“Seven,” Michael boomed after taking a sip. “Six…” His enthusiasm made Burke grin. It almost quelled the anxious energy within him, but not quite.
Still, as he heard Justine join the countdown, Burke forced himself to do the same.
“Three. Two. One!”
At once, the tree came alive with a bright, beautiful glow. The town square did too, lighting up wreaths and garlands wrapped around streetlights and corner signs. Despite the upset brewing in Burke’s gut, a wave of warmth and calm washed through him as he took in the glowing display.
He wrapped an arm around Justine, pulled her closely against him, and pressed a kiss to her head. A little while longer to go, and the night would be through. Maybe there was nothing to worry about after all.
“It’s beautiful.” Justine grinned up at him. “Maybe we were worrying over nothing.”
Burke nodded and sighed. “Maybe.” He brought the cup to his lips, watching as Justine did the same, and sipped past the sweet mass of marshmallows. “Mmm.”
Justine pressed up on her toes and brought her mouth to his in a slow, sweetly flavored kiss. “Mmm,” she echoed.
Heat stirred low in his belly as he came in for another kiss.
His shoulders went lax. His limbs loosened as well. They really were in the clear, for now anyway. To ensure that was true, Burke should probably tell Justine about the property while they danced. He couldn’t very well have Brittany beat him to it.
She’d be upset about the property either way, but it would be much worse for someone else to tell her before he did.
Yes, he decided, he’d tell her while they danced. Maybe not their first one, since he wouldn’t want to spoil the moment, but right after that. And who knew, perhaps next year, when he and Justine conducted the event as retiring royalty, they would look back on this day and laugh about it all.
“With the first matter of business underway,” Trevor said as the crowd began to quiet. “Let’s have everybody clear the dance area of our town square. That is, everyone except for our new pie prince and princess.”
“Go get ‘em, tiger,” Duke bellowed.
During similar events in Manhattan, there would likely be fireworks shooting off over the water. No need for that here, since Burke was positive there was a round firing off inside his chest. A cycle of heated explosions that made his stomach sick.
“You two will be great,” Betzy assured, giving Burke’s arm a gentle squeeze. “Oh, here…I’ll take your hot chocolates so you can dance.”
“Good idea,” Burke realized, handing his over to her.
“Thanks,” Justine said as she did the same.
“Make us proud.” That last comment came from Lorraine.
Burke grinned and gave her a smile, inwardly hoping he’d do that very thing in the years ahead—make his beautiful grandmother proud.
“Let’s introduce the new prince and princess,” Brittany chimed over the mic next. “Starting with the pie prince…”
Please don’t say we’re engaged. Please don’t say anything about the land. A quick glance over his shoulder said the bulk of the crowd had moved to the outer edge of the dance square, making them center of attention.
“Burke Richards is new to this town. In fact, we’re not even sure if he’ll ever be part of this town,” Brittany said. “You see, we’ve been told that he and Justine Purcell are engaged, yet just last week Justine told a very reliable source that she didn’t have a fiancé at all. That she’d made him up to get well-intended Wilfred off her back.”
A near silent curse slipped off Burke’s lips. He held very still, purposefully not looking back to his family as she continued.
“None of this made sense to me—why a guy like Burke would pretend to be engaged to a lonely girl like Justine—until I found out that he helped sell our town’s monumental falls.”
Gasps sounded over the crowd.
“So while Burke was wooing Justine with fake affection,” Brittany continued, “he was secretly distracting her from her duty to the town. All so that our historical safe haven could be replaced with a smelly, hazardous factory.”
More gasps sounded from nearly every angle. But the one that hurt most, the one that shot dread deep into his chest like a hot bolt, was Justine’s.
Her gaze locked on his as she shook her head, a motion that spoke her inner thoughts. “No,” she said. “You wouldn’t do that. You didn’t…”
Burke rushed in. “It’s not like that,” he assured. “I just barely found out myself. I listed the property at an