The reporter ignored him. He set down his mug and turned to Ean. “So you’ve escaped the rat race. Do you intend to live a life of leisure in Trinity Falls?”
Ean frowned. Why was Quincy resentful of his return? And what did Darius mean when he said Ean wasn’t afraid to go after what he wanted? He needed answers, but the mulish expression on Quincy’s blunt features told him he wouldn’t get any—not yet.
He settled back in the swivel seat. “I have a couple of ideas. I’m going to take my time and consider them.”
“I’m sure you can do that.” Quincy drained his coffee. “You were making big bucks in New York. The cost of living in Trinity Falls must seem laughable to you.”
“Shut up and eat your brownie, Q.” Darius’s voice was flat.
The tension was getting to Darius, and Ean had had enough. He checked his wristwatch. “I’m going to see Ramona. I’ll catch up with you guys later.”
Darius looked up. “Good to have you back, man.”
Ean grinned. “Good to be back.”
Quincy eyed him coldly. “Why are you going to see her? You broke up six years ago.”
“Ramona and I are still friends. You know that.”
Ean nodded at Darius and pondered the back of Quincy’s head. What was Quincy’s problem? And what was he afraid to go after?
CHAPTER 5
Ean entered the dim stairwell that would take him to Ramona’s office on the second floor of the Trinity Falls Town Hall. However, his thoughts remained with Megan. He unzipped his gray London Fog winter jacket as he climbed the stairs. Megan had been a shy girl when he’d left town. She was a woman now. But the difference between the girl she’d been and the woman she’d become was more than the passage of time.
She’d always looked people straight in the eye. When she was younger, he’d found the habit unsettling. Now it challenged him. OK, it excited him. Her cousin and classmates had been coy young girls, but Megan had always been direct. As a teenager, he’d thought her odd. As a man, he found her intriguing. Maybe it wasn’t Megan who’d changed. Maybe he had.
Ean opened the door to the second-floor exit and entered the hallway outside of the mayor’s reception area. Ramona as Trinity Falls’s mayor. Would he ever get used to it?
He pulled open the glass doors to the waiting room and crossed to the receptionist’s desk. The young, red-haired woman behind the circular white counter had been a couple of grades behind him and Ramona at Heritage High School.
“Hi, Alice. Is Ramona free?”
Alice stood and beamed at him. “Hi, Ean. Welcome home.”
“Thank you.” He followed her to the hallway as he had on previous visits.
“Ramona’s expecting you.” She made a face over her shoulder at him. “Three years in office. Who’d have thought it? If I’d’ve bet which McCloud cousin would have run for office, I’d still’ve put my money on Megan.”
Ean simply nodded. Alice said the same thing every year.
The thin gray carpeting masked their footsteps as they crossed the long hallway to Ramona’s office. The gleaming silver metal sign on the dark wood door read: RAMONA A. MCCLOUD, MAYOR.
“No one else wanted the job.” The young receptionist knocked twice, then waited for Ramona’s response before opening the door. “Mayor McCloud, Mr. Ean Fever’s here to see you.”
Ramona turned away from her computer screen and placed her forearms on her desk. Her ebony eyes went straight to Ean. “That’ll be all, Alice.”
Ean stepped inside. Alice pulled the door closed behind her.
Ramona rose from her chair. Her bloodred blouse and pencil-thin black skirt hugged her siren’s curves. Her thick near-black hair fell in heavy, glossy curls past her shoulders. Her café au lait skin looked radiant under perfectly applied makeup.
Ramona circled her desk and walked to the black leather sofa on her right. Red stilettos showed off her endless legs. “It’s about time you came knocking on my door.”
Ean stopped an arm’s length from where she stood beside the sofa. Her Chanel No. 5 was familiar. “I only arrived home Sunday night.”
Ramona’s eyes gleamed at him as she sat, crossing her legs. “Have a seat.”
Ean joined her. “You’ve redecorated.”