The solution was inside him. He just had to get back to his own roots in this community.

  TONI GOT TO THE SALON a few minutes early and found that Jennifer was still sitting in Sandy’s chair, her cell phone pressed to her ear.

  “No, no, I understand,” she said to the person on the other end. “Just get better and I’ll call you next time.” She pressed a button, folded up her cell phone and looked so despondent that Toni had to speak.

  “Jennifer. Is everything okay?”

  Her former best friend looked up with big blue eyes. “Oh, it’s not so bad. Not like Hailey having a problem.” She sniffed a little, then sighed. “It’s just that…she has a program tonight at church. The first one she could participate in since her treatments ended last year. And Tommy Jr. has a terrible sore throat and cough, so we got a babysitter. Now the babysitter is sick, and Tommy and I can’t both go to Hailey’s program because almost everyone else we know is already going or is sitting for someone else.”

  “I’m so sorry.” Seeing their daughter back to her old self was such a joy for Jennifer and Tommy, Toni knew. Hailey had finished chemo last year and now she looked the picture of health. “Could I babysit for Tommy Jr.?”

  “You?”

  “Well, yes. I know I don’t have any children, but I like them and they seem to like me. And I know first aid and I have common sense. Plus, if anything came up, I could call you or my mother for advice.”

  “No, it’s not that I don’t trust you. It’s just that you’re…well, you’re the mayor. And a businesswoman. And you’re dating Wyatt McCall! Why would you want to spend a night babysitting Tommy Jr. when you could be out with him?”

  “Oh, please. You were my best friend. I know we’re not as close as we once were—” or as I’d like to be, Toni silently added “—but that doesn’t mean I stopped caring about you and your family.”

  “It just never occurred to me that you’d want to do something so…ordinary.”

  Toni laughed, since the remark struck her as so silly. “What, you think I have a glamorous life because I have my own business? I tear out things and build things, for heaven’s sake! Usually I have calluses and splinters, plus a few bruises and a scratch or two. And as for the mayor part, well, that’s a working job, too. Most of the time I read reports and sit in meetings. Again, hardly glamorous.”

  “I suppose. I just never thought about it like that.”

  “Well, now you know,” Toni replied, putting her hand on Jennifer’s arm. “I’d love to spend the evening babysitting Tommy Jr. so you and Tommy can attend Hailey’s program at church.”

  Jennifer still looked so much like the best friend Toni had known almost all her life that she reached out and hugged her. “Thank you,” Jennifer said, the words muffled against Toni’s jacket. “I really want to go to the church tonight.”

  “I understand. What time do I need to be there?”

  “About six-thirty.”

  “Okay.”

  “Toni?”

  “What?”

  “If Wyatt comes to see you at my house, no hanky-panky, okay?” Jennifer said this so deadpan that Toni felt floored.

  Then her friend smiled and giggled. And they laughed together, hugging, thinking back on all the times they’d snuck their boyfriends in when they were supposed to be alone or babysitting or studying. Tommy and Wyatt, the boys they’d loved.

  Tommy, the boy Jennifer had married right out of high school. How their lives had changed.

  Toni pulled back, still smiling. “After the holidays, maybe we can get together. I have some things to tell you.”

  “Okay. That’s a girl date.” Jennifer hopped down from Sandy’s chair and reached for her coat. “I’ll see you tonight at six-thirty. Do you know which house is ours?”

  “Sure, I remember.” She’d been there five years ago for a high-school reunion kickoff party, but she’d felt so out of place. Most of their classmates had families. Lots of photos had been passed around.

  Toni didn’t even have a pet she could show off in pictures. How sad was that? She’d devoted all her time to her business, and shortly after the party had decided to run for mayor.

  They hugged once more, then Toni removed her jacket and sat in her chair. Sandy moved closer and adjusted the lift.

  “That was so sweet. If I’d known she needed a babysitter, I would have volunteered. Hailey was a customer the first week I worked here.”

  “They’re a lucky family.” Hailey had survived her medical crisis, and Tommy and Jennifer seemed just as much in love as they had when they were eighteen.

  “Yes, they are. Lucky to have a friend like you.”

  Toni looked down. Maybe it wasn’t too late to be a best friend again. Maybe she should have tried a little harder before this.

  “So, what are we doing today?” Sandy asked, fluffing Toni’s hair.

  ON THE WALK BACK TO HER OFFICE, Toni’s cell phone rang. She looked at the caller ID. Wyatt. Her heart began to race as she walked quickly up Main Street toward her office. She pressed the button to answer the call.

  “Hello, Wyatt.”

  “You look really good. Is that a new haircut?”

  She looked around, almost giving herself whiplash. “Where are you?” She didn’t see the white SUV anywhere.

  He stepped out onto the sidewalk from the shadowed overhang of the Burger Barn. “Gotcha.”

  “Are you spying on me?” she asked into the phone, even as she looked both ways to cross the street and join him.

  “No, I was having a late lunch.” He disconnected the call and slipped his cell phone into his pocket, a grin on his face.

  She flipped her own phone closed and put it in her jacket. She couldn’t keep herself from smiling, either, even though she was in the middle of town and probably looked like a lovesick teenager.

  Lovesick? No, she was not going to fall for Wyatt again so soon, before she knew what his intentions were. Been there, done that, and it hurt too much.

  “Hey, you looked so glad to see me, but now you’re frowning. What’s up?”

  She shook off her thoughts. “Nothing. I am glad to see you,” she said, smiling again. “Do you really like my hair?”

  “It’s very bouncy,” he said, fingering the ends, which were still long but had a bit more shape than before.

  “My hair is always bouncy when Sandy finishes with me. Then when I fix it, it’s mostly flat again. I don’t have her skill.”

  “Yeah, but I bet she can’t use a nail gun like you can.”

  Toni laughed. “That’s true.”

  “Are you going back to your office?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’ll walk with you. I parked the SUV up there.”

  “Did you come there to see me?”

  “Yes, but I saw your Out to Lunch sign and decided to treat myself to a burger.”

  “The quality of meat has gone up since the new butcher shop opened.”

  “And I noticed they have bison burgers on the menu. Interesting.”

  “And tasty. They come from the Crawford ranch. The Rocking C.”

  “I thought they only raised Herefords.”

  “Up until a few years ago. When Cal went to Afghanistan for active military service, Troy came in to run the ranch and found it was in financial trouble. He ended up selling off most of the Herefords, bringing in bison and subleasing the land for organic dairy cows and free-range chickens.”

  “Wow. That is a huge transformation.”

  “Lots of things have changed around here, Wyatt.”

  “Not you. You’re as pretty as ever.”

  “And you’re as full of it as ever. I’m fifteen years older and I know it.”

  “You’re prettier than ever. And now you’re more accomplished. That’s something no one can say when they’re eighteen.”

  “True. I don’t want to go back—I’m just pointing out that we’re all different.”

  “Point taken. Now, for today’s burning question. Will you have dinner with me tonight? And before you get excited about going back to Dewey’s or to Graham for Italian or whatever, I have to tell you it’s at my parents’ house.”

  “I can’t.”

  “I know you’re not a big fan, but—”

  “No, I mean I can’t because I’m babysitting. Jennifer and Tommy are attending Hailey’s program at church and I’m watching Tommy Jr. at their house. He’s sick and can’t go.”

  “Oh.” Wyatt looked floored.

  “I’m sorry. I probably would have come. I suppose, that is, unless your mother wanted to talk me into or out of something, in which case I would have to consider carefully.” She didn’t need political or social pressure from the town’s wealthiest family. Especially now that she and Wyatt were dating. That put a twist on things, at least until she decided if she was running for office again and if she and Wyatt had a future.

  Mrs. McCall hadn’t liked her much way back when, but Toni supposed she was now more respectable since she was mayor and a businesswoman. And who knew what Mrs. McCall was thinking? Maybe she’d theorized that if Wyatt was dating someone local, he’d be around a lot more.

  “I guess I could see if she wants to reschedule.”

  “No, you should go. Spend some time with the folks. It’s the holidays. I’m sure they’d love to see you.”

  “I guess,” he said, sounding rather like a ten-year-old who had been forced to do something slightly unpleasant but necessary. “I already told her I’d come and bring you.”

  “Well, you should have checked with me first.”

  “I know that now. I just wasn’t thinking that you’d have anything tonight.”

  “I’m not some supermodel who can fly off on a whim.”

  “I didn’t say you were.”

  “I know, but I get the impression your circle of friends and your prospective dates aren’t so tied down by obligations.”

  “Now who’s making assumptions about whom?”

  Toni sighed. “You’re right. I make a lot of assumptions about your lifestyle, mostly because I don’t understand it. Having lots of free time to go on adventures and attend big, exciting events is as alien to me as…as babysitting Tommy Jr. must seem to you.”

  “I can imagine doing that. Do you want me to come with you?”

  “No! You’re having dinner with your parents, remember?”

  “Oh, yeah. Well, how about later? I could bring dessert.”

  “Oh, no. Jennifer already warned me not to have my boyfriend slip into the house after the munchkin went to sleep.”

  “That used to be a lot of fun,” Wyatt said, putting his arm around her waist as she stopped to unlock her door.

  “Exactly why Jennifer mentioned it.” Toni smiled as she opened the door and they stepped inside. “She remembers how we both used to let you and Tommy come over when we shouldn’t.”

  “Shouldn’t is such a strong word,” he said, pulling her close in the foyer of her office. “Let’s just say that some stuffy old adults didn’t want us to have any fun.”

  Before she could reply, he kissed her, pulling her tighter as he slanted his mouth over hers. She immediately responded, her arms around his neck, her fingers in his hair. She went from amused to aroused in two seconds flat. And Wyatt did, too. She felt him hard against her stomach as she wiggled closer. His hand moved lower on her bottom, holding her against him as he moaned.

  “Ahem!”

  The sound coming from Toni’s office was like a splash of cold water. Oh my God. Someone else had seen them making out like teenagers, probably in the reflection of the mirror.

  “Geesh, guys. Can you get a room?” Leo shouted from the depths of the office.

  “What…What are you doing here?” Toni asked in response to Leo’s disembodied voice.

  “We have a two-o’clock meeting, remember? About the pressed tin ceiling repairs versus new beadboard?”

  “Oh. Yes, yes, of course.” Toni pulled away, flushed and unfulfilled. Wyatt appeared just as frustrated.

  “Call me later,” she whispered. “After your dinner. The church program shouldn’t run too late.”

  He nodded, kissing her quickly before pulling his leather jacket together over the front of his jeans and stepping outside.

  The door closed. Toni glanced at the mirror. She looked as if she’d been thoroughly kissed. She wondered if she could attribute her messy hair and bright pink cheeks to her appointment at the salon and the brisk winter breeze.

  “Come on in, sis. I promise not to give you a lecture.”

  Good. Because she didn’t need one. She’d already decided that she wasn’t going to let herself fall in love with Wyatt again. That didn’t mean she might not fall into bed with him, however.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “I’m so sorry Toni couldn’t come tonight,” Wyatt’s mother said as she handed him a casserole dish.

  “Why the sudden interest in Toni? I got the impression you didn’t see her all that much.”

  “Yes, but you’re going out with her, aren’t you? That’s certainly of interest to us as well as others.”

  “Whether Toni and I are dating or not is our business.”

  “She’s a public figure, so of course people are interested.”

  “What about you, Mom? What’s the real reason you wanted me to bring her to dinner tonight?”

  She sighed. “Well, you know we weren’t in favor of you getting too serious about her when you were in high school. Your lives are much different now. She’s grown into an accomplished young woman, and you are, of course, successful and established.” His mother put a silver wire basket of crescent rolls on the table. “And neither you nor Toni are getting any younger. Maybe it’s time.”

  “Time for what?” he asked, although he thought he knew where this conversation was going.

  “Settle down, get married. Have a family.”

  “Oh, so I come back to town and you’re already planning a nursery?”

  “I’m not planning, just…hopeful.”

  “I’m not sure where our relationship is heading. Right now, we’re dating.” Good old-fashioned dating, which meant lots of tossing and turning at night, lots of sexual frustration. If someone had told him that he’d be in a kissing-only affair at age thirty-three, he would have told them they were nuts. And yet, here he was…

  “We like Toni, son,” his father said. “She’s not one of those Hollywood types. Or a gold digger. She’s a down-home Texas girl that you can trust.”

  “I know how trustworthy she is. I also know how important that is in a relationship. Still, anything beyond where we are right now is a big step, one that Toni and I will discuss first.”

  “We only want what’s best for you,” his mother said.

  As opposed to all those years where you weren’t real concerned with what was best, just what looked the best? But he tamped down his bitterness, since it wouldn’t do any good to make snippy remarks. His parents were trying to do their jobs, finally, even if he didn’t agree with their tactics.

  “And your father and I are both getting older. We’d like to have grandchildren.”

  “That’s one thing I can’t buy for you,” he said, the joke falling flat.

  “We’d like to see you happily married first. I know that’s not always the custom nowadays, especially out there in California, but—”

  “If anything happens of a permanent nature, I’ll let you know. For now, I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t try to influence Toni. We’re getting to know each other as adults, not as kids, and we need the time to do that without interference.”

  “Of course we won’t interfere. Will we, Margaret?”

  “No, we won’t,” she said.

  Well, at least Dad had stood up to her a little. If his mother had free rein, she’d probably be planning an engagement party for next weekend.

  Engagement. Even the word evoked images of long, contracted arrangements and stressful plans for The Big Event. Maybe Toni wouldn’t want to go through with that traditional step. Maybe, if they decided they could make a life together, they could just fly off someplace and get married.

  But, no, he’d cheated her out of an engagement once, by making her believe that they would have that Tommy-loves-Jennifer happy-ever-after ending, then leaving for Stanford. If he and Toni were going to make this work, he’d have to suck it up and do a real engagement, with a proper, memorable proposal and a ring she’d be proud to wear. They’d have to go through all the steps of planning a really nice wedding right here in Brody’s Crossing, and then…then what?

  Where would they live? How would they mesh their lives together? He didn’t know, and he suspected Toni didn’t, either.

  “THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR babysitting Tommy Jr.,” Jennifer said around eight-thirty that night, shrugging out of her coat. “How is he doing?”

  “Same as the last time you called,” Toni said with a smile. “He’s a little congested, but sleeping fine. You were right not to take him tonight. He’s just not feeling up to being around other kids or being on his best behavior in church.” Toni smiled at Hailey. “How was the program?”

  “It was great,” the twelve-year-old said with a big grin. “I sang two songs and I got to hold a candle while the choir sang ‘O Little Town of Bethlehem.’ That’s one of my favorite Christmas carols.”

  “We had cookies and hot chocolate after the program, in the activity building of the church,” Jennifer added.

  “We drove by the community center, too,” Hailey said. “I love the new decorations. I want to roll those big ornaments around,” she confessed, then quickly added, “but I know I can’t.”

  “No, they’re all staked to the ground, since they’re lighted.

  We can’t have them rolling around in the wind or being shifted in case someone isn’t so sensible,” Toni said.