She’d thought she would have a baby by now. And a husband and a house that wasn’t falling apart around her.
She hadn’t even dated in the last year. She was so far from where she thought she’d be now.
Rene had stopped, smiling at the man he was talking to. His lips had kicked up in that smile that got her heart racing.
She was not going there again. Nope. He’d turned her down, and he’d honestly been right to do it. They’d been far too young, and now she knew he wasn’t the right guy for her. He lived in a different world. He dated models and beauty queens, and she dated intellectuals. Well, she did when she dated.
“So you’re the mayor?”
She’d practically forgotten Justin was still standing there. “Yes. That’s what they tell me.”
“You’re pretty young for a mayor.”
She got that a lot. “Well, like I’ve mentioned, this is a small town and Mayor Malloy had been in office for almost thirty years. When he passed, they weren’t sure who to replace him with. I have a master’s degree in political science and I worked in DC for a few years, so I got recruited.”
“Well, I’m glad you did. I’ll be honest, I was feeling pretty down. You’re good at your job, Madam Mayor.” He gave her a smile.
“Thank you. If you’ll excuse me, Mr. Hardy, I have another meeting to get to.” Lunch in her office suddenly didn’t seem like a bad idea.
“Hey, I was wondering if you would like to grab some coffee sometime, and maybe we can talk some more.”
“I have a ‘breakfast with the mayor’ event coming up next week. I would love to see you there.” Maybe she could introduce the man around.
“But I was hoping—” Justin was cut off when the door came open and Gertrude Cormier stood in the doorway.
Gertie had been working in city hall for twenty-five years. She’d been the mayor’s secretary for many of those years, and Sylvie had inherited her. She’d been a godsend since Gertie knew everything about everyone. Nothing got past the lady, and her eyes were immediately on Justin Hardy. “Pardon me, Mr. Hardy. I need the mayor for her next meeting. Madam Mayor, the sheriff is waiting.”
Justin immediately stepped back. “Of course. Thank you for your time. I’ll think about what you said.”
When the door closed behind him, Sylvie looked at her assistant. “I didn’t know Armie was on the schedule today.”
Gertie shrugged a shoulder. She was dressed in a business suit that might have come from the eighties, but she made those power shoulders work for her. “He’s not. You do know that man was hitting on you.”
He was? “No. I was helping him with a problem. That’s all.”
Gertie’s eyes widened. “Are you kidding? He was asking you on a date, but I think you were distracted. How is Leonard? Losing Brian is going to be hard on him.”
“You know Brian’s a raccoon, right?” Had she misread his intentions? Not that she would have gone out with the man, but she usually was better at picking up social cues. Or maybe she only thought she was good at them.
“Of course, but Leonard’s been lonely since Pearl passed,” Gertie acknowledged. “I think he also liked how Brian threw things at Hardy. It amused Leonard. He is not impressed with the new kid’s management skills, if you know what I mean. I told Zep to find a dog for him. That old man needs some companionship.”
Sometimes she swore Gertie could read her mind. “I was going to do the same thing.”
“Well, I caught Leonard in the hall. He wasn’t sure where Zep’s office was.” Gertie held her ever-present clipboard close. “I set him on the path and let Zep know he’s coming.”
“Thanks.” Sylvie didn’t mean to stare, but Rene was still in the hallway—he was kind of a work of art, and she got sucked in every time. He was talking to the city engineer, likely about some project he was going to fund, or maybe he was going over plans for poker night.
“Madam Mayor, should I get you a tissue?”
She shook her head, coming out of the trance she seemed to go into whenever her brother’s best friend walked into her line of sight.
“Why?” She forced herself back to the present.
“To wipe the drool away, girl.” Gertie was shaking her head. “Maybe there’s a reason you don’t know when a man is interested in you.”
She sighed. “I was not drooling. I was thinking. I got distracted.”
“You always get distracted when that boy walks in.”
“He’s not a boy.” Rene was all man and she wasn’t a girl anymore. She would be thirty in a couple of years. By the time her mom was thirty, she’d already been married for years, had two kids, and started her business.
“You are all children to me.” Gertie started toward the door. “Come along, honey. I’ve got your schedule for the rest of the week, and you need to go over the budget before the council meets. Have you thought about what you’re going to wear to the meeting with the Hollywood people?”
Sylvie was doing a meet-and-greet with a group of Hollywood producers looking for a cheap location to shoot a film. “I bought a Chanel suit.”
It was gently used, but it was her size and cost half what she would pay in a store. She was all about the online thrift shop.
Gertie shook her head with a long-suffering sigh. “You know I could sew a label in for you.”
Gertie did not understand Sylvie’s need for designer wear. Her thoughts drifted back to Rene. Rene understood that a good outfit could give a person confidence. “It’s not the same. Do you know why he’s here?”
“No idea.” Gertie opened the door and then gave Sylvie a once-over. “Good, that’s your I’m-a-serious-politician face. Use that one.”
She barely managed not to roll her eyes. Gertie claimed she had a face for every situation. Apparently she also had a “drool over the superrich hottie” face, and she needed to make damn sure she wasn’t wearing that one for the next couple of minutes. “I shall attempt to get by him without fainting or screaming like I’m a teen at a K-pop concert.”
She wouldn’t even look his way. That was her best play. She would walk straight to her office, and he would do what he normally did and not even notice she was alive.
“I’ll go pick up your lunch,” Gertie said as they walked into the hallway. “I’ll be back in five minutes.”
She wouldn’t. It would be at least thirty because the minute Gertie walked into Dixie’s to pick up the grilled chicken salad Sylvie had ordered, she would have to say hello to everyone she knew. And Gertie knew everyone. It was precisely why she was excellent at her job. Gertie was a fount of knowledge about the parish and everyone in it.