Even though she groaned, she had to admit he had a point. The whole purpose of the booth was to build community goodwill, and what better way than having her father shine his light on everyone he met?
“Fine. Have it your way.”
“Wait. Don’t leave yet. Want a burger?” He cast an apologetic look at the man at the head of the line, someone Kendra didn’t recognize. “Sorry, mister, this here’s my daughter and she’s busy keeping everything going. Mind if I feed her real quick? It’ll only take a minute.”
The man nodded amiably enough, but Kendra picked up on his irritation. She wondered who he was. The SweetSummer Fest was a casual event, with flip-flops, shorts and sunglasses the most popular outfits. This guy was wearing a damn business suit and a tie. Tall, blond, impatient. Important. Whoever he was, he was used to being catered to.
“Pop, it’s fine. I’m not hungry. I’ll grab something from the kitchen.” She beamed her best smile at the man. “You go ahead and order.”
“Kendra, right?”
She gave a double-take. “Do I know you?”
“No, but Dominic said you’d—” Before he could say another word, Kendra grabbed him by the arm and hauled him off to the side. Any conversation involving Dominic needed to happen in private. Too many curious locals were wandering around.
“Who are you? How do you know Dominic?”
He smirked. “Still touchy about the breakup?”
“Excuse me?” Whoever he was, Kendra already disliked him.
“Dominic told me I should say hi if I saw you. So, hi. I’m Mark Jordan.” He offered his hand, which she shook numbly. “My sister’s married to his brother Liam.”
She knew Liam Robb. He’d never liked her, and she’d never liked him. She could barely summon up an image of his wife, Amy. Blond, just like Mark. Very uninterested in anything to do with Kendra.
“What brings you to Lake Bittersweet, Mark?”
“I’m in town for a job interview.”
A sinking feeling came over her. If he was going for the town manager job, she’d have to do something drastic. She couldn’t bear it if this smug stranger got the job over her. “What’s the job?”
“I’m a firefighter. This town’s looking for a new fire chief. I’m pretty sure I have it in the bag. I’m overqualified, but I’m looking for a change of pace.”
He smoothed his tie. Figured a friend of Dominic’s would be wearing one to a festival.
This was even worse. Mark with the Tie was competing with Jason, not her. She had to tell him that he had some serious competition. He needed to step up his game if he was going to get the fire chief job. Jason was too laidback. Whit wore a blazer that fit him perfectly and had a smooth-talking manner that probably went over great at fundraisers and budget meetings. He was also pretty fit, broader in the shoulders than Jason, maybe a little bit taller.
How could Jason ever compete with someone like this?
“Well, Mark, as someone who grew up here, you should probably know that it’s a tough place to live. The winters are long and they can be boring. If anything exciting happens, it’s usually life-threatening. If you’re looking for peace and quiet, that’s not exactly what you get here. It’s more like tedium and bad internet access.”
“The wifi seems to work pretty well.”
“Sure, now. But it often goes out in the winter. The snow can get so deep you have to ski out of your second-floor window.” That had only happened once in anyone’s memory, but it made for a good story. “And I hope you like burgers and pizza, because that’s about all there is to eat in terms of restaurants after the summer ends.”
“How’s the pizza?”
“Excellent,” she admitted. “So are the burgers, since my dad makes them. I’m just saying, the pace is really slow here, so you might want to look into a job in a bigger city.”
Mark looked irritated. “I get it. You don’t want me here. If this is because of the Dominic connection, I’ll stay out of your way. Your breakup is your business.”
It wasn’t that. It was Jason. She didn’t want him to lose out on the job he deserved. She didn’t want some out-of-town dude cutting him out—especially one related to Dominic. She was Team Jason all the way. And when she was on someone’s team, she went all out.
A scheme formed in her mind, the kind of thing she and her crew used to do back in those long-ago summer days. Did she still have it in her or had the breakup ruined her sense of adventure?
She thought about the pool hall, and Brooke, and WWBD.
“Not at all, Mark.” She beamed her best smile at him. “How about I show you around town a little?”
Seven
By the end of SweetSummer Fest, Jason had given so many tours of the ladder truck to local kids that he seriously considered riding his bike to the next fire. He was that sick of the thing. But it was always fun watching kids’ faces light up when they got to try on a helmet or sit in the engineer’s seat.
This stuff was right up his alley. If he became fire chief, he’d try to increase outreach to the younger population of Lake Bittersweet. Getting them involved in junior firefighter drills or painting projects at the firehouse could help keep kids out of trouble. Like a lot of small towns around here, there wasn’t much going on and teenagers tended to get bored. And that was when bad things happened.
After his volunteer shift was through, he started his real shift patrolling the fair. He wandered through the crowded streets, sent a drunk tourist back to his hotel, broke up a fight between Dickie Brown and Sven Cavendish, who’d been feuding for the last sixty-seven years. He inhaled the scent of cotton candy, sunscreen, and the ever-present pine trees. Ah, summer. God, he loved Lake Bittersweet in the summer.
As night closed in, he decided to see how things were going down at the Blue Drake. Most people were headed that way anyway, drawn by the thump of the bass line reverberating down the street and off the brick-faced buildings. As he reached the back terrace, which looked out over the pier, he saw that the place was packed. He could barely see the band at the end of the pier through all the bobbing heads and raised Solo cups.
This party was hopping. Good for Kendra.
The night was soft as velvet. The violet remnants of the sunset lingered above the forest that surrounded the lake. The music floating over the water plucked a chord of joy deep within him. He wanted to dance, sing, swing someone around. He wanted that sparkle and fizz he felt only with Kendra.
The end of the Blue Drake pier had been transformed into a stage with a white canopy tent overhead in case of rain. He spotted Kendra near the far end of the pier, adjusting the position of a speaker, busy as always.
Glancing around, he saw mostly younger people. Would any of the aldermen get to see Kendra’s hard work? Since their average age was seventy-nine, they might be done for the day.
He had to do something to help her out. If she got the town manager job, maybe she’d stay in Lake Bittersweet. It would take something big like that, something interesting and challenging, to inspire her to stick around.
And damn, he wanted her to stay.
On a mission now, he headed back to the main street, which had been closed off for pedestrians. Find an alderman, any alderman. He’d drag one out of their house if necessary.