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Squeezing my eyes shut to make sure I wasn’t dreaming, I let out a squeal of delight and stomped my legs like a crazy woman.
Tripp cleared his throat. “I’m not really good at this, but was that a yes?”
I opened my eyes and sat up, throwing myself at him.
“Yes! It’s a yes to everything!”
“What do you mean you’re withdrawing from the race?” Charles, my campaign manager, said.
The ten men and women who sat in my office stared at me like I had lost my damn mind.
“I’m taking myself out of the race for mayor.”
“But why?” Mrs. Lords asked. She was the owner of the Oak Springs Gazette and one of the city council members.
“I decided that I want to go a different path. I’m focusing on my future with my fiancée and making her dreams come true.”
“Her dreams?” Bobby Hansen asked.
“I know you all know about Doc’s brother. He was making life difficult for Harley, but he finally bought her out last week. I’m buying some land from my father right outside of town and Harley’s building a new vet clinic.”
“A new vet clinic! Oh my goodness, this is so exciting!” Kenzie Lewis said. She was already writing like crazy in her notebook. “Is this something we are keeping under wraps or can we publish this in the Gazette?”
Kenzie…always wearing her reporter hat. “You can publish it with an interview showcasing Harley as the new town vet. Give her a chance to talk about what the new clinic will have.”
Bobby let out a huff, acting like he was more upset than he really was. “I guess if we have to have you pulling out of the race, it’s for a good reason.”
“Thanks, Bobby. I also want to focus on my law practice. It’s been growing steadily the last few years, and now that I’m moving my office next to the vet clinic, I think it will be a nice change.”
All the women in the room gasped.
“Oh, this just turned into a happily ever after piece,” Kenzie said. “I want to interview both of you. Featuring the new vet clinic and why you’re moving your office.”
“Umm, me? You want to interview me as well? Why?”
Kenzie and Mrs. Lords both looked at me like I had asked the dumbest question ever. “Tripp Parker, you are a major influence in this town. Not to get caught up in the gossip, but it is part of my business. Everyone knows the story of you and Harley. Besides, the whole second chance romance thing is beautiful. We can focus on how the town is growing by you expanding your law firm and Harley doing the same with the vet clinic. I think it would be best to leave the drama out of why Harley is building a new space. Let’s keep it on the growth of the town, with the twist of the happily ever after Kenzie mentioned.”
“Do we announce the withdrawal separately?” Lori Durham, another city council member and owner of the one and only grocery store in town, asked.
“We need to take care of that today,” Charles said. “I’ll call a press conference for around three. Does that sound good?” He scanned the room for objections. I was a bit surprised he wasn’t putting up a fight about it, but I think a part of him always knew my heart really wasn’t in the race.
Everyone nodded in agreement.
As they stood, I pulled Lori back and asked to speak with her. Once the room cleared out, I sat down on the edge of my desk as she took a seat in front of me.
“Lori, there’s two things I wanted to discuss with you.”
“Okay, shoot.”
Lori wasn’t that much older than me. Her grandparents had opened up The Springs Grocery back in the early forties. It had been passed on to Lori’s folks and now to her. They also owned a small ranch a few miles outside of town that housed a barn worthy of the king of England’s prized horses. Lori was an avid horse lover and had pretty much shown horses her entire life. Harley and Lori had been good friends when they were younger, both into the horse scene.
“Your family’s barn. Do you rent it out?”
She looked thoughtful for a moment. “We never have, but then again, no one has ever asked.”
A slow smile moved over her face.
“I think you might know where I’m going with this?”
“Yes, I believe I do. If I remember correctly, Harley used to say her dream wedding would be in our barn.”
My chest tightened at the thought of marrying Harley there. Hell, marrying Harley anywhere made my body tremble.
I pointed to her. “Bingo. I’d love to hold our wedding there, if you and your folks agree to it.”
“Tripp, I think that is a wonderful idea. It’s large enough to hold a number of people.”
