mayor even—and I still can’t seem to call her Trudy like everyone else.”
Dani shook his hand. “I think Keith is dating Trevor, one of Mrs. Davis’s—I mean Trudy’s employees. Guess old habits die hard, right?” she said with her own nervous laugh. She was much more aware now of the calluses on his palm, of the sudden warmth that radiated from his skin to hers. Both observations startled her so much that she snatched her hand back, and the mayor raised his brows in question.
“Static electricity,” she lied. “Felt a little shock.”
The corner of his mouth quirked into an almost-grin.
“Yeah,” he said. “Felt it too. Sorry about that. Must have been the lights.”
He glanced over his shoulder at the pile of lights on the table.
“Is that what Grady left you to work with?” she asked.
He turned back to her and nodded. “Look, I meant what I said about stepping back from all this. But I’m not a big enough jerk to leave you this mess and expect you to deal with it on your own. I’ll help you get the lights untangled, but I need to draw the line there. I hope you understand.”
She shook her head. “I don’t. But I’m not going to keep fighting you on it. That won’t get us anywhere.” She nodded toward the wad of lights. “Speaking of getting anywhere, how long have you been working on that?”
He laughed. “Probably a good hour already.” Then he shrugged. “I guess you really drew the short straw, being the one to have to start on this unwanted assignment—and start it with the Grinch.”
Dani groaned. “First of all, it was a coin toss. No straws involved. And second—look, can we start this day over? Forget about—well, every rude thing I said or did or thought up until now? This will go a lot quicker if we can put all that behind us.”
He laughed, straight from his belly—which rippled under the thin cotton of his T-shirt. Not that Dani was looking, but keen observation was a part of her job. And his voice—deep and full of joy—elicited a smile from her as well.
“Your saying and doing were few and far between,” he said. “But I imagine you’ve been thinking all sorts of things all day.”
She rolled her eyes. “Don’t flatter yourself, Mr. Mayor. I do think about things other than you and your hatred of the holidays.”
He raised a brow. “But what you’re saying is that you did think about me today.”
She threw her hands in the air. This man was impossible.
He leaned back on the edge of his desk. “And I don’t hate the holidays,” he said, his voice softer, almost solemn. “These days it’s just easier to focus on getting through this time of year than to make such a big deal about it.”
“Getting through it?” she asked, incredulous. “You talk like you don’t have anything to celebrate. I mean, you’re the mayor of your hometown. At thirty-two. I know it doesn’t compare to Chicago, but it’s something, right?”
His jaw tightened.
“I got fired, Dani. That’s why I left Illinois. I came back to regroup, and then Mayor Grady died. I needed a job. Everything else happened so fast. I want to do something good here before I figure out my next move.”
“Oh,” she said. “And your parents aren’t coming back to spend the holidays with you?”
When Peyton hadn’t moved home after college, they’d followed their only son to where he’d set up his new life, selling their home and property to an investor who—for whatever reason—never did anything with the house or the land. Every small town seemed to have that house on the outskirts that sat empty for years, the windows boarded shut and the grass overgrown. For Meadow Valley, it was the Cooper residence. If Peyton hadn’t come back, she guessed that soon enough, kids would start making up stories of the place being haunted—if they hadn’t already.
He shook his head, and for a second it looked like someone had socked him in the gut, but she blinked and the expression was gone.
“They can’t come back this year,” was all he said.
“Oh,” she said again. “So you lost your last job and are alone for the holidays. I can see how that would suck. I’m sorry, Coop.”
Coop. What was she doing calling him by the high school nickname she’d never used because she’d never said two words to him while they were there?
His brows furrowed. “I didn’t know we were on a nickname basis. Also,