Winthrop sighs. “So you want to make Emerald Creek the new Atlanta?”

  “Emerald is the new black,” I say.

  “And we’d be partners.”

  “Yeah, fifty-fifty.”

  “What I don’t get is why you also want to open a movie theater in town?”

  “Because there’s a property on the market downtown that’d be just perfect,” I say, referring to the Petersons’ building on Ironwood. The zoning issue wouldn’t be a problem if we turned it into a movie theater. “And any respectable studio needs a movie theater. We could host premieres there, private showings for investors, pre-screenings. It’d be truly complementary to the studios. Plus, the owners are in a hurry to sell, so we’d get it for a good price. But, of course, the movie theater isn’t essential.”

  “No, I like it.” Winthrop chuckles. “I like all of it. All right, Sam, I thought you’d gone soft, but I’m happy to see your teeth are still sharp. And you really wouldn’t mind moving to Indiana permanently?”

  The truth is I’m practically dying to go, but I need to play it cool with my boss. “The opportunity is too good to pass up, and I’d still be keeping an office here and traveling for work. I wouldn’t exactly be stuck there all the time.”

  Winthrop knocks twice on his wooden desk. “Okay, Samantha, I’m in.”

  Four hours later I’m on a plane headed to Emerald Creek to surprise Travis with the news that Denouement Studios Emerald Creek is happening. My head is buzzing with everything I have to do, start a company, build a movie studio, pack my apartment… I’ll be swamped in work for the next million years and I’ve never been happier.

  My surprise-the-mayor-with-the-good-news plan goes smoothly until my rental car blows a tire on the dirt road shortcut from his mother’s house to his place.

  I get out of the car, searching the horizon for any sign of other human life. There isn’t any. No one except Travis and his mom, and now me, uses this road.

  I see only three options.

  One. I try to change the tire myself. Not really an option.

  Two. I call the tow company. But Joe, the owner knows me and knows that I’m dating Travis so, with my luck, the gossip that the mayor’s girlfriend is stranded on a dirt road somewhere would spread across town with the speed of fire and reach City Hall before I do, thus ruining my surprise.

  So, three, I might just call the man himself and ask him to come save me.

  Travis picks up on the third ring. “I’ve been trying to call you all day.” He skips hello.

  “I know, my phone was off.” I toy with him a little.

  “Didn’t the meeting go as planned?”

  I could give the mayor another mysterious answer, but I don’t have it in me to torture him. “My phone was off because I was on a plane.”

  Travis’s voice takes a hopeful tone as he asks, “A plane headed where?”

  “Oh, this little town in the middle of nowhere that’s about to become the new Hollywood of the Midwest.”

  “Your boss went for it?”

  “Yep, I’m officially the new head of Denouement Studios Emerald Creek.”

  “Wow!” he whoops. “Why didn’t you call me to tell me right away?”

  “I wanted to surprise you.”

  “So why are you calling me now?”

  “I blew a tire.”

  “Mmm, we have to up your survival skills, Baker, if you want to fit in the country lifestyle. Where are you?”

  “Five miles off the dirt road down to your mother’s ranch.”

  “I’ll be right there.”

  Travis hangs up.

  Ten minutes later, I’m searching the sky for the telling puff of dust of an incoming vehicle but find none.

  Instead, I hear the thunder of hooves coming from my right. I turn toward the field and spot Travis atop a massive black horse, galloping my way. Horse and rider leap over the fence in a tournament-worthy jump and come to a spectacular halt just a few inches shy of my nose.

  I look up at him. “Show off.”

  Travis flashes me his signature good-boy-misbehaving grin.

  “What are you doing off riding in the middle of the afternoon, Mr. Mayor?”

  “It’s past office hours by a long shot,” he says. “And I was too worried to sit still in an office. I needed some fresh air, so I took Smokey for a ride.” He pats the beast’s neck.

  “Are you going to get off that horse and kiss me or what?” I ask.

  “I’d rather you got on it.”

  “You’re not changing my tire?”

  “I could think of better ways to spend the evening. We can come back for the car tomorrow.”

  “So, we’re just going to leave the car here by the road?”

  “Yep.”

  I shrug. A while ago, I might’ve protested about leaving my suitcase in an unattended car for an entire night, but now I know no one in Emerald Creek would ever steal anything from it.

  Travis extends a hand toward me and I take it.

  He pulls me up onto the horse and turns to me as I sit in the saddle behind him. “Welcome home, Baker. Should I start the papers to make you an honorary citizen of Emerald Creek?”

  “I’d like that very much, Mr. Mayor,” I say with a grin so wide it threatens to split my cheeks.

  We kiss until Smokey neighs beneath us. Guess the horse doesn’t like to sit still either.

  “Hold on tight,” Travis says as he turns the beast around and, with a toe-curling, “Yee-haw,” sets the stallion to a gallop.

  The wind blows into my hair, and I wrap my arms around Travis’s waist. I squint my eyes against the low glare of the sun, and a freeing chuckle bubbles out of me as I realize we’re literally riding into the sunset.

  EPILOGUE

  TODAY IS THE FIRST DAY OF THE REST OF YOUR LIFE

  I thought this would be another typical Friday night in Emerald Creek. Get home from the office, if you can call over 200 acres of green hills and flat pastures an office. Kiss my boyfriend a good evening as I arrive home, perhaps coax him into giving me a foot rub before he feeds me. And then a movie before bed, totally skippable if the bed part becomes too urgent.

  Instead, things become unorthodox the moment I turn onto Travis’s road—my road, too, now—and face a swarm of people walking in the opposite direction toward the town’s center. It’s like the entire neighborhood is part of an exodus. What’s even more peculiar is how everyone in the crowd is wearing the same colors: blue and green. Over baseball caps, painted warrior-style on their cheeks, or draped around their shoulders as silky flags.

  Did I somehow miss the memo that today is Emerald Creek Day or something?

  At home, I find Travis waiting for me on the porch with an impatient pout.

  He checks his clock and scolds me. “You’re late.”

  I slam the door of my brand-new red pickup. “Late for what? Did we have a commitment I forgot about?”

  As the unofficial First Lady of Emerald Creek, I get to show my love and support for the mayor at all his formal gatherings.

  “No,” Travis says, hopping down the porch steps to scoop me up into his arms. He kisses me and, late or not, the mayor takes his time. When he drops me back to the ground again, he adds, “I wanted it to be a surprise.”

  “Oh?”

  “You were here only during the summer, but you should know fall in Emerald Creek is all about high school football.”

  “Oh.”

  Travis’s face falls. “You don’t like football.”

  “I don’t know, I’ve never been into sports. I only watch the Super Bowl because I find the commercials funny.”

  Travis groans as if in actual physical pain.

  “But until a few months ago I wasn’t into small towns either, so…” I shrug.

  “We don’t have to go if you don’t want to.”

  “No, really, I’m curious. Is the home team any good?”

  Travis answers with a series of stats I can’t make head nor tail of, but that should mean that, yeah, the team is okay.

  “What should I wear?”

  “Just a pair of jeans and your high-wedge sneakers.”

  The mayor’s footwear vocabulary has greatly improved since I’ve moved in with him.

  I go upstairs where he turned one of the bedrooms into my personal closet. He had it built in record time and ready as a surprise for me on the day I officially moved into his house. I sigh, true love and all, and run my fingers along the orderly shelves of shoes until I find the ones he referred to. To complete the outfit, I put on a pair of Capri jeans and a T-shirt. I don’t own anything in blue and green, but maybe there’ll be a concession stand at the stadium where I can accessorize.

  I needn’t have worried. When I get downstairs, Travis is waiting for me, holding a blue and green football jacket.

  “How would you feel about wearing my old jacket to the game?” he asks.

  “You played football?” I take the jacket from him and drape it over my shoulders, marveling at how many things we still have to discover about each other and also smiling, thinking we now have the rest of our lives to do so.

  “Star of my team, two times state champions, go Panthers, who-hoo…”

  “Wow, you’re really into this, aren’t you?”

  “I loved playing in high school and even more so in college. I went to Notre Dame on a full athletic scholarship.”

  “Isn’t Notre Dame one of the best college teams in the country?” Even I know that.

  Travis winks. “Sure is.”

  “So you must’ve been good.”

  “Could’ve gone professional.”

  “Why didn’t you?”

  Travis gapes at me. “I guess I have to thank Hollywood for that.”

  “Hollywood?”

  “Yeah, a movie I watched, actually. Concussion, with Will Smith.”

  “Yeah, great movie.” I shiver, remembering the worst scenes of the movie describing the long-term effects of repeated head traumas. “I’m glad you didn’t go professional. Was it hard to turn that world down?”

  “Oh, yeah, when you’re a football player at Notre Dame it’s like being a god walking among mortals. The feeling wasn’t an easy one to give up, and I can only imagine what playing in the NFL could’ve felt like. But professional football is a cruel world, too. You get injured and you’re out. I didn’t want my life to be tethered to the good health of my kneecaps.”

  “Very sensible, Mr. Mayor.”

  He pokes the tip of my nose with a finger. “Plus, if I’d gone professional, I would’ve never met you.”

  “Oh, who knows? You could’ve developed a second career in Hollywood, and I would’ve been your producer, and maybe we would’ve fallen in love after a passionate on-set romance.”

  Travis frowns. “That happens often with all the good-looking actors you associate with? Should I worry?”

  “Nope, it’s actually never happened. But if you’d walked on one of my sets…”

  “You would’ve worn the naked dress to work on the second day?”

  “Probably.”

  “And I would’ve fallen for you just as hard and fast.” Travis swings an arm over my shoulders and kisses the top of my head. “Should we go now? Before it gets too late?”

  “Sure.”

  We join a few other latecomers hurrying toward St. Mary’s High. I’ve never been on a date to a football stadium, not even when I was a student myself. My high school was all about basketball, so the games were played in the gym, and they never attracted a crowd as big as this one.

  Emerald Creek’s is a legit yearbook-style football stadium, with cheerleaders, a pep band, giant screens, and basically the whole town looking on from the bleachers.

  “Wow,” I say. “You’re really serious about football in this town.”

  Travis raises his eyebrows. “Yep! Want to grab something to eat before we sit?”

  “Sure.”

  We buy two deliciously unhealthy, bacon-wrapped, deep-fried danger dogs and French fries and eat them on the bleachers while the players are introduced. I’m amazed at how they each get their video presentation. Particularly because the photography looks very professional.

  “So you lied when you said there were no producer jobs in Emerald Creek.”

  Travis wipes a drop of ketchup from his mouth with a napkin and frowns. “What do you mean?”

  “A professional made these videos.”

  Travis smirks. “Actually, the school’s media department produced them.”

  “Well, I want to know who filmed that and recruit them.”

  “Easy, Tiger. Let them at least graduate first.”

  “Or we could start a summer internship program at the studios.”

  “That would be amazing, Baker.”

  I smile, thinking how Emerald Creek feels more like my home with every day I spend here.

  We polish off our food just as the game kicks off. The stadium lights beam bright in the night sky, and the players get into action.

  “Take a seat, ladies and gentlemen, you’re gonna need it for tonight’s most anticipated first game of the season,” the announcer’s voice booms through the speakers. “It’s a beautiful night for football and our Panthers are ready to roar. Wilkins makes the kick at the five. Adams on the blocking. Gets outside. He’s at the twenty. He’s at the thirty. Out of bounds at the thirty-five-yard line and, ladies and gentlemen, this game is on!”

  The game is fast and furious, so I don’t have time to think as I’m dragged along with the excitement of the crowd, cheering, yelling, and jumping on the spot every time the home team scores points.

  Half the time, I’m not really understanding what’s happening on the field, but I’m loving the atmosphere, the tension in the air, the screaming.

  The score goes back and forth, and the Panthers seem to have it. But we’re down six points going into the last quarter and I’m getting worried… The other team has the ball and the quarterback passes it downfield, but Bryson Wilkins intercepts the ball and starts running it back toward the goalposts.

  The stadium roars as the Panthers tackle and block one opponent after the other protecting Wilkins with the ball until…

  “Touchdown!” Travis screams next to me, and I jump around like a manic pixie.

  I throw my arms around Travis’s neck and kiss him full on the mouth.

  “This is the best date ever,” I yell over the booming cheers of the crowd, then glue my eyes back to the field.

  There are only a few minutes left on the clock, but anything could happen. I watch every second of the game with my heart in my throat, knowing that Emerald Creek is so close to winning.

  Then the Panthers have the ball again.

  “The home team is gonna score!” the announcer screams through the loudspeakers. “The ball is on the fifteen-yard line. Wilkins takes the ball, and he’s one of the more experienced players, so let’s keep our fingers crossed he’ll get this done for us. It’s Wilkins on the left, toward the center…”

  The whole stadium holds its collective breath and then… “He scores!”

  Travis and I are screaming along with the rest of the crowd, “We won! We won!”

  Watching a game in person is really different from seeing it on TV. Wow, who knew? It also helps to have a team to cheer for.

  As the players return to the locker rooms, Travis and I begin the slow process of leaving the stadium, stepping in line with all the other spectators heading for the exits.

  As we get outside and lose the protection of the crowd surrounding us, I’m super glad to have Travis’s jacket to wear. At the beginning of September, the days are still hot, but the nights can get chilly.

  “Did you have fun?” Travis asks as we walk home.

  “Are you kidding? It was amazing!”

  “Well, football season is only starting. We should go to more games.”

  “I’d love to.”

  “Unfortunately, the next one is going to be an away game, so we’ll have to watch it on TV.”

  And the plan was to watch the live broadcast, but then I pulled a little surprise for the mayor and dressed for the game in a Panthers cheerleader outfit, complete with hair ribbon and pompoms.

  The mayor got turned on all right, but the TV never did.

  The next afternoon we’re watching the replay, cuddling in the living room when a loud, repeated honking in the backyard distracts us.

  We pause the game and go out on the patio to see what’s happening.

  Travis’s mom has parked her pickup next to mine and is getting out in a frenzy.

  “Mom,” Travis calls out. “What’s up?”

  “I’ve had it with that goat,” Willette says. She opens the passenger door and Hildi hops off the seat to the ground. “Bleating all the time like a lovesick cat. She’s clearly your goat now.”

  Hildi bounds toward us. I squat down to welcome her and almost get knocked over. She bumps her head under my chin frantically, truly acting more like a cat than a goat.

  That’s when I notice a perky silver-tabby tail heading our way, too. Two seconds later, Fluffy joins Hildi in smothering me in cuddles.

  Travis smirks and raises an eyebrow, asking his mom, “And the cat?”

  Willette throws her hands up in the air. “Same traitorous breed as the goat. Well, enjoy them. They’re all yours now.”

  Willette starts to get back into her truck.

  “Mom,” Travis calls after her. “Don’t you want a cup of tea or something?”

  “No, I’m off to the shelter to adopt a couple of kittens.”

  “Aww,” I say.

  “Nuh-uh.” Willette shakes a finger at me. “I love you to bits, dear, as if you were my own daughter, but from now on you’re staying away from my cats before they all want to move here like these two traitors.”

  She leaves, and Travis squats next to me and the animals. “Guess now I’ll have to fight to get your attention.”

  “Oh, please, there’s no competition,” I tease. “The animals will always win.”

  Travis starts to grab me, but I’m faster. I wiggle free of our new pets and run off the porch toward the yard. Unfortunately, the mayor’s stamina is superior to mine. He tackles me halfway through my escape and gently lowers me to the ground. The kindness is short-lived, however, because next, he proceeds to relentlessly tickle my sides until I’m screaming for mercy.