Читать книгу A Maverick under the Mistletoe - Brenda Harlen, Brenda Harlen - Страница 12

Chapter Four

Sutter was one of the first voters lined up when the polling station opened on Thursday morning, right behind Collin and Willa, who followed Nathan Crawford. Sutter wouldn’t have been surprised to learn that Nate had camped outside of town hall to ensure that he was able to cast the first ballot.

There was a steady stream of voters throughout the day. Some of them wore their allegiance proudly on their lapels in the form of buttons that proclaimed Crawford or Traub, and by Sutter’s estimation, they were fairly equal in number—and far outnumbered by the voters who came in grim faced and solemn with no indication as to how they were voting or why.

Nate had several factors in his favor. Aside from his campaign being widely supported and well funded—although no one in town really seemed to know where his money was coming from—he’d lived and worked in Rust Creek Falls his entire life. He was friendly and generally well liked, and he always knew what was going on with everyone in town. Of course, that probably had something to do with the fact that Crawford’s General Store was the shopping mecca of Rust Creek Falls and people tended to chat while they browsed, making it the central point of information dissemination, too.

Collin, on the other hand, tended to keep to himself and mind his own business. He lived on Falls Mountain and operated independently out of a renovated workshop on the property. He’d inherited CT Saddles from their great-uncle, Casper Traub, but it was Collin’s artistic craftsmanship that had really put the business on the map. He made custom saddles and tack and pretty much anything of leather, and he’d used the same focus and attention to detail that had made the company a success to develop a solid plan to rebuild the town and revitalize the economy.

The polling station closed at 6:00 p.m., at which time Thelma McGee taped up the tops of the boxes and took them into the back room to be counted by the independent vote counters. The first step was to divide the ballots into separate piles: Crawford, Traub and spoiled ballots. Then each pile was counted once, then counted again to double-check the results.

The candidates were entitled to be present during the counting of the ballots, along with an authorized representative. Nate Crawford was there with his campaign manager, Bill Fergus. His parents, his sister, Nina, several close friends and a handful of campaign workers were waiting outside for the results.

Of course, everyone was there in anticipation of a celebration, but only one candidate could win. And Sutter couldn’t help but think that if his brother lost, it would be his fault, that he’d tainted Collin’s campaign by being part of it. Because he was afraid his family would share that belief, he decided it was somehow less stressful to hide out with Thelma and watch the votes being counted than to wait with his family for the results. So Sutter stayed in the room while Collin opted to remain outside with Willa and the rest of the family, claiming he was too nervous to watch.

It was nearly nine o’clock before the final results were tallied, and although the numbers were close, when Thelma McGee emerged from the back room it was to announce that Collin Traub was the victor. Of course, Nate Crawford was furious, and although Sutter heard him grumbling and predicting dire consequences for the town, he couldn’t dispute the results. For the benefit of the local reporter who was hanging around, he offered Collin a terse congratulations and a brief handshake, then walked out of town hall with his family and supporters trailing after him.

While Collin and Willa and the rest of “Team Traub” were laughing and hugging, Sutter found himself looking around the small gathering of supporters for Paige, but she wasn’t there. He knew he had no right to be disappointed. She hadn’t made him any promises, but he’d hoped that she would show up anyway. He’d wanted her to share in the victory he was sure wouldn’t have happened if not for her words at the town hall meeting earlier in the week.

Her absence was proof to Sutter that she wanted to maintain a certain distance between them, that the brief conversation they’d shared after that meeting hadn’t bridged the gap of five years. And maybe that was for the best.

He forgot about Paige—at least for a minute—when he got back to the ranch and discovered that the rest of the family had already gathered there. Bob and Ellie, of course, along with Braden and Dallas and Dallas’s three boys—Ryder, Jake and Robbie. Clayton and Antonia had made the trip from Thunder Canyon with their two children, Bennett and Lucy, in tow, as had Forrest and his new wife, Angie.

Ellie had the champagne in the fridge—and sparkling grape juice for the kids and the nursing mother—so that as soon as everyone was gathered, the drinks were ready to be poured. As hugs and kisses were exchanged all around, Bob popped the corks and started the bubbles flowing. It was a joyous celebration—thankfully with enough people around that Sutter could avoid having any direct communication with Forrest.

When the glasses had been distributed, Sutter raised his and called for attention to toast Mayor Collin Traub. Everyone joined in, clinking crystal and adding congratulations and advice, and Forrest leaned over to tap his glass to Sutter’s.

It wasn’t a big deal—or it shouldn’t have been. But to Sutter it was huge. Because in that moment, Forrest had looked him directly in the eye. Not a word had passed between the two of them, but somehow Sutter felt as if the vise that had been squeezing his chest eased, just a little. For the first time in a long time, he actually felt as if he was part of the family, as if he was home.

* * *

This is probably a bad idea.

As Paige turned her vehicle into the long drive that led toward the Triple T Ranch, she was seriously questioning the wisdom of her impetuous decision to come here, and yet she couldn’t stay away. She’d been pleased to hear about Collin’s victory, but her thoughts weren’t focused so much on the new mayor as his campaign manager. Which was why she knew this was a bad idea.

And yet she didn’t turn her car around; she didn’t drive away. Instead, she parked at the end of the long line of vehicles and tried to ignore the pounding of her heart.

She could hear talking and laughing from inside even as she made her way to the door, and she wondered if anyone would be able to hear the ring of the bell over the cacophony of sounds. But her finger had barely lifted from the buzzer when the door was opened and she was face-to-face with Sutter.

“You didn’t come to town hall.”

She was taken aback by his greeting. Not the accusation of the words so much as the hurt beneath them. She hadn’t intended to hurt him. Truthfully, she wouldn’t have thought that she could. They were supposed to be beyond that.

But somehow, only two days after vowing to put him out of her mind, she was at his door. And no matter how many times she told herself that she hadn’t come to see him, she knew it was a lie.

“I figured I’d already made enough of a public statement at town hall on Monday night.”

“Well, you’re here now, so you can join the party,” he said. Then he pulled her into his embrace and swung her around.

Unable to do anything else, Paige held on as the world spun around her. Even when he released her and her feet were back on solid ground, her head continued to spin. And Paige knew it wasn’t a consequence of the physical motion as much as the euphoria of being in Sutter’s arms again.

This was definitely a bad idea.

“I’m glad you came.”

His smile was so real, his joy so evident, she couldn’t help but want to share in the emotion of the moment with him. But that was a dangerous wish, so she said, “I can’t stay—I just wanted to congratulate Collin.”

The brightness of his smile faded just a little. “Of course,” he agreed, and led her to the living room. “Look who decided to join the party.”

In response to Sutter’s announcement, everyone turned. And Paige realized that every member of the Traub family was there, including the two brothers who now lived in Thunder Canyon, more than three hundred miles away.

“I apologize for crashing the party,” she said, suddenly self-conscious.

“It’s not crashing when you were invited,” Sutter pointed out to her.

Ellie pressed a glass of champagne into her hand. “It’s wonderful to see you, Paige.”

The greeting was so warm and sincere that Paige actually felt her throat start to tighten, but she somehow managed to smile. “It’s wonderful to see you, too.”

Everyone greeted her warmly, if not quite as enthusiastically as Sutter had done. Of course, she’d always gotten on well with his parents and all of his brothers. And when she and Sutter had broken up, she’d missed his family almost as much as she’d missed him.

“Congratulations, Mayor Traub,” she said when she’d finally managed to make her way through the crowd to Collin and Willa.

“Thank you,” Collin said to her. “And thank you for speaking up at the town hall meeting—you really were the voice of reason in the midst of a lot of emotional chaos.”

“I’m not sure that my opinion carried any weight, but I wanted people to focus on the relevant issues.”

“It carried a lot of weight,” Willa told her. “And swayed a lot of on-the-fence voters.”

“Well, now that those votes have been counted, your life is going to get even busier,” Paige pointed out.

“We’re looking forward to it,” Collin said, drawing his new wife closer to his side. “We’ve got a lot of plans for this town.”

“And we’re going to need a lot of help to implement those plans,” Willa said, her gaze shifting from Paige to the man standing behind her. “Which is why we’re hoping to convince Sutter to stay.”

Paige looked up at him, surprised by Willa’s admission and wary about his response.

“Plans are for tomorrow,” he said lightly. “Tonight is for celebrating.”

His response suggested to Paige that his plans hadn’t changed. He’d told her that he would be going back to Seattle after the election, and she was counting on that promise. Because contrary to Alex Monroe’s parting advice, she didn’t want to resolve anything with Sutter—she just wanted him to be gone before he could do any more damage to her fragile heart.

But as she visited with his family, she realized how much she’d missed all of them. She’d always enjoyed spending time with them, and she’d loved his parents as if they were her own. And if anyone was surprised that she’d shown up to take part in the celebration, no one said anything to her. They welcomed her into the fold as easily as they’d always done, almost making her feel as if the past five years had never happened. As if Sutter hadn’t broken her heart into a million jagged little pieces.

He reached for her hand, linking their fingers as easily as he’d done a thousand times before. Those thousand times before had been more than five years earlier, but still her pulse skipped and her heart pounded. She wanted to tug her hand away, but she worried that doing so would draw too much attention to the fact that he was holding it.

“I could use some air,” he said to her. “Will you take a walk with me?”

She could use some air, too, but going outside with Sutter meant being alone with Sutter, and she wasn’t sure that was a good idea. In fact, she was sure it was another bad idea in a day that had already been full of them.

He didn’t wait for her response but immediately started tugging her back toward the kitchen. She went with him because it seemed less awkward than refusing. But she was all too conscious of his mother’s eyes following as they left the room, and she knew that Ellie was probably speculating as to what it meant.

But it didn’t mean anything. Paige wouldn’t let it mean anything.

The night was chilly, and she was grateful for the sheepskin-lined denim jacket that she’d worn.

As they walked, Sutter talked excitedly about his brother’s plans for the town. She could hear the pride in his voice, and she knew that he was sincerely pleased by Collin’s victory.

“It’s not going to be an easy job, but I don’t doubt he’s up to it—especially with Willa by his side.”