. She had accidentally left them in the pocket of his letterman jacket, and he had never bothered to return them to her or her father. He had looked at the results of the blood alcohol test that proved she was drunk that night, and he had said nothing about it. Even as a teen, he knew something unsavory must have happened behind the scenes to keep her out of trouble. Now, as he stared at the papers in his hand, he knew that he was holding the only evidence that could ever bring even a modicum of peace back into Mrs. Horta’s life.

  PART TWO

  Three years later

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  As the plane touched down at Houston’s Hobby airport, Lilah thought about everything that had happened since her last trip to her hometown almost three years ago. The changes to both her personal and professional life had been dramatic and sweeping. She was no longer the heartbroken little nobody she had been last time Cheryl picked her up at the airport. She was now a published author, and she was no longer in love with an older man who saw her as a subordinate little plaything. Lilah had been so busy with her book tour and author events, she had no time to even think about her love life, or lack of one.

  Her love life hadn’t even crossed her mind in months, and the only reason it did today was because she was in town for her cousin Cheryl’s wedding. She had fulfilled most of her official maid of honor duties from afar, but for the next month she would help with the final stages of wedding plans. She could hardly believe she had agreed to come back and stay in Bay City for an entire month.

  The upside to being in town for the month was the chance to reconnect with some of her old friends. Mrs. Horta had managed to secure a new job as receptionist for the mayor’s office, and Lilah had promised to have lunch with her when she got into town today. As she drove her little rental car down the highway, Lilah thought about the possibility of multiple run-ins with the best man. Cheryl and Hugo Gonzales were to be married in one month, and Diego was the best man. As the maid of honor, she knew there was no way to avoid him completely.

  Lilah had already made up her mind to face him like a mature adult. After months of thought on their last encounter, she had concluded that she owed him an apology. That speech she gave him had been the only time she’d expressed her grief and anger at Adrian’s death. He hadn’t been the one driving that night, but she had made him a scapegoat for the crime in her mind. She had spent years hating him for something someone else had done. He hadn’t been the only person in class discussing the tragedy, yet she had focused her rage on him like a laser and let it burn hot for ten years. He had been nothing more than an immature teenager, caving in to the social pressure to laugh at those less fortunate. His actions had been stupid and insensitive, but not quite as evil as she had made them out to be in her mind.

  When she got to town, she pulled into the local Chili’s and waited in the entrance for Mrs. Horta to arrive.

  “Delilah! How was your trip?” Mrs. Horta exclaimed when she walked through the restaurant doors.

  “It was good, but I think I might need to take a nap after lunch. I caught the earliest flight, and then had to drive two hours to get here. I feel like I’ve been going all day, and it isn’t even noon yet,” Lilah smiled. “You look great, by the way,” she added.

  “You like my sexy, little pants suit?” Mrs. Horta asked as she gave a little spin.

  “Yes,” Lilah said with a nod. “The professional look really works for you.”

  “I’ll tell you all about my new job after we sit down,” Mrs. Horta offered with a happy smile.

  The changes in her demeanor were so noticeable, Lilah almost commented on it. She must really love her new job working for the mayor’s office, but how could she possibly love that job? The mayor’s daughter had killed her son. It made no sense that she could be happy working for that man.

  A
s soon as the hostess showed them to a quiet booth near the bar, Mrs. Horta launched into her exciting news. “I guess you don’t keep up with what goes on in Bay City now that you’re a bigtime author, but a lot has changed in the past three years,” she said.

  “I’m not bigtime at all, but I’m no longer small potatoes either,” Lilah said with a chuckle. “What’s with your new job? I really never thought you’d work for the mayor’s office.”

  “Delilah, Fredrick Holt is no longer the mayor of Bay City. I work for the new mayor.”

  “There’s a new mayor? When did that happen? How did that happen?”

  “Fredrick Holt was indicted for obstruction of justice and corruption. Right after you left town again a few years ago, someone released a report from the night Misty Holt ran over Adrian. She was drunk that night, and Mayor Holt and the police chief at the time buried her blood alcohol content report from the hospital and said she was suffering from shock on the police report. The city held a special election to replace him, and the man who helped take down Mayor Holt won. Actually, I helped him get elected.”

  “Go, Mrs. Horta!” Lilah exclaimed as she and Mrs. Horta high-fived across the table.

  “The new mayor has been doing so much in the community this year, I think he would easily get re-elected if he decided to run again in three years.”

  “What do you mean if? If he doesn’t want the job, why did he run in the first place?”

  “Because I pressured him into it. When all this started out a few years ago, all we wanted was justice for my son. The process of getting that involved us both in the community in ways neither of us had planned on. I think we can do a lot of good things for Bay City if he runs for a second term.”

  “Things like what?”

  “Right now, he’s really pushing for the city council to draft an ordinance to raise the minimum wage to twelve dollars an hour. He’s also trying to create partnerships between the city and local non-profit organizations. We’re pushing for Bay City to be a designated City of service, but right now we don’t have some of the resources needed to implement all of the requirements for that designation.”

  Lilah sat forward in excitement, “I could help with that!” she exclaimed. “Before my book was published, all I did was work with non-profits. I consulted on partnerships, grant writing, and I have a ton of experience working with the local governments on the Cities of Service list.”

  “Excellent. That’s just what I wanted to hear. The mayor is going to be happy to see you,” Mrs. Horta said with a huge smile. “Today I can put my money where my mouth is. I’ve talked a lot about you and all your grant writing experience.”

  “You have?”

  “Of course. Stop by the mayor’s office today around five. He doesn’t have any appointments after four, and he tends to work late too much. We’ll have plenty of time to talk this evening,” Mrs. Horta said as the server showed up with their lunch.

  An hour later, Lilah had checked into her hotel room and stood surveying her meagre wardrobe. She had met with small town mayors before, so she knew the importance of looking professional yet not too threatening. Her go-to outfits for meetings about community projects were usually skirt suits. She felt that pants suits gave her a slightly more ambitious edge to her look. When she finally departed for the evening meeting with Mrs. Horta and the mayor, she was wearing a pink silk shirt tucked into a high-waist cream pencil skirt.

  Once she arrived at the mayor’s office, Mrs. Horta stood up from behind the reception desk to greet her. “You look so pretty, mija,” she said with a smile. “I’ll let him know you’re here; just have a seat.”

  Lilah sat down and tried not to fidget as she waited for her turn to speak with the mayor. She was focusing on the pattern in the carpet, when she spied a pair of shiny, brown leather shoes walking toward her. Her gaze slowly lifted to a pair of long legs encased in a tailored blue suit. The legs stopped directly in front of her, and her eyes travelled further up his frame, past a magnificent looking chest and directly to his face. She was sure her mouth dropped open as Diego Gonzales smiled down at her.

  “It’s good to see you again, Miss Johnson,” he said as he stuck out his hand to assist her out of her seat.

  She snapped her mouth shut and clicked into professional mode as she said, “Likewise, Mr. Mayor.” On her way past Mrs. Horta’s desk, Lilah shot the older woman a look that spoke volumes.

  Mrs. Horta’s response was a big grin accompanied by a nonchalant little shrug.

  Lilah tried not to stare at his broad shoulders and back as he preceded her into his office. He turned and pulled out one of the chairs at the conference table. After she sat down, he took the chair right next to her instead of the one at the head of the table. She tried to breathe normally and act like nothing out of the ordinary was going on, but her entire body was suffering an internal meltdown at his presence. He was even more attractive than she remembered, and his smile was just as infectious as ever. He was close enough for her to feel his presence and smell him, and he smelled so good. She glanced at his face again and had to stifle the memories of him kissing her and licking her nipples the night of the reunion.

  “Miss Johnson, I’d like to thank you for coming in today to talk to me. Mrs. Horta has done nothing but brag about all the expertise you have in an area of particular concern for the city. She told me she explained some of what we’re trying to do before my term ends when you two had lunch today. I’m so grateful that you are thinking about lending us some of your time and talents,” he said as he sat back in his chair and smiled at her again. He gave off a completely friendly and professional vibe, and all she could think when she looked at him just then was how badly she wanted to climb onto his lap and kiss him until he couldn’t think straight.

  She smiled back and said, “Mrs. Horta told me what you did to get Mayor Holt out of office. I’d like to go on record and formally apologize for all of the hurtful things I said to you last time we were in a room together. It’s amazing how happy she is right now. It’s also amazing that Adrian is finally going to get justice; you are a really good person for making that happen.”

  Lilah’s words produced an instant change in Diego’s demeanor. He sat forward and looked directly into her eyes with an expression that made her stomach do an uncomfortable little flip-flop. It seemed like he was on the verge of saying something substantial, but they were interrupted by someone else walking into the room.

  A young woman delivered a packet of papers and said, “Here is the information you asked for, Mayor Gonzales.”

  “Thanks, Edna,” Diego responded without taking his eyes off of Lilah.

  Whatever he had been about to say was left unsaid, and the moment passed. He pushed the stack of papers towards her and said, “This is information on all of the non-profit community based programs in Matagorda County. Some of them already have grant funding, and some of them don’t. A lot of them have partnerships with the city already. What this office needs right now is someone with your type of expertise to make contact with the directors of these programs. If Bay City is going to become an official city of service, I’ll have to designate someone to have the responsibility of monitoring our involvement in these programs and keeping reports on our volunteer and direct service status up to date. It’s a lot of work, and I don’t have the faintest idea how to go about choosing someone for the job. Since this is something you have lots of experience doing, I thought you might consult with us during the hiring process. Mrs. Horta would love it if you were interested in the job, but I know you have other commitments,” he said.

  “How soon did you want to have the position filled?” she asked as she started to skim through the papers before her.

  “Ideally, I’d like to have it done before you leave town again. How long were you planning to stay?” he asked.

  “I’ll be here six weeks,” she said. She had only planned on staying a month, but she wasn’t about to analyze her split decision to stay two weeks
longer.

  He looked surprised at her news and asked, “So, you’re not leaving the day after the wedding?”

  “No, I’m not. I don’t really have a nine-to-five job to go back to anymore. I make my own schedule now.”

  “Lucky you. I miss those days,” he said. He looked into her eyes again as he spoke in a faux whisper, “I still can’t believe Mrs. Horta dragged me into running for mayor. When they told me I’d won, it was the biggest shock of my life, but now I understand it a little better.”

  “How do you like the job so far? Do you think you’ll run for reelection?” Lilah asked.

  He tipped his head closer to hers and said, “I’m not sure yet. It really depends a lot on how things go with the proposed ordinance to raise the minimum wage. If I can’t get that done in my first term, I don’t think I have any business running for reelection. What do you think?”

  “What I think might not make much sense to you.”

  “Try me,” he said with a smile.

  “I think you deserve a second term based solely on what you did to get Mayor Holt indicted for obstruction of justice and corruption. It took some serious gumption for you to go up against him and win. How old are you now? Thirty-one? Thirty-two?”

  “Thirty-two,” he said quietly. “I’m the youngest mayor in the history of Bay City.”

  “Well, I’m impressed, Mr. Mayor. And I look forward to working with you over the next six weeks.”

  “Thank you, Delilah,” he said quietly. “I feel like I’ve finally arrived,” he added with a wink.

  “What do you mean?” she asked.

  “You don’t think I’m a disgusting jerk anymore…” he said as their eyes met again.

  She quickly looked down at the table in embarrassment. “I really shouldn’t have said all of those things,” she whispered.

  He reached out and placed his hand over the top of hers. “You absolutely should have said those things, Delilah. If not for that conversation, I would have gone on as I was—spoiled, kind of selfish, and not quite mature enough to be considered a good man by a woman like you. I think I like myself a lot better these days; Mrs. Horta certainly does.”