But the difference between the girl she’d been and the woman she’d become was more than the passage of time.
She’d always looked people straight in the eye. When she was younger, he’d found the habit unsettling. Now it challenged him. OK, it excited him. Her cousin and classmates had been coy young girls, but Megan had always been direct. As a teenager, he’d thought her odd. As a man, he found her intriguing. Maybe it wasn’t Megan who’d changed. Maybe he had.
Ean opened the door to the second-floor exit and entered the hallway outside of the mayor’s reception area. Ramona as Trinity Falls’s mayor. Would he ever get used to it?
He pulled open the glass doors to the waiting room and crossed to the receptionist’s desk. The young, red-haired woman behind the circular white counter had been a couple of grades behind him and Ramona at Heritage High School.
“Hi, Alice. Is Ramona free?”
Alice stood and beamed at him. “Hi, Ean. Welcome home.”
“Thank you.” He followed her to the hallway as he had on previous visits.
“Ramona’s expecting you.” She made a face over her shoulder at him. “Three years in office. Who’d have thought it? If I’d’ve bet which McCloud cousin would have run for office, I’d still’ve put my money on Megan.”
Ean simply nodded. Alice said the same thing every year.
The thin gray carpeting masked their footsteps as they crossed the long hallway to Ramona’s office. The gleaming silver metal sign on the dark wood door read: RAMONA A. MCCLOUD, MAYOR.
“No one else wanted the job.” The young receptionist knocked twice, then waited for Ramona’s response before opening the door. “Mayor McCloud, Mr. Ean Fever’s here to see you.”
Ramona turned away from her computer screen and placed her forearms on her desk. Her ebony eyes went straight to Ean. “That’ll be all, Alice.”
Ean stepped inside. Alice pulled the door closed behind her.
Ramona rose from her chair. Her bloodred blouse and pencil-thin black skirt hugged her siren’s curves. Her thick near-black hair fell in heavy, glossy curls past her shoulders. Her café au lait skin looked radiant under perfectly applied makeup.
Ramona circled her desk and walked to the black leather sofa on her right. Red stilettos showed off her endless legs. “It’s about time you came knocking on my door.”
Ean stopped an arm’s length from where she stood beside the sofa. Her Chanel No. 5 was familiar. “I only arrived home Sunday night.”
Ramona’s eyes gleamed at him as she sat, crossing her legs. “Have a seat.”
Ean joined her. “You’ve redecorated.”
“I did it myself. I needed a change.” She raised her right arm, drawing his attention back to the black-and-silver décor and modern furnishings.
The room was attractive but cold, impersonal, reminding him of Hugh Bolden’s office at the firm. Abstract metal sculptures posed on glass tabletops and shelves. Framed works of modern art hung from her office’s white walls beside local newspaper and community magazine interviews with her.
Ramona continued. “I couldn’t believe it when I got your e-mail telling me you were coming back.”
“I felt the same way three years ago when you told me you were Trinity Falls’s mayor.” Ean settled his right ankle on his left knee. “I still don’t understand how you became interested in politics.”
He couldn’t picture his high school sweetheart running their hometown. As teenagers, all they’d dreamed of was leaving Trinity Falls. Seven years ago, he’d made his escape when Craven, Bolden & Arnez hired him to work in their New York firm. He’d asked Ramona to join him. She’d seemed ecstatic at first. But less than a year later, she’d returned to Trinity Falls without giving him a reason for breaking up with him.
Ramona gave a low, husky laugh. “Someone had to save this town from itself.”
“What was happening?”
“Nothing. That was the problem. The town was stagnating. We need to attract new industry and new people.”
“The sesquicentennial celebration should help.” Ean noted the miniature version of the 150 YEARS STRONG banner sitting on Ramona’s desk. “Publicity for the event should attract some attention.”
“But will it be enough to revitalize the economy?” Ramona shifted toward him. “We have to do more. We need to improve the town’s infrastructure and add first-class features to stimulate growth.”
Ean’s eyes widened. “Who are you and what have you done with Ramona McCloud?”
It scared him to hear the woman he’d grown up with speaking like this. She sounded like the consummate politician, which meant she used a lot of words that said nothing.
Another husky laugh. “I could ask you the same thing for coming back here.”
Ean tried again. “What was wrong with Trinity Falls?”
“There’s never anything going on here. Sure, we’re planning a yearlong celebration for the town’s one hundred and fiftieth birthday, but all of the events are so small-town. That’s why I can’t believe you came back. You’re not really staying, are you?” That sounded more like the old Ramona.
“Yes, I’m home for good.”
Was it possible for them to rekindle their relationship? They’d once wanted the same things. It didn’t seem that way anymore. Without that common purpose, did they have anything to build on?
“Why have you come back?” Her wide eyes and parted lips said she thought he’d lost his mind.
“It was time for me to come home. The work I was doing in New York wasn’t fulfilling anymore.” Ean stood, shifting his gaze to the window. “I don’t think it ever was.”
The view from town hall was so different from the panorama visible from every window at the firm. Instead of skyscrapers, there were trees. Instead of billboards, he saw blue sky. In the distance, he could see the Trinity Falls Town Center, home of Books & Bakery—and Megan McCloud.
“There’s nothing to do here, but so much to do in New York.” Ramona placed both feet on the ground. “You can do something different every day. And there’s so much to see there.”
“I enjoyed living in New York. But now I want something less hectic.” He couldn’t explain why he gave up his dreams of making it big in the Big Apple. Even if he could, Ramona wouldn’t understand.
“You’re not making any sense, Ean. New York is where we always wanted to be. Why would you throw that all away to come back to this?” She gestured toward the window.
Ean met her gaze. “Six years ago, you threw it all away and returned to this town. You never told me why you left the city—and me.”
Ramona rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. Was that a blush darkening her rounded cheeks? “We can go back to New York together.”
“I’m not going back, Ramona.”
Her expression brightened. “Then maybe we can go somewhere else. It doesn’t have to be New York. We can go to Los Angeles or Chicago. Or even Boston, although I hear it gets really cold there.”
“If you want to leave Trinity Falls, you should.” Ean returned to sit beside her. “But I’m not going with you.”
Ramona leaned toward him, laying her hand on his right thigh. Her features eased into a seductive smile. “I bet I can get you to change your mind.”
He considered her small, fair hand resting intimately on his lap. Sex between them had been good, but not good enough to make him change his mind about staying in Trinity Falls.
Ean