Page 4 of Always You (A Lilac Bay Novel)

The audience dutifully clapped and cheered as the camera closed in on Heather’s face, her eyes narrowing slightly in her patented I-Couldn’t-Possibly-Be-More-Passionate-And-Engaged-About-This-Topic expression. “Guys, I’m not just talking about a feature onthisshow. We’re goingall outhere. Six weeks of competition, aired every Wednesday inprime time, our finalist cities battling for the title—whichyouwill vote on. We’re talking prizes, money for development, grants for schools and libraries. Exposure for your town. We want to hear your stories. We want to meet your people. This is going to behuge. And I’ll be there every step of the way, helping the audience to cast their votes for the most worthy candidates.” Huge applause from the audience as Heather Dale grinned. “I amso excitedfor this, America!”

I turned to Andrew, speechless, as the familiar closing music ofDaytime Dalebegan.

“Oh my God.”

“Riley.” There was a warning note in his voice, his eyes widening as they met mine. “Just chill, okay?”

“You heard her,” I cried, pointing at the TV. “Grants and prizes! A ton of exposure! We have to do this!”

“I’m not saying you shouldn’t look into it—”

“Andrew, it’s meant to be! What are the odds that we would just happen to turn the show on at that exact moment? After we just finished agreeing that this town needed a boost?”

“Hey, I didn’t agree—”

But I barely heard him. Already my mind was spinning. What was the application process going to be like? Would every town they chose be featured in each episode? Holy crap, six weeks of episodes. In prime time. And it was Heather Dale! Everything she touched was a ratings success. People would watch this, tons and tons of people. The exposure something like this could bring—

“Riley, please don’t get obsessed with this.”

I gaped at him. “What are you talking about? Andrew, this could be huge for us!”

“I understand.” He raised his hands, placating me. “I know you like to take things and run with them. It’s a great trait. But sometimes you get a little—crazy. And I’m just saying to take a breath and chill, okay? You still have this spring campaign to get through today.”

I sputtered, incoherent. Crazy? I didn’t get crazy. Passionate, sure. A little competitive, yes. But not crazy.

Before I could calm down enough to tell him that, Millie appeared in the doorway to the break room.

“Oh,” she said, in the dry, disapproving voice she reserved just for me. “There you are. Mayor Jones was looking for you. I didn’t realize you would still be at lunch…” She trailed off pointedly as she looked down at her watch.

“Yes, Millie,” I snapped. “I’m a whole two minutes late.”

“Well, I suppose I’ll just go tell him that you’ll get to it when you’re ready.”

I sighed, standing as I grabbed my Tupperware from the table and snapped the lid on. The combination of Millie’s mere presence and Andrew’s assessment of me were putting a huge damper on the excitement I had felt only a moment before. “You can tell him I’ll be right in.”

She glanced at her watch again as she left, and it was all I could do not to throw a napkin at her as well.

“Hey,” Andrew said, reaching for my wrist. I pulled away, quickly cleaning up my lunch mess, and he stood, taking my shoulders in his hands and making me look at him. “Riley.”

“What?” I looked up at him, into those very familiar blue eyes, which right now were clearly full of regret.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that, I promise.”

“Really? Cause you spent the beginning of our break talking about how I—what was it? Like to crush people under my far-superior heel? And now you’re calling me crazy.”

“No! I’m not. Hey.” He shook my shoulders gently when I looked away, bending his knees a little to bring his eye line closer to mine. “I love how passionate you are about stuff. I really do. It’s one of your best qualities. I was just teasing you, okay? That’s all.”

I sighed. It was impossible to stay mad at him when he did that wide-eyed puppy-dog thing. Which I guess made me just as stupid as the other girls on this island when it came to Andrew Powell.

“Fine. Now get your hands off me so I can go get the bad news from Jones.”

“It’s not going to be bad news,” he said, obviously relieved that he had been forgiven. He began to help clear away our dirty plates. “I have a good feeling about this. Here, why don’t you let me finish up here and you head down.”

“Thanks, Andrew.” I pressed a quick kiss to his cheek to show I forgave him. “I knew there was a reason I was friends with you.”

He cleared his throat before his cocky grin appeared once more. “You mean it’s not my grandmother’s cookies?”

“Notjusther cookies.”