Trey loved that about this town. How they’d come together to help their own. He thought there was a nice poeticism to the idea that the town would come together to give back to the couple who’d given so much to it. Between Norah as City Planner and Cam as City Councilman, he couldn’t think of anyone other than Sandy herself who’d done more for Wishful. But he had a suspicion that they’d have to go further afield than just the people of Wishful to pull this off.
“Brody’s supposed to let me know by day’s end what he needs. I figured we could meet him out there with Cam and Norah and discuss things,” Trey suggested.
She beamed. “I think we can make that happen.”
And if it meant he got to bookend his day with Sandy, all the better.
~*~
By the time they finished breakfast, it took another twenty minutes to get out of Dinner Belles. One of the side effects of being mayor of a small town was that Sandy knew nearly everyone in some capacity or other, and part of why her approval ratings were so high was because she always took the time to acknowledge that. As she and Trey finally stepped onto the sidewalk, she blew out a breath. “I’m sorry about that.”
He only smiled. “I like seeing you in your element. You’re a woman in control of your world. It’s something I both appreciate and relate to.” The smile dialed up to a grin. “And it’s sexy as hell.”
“Well.” Sandy’s cheeks burned. He was flirting with her. When was the last time anyone had flirted with her? When was the last time she’d liked it?
Trey tucked her hand through his arm. “C’mon. I’ll walk you back to your office.”
On their way across the green, Sandy paused at the fountain, her lips curving.
“What are you smiling about?” he asked.
“I was just musing that I got my wish.”
“And what wish would that be?”
“I wished for a miracle to save Cam and Norah’s wedding. Less than a minute later, Louis called, arranging dinner with you.”
“How fortuitous.” He looped her arm through his again. “You really believe in the legend?”
“Hard to grow up here and not. And Norah’s taken local lore and amplified it.”
Trey glanced at the fountain. “Hmmm.”
“I can hear your skepticism.”
His gaze came back to hers, suddenly serious. “Did you ever wish things had turned out differently. Back then?”
Sandy considered her answer. “When things got really bad, I certainly thought about it. But, no, I never made the wish.”
“Why?”
“There are all sorts of cautionary tales about being careful what you wish for. Aside from the fact that you can’t turn back time, I guess there was a part of me that worried if I made that wish, something might happen to Cam. I wasn’t willing to risk it. And I didn’t feel like I had the right to be that selfish.”
“Selfish how?”
“For all I knew, you’d gone off and built a life somewhere else, were happy with someone else. I hoped you were happy. You deserved the chance for that without me interfering on any kind of theoretical, cosmic level.”
She couldn’t read his expression. What was going through his head? Did he think her foolish and superstitious?
“Always putting everybody else first.” He reached out to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, letting his hand linger.
Sandy held very still, watching him, though she wanted to turn into the touch. He seemed to have forgotten they wer
e on a public sidewalk, in a town where everyone knew her. But she hadn’t. Tongues would be wagging already, and she wasn’t in any hurry to give them juicier fodder for the gossip mill.
Trey’s mouth curved. “Guess it’s my turn to make a wish.” He fished a coin out of his pocket. “Any rules to this that I should know?”
“Hold your wish clear in your mind. Don’t let your thoughts wander off to something else, or it’ll get muddled. And be very careful of your wording, lest you get something you didn’t intend.”