A Lot Like Home

So his brand of warfare was chemical. Or more to the point, chemistry. Obviously he knew how to use his appeal to get women to fall all over him. She wasn’t impressed.

“Could you find out?” Mavis J asked point-blank. “We need to understand everything you’re trying to get us to agree to, Havana. That’s good business.”

Well, duh. Of course. If anyone had given her the slightest indication that they were interested, she’d have started talking contracts immediately. “Everyone has to sell. Or there won’t be anything to agree to. Serenity, are you open to talking about it?”

She shook her head. “I like the ideas that Caleb came up with. I think that we should try that before we take a bulldozer to historic buildings that can’t be unleveled.”

The buzzing sound in Havana’s head that had begun with the name Caleb grew to a fever pitch by the time her aunt finished talking. Ideas that Caleb had? That traitor. He’d gone with her to the springs and stood there the whole time without saying a word about any subversive tactics he might have in play. He’d already talked to Serenity and maybe even some of the others. No wonder they weren’t biting—he’d beaten her to the punch.

“I um, seem to have been left off that communication,” she managed to say. “Which ideas are these?”

“You tell them,” Serenity said to Caleb and nodded at the crowd. “Tell everyone.”

Without missing a beat, he began to talk, weaving a spell with his hands as he outlined how he appreciated the mystical element of the area and thought that other folks might too. How he’d like to see more emphasis on the uniqueness that each resident had to bring to the table.

In other words, embrace the weird instead of plowing over it.

Lennie and Mavis J listened with rapt attention, their expressions mutually growing more and more enthusiastic. Of course, because Caleb made it sound romantic and special instead of off-kilter in an almost uncomfortable way. Maybe because Havana Nixon was the weird one in this town.

She closed her eyes so she didn’t have to watch this disaster unraveling at her feet. Finally, he shut up long enough for her to get a word in edgewise.

“This is all great,” she said, heavy on the sarcasm so everyone caught that it was not great at all. “But the stuff you’re talking about requires infrastructure that isn’t here. A police department, fire department. Tax collection and city government to support it all. A shopping center requires none of that. Maybe you should think about these things before you come along and spread your hero complex around these parts.”

He actually laughed out loud at that. “Wow, that’s the first time anyone’s called me a hero. I haven’t leaped over any tall buildings yet, but I could sure try.”

“It’s a disorder, not a compliment,” she said tightly, but it might have been more to convince herself. She could totally picture him with a giant S on his chest. “Because you have a misguided sense of your own importance, you think you can save everyone and be the catalyst for transformation. It’s textbook stuff, really.”

She should shut up now. Why was she baiting him? She wasn’t helping her case.

But looking intrigued instead of insulted, he nodded. “That does sound like me. I came here for one purpose. To save this town. If that invites hero-like comparisons, I’m okay with that.”

Okay? Okay? He wasn’t even fazed by her comments, an unusual enough of an occurrence to throw her off-kilter. “We don’t even have a mayor. Who’s going to take that job? You?”

The second it was out of her mouth, Serenity clapped her hands. “Yes, that’s exactly what we should do. Caleb would be a great mayor.”

“Caleb isn’t even from here,” Havana ground out, slapping down the first and only objection she could think of before this situation went completely off the rails. “Shouldn’t the mayor be a citizen with enough history to have the town’s best interests at heart?”

Caleb glanced over at her, his expression sly enough to narrow her eyes. “I absolutely agree. In that case, you should run for mayor.”

“Me?” she squawked and then choked on it as he nodded. Her lightning-quick temper flashed, ruffling the hair on the back of her neck. He was up to something. Likely he’d suggested she run because she’d told him—in confidence—that the town hadn’t welcomed her. Was this a ploy to embarrass her or what? “Why, because you know you’d lose?”

He spread his hands. “I didn’t throw my name into the hat. But no, that’s not why. I heard you say we don’t have a plan for organizing the town. You have a degree in urban planning that must have given you insight into why creating the missing infrastructure won’t work. Plus I happen to know you want to give everyone a choice. So give them one. Run against me and show everyone why you’re the best qualified person to make decisions around here.”

Oh, he’d like that wouldn’t he? It was a testament to how befuddled that man made her state of mind that she couldn’t immediately see the downside of his suggestion. It almost sounded like he was giving her a chance to win by allowing her an opportunity to pitch her talents to the town.

But it wasn’t what it looked like. It couldn’t be. He had to have an angle that did not benefit her. Men didn’t give her opportunities to shine. They dashed her dreams and then vanished.

If she ran for mayor and won, she’d all but conceded anyway because she couldn’t be mayor of a shopping center. The town wouldn’t exist anymore once Damian got the green light. The alternative would be to let Caleb have the office, unless someone else stepped up—an unlikely possibility given the positive sounding buzz from the crowd—and then she’d definitely be conceding because he’d use his new title to lend legitimacy to the concept of Superstition Springs becoming a real city. He’d paint more word pictures of how the town could transform itself into a new age mecca, and more to the point, he’d use his charisma to get the folks excited enough about it to make it work.

She saw through him more clearly than if he’d been made of glass. How dare he try to make this seem like a fair fight. That alone meant she couldn’t give up now.

Grinding her teeth, she gave in to the inevitable. “Fine. We’ll both run. But you better be prepared to earn it if you’re serious about this.”

“I’ve never been handed anything in my life,” he said with a wink. “This is no different.”

“Let the chips fall where they may then.”

It was done. There was going to be a mayoral race in Superstition Springs. Newcomer against old-timer. Man against woman. Build a town or build a shopping center. Odds were good she’d go down in flames, exactly as he no doubt hoped would happen. It hadn’t been an accident that he’d phrased everything so it sounded good but, in reality, had been a clever ploy to take all the cards while she wasn’t looking.