A Maverick under the Mistletoe

The greeting was so warm and sincere that Paige actually felt her throat start to tighten, but she somehow managed to smile. “It’s wonderful to see you, too.”

Everyone greeted her warmly, if not quite as enthusiastically as Sutter had done. Of course, she’d always gotten on well with his parents and all of his brothers. And when she and Sutter had broken up, she’d missed his family almost as much as she’d missed him.

“Congratulations, Mayor Traub,” she said when she’d finally managed to make her way through the crowd to Collin and Willa.

“Thank you,” Collin said to her. “And thank you for speaking up at the town hall meeting—you really were the voice of reason in the midst of a lot of emotional chaos.”

“I’m not sure that my opinion carried any weight, but I wanted people to focus on the relevant issues.”

“It carried a lot of weight,” Willa told her. “And swayed a lot of on-the-fence voters.”

“Well, now that those votes have been counted, your life is going to get even busier,” Paige pointed out.

“We’re looking forward to it,” Collin said, drawing his new wife closer to his side. “We’ve got a lot of plans for this town.”

“And we’re going to need a lot of help to implement those plans,” Willa said, her gaze shifting from Paige to the man standing behind her. “Which is why we’re hoping to convince Sutter to stay.”

Paige looked up at him, surprised by Willa’s admission and wary about his response.

“Plans are for tomorrow,” he said lightly. “Tonight is for celebrating.”

His response suggested to Paige that his plans hadn’t changed. He’d told her that he would be going back to Seattle after the election, and she was counting on that promise. Because contrary to Alex Monroe’s parting advice, she didn’t want to resolve anything with Sutter—she just wanted him to be gone before he could do any more damage to her fragile heart.

But as she visited with his family, she realized how much she’d missed all of them. She’d always enjoyed spending time with them, and she’d loved his parents as if they were her own. And if anyone was surprised that she’d shown up to take part in the celebration, no one said anything to her. They welcomed her into the fold as easily as they’d always done, almost making her feel as if the past five years had never happened. As if Sutter hadn’t broken her heart into a million jagged little pieces.

He reached for her hand, linking their fingers as easily as he’d done a thousand times before. Those thousand times before had been more than five years earlier, but still her pulse skipped and her heart pounded. She wanted to tug her hand away, but she worried that doing so would draw too much attention to the fact that he was holding it.

“I could use some air,” he said to her. “Will you take a walk with me?”

She could use some air, too, but going outside with Sutter meant being alone with Sutter, and she wasn’t sure that was a good idea. In fact, she was sure it was another bad idea in a day that had already been full of them.

He didn’t wait for her response but immediately started tugging her back toward the kitchen. She went with him because it seemed less awkward than refusing. But she was all too conscious of his mother’s eyes following as they left the room, and she knew that Ellie was probably speculating as to what it meant.

But it didn’t mean anything. Paige wouldn’t let it mean anything.

The night was chilly, and she was grateful for the sheepskin-lined denim jacket that she’d worn.

As they walked, Sutter talked excitedly about his brother’s plans for the town. She could hear the pride in his voice, and she knew that he was sincerely pleased by Collin’s victory.

“It’s not going to be an easy job, but I don’t doubt he’s up to it—especially with Willa by his side.”