All Summer Long

“All the time.”

“I’ll do my best not to let it happen again.”

“Taking me on as a project?”

“Hardly.” He wouldn’t need her help for anything. “I believe in being fair. Plus, I don’t like it when people judge me. Like I said, you’re welcome to apply.”

“Thanks,” he said and smiled.

The flash of thousand-watt attention caused a distinct clenching low in her belly. She mumbled something that she hoped sounded like “Goodbye” and made her escape.

Once safely in the women’s locker room, she sank onto a bench and held her head in her hands. Even she knew that a clench was much, much worse than a flicker. She could only hope that Clay was a busy guy and totally forgot about applying. Otherwise, she was going to have to face him twice a week for the next eight weeks.

And not just in a “Hi, how are you” kind of way. They would be spending serious time together, working out together. There might even be touching.

Aware that anyone could walk into the locker room at any second, she refrained from banging her head against the wall, even though it seemed like the best plan on the table. Attracted to Clay? Talk about a stupid move.

She straightened and squared her shoulders. No, she told herself. Being attracted to Clay wasn’t a problem. The clench was a sign that she should get started on finding the man who would take her all the way to normal. Or at least seminormal. She would take a lover, do the deed, then get on with the rest of her life. Easy.

When she got home, she would start a list of potential instructional partners, then figure out how to tell some guy that she would very much appreciate it if he would teach her the finer points of the whole sex thing. Oh, and on her way to her place, she should probably stop by the liquor store because that conversation was going to require her to be more than a little drunk.

* * *

CLAY HAD PREPARED for his presentation to the city council. He’d never had to deal with a local government before, but his Haycation idea was going to change that. He wanted the business to be welcome and would use his time to show how tourists would bring plenty of dollars to the area. In return he was hoping for a few minor zoning changes and a little less trouble over permits.

Rafe had told him that Fool’s Gold was business friendly, with Mayor Marsha Tilson taking a personal interest in what was happening in her town. Still, Clay wanted to be prepared. He was the new guy and more than willing to work harder than established businesses. It would be worth it. By this time next year, his Haycations would be going strong.

After setting up his laptop, he tested the spreadsheet program on the large screen in the room. Then he waited for the meeting to start.

By five to eleven, the seats around the long conference table were filled. Charlie had mentioned that women filled most of the jobs traditionally held by men and he saw that was true in city government, as well. Not one city council member was a man. The women who had filed into the room ranged from their early thirties to those “of a certain age.” The mayor had to be close to seventy.

Clay sat in the back of the room. The mayor’s assistant had told him that while he was the star of the morning, the council would need to do a little business first. In a town as dynamic as Fool’s Gold, there was always something going on.

As he glanced around, he found himself thinking it would be nice if Charlie were here. She’d surprised the hell out of him the other day, when she’d admitted she was wrong and apologized. He grinned as he remembered her practically biting the words as she said them. She was tough, both physically and mentally. And fair. Qualities he could admire. He found himself thinking she would have liked Diane, which was surprising. On a physical plane, they were nothing alike. Yet inside, where it mattered, they had the same strength of character.

The mayor called the meeting to order.

“While we’re all here to listen to Clay Stryker’s presentation, first we have an issue with parking behind the library.”

Mayor Marsha picked up a sheet of paper and slipped on reading glasses. She wore her white hair in an upswept kind of bun. Despite the fact that much of the town subscribed to what Clay’s fashion friends would call “California casual,” she dressed in a tailored suit.

“As most of you know, there is a lower parking lot. It’s used for overflow parking and backs up on several warehouses,” the mayor began. “A few years ago we decided to plant trees to provide a visual separation from the more industrial area.” She paused.

“No good deed goes unpunished,” one of the older ladies announced. “You should know that, Marsha. We put in trees to make it pretty and now they’re being used against us.”

The mayor sighed. “While I don’t agree with your theory about good deeds, Gladys, we seem to have inadvertently created something of a problem. The trees have given the parking lot a somewhat secluded feel. Local teenagers have decided to use the lower parking lot as a—” she paused and coughed delicately “—make-out spot.”

An old lady in a bright yellow tracksuit leaned toward Gladys. “Think we could go there and get lucky?”

Mayor Marsha looked at the two women. “Eddie, if you interrupt, I won’t let you sit next to Gladys anymore. I don’t want to have to separate the two of you, but I will.”

Eddie straightened and muttered something Clay couldn’t hear.

“I’ve spoken with Chief Barns,” Mayor Marsha continued. “She’s going to make sure the evening patrols get down there more regularly. That should help.”

“They have to do the wild thing somewhere,” Gladys announced. “Give ’em a break.”

Clay felt his mouth twitching as he tried not to smile. He’d always assumed watching government at work would be boring, but he was wrong. This was fun.

“Call me old-fashioned,” Marsha told her, “but I would prefer to make things a little more difficult for them.”

“Winter will help,” another council member said. “As soon as it gets cold, they won’t be able to stay in their cars for too long.”

“Lucky us,” the mayor murmured.

“Play music.” Eddie shrugged. “I read online somewhere that teenagers can be driven off by playing certain kinds of music. The library has an outside sound system. We could turn on the speakers at the back of the building and use them to play music kids can’t stand.”

“Disco, perhaps?” Mayor Marsha said with a slight smile.

There was more discussion about the kind of music that turned off teenagers. Eddie volunteered to find the article and report back directly to the mayor.

Mayor Marsha glanced back at her sheet. “Under old business, we still have the issue of Ford Hendrix.” She stared at them over her glasses. “I don’t have to remind you that this is a sensitive topic, not to be discussed outside of this room.”

Gladys shook her finger at Clay. “That goes double for you.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

The name was familiar. There had been several Hendrix brothers back when he’d been a kid, he thought. Sisters, too, but when he’d been five or six, girls had been less interesting to him.

“Ford has been gone nearly a decade,” the mayor continued. “From what I’ve learned, his latest tour of duty ends next year. It’s time for him to come home.”

“I’m not sure we should get involved in this,” one of the younger women said. “Isn’t Ford’s decision to reenlist or not up to him and maybe his family?”

Eddie sniffed. “You young people spend a lot of time with your heads up your asses, if you ask me.”

Mayor Marsha’s expression turned pained. “I don’t believe anyone did ask you.” She turned to the younger woman. “Charity, you’re right. It’s not our place to meddle. Normally I wouldn’t, but Ford needs to come back to where people love him. Being in Special Forces takes a toll on a man. He needs to heal. And Fool’s Gold is the best place for that.”

There was a brief discussion on how to get the mysterious Ford back in the fold, so to speak. At the end of that conversation, the mayor invited Clay to make his presentation.

“Good morning,” he said as he walked to the front of the room. “Thanks for inviting me to speak.”

“We enjoy looking at an attractive man,” Eddie told him with a grin. “We’re shallow that way.”

The mayor sighed, but Gladys gave her a high five. Those two must have been hell on wheels when they were younger, he thought.

He passed out the printed version of his business plan and then connected his laptop to the cord for the screen.

He clicked on the first slide and began to talk about Haycations. He showed pictures of the land he’d bought, a diagram of what would be planted where and a few stock photos of people driving tractors for general interest. He outlined the number of families he hoped to attract, extrapolating about how much they would bring to the local economy. He had a rough idea of what kind of advertising he would do, along with about how many local people he would be employing.