And as Toni had mentioned, he was free to go back to his life in California. As a matter of fact, she’d practically kicked him out of town. She must really want to get rid of him to mention that in her public comments.

  “Thank you very much, Mayor Casale, and everyone in the municipal government. It has been great being back in Brody’s Crossing.” Applause interrupted him, then he continued. “I would also like to thank Martha Chase and her staff for their cooperation and support here at the community center.” More applause. “Now, I’m not a believer in long speeches. Those of you who remember me know that I never liked to sit still for too long.” Chuckles from everyone but his mother, who frowned from her seat on the front row.

  “So, enjoy the decorations. Please take time to look at the new locations of the Scout troops’ reindeer and trees, standing on their new hill where they can look over the lawn. And I know you’ll appreciate the chili dinner. As a special incentive to encourage you to be generous with your donations to the food bank and other charities supported by tonight’s event, I want to say that I’ll personally match the amount of money donated tonight.”

  A big round of applause showed the town’s appreciation of his impromptu remarks, so he smiled, held the key up once more and then stepped back from the podium. Martha Chase stepped forward, giving directions in her usual efficient style, and soon everyone was milling around the lawn, looking at the decorations.

  Wyatt made a retreat to the community center. His role as benefactor was over.

  After going through the line for his bowl of chili, Wyatt sat with Cassie and Louisa, James and Sandy Brody, the Maxwells, Cal and Christie Crawford and their little boy. The noise level in the community center was matched only by the smell of the chili simmering in big pots in the adjacent kitchen. Tables were covered with empty and partially full plastic bowls, baskets of crackers and corn bread, and bottles of hot sauce. Children ran around the tables and old friends filled the aisles, talking as if they hadn’t seen each other in ages.

  The aromas and sights were so familiar, yet so strangely foreign. Wyatt knew he’d done this many times during the first eighteen years of his life, yet he hadn’t been to a community-type dinner in the past fifteen years. When he was a teenager, most of his time had been spent either trying to get into trouble or trying to get a girl to go outside with him. Now, there was only one girl he wanted, and that would definitely get them both into trouble.

  Even so, he’d discovered he couldn’t really help himself when she was around. Right now she was across the room with her parents and Leo, chatting and dipping her spoon into her chili, but barely eating.

  “Do you want me to schedule our flight back to California for Sunday night or Monday?” Cassie asked.

  “Hmm?” He wasn’t ready to leave. “Weren’t we going horseback riding? I still haven’t arranged that.”

  “That’s okay, Mr. McCall. I don’t really—”

  “No, I said I would, and since the weather is nice, we really should go.” He turned to Louisa. “Why don’t you see if any of the other media people want photos or interviews while we’re here? Also, let’s see if our designer has anything to replace those really lame silver tinsel decorations along Main Street. Those things are practically as old as I am.”

  Louisa made a note of both things. “I’ll check with him before he leaves.”

  The designer had been invited to stay for the chili supper and had gotten quite a few congratulations from the citizens, both after the lighting and during supper.

  “I suppose he’s spending another night at the motel. Surely he won’t drive back in the dark.”

  “He’s staying,” Christie said. “The motel manager mentioned it.” She smiled at Wyatt. “This project of yours has really helped the local economy, especially at the motel. We’ve been booked solid all week.”

  “I told everyone we needed that motel,” Ida Bell said.

  “Toni did a great job,” Christie said.

  “She always does a great job,” Burl Maxwell added.

  “Is she going to run for reelection next year?” Wyatt asked.

  “Oh, I think so. Why wouldn’t she?” Ida said.

  “I’m sure she will. She’s a great mayor,” Christie said.

  “I agree,” Wyatt said with a shrug, “but maybe she has other plans.”

  “Like what? Higher office?” Burl asked.

  “I was thinking more along the lines of her career. Or maybe even her personal life.”

  “Oh, I don’t know. She seems to handle everything so well,” Ida said.

  “Yes, she does,” Wyatt agreed. She seemed to, at least. He wondered, though. Was she as happy as she seemed?

  TONI TRIED TO SLIP OUT of the chili supper while Wyatt talked to old friends, but darn it, he must have seen her from the corner of his eye. He had the senses of a hawk…and she felt a lot like a scared rabbit. She walked faster toward her house, dodging the Christmas display. The ornaments, ribbons and snow had been spread out a little after the fencing had come down, so the display covered more space. The white faux flakes cushioned her steps as she cut across the lawn.

  Her breathing increased as she walked faster and hugged her arms around her. She should have worn a jacket. The wind was cold despite the mild temperatures.

  She jogged across her street and was almost to her small front porch when a man’s low voice asked, “Are you going to invite me inside?”

  She spun around, almost losing her balance in her high-heeled boots.

  “Whoa! Be careful,” he said, reaching out and steadying her with his hands on her arms.

  His big, warm hands.

  “I’m fine, thank you. I wouldn’t have…Oh, never mind!” There was no sense telling him that he’d snuck up and startled her, despite the porch light she’d left on.

  “This is a cute house,” he remarked, looking up at her pitched roof, the dormer windows and shutters. She’d replaced much of the trim and restored the wooden siding when she’d bought the house four years ago. She had more plans for the cottage, which was so conveniently located that she could easily walk to her office or the city hall.

  “I like it.”

  “I’d love to see the inside.”

  I’ll just bet you would. “Maybe some other time. It’s been a long day.”

  “My days are numbered, you know,” he reminded her.

  She hugged her arms around herself again. “I know. When are you leaving?”

  “I haven’t decided yet. I suppose I need some type of official approval.”

  “I guess so. That shouldn’t be difficult. The display is great.” She looked across the street. All the ornaments and lights seemed to be working properly. “You and the designer didn’t have any trouble finding the problem earlier?”

  “No. He wasn’t sure what had caused it, but there seemed to be a place where some ‘thrashing around’ had gone on. He thought it was caused by a big raccoon.” Wyatt leaned closer and said in a lower voice, “But you and I know better.”

  Despite the cold wind, Toni felt her cheeks warm. “Oh, for heaven’s sake. Surely that wasn’t the reason—”

  “Yes, it was. But don’t worry. I fixed it and I didn’t say a thing. To anyone.”

  She heard the teasing in his voice, as if he’d like to hold such an indiscretion over her head. Or maybe she was just being paranoid. This wouldn’t be the first time Wyatt had messed with her mind.

  “You can come by the office Monday on your way out of town. We can even have an official photograph, if you’d like. I know Louisa uses that sort of thing for your publicity.”

  “For my foundation’s publicity,” Wyatt reminded her, no longer teasing. “I don’t need publicity.”

  “Right.”

  “What? You think I want some photographer with a telephoto lens following me around, invading my life? It’s a relief to get to a remote part of the world, whether I’m going to climb a mountain or surf a wave. There’s no one there who cares if I have any money. Hell, most of the time there is no one there!”

  “I’m not going to feel sorry for you because you made a fortune and travel around the world.”

  “I didn’t ask for any sympathy. I was just correcting an apparent misconception you have about me and publicity.”

  “Consider me corrected.” She stood on her porch and shivered. Wyatt looked so serious, so tense. He seemed to be waiting for her to make an offer. Come inside for coffee, wine or beer? She couldn’t, though. She’d be inviting disaster.

  “Just one more thing,” he said after what seemed an eternity. “This town…I don’t know if you realize it, but this week, people treat me just like they always did, except they’ve acknowledged that I’m older. Maybe not wiser, but no longer a teenager. I can be myself without running off to a remote mountain or deserted beach or isolated rain forest. It’s good. It’s something I didn’t realize I missed.”

  “I hadn’t thought about it, but I can see where that would be refreshing.”

  “I just wanted to tell you that. I know you think I’m still a kid at heart.”

  “I never said that.”

  “I can see it in the way you react to me.”

  She shifted her weight and frowned. “You keep me off balance, Wyatt. Just like you did when we were kids. I don’t know what’s coming next, except that I know it might get me in trouble if I’m not careful.”

  “Maybe you need a little trouble in your life.”

  “What does that mean?”

  He shrugged. “You have everything so planned. So…orderly. You’ve done more than a lot of people do by the time they’re fifty or sixty. I’m looking for evidence that you’re enjoying your life, though.”

  “I am. I do.”

  “If you say so.”

  “What difference does it make to you? Before Monday, we hadn’t talked in fifteen years.”

  He shrugged again. “Maybe I realized that’s too long.”

  She threw up her hands. “You’re doing it again! I have no idea how to take anything you say that’s halfway serious.”

  “You shouldn’t think about it so much. Life isn’t always about logic, Toni. Sometimes, you just have to go with what feels right.”

  “Oh, no. That sounds like Wild Wyatt McCall logic, and that always got me into trouble.”

  He grinned. “I’ll be in touch.” He stepped back, still watching her.

  “Wait! When are you leaving town?”

  “I haven’t decided yet.”

  “But the community center decorations are finished.”

  “I know, but I promised Cassie I’d take her horseback riding, and now I realize that we really should do something about those decorations along Main Street.”

  “The tinsel candy canes?”

  “That’s right. Even the description is horrible.”

  “Wyatt, you don’t need—”

  “I’ll be in touch,” he said again and turned, striding quickly down her short front walk. While she stood there and watched, he shoved his hands in his pockets and continued across the street to the community center. People were coming out, strolling by and looking at the decorations. Wyatt stopped to talk to someone, and Toni opened her front door.

  She flipped on the foyer light and frowned. Wyatt had done it again. He’d confused her. He’d set her off on a roller-coaster ride of another type. His quiet confession that returning to Brody’s Crossing was important to him, as important as his adventures abroad, gave her too much insight into Wyatt McCall, the man.

  She’d known Wyatt, the boy. The man was much more dangerous.

  ON SUNDAY, WYATT SAT THROUGH church with his parents, then begged off Sunday dinner by telling them that he was taking Cassie and Louisa horseback riding at the Brodys’ ranch. He had to get back to the motel, change clothes and grab a bite to eat with his employees on the way to the ranch. Hopefully, they had some jeans and decent shoes or boots that would be suitable for riding.

  They took advantage of the brunch specials at Dewey’s, ate quickly and drove out to James’s parents’ ranch. The Brodys kept two older cow ponies, so all three of them couldn’t go riding at the same time, but that was okay with Wyatt. He could ride whenever he wanted, at any number of places near his home. To Louise and Cassie, especially, staying in Texas was a unique adventure. Both women were accustomed to much larger towns. They probably wouldn’t choose to live someplace like Brody’s Crossing, but for a short while it was entertaining to be here.

  James and his wife, Sandy, were there, along with his parents. While the guys saddled the horses, the women chatted about what was going on in town. Soon Cassie was up on her first Texas cow pony, a dun mare with a graying muzzle, while James rode alongside her on the other horse, a bay gelding.

  “When are we leaving?” Louisa asked Wyatt as Cassie rode around the pasture.

  “I don’t know. I want to see about getting some decorations up along Main Street, but I’d need to get that approved by the city and I can’t do that until Monday. We’ll have to call the decorator and see if he has anything suitable. And then I guess we can get back to Carmel.”

  He didn’t miss his house as much as he missed that darned cat. They had a bachelor roommate agreement of sorts, where they sat around, watched the ocean from the balcony, checked out sports on television and didn’t ask too many questions about one another’s comings and goings.

  “Cassie and I can coordinate with the decorator as soon as we get approval.”

  “I’ll take care of that.” He thought about getting Toni involved somehow, if only as a liaison with the city manager. He could go by the hotel site on Monday and get to see how the demo was going, then drag her away to city hall. She probably wouldn’t like having her orderly Monday disrupted, but heck, it would be good for her. Her life was too structured, even if she was busy and on a deadline.

  Was she writing have fun into her planner anywhere? He doubted it.

  James’s father walked over and asked, “Are you staying to watch the game on TV? It starts around three o’clock.”

  “I guess so, if Cassie and Louisa don’t have anything else planned.”

  “Caroline mentioned something about seeing if the ladies would like to go to the Christmas bazaar this afternoon. She and Sandy wanted to go.”

  “That would be fine with me. I need to buy some gifts and I haven’t had time to shop,” Louisa said.

  “Okay, then.” Wyatt motioned for James to bring Cassie around this way. When she got to the fence, she was grinning.

  “This is so much fun. Is it time to go?”

  “No, but Mrs. Brody wanted to know if you and Louisa would like to go with her and Sandy to the Christmas bazaar this afternoon, while the guys watch the Cowboys game.”

  “Sure. Do I need to get off the horse now?” she asked, reaching down to pat the old girl’s neck.

  “Not unless you want to, as far as I’m concerned,” Mr. Brody said. “They’re not leaving for at least thirty minutes. The bazaar is at the church in town, so it won’t take long to get there and back.”

  James dismounted and helped Louisa up for a quick ride. He watched with Wyatt from the fence. “They’re nice. Cassie seems so young.”

  “I don’t know her too well. She works for my assistant, Brian. She’s actually twenty-six and has an MBA from Cal-Berkeley.”

  James nodded. “She really likes horses.”

  “What’s not to like about horses? I wish my folks still kept some, but I know they don’t want to fool with stock.”

  “Yeah, they can be a lot of work at times. Still, my father enjoys having a few cow ponies, some cows and a flock of chickens around the place. So, who’s going to win today?” James asked.

  “The Cowboys, of course,” Wyatt answered. “Want to bet on the point spread?”

  “No, not with you. I probably couldn’t afford it.”

  James made the comment with a smile, but Wyatt wondered if everyone felt that way. Had his money come between him and his old friends? He’d never thought so, but maybe they did. Maybe his departure and his absence from town had made the gap between his good fortune and their choices seem much wider.

  “Come on, Brody. Just because I have more money now doesn’t mean I make crazy bets. But if you’ll go get the beer, I’ll pay for it.”

  “That’s a deal.”

  AFTER THE WOMEN LEFT for shopping, Wyatt waited all of five minutes to call Toni on her cell phone.

  “What are you doing?” he asked.

  “Making sure I have all my subcontractor insurance certificates for the hotel project.”

  “Wow. Doesn’t that sound exciting? If you can pull yourself away from that on a Sunday afternoon, come out to the Brodys’ ranch. We’re just sitting around watching football.”

  “We, as in you and James’s parents?”

  “James and Sandy, his parents, Cassie and Louisa. We came out to ride horses, but the ladies went to the Christmas bazaar for a while. They’ll be back soon.”

  “I appreciate the offer, but—”

  “Don’t tell me that working on Sunday is more fun than watching the Cowboys win.”

  Toni had really liked football when they were younger. She’d gone to every game at B.C.H.S. when he was quarterback and James was his favored receiver. Wyatt remembered curling up on his couch or hers to watch the regular NFL season and playoff games. She could discuss the merits of zone defense and lament the Cowboys’ propensity to call a short pass play on third and ten. Yes, those were some good times.

  “There will be beer,” he said, as if that would tempt her to drive out here. “And snacks.”

  He heard a big sigh on the other end of the phone, then some papers rustling. “Make it cheeseburgers on the grill at halftime and you’ve got a deal.”

  “Yeah? Okay. I need to see if the Brodys have ground beef.” And a functioning grill, and condiments and cheese.

  “I’ll bring enough for burgers for eight people, right?”

  “Right. Don’t forget the buns.”