Trinity Falls (Finding Home 1)

Megan felt worse. “Do you have any advice for me?”

“Yes, I do.”

Megan’s heart jumped. “What is it?”

“Don’t wait too long to make things right.”

“This isn’t much of a New Year’s celebration.” Quincy’s voice rumbled into Ramona’s town hall office Tuesday afternoon.

Ramona’s heart lurched. She spun her chair away from her computer monitor and pointed it toward her doorway. Even after several blinks, the suddenly sexy university professor didn’t disappear like an apparition conjured by her secret fantasies.

“It’s New Year’s Eve.” Her response was faint. She cleared her throat and tried again. “I thought you were in Florida.”

“I got back this morning.” Quincy paced forward.

His long legs were clad in dark blue jeans. His broad-shouldered torso was gift wrapped in a sage green crewneck. Ramona’s heart thudded in her chest. They were the only two souls in the building. Everyone else had the week between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Day off. She swallowed hard.

“You usually stay until after the New Year.” She couldn’t pull her gaze from him as he drew closer.

Quincy settled into the visitor’s chair in front of her desk. “I hadn’t realized you’d noticed.”

Neither had she, until this moment. Ramona’s gaze dropped to her desk. It was sturdy . . . sturdy enough to bear the weight of two people.

She raised her eyes to Quincy. “What made you come back early this year?”

Quincy cocked his clean-shaven head. “What made you drop out of the mayoral race?”

His coal black eyes locked with hers. Was he trying to read her thoughts? Funny, today she wouldn’t mind that.

Ramona crossed her arms. He wasn’t to know she was giving in to him so easily. “Did Darius tell you that?”

“I read it in the Monitor’s online edition.”

“Oh.” She regarded him stubbornly.

Quincy’s rugged features softened into a smile. His dark eyes brightened with humor. “Are you going to tell me?”

Ramona dropped her arms and looked away. “You were right.”

“What did you say?”

“You were right.”

“Excuse me?”

Ramona smothered a smile. “Shut up.”

Quincy’s chuckle strummed the muscles in her lower abdomen. “This is a historic event. As a professor of history, I have to make sure it’s properly chronicled.”

Ramona rolled her eyes. “I’ll give you some injuries to chronicle, if you don’t stop making fun of me.”

Quincy flashed a grin. “What was I right about?”

“You said I was using Trinity Falls as a crutch. I am.” She dug deep for the fortitude to hold the history professor’s gaze. “It’s safe here. I have followers, even if I don’t have friends. So when I do screw up—like I did as mayor—most people won’t tell me.”

“You put the town on the right track, so stop saying you screwed up.” His dark eyes glowed with irritation. “Because of you, Trinity Falls is becoming more economically stable, and long-awaited repairs have finally been completed.”

Ramona blinked. “Then I guess it was all that success that made the good people of Trinity Falls want to make me a one-term mayor.”