Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 97836 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 489(@200wpm)___ 391(@250wpm)___ 326(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97836 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 489(@200wpm)___ 391(@250wpm)___ 326(@300wpm)
“Mayor. Comes with the territory.”
“You lived here long?”
He huffed out a laugh. “My whole life. My dad’s from here. His dad before him, and his dad before him. The Fletchers have been in Majestic since…” He shrugged. “Since forever, I guess.”
“Was your dad the mayor before you?”
He shook his head, all trace of the friendly grin gone. “Nah. He was just a horse rancher.”
I noticed his use of past tense. “He retired or…?”
“Passed.” He cleared his throat and waved to another person across the street. “Been eight years now.”
“I’m sorry. Who runs the ranch now?”
He laughed again, only this time, it carried no humor. “Me.”
I stared at the side of his head. “But you’re the mayor. Surely that’s… I mean, I’ve always assumed being a rancher is a full-time thing.”
He nodded. “More than full-time. Morning feed’s at five thirty. I usually do what needs doing until eight and then come into the office and do my job in town until around four. Then back out to the ranch for the second feed and any herd movement that’s needed.” He shrugged. “Never ends, really.”
“How many people work for you?”
He glanced at me. “Uh, none? I mean, I’ve got three siblings. My two sisters help out for sure. Our brother’s in the military, so he’s not around. Sheridan manages the cafe we’re going to—her husband’s the chef—and my baby sister, ZuZu, does some of the horse training, but she also has a pottery studio here in town.”
“Jesus,” I muttered. “How big’s the ranch?”
He opened his mouth to respond but then stopped. Before I could repeat the question, an older woman stepped out of a shop in front of us and accosted him.
“Well, hey there, Mayor Fletcher!” The woman beamed. “I was hoping to run into you at some point. Listen, my niece Marlee—you remember Marlee? She’s Jimmy’s oldest and smart as a whip. Did some hunter-jumper in high school, so she knows her way around a horse, believe you me—well, she’s coming up for a visit from Phoenix for July Fourth weekend. Now, I know you have the exhibition and all, but I was thinking about having you over to say a quick hello, maybe for Sunday brunch? What do you say?”
“Oh, er… uh…” Way swallowed and adjusted the hat on his head. He looked kind of adorable when he was put on the spot. “I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to commit to anything that weekend since I’ll be busy with the exhibition and all. But thank you for the—”
She squeezed his arm, her grin never faltering. “I’ll leave you as a ‘probably.’ See you then!” She bundled off toward an SUV parked at an angle to the sidewalk a few spaces away from where we stood.
Way settled his hat on his head again with a sigh before walking on.
I let him get a few more steps down the sidewalk before I started teasing him. “I can’t believe the nerve of that woman threatening to set you up right in front of me.”
He looked at me with an expression of surprise. “What?”
I lifted my hands in an exaggerated shrug. “What am I, chopped mush? I’m your legal spouse, for god’s sake, and she just—”
He clapped a hand over my mouth and yanked me down a side street before shoving me behind the shops into a narrow alley. “Will you shut up? This town has ears, in case you didn’t know.”
I let out a laugh. “Relax. No one heard me.”
His nostrils flared. “I can’t relax. I can’t ever fucking relax, not when everyone and their fucking…” He exhaled in a rush and reached for his hat again, lifting it and resettling it in a nervous gesture. “Never mind.”
I reached forward and grabbed his hands to keep them off his hat. “Hey. Hey. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. I was just trying to—”
“Nobody can find out about you and me,” he growled. “I mean it, Silas.”
“I get it. You already said as much. Don’t be an ass.”
“I’m not… it’s not… it’s not because of the gay thing.”
I wanted to pick a fight with him. Suddenly, I was feeling some kind of way, and I wondered if maybe fighting with him would help keep me from grabbing and kissing the fuck out of him just to distract him from his stress for one solid minute.
“Feels a little like it’s because of the gay thing,” I said, meaning it as a joke. Or maybe I didn’t. I wasn’t quite sure, but it annoyed me all the same. “You’re not gay, right? Makes sense that you wouldn’t want anyone to get the wrong idea.”
“That’s not why I don’t want anyone to know,” he gritted out.
I let go of his shoulders and stepped back. “Fine.”
He stepped closer and glared at me. “I’m not homophobic. I wouldn’t care if anyone thought I was gay. I told you, my best friend is gay.”