Broken Down: A Novel, page 7
“I think he’s upset with me,” I said.
“No way,” she said. “He’s usually so chipper in the morning.”
“Yeah, well, I brought up his photography.”
“Oh.”
“He didn’t respond very well.”
“I’m not surprised,” she said. “I should’ve warned you. Theo really doesn’t like to talk about that time in his life. Photography, it was his dad’s hobby, you know. He was the one who bought Theo his first ever camera. After Vincent died, however, Theo never picked the thing up again. He put all his photography stuff away and told me the day after his dad’s funeral that he was going to start thinking about a different path in life. One that was more practical.”
“That’s how he ended up in law school.” I nodded, putting everything together. “And no wonder he was so mad. I told him he should quit his job and do what he used to love, not knowing that what he used to love is now wrapped up in the memory of his father’s death.” I let my head slip into my hands, my elbows resting on the table. “How could I have been so stupid?”
I heard Bethany laugh.
“I told you,” she said. “You and Theo have a lot in common. Yesterday, he jumped to conclusions without knowing your past, and today, you did the same to him. It’s actually a little ironic, don’t you think?”
“I think I’m a huge hypocrite, that’s what I think.”
“Oh dear, don’t beat yourself up.” She came over next to me and put her hand on my back in a maternal fashion. “You were just trying to be helpful. I’m sure he’ll get over it soon. He’s quick to anger, but also quick to forgiveness. Another thing it would seem you two share.”
I sighed and tried to change the subject. “Let’s talk about Ursula, shall we? How are we going to convince her that she needs to run?”
“I’ve been thinking about that,” she said. “I think our best course of action will be to remind her of all the terrible stuff Jason Louis has done. We need to talk about the time he tried to make the local library privately owned, forcing people to pay a fee to use it.”
“That’s awful!”
“The town thought so too, and thankfully the idea was shot down. But what a lot of people didn’t know was that the entire plan was put into motion after Jason became friends with the man who owns the bookstore one town over. Clearly, the two cooked up a scheme so that people would be incentivized to buy more books, since it would be cheaper than getting a library membership.”
I scoffed. “I can’t believe that. That makes me so mad, and I even work in an independent bookstore!”
“He’s done far worse, trust me,” she said. “Some of it we know about, some of it comes from just rumors, but there’s plenty to criticize when it comes to the way Mayor Louis conducts business. We need to ensure that Ursula remembers all this stuff. I think it’ll be easier to convince her that he’s bad for the town and needs to be beat than it will be to convince her she’s the woman for the job.”
“Sounds logical. Let’s do it.”
She smiled. “I’ll go get dressed. We can leave right away.”
“Suddenly she’s a morning person.”
She shrugged. “What can I say? The idea of serving some well-deserved justice to that smug, controlling Jason Louis really puts a pep in my step!” She gave an excited little clap and ran down the hall and up the stairs.
“You have to be kidding me,” Ursula said. She was standing outside of her garage, staring at me and Bethany with an expression one might wear when they watched a bad magic show—unamused and teetering on the edge of annoyed. “You roped Beth into this?”
The question was directed at me, like an arrow.
“It just came up in casual conversation,” I said.
“I highly doubt that.”
“It’s true,” Beth came to my rescue. “We were just talking, and it came up. But the second Raina mentioned that she thought you should run, I realized that was the best idea I’d ever heard, and I even cursed myself for not coming up with it!”
“There’s just one problem,” she said. “I’m not doing it. I don’t have the time, I really don’t have the energy, and lastly, but most importantly, if I ran, that would mean spending more time in Mayor Louis’s presence than I am comfortable with. Nope. Can’t do it.”
“We thought you might say that.” Beth smiled. “Which is why we came prepared with an entire speech. It’s a doozy, so you might want to let us in and take a seat.”
Ursula frowned. “Is that really necessary? I can promise you right now it’s not going to work.”
“Just give us a chance,” I said. “We practiced on the drive over, and it would be quite a shame if we didn’t even get to perform.”
That made her smile, a little. “All right. Fine. Come in.”
She waved us inside and plopped down on a stack of old tires. “Let’s hear it.”
Beth started, as was rehearsed, going over all the things Mayor Louis has done since he took the position—or, at least, all the objectively bad things he’s done. The list was longer than I expected, and she threw in a few new examples that I thought were particularly egregious.
“He killed the town’s pet donkey!”
“He what?” I had to interrupt at that point.
“He left it outside one night in the cold,” Ursula explained. “And it died. He didn’t know it would get too cold.”
“Franklin was a beloved town pet,” Beth said. “He was old, sure, but he still had a few years left in him, and if it wasn’t for Jason’s dismissive attitude toward the creature, he might still be with us today. And do you remember what he said when he announced to everyone that Franklin died?”
Ursula shifted awkwardly in her ‘seat.’
“He tried to blame it on Henry,” she mumbled.
“Henry, of all people!” Beth underscored. “Henry, the nicest, most caring old man in the whole town, who had raised Franklin from birth. Jason tried to say that it was Henry who left him out, but of course that story came apart like straw, and everyone knew it was actually his doing. But think about that—not only did this man kill Franklin, but he tried to throw Franklin’s own grieving owner under the bus. What kind of person does that?”
Ursula shrugged. “A bad one. Obviously. If your entire speech is just set up to convince me that Mayor Louis is the literal worst, save your breath. I know that already.”
“Part two of our speech,” I said. “Is actually about all the good things that could be done for Aria if someone else was mayor. That’s where I come in. I did some research—”
“Hang on.” She put a hand up to stop me. “No offense, but what do you know about politics?”
“Well,” I said. “I helped a friend run for student body president in high school. She won. And I was a part of a few different political clubs in college. We organized rallies, held town-hall meetings, all of it. I actually used to think I might’ve missed my calling as a campaign manager.” I laughed and was about to start in on a story about a debate I moderated between two candidates for president of the Women in Higher Education club I was in when I saw that Ursula wasn’t laughing along with me.
“Look, I think it’s sweet—and strange,” she said, “—that you care so much about this, considering you don’t live in Aria and you barely know me, but that’s just it. You don’t live in Aria and you don’t know me. So, thank you for offering to be my campaign manager—”
“Oh, I wasn’t—”
“—or whatever it is you’re doing bringing up your credentials, but this whole thing is nuts, and it’s not happening.”
She got off the tires and walked toward Beth. “I’m sorry. I know you’re disappointed in me, but this is my decision. Please respect it.”
Beth nodded. “I do. And I could never be disappointed in you.” She reached out and hugged Ursula.
When they broke apart, Ursula said she had some work she needed to finish, and Beth and I took that as our cue to leave. We got back into Beth’s Jeep and drove through town.
8
Beth suggested we go to the coffee shop in town and get a bite to eat, and I didn’t say no. I did, however, insist on paying this time, feeling like my tab placed on Beth’s generosity was really starting to run up. She tried to argue with me, but I shot her down good and quick, and she went to go find us a table instead. The kid working behind the counter looked to be in his teenage years. He had sleepy eyes and was wearing a jersey of some kind.
“What can I get you?”
I put in our order and paid. He yawned.
“Early morning?” I said, and almost instantly felt weird about it. I never small-talked with strangers, especially not with strangers in the food industry. I always assumed they were sick of that kind of thing and would just prefer a straightforward and polite transaction with no unnecessary niceties. That's what I preferred. Usually.
“Oh yeah,” the kid said with a smile. “I had soccer practice at like six this morning, then I had to come right here for my shift.”
“Ouch,” I said. “That’s rough. You look like you could use an extra cup of coffee. Put a small coffee on my tab, for you.”
His smile stretched even wider. “Thanks! But that’s okay. I get as much free coffee as I want.”
“That’s a nice job perk.” I stood off to the side, in case anyone else came up to order while I was waiting on my drinks, which the kid got started on right away. “You must have a cool manager.”
“I wouldn’t say ‘cool,’” he said. “But she’s all right. She’s my mom.”
I laughed. “Ah, I see.”
He finished making my latte and placed it on the counter for me, and I ran it over to the table where Beth was sitting before going back for the rest. When I came back with her drink and our scones, Beth smiled a knowing smile at me, and I sat down.
“Was Nicky giving you a hard time?” she said.
“Nicky?”
“The teenager working the counter. I used to teach him when he was a kid. He’s sweet, but he’s such a flirt.”
“Oh, no,” I said. “He was just being nice.”
“Well, you watch out for that one.” She waved a finger at me. “He thinks he’s a charmer.”
I nodded. “Will do.” I sipped my drink and relaxed into my chair. “So, Beth, I’ve been wondering about something.”
“Do tell.”
“Where are all your paintings? You told me, the first day I got here, that you used to be a painter, but there are very few paintings in your house, and all of them are signed with names that aren’t yours. I thought at first that maybe you were using some sort of pseudonym.”
She chuckled. “How sneaky. But no. Those paintings are not mine.” She sighed and took a bite of her scone, chewed methodically, then swallowed. “My paintings are mostly upstairs, in my studio. There’s a little room off from my bedroom. It was Theo’s nursery when he was a baby, but for decades now it’s been my studio. I keep them all in there.”
“You don’t like to hang them up?”
She shook her head. “Some of them used to hang. But it was always Vincent who wanted to hang my paintings up. He insisted, and if he could have it his way, all the walls in that house would’ve been covered with my work. It embarrassed me a little to have everything on display like that.”
“I understand,” I said. “But I would really like to see it. If you ever feel like showing it to me.”
“You’re free to go look in my studio anytime you want, dear.”
“I’d like to see Theo’s photography as well, but something tells me he wouldn’t show me even if I begged.”
She smirked. “Something tells me, for you, he just might.”
I frowned. “What—”
“Never mind,” she said. “Forget I said anything. Now I have a question for you, Miss Raina.”
“Okay, go ahead.”
“What is your plan? And if the answer is that you don’t currently have one, just know that is perfectly acceptable.”
“My plan. Hmm.”
I tapped my fingers against my mug. “You and my boss back home are both so interested in knowing my plan. Well, here’s what I know. I can’t go back to the house I shared with Ethan in Phoenix, so if I’m going back to the Southwest, I need to find a new place to live first. And the other thing I know is that I can’t go spend time alone in my parents’ house in Denver with no transportation and nothing to do all day but sit and think about my failed marriage. So. I guess that leaves me with—”
“Oh hello there!” The voice came from behind me, and it was slightly too loud to be considered polite or normal. I turned around in my seat and saw Mayor Louis staring down at me. “Fancy running into you two again.”
“It’s a small town,” Beth said with a tight-lipped smile. “The chances aren’t so slim.”
He nodded. “I suppose that’s true. Well, either way, it’s a pleasure to see you both, and I’m actually quite glad you’re here.” He grabbed a chair from a nearby table that was unoccupied and brought it up next to mine without having been invited to join us. “I wanted to apologize if I was curt with you yesterday.”
“Oh, uh.” I stumbled through a response. “That’s fine.”
“It’s just not that often that we get visitors in Aria, and I was taken aback. And”—he smiled—“you did run straight into me. Head first. So it’s pretty reasonable, don’t you think, that I was a little upset?”
“Yeah, well, that’s a fair point, I guess. I mean, I obviously didn’t mean to run into you but—”
“It’s all in the past now. No need to dredge it up,” he said, as if I had been the one who brought it up in the first place.
“It’s just a shame that is how we met, because as I’m sure anyone in this town will tell you,” he went on, “I am a very personable individual, and I get along well with most people. I take pride in my relationships with everyone in town, and therefore, as mayor, I would like to officially welcome you to beautiful, lovely Aria. May your stay here be full of wonderful memories.”
What was this? It sounded like he was reading the tagline of a brochure for the town.
“Thanks,” I said.
“I’ll leave you two alone,” he said. “But before I go, Raina—that’s your name, right?”
I just nodded.
“Raina, if you ever want to go sightseeing, or have a night on the town while you’re here, I would be honored to be your personal tour guide. I, being mayor, know everything there is to do in this town, and I could really show you a good time. If you’re interested.” He winked.
“Jason Louis!” Beth said in a scolding mom tone. “I cannot believe you! You are still dating Irene Susans, are you not?”
“Sure, sometimes,” he said, his voice casual. “But she knows it’s nothing serious.”
“Nothing serious!” Beth slammed her hand down on the table. “You’ve been going out with her for over a year now, and you know her mother is half expecting you to propose any day now.”
“If she’s waiting for me to propose, she’ll be waiting until she’s dead,” he said, then muttered, “the old bat.”
“That’s it!” Bethany stood up. “I’m going to tell Mrs. Susans and her daughter exactly what you’re up to and how you going around treating that sweet, innocent girl like she’s yesterday’s news.”
“Frankly,” he said, “she is yesterday’s news.” He leaned in close so only Beth and I could hear what he was about to say, looking directly at me. “But you, you’re tomorrow’s hot gossip, and I want to be the first one to get my hands on the tabloids. If you know what I mean, babe.”
Bethany was about to speak, but I cut her off.
I leaned in a little closer and smiled at him. “Oh, Mayor Louis,” I purred in a low, sensual tone, “I’m not from around here, in case you forgot. I’m a city girl, and there’s something you should know about city girls.” I reached out and ran my fingers through his hair. “We’re not bound by small-town hospitality rules. We make our own rules.” I gripped his hair and gave one good yank. He let out a yelp. “So here’s a rule for you, don’t you ever speak to me like that again.” I said that last part loud enough for anyone in the shop to hear.
Holding the side of his head, he stood up and looked around at the few patrons that were openly starring. “What are you looking at? It wasn’t me! It was her! That woman is crazy. She pulled my hair out of nowhere, for no reason.”
Beth laughed. “Get out of here, Jason. Before I have to call your mother.”
He gave us both a mean look and left without another word.
For a second, all was quiet, and then I heard someone clapping. I turned to see that it was Nicky, the kid behind the counter. He was laughing so hard he was crying a little and he clapped his hands together a few times, his expression pure joy.
“That,” he said once he could talk, “was amazing.”
“I’ve been hoping someone would do that for years!” a woman sitting a few tables over said.
I smiled awkwardly. “Yeah. Well. It was nothing. I probably shouldn’t’ve have yanked so hard but—”
“But nothing,” said Beth. “Serves him right for saying such a nasty thing. And when he has a girlfriend no less. Oh, it just drives me insane, thinking that he’s going to run again unopposed.”
We settled back into our seats, and Nicky ran over a complimentary refill for me. Everyone went back to their business, and I tried to remember what Beth and I had been talking about before we were so rudely interrupted.
Oh yeah. I remembered. My plan.
Really, Raina, what is your plan?
News traveled fast.
By the time we left the coffee shop, it seemed everyone and their mom knew about what had happened between Mayor Louis and me. Some people had a different version of events, probably the version of events Louis himself helped spread, but mostly, everyone who was bold enough to ask me about it was happy to hear that someone had stood up to the man.
Three different people stopped Beth and me as we walked down the street, heading to where she parked the car at the end of the block. When we passed by one of the buildings on the block, the door was open, and a voice called from inside.
