In the meantime, though, out of the blue, here was Jeanette, a woman who captivated him, who filled him with a desire to protect her, who made him just a little bit crazy with lust. What the heck was he supposed to do about that, especially given her issues?
Right now, she was standing beside the tree Howard had picked out for the town green. The towering pine dwarfed her. She gazed toward the top, her expression awed, as if it was the first Christmas tree she’d ever seen. Maybe, in a way, it was. Not the very first, but the first since that terrible Christmas when her world had died right along with her brother.
He moved to stand beside her and clasped her hand in his. “It’s awfully big,” he said critically.
“No, it’s perfect,” she said. “Howard’s right. This is the one. I’ve never seen anything like it. I can just see it with hundreds and hundreds of twinkling lights. It will be amazing.”
“It’s bound to cost a fortune,” he said, still playing devil’s advocate.
She frowned at him. “So find the money,” she said in a tone oddly reminiscent of Howard’s. “Tom, we have to have this tree.”
He gazed into her eyes. “It means that much to you?”
She reached out and reverently touched the thick branches. “It does.”
“Then we’ll find the money somewhere, but if anyone complains about potholes not being filled, I’m sending them to talk to you and Howard.”
Just then Howard returned, trailed by Ronnie and Mary Vaughn. Howard’s expression was glum. “The man wants an arm and a leg for this one,” he said. “We might have to settle for something smaller.”
“No,” Jeanette protested. “Did you tell him it was for the town square?”
“Of course I did,” Howard said. “Told him all about the choirs and the kids and Santa. Bottom line, he’s a hardheaded businessman. Can’t say I blame him, but it’s still a disappointment.”
“We’re getting this tree,” Tom said decisively.
Howard regarded him incredulously. “You’re the one who set the price limit.”
Tom shrugged. “I’ll find a few more dollars somewhere.”
“It’s not just a few bucks,” Ronnie reported. “More like a few hundred.”
Tom glanced around at the circle of grim expressions. “Is everyone agreed that this is the tree we want?”
“Yes,” Mary Vaughn said, her eyes sparkling much as Jeanette’s did. “We’ve never had one this magnificent.”
“Then I’ll authorize purchasing it,” Tom said. “Mr. Mayor, are we in agreement?”
“You can find the money in the budget?”
“I’ll come up with the money,” Tom said. Out of his own pocket, if need be. Anything that put that shine back into Jeanette’s eyes was worth every penny. To keep it there, he might even be persuaded to help decorate the monstrous thing, though he vowed to grumble about doing it just on principle.
Jeanette threw her arms around him and planted an enthusiastic kiss on his cheek.
Tom grinned. As incentives went, that wasn’t a bad one, either. “Where’s the farmer?” he asked. “Let’s get a tag on this tree and arrange for it to be delivered.”
“I’ll take care of that,” Howard said, beaming. “Knew you weren’t the grinch you’ve been pretending to be.”
“Yes, I am!” Tom called after him.
“Oh, give it up,” Jeanette said. “None of us are going to buy that act anymore. You caved in and bought the perfect tree.”
“No tree’s perfect. It’s probably lopsided,” he grumbled, trying to restake his claim to being a bah-humbug kind of guy. “Probably has a trunk that’s crooked as an old walking stick. Did anybody check that?”
Ronnie laughed. “Too late, pal. You’re today’s hero, whether you like it or not.”
“Mine, anyway,” Jeanette said, regarding him with surprising heat.
Well, damn, Tom thought. He’d been relying on stolen kisses to get her attention, when all it had taken was a thousand-dollar Christmas tree.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
After two months on the job, Tom had established a routine of sorts. He stopped by Wharton’s every morning for coffee and gossip on the way to the office, he had lunch at his desk and at the end of the day he went jogging to work off some of the restless energy from being confined all day. He’d joined Dexter’s Gym, but as everyone had warned him, he found the atmosphere so depressing, he rarely did more than one or two workouts a week there.
His job was surprisingly challenging. With development in and around Serenity booming, there were plenty of plans being submitted that required detailed scrutiny. No one else on staff had his expertise when it came to looking for potential problems and the impact new development would have on Serenity’s schools and other institutions.
He’d been actively seeking new business for downtown and working with owners of the vacant properties on Main Street to give one-year rent concessions to people willing to open shops. He hoped that a lower overhead to start would encourage people to take a risk on the town and give them a chance to get their businesses established. So far he’d had two people commit to opening shops after the first of the year and three more considering leases for spring. He’d be reporting that at the next council meeting.
He’d also ordered a methodical and thorough check of the town’s infrastructure, something that had been ignored for too long. There was a narrow bridge over a tributary to the Great Pee Dee River that worried him, but the engineering reports indicated it was structurally sound for now. He wanted to get a jump on making sure it stayed that way. Water and sewer lines needed updating. In fact, the entire water-treatment system
