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Cindy piped up, “Then ask him. I’m telling you; you would be perfect for the position, and I should know. You’re detailed and results oriented. More importantly, people in the community love and respect you.”
Lucas jumped on that bandwagon. “You understand the importance of monitoring and tracking progress, not just throwing money at a problem and crossing your fingers, hoping for the best.”
Cindy was now steering the bandwagon. “And then coming back the following year, with their hand out asking for more money, without any proof of any real progress or achievements.”
“I really, really hate that,” Maynard said, narrowing his eyes.
“Talk to Wade and get back with me,” Lucas said, patting the huge man on the back as if he had all the time in the world. “I’ll begin socializing the idea amongst the other council members.”
With a sigh of relief, Cindy clapped her hands. Her way of indicating the meeting had come to a close. “I’m outta here. I have yet another appointment where doctors stick their hands in places I don’t even allow Wallis to go. Good times.”
She rose from the chair and suddenly froze, mid-rise.
“Omigod,” she said, her face beet red and her eyes as wide as her hips.
Bolting to her side, Lucas supported her upper arm, as she continued to clench the sides of the chair with the force of a bench vise.
“You okay?”
She looked up at him with a stark face. “I’m so sorry.”
“Why are you sorry?”
“I think… I think I sullied your chair.”
“I don’t give a damn about the chair, is it time? Do I need to call Wallis?”
She nodded. Still frozen in place, not upright and not sitting down.
“I want to sit down, but… it’s really, really wet.”
Maynard ripped off his bespoke jacket, handing it to Lucas, who folded it and then scooted the garment down from the back of the chair, gingerly helping her sit until she breathed a cautious sigh of relief.
Lucas managed to get a hold of Wallis on the first ring, while Cindy squeezed his other hand, close to breaking a bone.
Pressing End, he looked at Maynard. “We need to get her to the hospital. Stat.”
“Damn, I’ve always wanted to say that,” Maynard said with disappointment. “My car is parked out front. I’ll drive.”
Lucas nodded, his attention back to Cindy. “Okay, Mrs. City Manager, we need you to walk to the elevator, then through the front lobby and into Maynard’s car, so he can drive you to the hospital.”
She put a power hold on his arm, making him wince, her eyes frantic. “No, I can’t walk.”
Lucas tried again. “You have to walk so we can get you downstairs and to the car.”
“I… can’t. I can’t move.”
More tears from the toughest woman he’d ever known. A woman who could stand down a wrecking crew about to demolish a historic building, failing to apply for the proper permits. A woman who protected her neighbor from her abuser while holding him at gunpoint, calling the police, and waiting for them to arrive. The same woman who had narrowed her eyes at a mouthy fifth grader who was pushing and heckling a third grader around during a school carnival. Lucas watched her grab the boy under his arm and dig her nails into his armpit, bringing him to his tippy-toes and turning him into a sniveling, apologetic wreck.
For the first time that he could remember, this commanding warrior of a woman was terrified.
And wasn’t moving an inch.
From his priceless chair.
Desperate times called for desperate measures.
Wrenching his hand from hers, he threw open the door to his office, startling Lilith, who was in the middle of licking an envelope. “Do we still have that dolly we used to haul the binders of the prints for the proposed airport?
