Redemption Bay. RaeAnne Thayne

was tangled up in some kind of a twist behind her head. She probably thought it made her look crisp and businesslike but he only wanted to pull a few pins out and trail his fingers through the soft strands.

      The impulse came out of the blue, shocking him to the core, and he curled his fingers into his palm to keep from acting on it.

      “Hi, Ben. I hope you’re enjoying breakfast. I wasn’t sure you would come.”

      “I get the impression people don’t say no very often to the Haven Point mayor.”

      Her mouth twisted into a wry expression. “You’d be surprised. Most people have absolutely no problem saying no to me.”

      “That’s fairly shocking. I can’t believe I’m the only one in town who considers you a force of nature.”

      She laughed a little but it still relaxed the tension in her features. “Not a force of nature. Mostly a pain in the butt. I have a...bad habit of putting high expectations on people. Some have even called them unrealistic.”

      Who? Her family? He had been a teenager when McKenzie came to town and could clearly remember hearing gossip around town about the big-eyed, exotic-looking daughter who had suddenly shown up and moved in with the local attorney and his family.

      It had set tongues wagging all around town. McKenzie had obviously been the product of an affair, as she was a few years younger than the Shaws’ only other living child, Devin.

      What had life been like for her in that household? Adele Shaw had always struck him as a nice woman but she wasn’t a saint, by any stretch of the imagination. It couldn’t have been easy for her to have her husband’s love child suddenly thrust upon her.

      He didn’t have the local monopoly on shitty childhoods, he suddenly realized.

      “When you have unrealistic expectations of people, you’re setting yourself up for a firestorm of disappointment,” he said. “That’s a tough way to go through life.”

      She shrugged. “I may be naive, but I like to put my faith in people, even if it’s overly optimistic. In my experience, if you demand much of people, they usually want to rise to meet those expectations.”

      Or they fight back and do their damnedest to shatter them, he thought, but didn’t say.

      “I overheard you talking boats with Mick Sargent.”

      “He was talking about boats. I was mostly listening.”

      Her smile was like the sun sliding over the peaks of the Redemptions after a miserable night. “That’s usually all you can do once Mick settles in for a chat. He’s a character. Eighty-three years old and still going strong.”

      “He seemed old when I was a kid. I remember seeing him work a sander and wondering if he was going to keel over any minute.”

      “Isn’t perspective a funny thing? When I was a girl, thirty seemed absolutely ancient. Now that I’m staring it right in the face, I feel like I’m still a baby.”

      “You are still a baby. You’re probably the youngest mayor in the history of Haven Point, aren’t you? Though apparently not by choice.”

      “Not really. I never sought this position and didn’t want it.”

      “Why did you accept the nomination? Nobody can force you to run for office in this country, unless there’s some bizarre Haven Point compulsory service bylaw I don’t know about.”

      She sighed. “You’re absolutely right. I could have said no.”

      “But you didn’t.”

      She gave a shrug that seemed both eloquent and simple. “This is my town and I love it here. People here embraced me when I was a strange kid who showed up out of nowhere. They have supported my business and opened their hearts to me in friendship. Haven Point isn’t perfect. We have our problems, like any other town—the economy being at the top of the list—but in general, this is a warm, caring place.”

      She looked around the room. “I love this community—and if I can make it a better place to live for my neighbors and friends, I have an obligation to step up and do my part.”

      He studied her, wondering if her earnestness could possibly be genuine. Yeah, he might be a cynic, but it seemed a little too good to be true. No one could possibly have this rosy a view of her hometown.

      “And how’s that working out for you so far?”

      He regretted the caustic words immediately, especially when her lovely dark eyes clouded and her mouth tightened.

      “Great. And as a delightful perk of my job, I get to entertain all the visiting ass—” She caught herself at the last second before she could complete that particular sentiment and quickly amended the thought. “Er, awesome dignitaries.”

      He deserved the original pejorative, he acknowledged. Finding himself the center of attention left him feeling awkward and uncomfortable and he was taking his unease out on McKenzie. Though she had misled him about the meeting, he still didn’t have the right to be a jerk to her.

      “A difficult task, no doubt.”

      “Sometimes. Last month, we had a delegation from the state clean water board. I got to enjoy four hours of stories about inorganics and metals, nitrates and nitrites. I now know more about water treatment procedures than I ever dreamed.”

      She held up a finger suddenly. “That reminds me. I meant to mention to you that’s another big plus about Haven Point, by the way. We have a very plentiful supply of exceptionally clean drinking water. In fact, I’ve got an extra copy of their report that might be useful to you and Aidan. Follow me and you can take it with you.”

      Without waiting for an answer, she turned around and headed down the hallway. Since he didn’t seem to have too many options unless he wanted to stand here by himself and deal with more of those sidelong glances, he followed her.