AllFreeNovel
Share Us
1
Lucas Keagan
Lucas shrank down in the folding chair. No amount of squirming would help him get comfortable. He still couldn’t believe he’d been suckered into coming to this Town Hall meeting in the first place. He wanted to blame Elijah for the mess he found himself in. His brother had been trying to get even with him for a long time—since Lucas had tricked him into helping out at the Perez farm.
It all worked out. Elijah had a wife—someone who loved him—and someone who he’d had a major crush on for the longest time. Now, Scarlett and Elijah were hitched. Annabel and Dalton were engaged. And if he had one more person asking him if he was going to be next, he was going to scream.
His eyes darted to the pretty young woman who was seated beside Mayor Thompson. Elijah had insisted that Monique wanted to go out with him, but only if he was willing to show he had a charitable side.
Her chocolate brown eyes found his and she flashed him a smile. Lucas straightened slightly in his seat and smiled back. Maybe Elijah wasn’t completely wrong. His brother nudged him in the side, drawing Lucas’s attention.
“See? She noticed you’re here. I told you this was the way you’d get her attention,” Elijah murmured out of the side of his mouth.
“I still don’t know why I have to come to this meeting. I could have volunteered any other time at another activity. What’s so important about this one?”
“Someone bought the old Harris property and they applied for a grant to restore the buildings.”
Lucas snorted. “Some people are so dumb. And we’re here to, what? Approve the process or something ridiculous like that?” he whispered, not really focused on the speaker behind the pulpit.
“Lucas Keagan.”
He jumped, sitting even straighter. His eyes immediately found Monique’s and she smiled, nodding. He matched her smile and turned his attention to the speaker. “Yes. I’m here.”
Mayor Thompson was the one standing behind the pulpit now. Lucas couldn’t recall when he’d stood and started speaking, and it threw him off. “We’re pleased that you’ve decided to join us.”
“I’m happy to help.”
Mayor Thompson nodded with approval. “It’s nice to see your family making more of an effort to be involved.”
“Of course, sir. We love this community more than anything.” Lucas’s eyes shifted to Monique’s again and she winked at him. He was so going to get a date out of this.
Elijah chuckled at his side.
“What’s so funny?” Lucas muttered.
“Oh, you’ll find out soon enough.”
Lucas shot a dark look toward his brother but then turned his attention to Mayor Thompson.
“We are looking forward to completely restoring the barn to its original glory. The new owners have informed me that they’d like to donate this property to the city, and after much deliberation, we’ve voted to utilize it as a venue for local events.”
Several people clapped, and Lucas shrank back into his seat once more. He leaned closer to his brother and whispered, “Is it weird that Mayor Thompson pointed me out?”
“Nope,” Elijah answered far too quickly.
“What do you mean, nope?” Lucas turned to his brother more fully. “It’s definitely weird. This room has plenty of people who probably don’t make it to these meetings all the time. Why would he point me out?”
“He didn’t.”
“Were you somewhere else? Yes, he did. He said my name.”
“And you said yes.”
“I said…” His eyes narrowed. “I didn’t say yes. I said I was here to support the town just like anyone else who’s here.”
Elijah’s lips curled into an almost sinister grin. “It’s really too bad that you weren’t paying attention to what they were discussing when they said your name.”
“Why’s that? Elijah, tell me what’s going on,” Lucas hissed. “I’m done playing your game.”
