A Little Country Christmas - Carolyn Brown Page 0,36

of his light brown hair, just above his ears, damp with sweat. Now she eyed his track pants, lightweight jacket, and trail-running shoes.

“I didn’t know you were a runner. I’ve never seen you on my route,” she said, not acknowledging what sounded like a dig to all the hardworking folks in her town. Sure, maybe things moved at a different pace here than they did in Chicago or wherever else Peyton Cooper had been for the past decade and a half, but that didn’t mean anyone worked any less hard than he ever did.

“I’m sure there’s a lot you don’t actually know about me, Deputy. Though I see you’ve got your mind made up.” He crossed his arms. “And just so we’re clear, your apology a few minutes ago? Was that for using physical force or for the name-calling?” He raised a brow.

Her cheeks burned, and she was grateful the sun still wasn’t up. That self-assured attitude was one of the reasons she’d had a crush on Peyton Cooper in high school—and had made a total fool of herself because of him many Christmases ago. But he wasn’t the same guy anymore. Now all his bold confidence did was remind her of how she’d humiliated herself and how he’d left Meadow Valley the second he graduated, turning his nose up at small-town living and heading to college in Chicago for all the big city could offer a young politician on the rise. Why he came back was beyond her. And how he won the election when Mabel—owner and proprietor of Meadow Valley’s one and only bakery, the Mad Batter—would have been perfectly suitable in the role was an even bigger mystery. Okay, so maybe Mabel was pushing eighty herself…Jeez, why did no one under sixty-five want to run this town?

“The first one,” Dani finally said. “The physical force. You weren’t supposed to hear the—uh—name-calling, so an apology for that would be empty because all it would mean was that I was sorry you caught it—”

“But not that you actually said it,” he interrupted. “Because it’s what you think. It’s what everyone thinks, isn’t it?” He shrugged. “How about we look on the bright side. At least no one has to worry about me shirking any of my mayoral duties, since the town hall is bowing out of the lights parade altogether.”

Her eyes widened. “You’re not—you’re not participating? I don’t get it. You used to love the holidays. You were the winter formal king your senior year. They—they crowned you with a Santa hat, for crying out loud.”

His eyebrows arched, and she regretted letting that last part slip out.

“You remember—” he started, but she cut him off. She was not about to delve into high school nostalgia with the guy who certainly didn’t remember her like she remembered him.

“So that’s it?” she said, bringing the conversation back to the matter at hand. “Not even one tiny string of lights?”

Frowning, he shook his head. “Gave most of my staff a full two weeks off for the holidays. Not enough hands on deck. Plus, Christmas isn’t really my thing anymore, so it’s a win-win.” He pulled a pair of wireless earbuds from his pocket and put them in. “Anyway, I was just going to say good morning before when you—you know…”

“Almost broke you like a wishbone?” she said, hands fisted and resting on her hips. She could do boldly confident too.

He laughed. “I’m harder to break than that, Deputy. Have a good run. I’ll just head back the way I came so we don’t have any more unfortunate encounters.” From his other pocket he pulled a small flashlight, then took off toward a side street that led nowhere other than the outskirts of town.

“Ugh,” she groaned. He didn’t get to just push her buttons like that and then run off into the sunrise.

Except that was exactly what he did.

Chapter Two

Peyton Cooper knew about the Grinch nickname, but he’d enjoyed the blissful ignorance of never having heard anyone refer to him as such. Out of sight, out of mind—that was his motto. Well, more like out of ear, out of mind. But thanks to Deputy Garcia, who probably didn’t realize she was talking over whatever was blaring in her earbuds, Peyton heard it loud and clear.

Didn’t she get it? He was going to make this town better than it had ever been. He was going to do for Meadow Valley what he wasn’t able to do as the youngest elected village trustee in the