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.“Well…no.” Emily sighed.“But he wouldn’t say yes right in front of me, would he?”“Not if he knows what’s good for him,” Sue muttered darkly.“So why don’t you ask him what he’s going to do?”“I don’t want to put him on the spot,” Emily said.“Did he say he wanted to stay with you?”Emily remembered that morning when she’d tried to turn him away—the look in his eyes, the subtle, sensual brush of his fingertips.“Well, yes.”“So there you are,” Sue stated matter-of-factly.“He wants you.”“But Mr.Albee saw us and I think he made some assumptions.”“Evelyn’s husband?” Sue let out a low whistle.“Oh.I guess you’ll be hearing about that one.”“And Colin’s family was at breakfast—and then they jumped all over the Joy thing.”“Oh.” Sue sat quiet for a minute.“So what do you think?” Emily asked, chewing on her lip.“Is it okay if I stay here? I just don’t want to deal with him.”“I love you like a sister, you know that,” Sue said warmly.“Thanks,” Emily said, feeling grateful.“That’s why I’m not letting you stay here.”“Wait!” Emily said, the grateful feeling evaporating.“What?”“You’re copping out.The guy asked to stay with you, you said yes.Somebody else hit on him, but he didn’t take her up on it.So that means he still wants you,” Sue pointed out.“And I’m guessing you still want him.Am I wrong?”Emily slowly shook her head.“So after the town meeting, go home, find the guy and enjoy yourself,” Sue ordered in a tone that brooked no discussion.“But what about the gossip?”“Screw the gossip,” she said.“There’s always gossip.You should be flattered to be considered a hot topic for a change.”Emily paused a moment, stunned.Then giggled.“I didn’t think about it that way,” she said, feeling tickled.“I know.Emily Stanfield, town pillar, yada yada.”The feeling of amusement ebbed.A dim echo of her father’s voice reverberated in her mind.A Stanfield never does anything to cause unflattering discussion.“Yeah,” Emily agreed, feeling bitter.“Town pillar.That’s me.”Sue could obviously tell she was still worried.She squeezed her shoulders.“Really—don’t worry about it.They might speculate a little, but you’ve done nothing to give them anything to really talk about.”“And I’m trying to keep it that way,” Emily pointed out.“Em, it’s going to be cold damned comfort to have on your tombstone ‘She never gave anybody anything to gossip about.’ Now head home and boink Colin’s brains out.”Emily laughed ruefully.“I have to go to the town meeting.Then I’ll decide what to do about Colin.”Sue rolled her eyes.“Okay.It’s your life.You’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do.”Emily hugged her.“Still think I should date Tim?”“Why not?” Sue asked, surprising her.“Colin’s a fling.Tim’s a keeper.”“Right,” Emily said, feeling her stomach drop.“Hey, there’s nothing wrong with a fling, though,” Sue said.“It spices things up before you settle down.In fact, in your case, I strongly recommend a fling.”“Right,” Emily repeated, and got her coat to head out to the town meeting.Colin wasn’t a keeper.He was a fling.And she could get one more night out of him, so she might as well enjoy herself.But she’d already mooned about him all day, and then she was genuinely upset by the idea that she wasn’t his type.So what was she going to do if she saw him again? She felt as if she were starting to get addicted.Maybe it’d be better to quit cold turkey.Emily set her jaw resolutely, driving to the town hall.That was it.He’d probably leave in the next day or two.She’d just avoid him and things would work out fine.She’d barricade herself in the bathroom if she had to, but she wasn’t going to get back into bed with Colin Reese, even if they did wind up sharing a room.It was, as Sue said, cold comfort.But it was probably the smart way to go.MAYOR TIM STOOD behind the dark cherrywood podium that had been in the town hall almost as long as the town itself had been in existence.He pounded the gavel, bringing the unruly crowd to order.“It’s nice to see so many of you here for this emergency meeting, especially considering the fact that snow is still falling,” he said solemnly, the microphone crackling only slightly.“We’ve got a lot to discuss, but I promise I won’t keep you here long.”Emily heard Sue snicker softly.There were perhaps sixty people in the auditorium, a small house by normal town meeting standards, but seeing that the “usual suspects” were present, there was no way that the meeting would be less than two hours, impromptu or not.The people who’d braved the weather were die-hard Tall Pines citizens.Herself included, she realized with a frown.“Why don’t I start off with concerns from the floor?” Tim said, shuffling a few papers and readying a pen.There was a cacophony of volunteers.Emily glanced at her watch.Make that three hours.Suddenly the chaos fell silent as the door to the auditorium opened with a loud, ominous creak.Like everyone else, she glanced over, curious to see who the latecomer was.Her eyes almost popped out of her head when she recognized Colin Reese, looking cold, irritated and obviously on a mission.He scanned the crowd, who were all staring at him.“Evening.” He spoke casually, as if he’d attended these meetings all his life.“Sorry I’m late.”“No problem,” Tim said graciously.“Have a seat anywhere
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