Getting Over It: Sapphire Falls Book Six (21 page)

No one laughed. At least not that he could hear. But he saw Tucker’s grin and Travis almost looked impressed.

TJ, of course, looked concerned.

“She gave up
enough
control to keep you happy,” Lauren corrected, unfazed by what he’d blurted out. “Hailey’s an expert at figuring out what other people want and then giving that to them. But only that. She doesn’t give more than she has to.”

Ty tipped his head back and looked up at the ceiling of the porch. This was complicated.

He breathed.

He hated complicated.

He liked control. He liked to be the one making decisions that would affect him. Hailey had given him control—in the bedroom, of their social calendar when they were together—but, yeah, he hadn’t ever had control of her or their relationship otherwise.

Not in high school, not in what happened after that night at the river, not in how they conducted their relationship outside of Denver.

And he’d known it. Deep down. That was why the control in the bedroom was so important to him.

And maybe…

The next thought made his mouth dry and his stomach knot.

Maybe that was what had kept him from looking deeper and wanting more. Maybe he’d known she was holding something back. Maybe he’d known that there was more and that if he found it, he’d have to admit that he didn’t have full control. And maybe he wouldn’t have stuck around.

Lauren sat forward, looking at him with concern. “Uh, somebody better get him some water. And maybe some beer.”

Tucker headed into the house.

“And how about everyone else clear out too?” Lauren said.

Lauren was the first and oldest and most commanding of the Bennett daughters-in-law and she could get away with bossing everyone around.

The family, including Kathy, headed back into the house.

Lauren got up and approached him. “You okay?”

“I have no idea.”

“She told you that she’s been faking the tough-girl stuff, huh?”

He nodded. “And I’m a dick because…that tough-girl stuff was really attractive.”

“And then you decided to help her figure out that she actually
is
a tough girl.”

He shrugged. “It seemed like a good idea.”

“Because that’s what
you
wanted.”

He nodded.

“And now?”

He hesitated. “Between us?”

“Of course. You’re my favorite silver-medalist brother-in-law.”

He smiled. But he didn’t feel happy. At all. “It’s just that…”

“You don’t know if she really is a tough girl down deep and you don’t know if she can win the election.”

He nodded. “Exactly.”

“I don’t know either.”

Fuck.

“But Hailey needs to stop being scared. I agree that the town needs to know her. As her campaign manager, I’m going to make sure that this all goes as much in her favor as possible.”

“Campaign manager?”

“Yeah. Sorry.” She didn’t look sorry as she smiled at him.

That was the best thing he’d heard all day.

“Lauren, all I can say is,
please
kick my ass in this election.”

“Okay, so the debate is over,” Lauren said, in a tone that was part relief and part worry.

Hailey dropped into one of the chairs in the front of Adrianne’s bakery and kicked her heels off. She drew one leg up and massaged her foot.

“I kicked his butt,” she said. “What’s the problem?” But she knew what the problem was.

The debate had been her idea. It had been five days since Ty had announced his candidacy. That had equaled five days of him going around town and talking and laughing and buttering everyone up. He’d been at the Come Again every night—the perfect place to interact with the citizens their age. He’d been at Dottie’s Diner every morning—the perfect place to interact with the citizens older than them. And he’d somehow thrown together an impromptu mini-triathlon for the kids in town ages six to sixteen. The perfect way to interact with the parents of the kids who were some of the voters younger than them.

Tucker’s boys had been all about it. Hailey suspected that it was, in part anyway, Ty’s way of trying to impress and bond with his new nephews. And it had been a huge hit. Of course. The kids had run around the square twice, biked to the pool and then jumped in to swim two laps. There had been multiple age groups with prizes and food and the party had gone all afternoon.

She really hated how good Ty was at making people like him.

So she’d marched into the Come Again last night and challenged him to a debate. An actual debate about the issues facing Sapphire Falls.

And she’d kicked his ass. He knew nothing about any of the topics they’d debated.

“You did,” Lauren agreed, taking another chair at the table. She gave Hailey a look. “It was almost too much.”

Hailey started to protest but then slumped back in her chair and sighed. “Yeah, okay.”

She was jealous of the ease with which Ty was winning everyone over and had wanted to prove to everyone—including herself—that she had
something
that he didn’t.

All she had was knowledge about Sapphire Falls and the things the local government had been dealing with over the past few years. She’d decided to show that off.

“It’s only a few more days until the election,” Lauren said.

It was actually six days, four hours and thirty-two minutes until the polls closed. She had it on a sticky note.

“So I asked Tessa to do an informal opinion poll,” Lauren added.

Hailey dropped her foot. “You what?”

“We need to have an idea of where you stand next to Ty.”

But she didn’t want to know. She couldn’t drop out of the race. That would be humiliating. But she didn’t really want to know how far behind she was. “How did she do the poll?” she asked.

“Went to some random places around town. She swung by the grocery store, the Stop, Dottie’s—”

“Well, everyone at Dottie’s loves him because he’s been in there buying breakfast the last two mornings,” Hailey protested. “He had that Pancakes-On-Me thing.” If people came in between six and eight in the morning and bought something, they got a short stack of pancakes on Ty’s bill.

Lauren lifted an eyebrow. “Do you want to buy waffles for the town? Dottie’s waffles are better than the pancakes in my opinion.”

“You’re crazy,” Hailey told her. “Her French toast is better than both.”

“You want to do a French-toast-breakfast meeting with the town?” Lauren asked.

“No. For one, it would look like I’m just doing what Ty’s doing and for another…that’s not really my style.”

It was true. Hailey socialized. She loved attending various functions and festivals around town. Most of them were her idea. But they weren’t about her meeting with the town. She had office hours for that.

“No, it’s not, and it will look like you’re only doing it for votes,” Lauren agreed. “But you might think about starting something like that after you’re reelected. It would be a nice, casual way for people to talk with you.”

Yep, nice and casual were the opposite of what Hailey liked her meetings to be. She liked them to be businesslike and short and she really liked having her gigantic cherry-wood desk in between her and the other person.

And she cursed Ty for making her blush when she looked at that desk every morning now.

“You really think there’s a chance I’ll get reelected?” she asked Lauren.

“Of course you will.” Phoebe came through the swinging door that separated the front of the bakery from the kitchen with a pitcher of tea in hand. “Ty’s fun, but no one thinks he can actually lead the town.”

“Actually—the poll shows you about neck and neck.”

This came from Hailey’s assistant, Tess, as she came through the front door, the happy, optimistic jingle of the bell over the door in complete contrast to Hailey’s emotions.

“Really?” Lauren asked as Tess handed her a sheet of paper.

Tess nodded and took the chair next to Lauren. “A lot of people agree with Phoebe, but there are several who like what Ty’s bringing to the race.”

“Nothing?” Hailey asked. Then cringed. That wasn’t fair.

“They like that they’re getting to spend time with him and talk with him. They feel like he’s someone they can bring concerns and issues to,” Tess said.

“They don’t think they can bring concerns and issues to me?” Hailey asked. “I have meetings every single week with people who feel completely comfortable bringing concerns and issues. Even the tiniest, most inane concerns and issues.”

Tess glanced at Lauren. Lauren looked at Hailey.

“Maybe you come off a little defensive about those concerns and issues,” Lauren said dryly.

“I don’t.” But she totally did.

“Hailey, not every problem in town is your fault,” Lauren said. “And you have to quit looking at people raising issues as them somehow insulting you personally.”

“But I’m in charge here,” Hailey said. “If there’s something wrong it
is
my responsibility.”

“It’s your responsibility to try to
help
fix the problems,” Lauren said. “But the problems aren’t your
fault
. And no one expects you to fix all the problems yourself or have the answers all the time.”

“I think the fact that you take everything so seriously is nice,” Phoebe said, sitting down next to Hailey. “It’s obvious that you really care and want everything to be perfect here.”

Hailey smiled at the other woman, stunned that Phoebe was the one defending her. “Thanks.”

“Phoebe isn’t the only one,” Tessa said. “A lot of people agree that Hailey takes her job seriously and they trust that she’s always working to make things better.”

Well, that was nice.

“They’re just intimidated to
talk
to you about any of it,” Tess said.

And then there was that.

“Ninety-two percent of people wish there could be a way to make Hailey and Ty both mayor?” Lauren asked Tessa, reading from the paper. “What’s that mean?”

“Well, it’s a small sample size,” Tess said. “That came from about six people at the Come Again, three at the Stop and three at the grocery store, but, yeah. They said that both candidates bring great things to the table, but neither of them has it all.”

Lauren studied Hailey at that, her wheels clearly turning.

“No candidate ever has it all,” Hailey said.

“Except, one here does,” Lauren said.

That made Hailey nervous. “What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking that you’re serious and smart and everyone knows you’re a hard worker who had this town’s best interest at heart all the time. But I’m also thinking that you’re funny and that you’ve seen all of the
Back to the Future
movies a dozen times and you make amazing spaghetti sauce and you swear like a sailor when you’ve been drinking Booze and you give a ton of money to the local animal shelter.”

Hailey stared at Lauren. Lauren knew some things about her, that was true, but she’d trusted Lauren to keep Hailey’s soft side to herself. “So what?”

“So you’re like the rest of us. Probably funnier and nicer than some of us. And I think that this town needs to get to know you.”

Hailey was shaking her head by the time Lauren finished. “They’ve elected me twice—heck, I went to school with most of the town, so they’ve been electing me for things for
years
—exactly as I am. They want a tough leader to take on their problems for them. They might think they want to sit down and hash it all out, but really they want someone who will fight the fights for them.”

At that, Lauren did the most astonishing thing. She reached out and took Hailey’s hand.

“Hailey,” she said sincerely. “You’re right. They like seeing you tough and fighting for them. But I can tell you from personal experience, that seeing this other side of you makes you being tough and confident and brave enough to lead this town even
more
amazing.”

“What other side?” Hailey asked hesitantly.

Lauren smiled. “The side that eats half a roll of cookie dough one day and then eats nothing but salad the next, the side that can’t turn off a Harry Potter movie on TV no matter what else is going on, the side that hates getting stuck behind the tractors on the highway but who doesn’t want to lose the sidewalk to the park more. Because all of that makes you like the rest of us. It makes you
one
of us. Instead of this powerhouse who was born to be in charge, I see a woman who has accomplished her goal of being in charge in spite of not feeling good enough and
not
being a natural at interacting and relating to people. And that is more amazing. People will love that.”

Hailey felt tears stinging her eyes and she blinked rapidly. She had no idea what to say to all of that. She was overwhelmed.

“And I see a person who isn’t used to people telling her nice things about herself except that she’s beautiful,” Lauren said, squeezing her hand. “But there is so much more to you, Hailey. And I think
you
need to see that as much as the people in this town do.”