it was—
“Kit Derby,” Dillon said.
Yeah, except for that. Kit was not Dillon’s biggest fan. And vice versa.
Dillon and Kit had a long-standing rivalry when it came to . . . everything under the sun. They’d been in competition with each other since third grade, when they’d tied for first place in the science fair. And the spelling bee. And the math contest. It had gone on for years until they’d ended up sharing the valedictorian title at graduation. The story of them trying—and failing—to maturely share the podium was still told.
“She kissed you, too, though, right?” Max pointed out.
“Hell, yeah, she did,” Dillon said with a scowl.
“I don’t know, guys.” Jake stretched his arms over his head and linked his hands at the back of his neck. “This was one of the better tornadoes I’ve been in.” There had been no loss of life, the cleanup was going well so far, and he’d gotten lucky with Avery.
Yep, for a natural disaster, this one ranked pretty high.
CHAPTER FOUR
Avery saw Jake before he saw her. He was taking the steps in front of city hall two at a time, and she took a moment to appreciate the view. The guy did nice things to a pair of faded blue jeans. And not-so-nice things to her libido.
Or very nice things to her libido, depending on how you looked at it.
That was exactly the kind of distraction she didn’t want.
Dang. She had a meeting with the mayor. She couldn’t turn around and leave to avoid Jake.
She’d successfully evaded him all day, and considering her day had started at five a.m., that was saying something. Not that she hadn’t thought about him. She couldn’t help but wonder where he was and what he was doing. And, most of all, how long he was staying in Chance. But her to-do list had been a nightmare from moment one, and she just counted herself lucky she hadn’t run into him before this.
Of course, she’d known it wouldn’t last. Chance wasn’t big, and she was sure he would have an opinion to offer on the recovery effort. But for the morning, anyway, she’d mostly been able to concentrate on her job without his distraction.
Now that was about to end.
She was headed to the mayor’s office for a one p.m. strategy meeting. Maybe Jake was here paying a parking ticket or something, but she knew deep down that the idea that anyone would give Jake Mitchell a parking ticket in Chance was ridiculous. Jake was the town’s Golden Boy, a big hero, and part of the Montgomery clan, the biggest and most beloved family in town.
He was here for the meeting. Of course Frank would call in the big emergency-management specialist.
If she could set foot in city hall without getting worked up about the last time she and Jake had been in the building together, she would even agree that having his input could be a good thing.
She’d loved seeing him in action last year. He’d been unruffled and assertive, yet concerned and caring at the same time as he surveyed the damage and made recommendations for the recovery effort. He’d made everyone around him feel calm and confident. Including Avery. He not only had made suggestions, but had rolled up his sleeves and gone to work beside everyone else. Just as he’d done last night. Of course, that thought always led to the memory of day two, when she’d arrived at the morning’s strategy meeting, excited to see him, only to find out he’d left at the crack of dawn.
She slowed her steps and waited until he’d opened the door and gone inside to continue up the marble stairs and into the long hallway leading to the mayor’s office.
But she heard their voices as she approached the door. Jake was in there flirting with the mayor’s administrative assistant, Robyn.
The door was open and Avery hesitated outside. Dang, she didn’t want to go in there.
Then she heard the giggle. Ah, Shelby was here, too. The mayor’s wife. The mayor’s twenty-seven-year-old wife.
It was a true testament to how ingrained in Chance and well liked Frank Harvey was that he could weather the scandal around marrying a woman twenty-eight years his junior. Of course, it helped that he’d grieved his wife long and hard after she’d died, and raised his boys through their teenage years on his own. It also helped that Shelby was very hard not to like. She was bubbly, full of energy, a total optimist, and also from