Hidden Falls Read Free

tux?”
    “Check.”
    “Some shoes other than the loafers you live in?”
    “Check. I even have black socks.”
    “There’s hope for you yet.” She tilted her head to inspect the hair brushing his collar. “Maybe a stop at the barber?”
    “On the list.”
    “Your speech?”
    Quinn picked up his fork and pushed food around on his plate. “Well. About that—”
    She cut him off. “Quinn, you must be prepared to say something. Ten or fifteen minutes.”
    “I have some thoughts rattling around in my head.”
    Sylvia snapped a paper napkin out of the dispenser in the middle of the table and slapped it in front of him. “Write them down. I’ve given enough speeches to know not to depend on memory.”
    “I’m a teacher.” Quinn carved off a bite of egg. “I promise to come prepared.”
    “Shall I pick you up?”
    “I’ll drive. What time do you want me there?”
    “By seven at the latest. That will give you time to greet a few people before everything gets under way.”
    “Sylvia, you’re an excellent mayor.”
    The statement caught her off guard.
    “I mean it,” he said, his yellow-brown eyes fastened on her. “You keep this town organized and running like clockwork. We all depend on you.
I
depend on you. Thank you.”
    Sylvia moistened her lips. “You’re welcome.”
    “You mean a great deal to me. I’m sorry that all those years ago I could not give you what you wanted.”
    11:18 a.m.
    Liam Elliott put his arms around Jessica McCarthy’s slender waist and welcomed the deepening, lingering kiss she offered while standing in the middle of his living room.
    She moved her lips to the side of his neck. “Do we have to go tonight?”
    Liam ran his tongue over his lips and stepped back. “I thought you got a new dress and everything.”
    “I did.” She laid her hands on his chest. “But I don’t have to wear it. Or I could wear it, but we don’t have to go out. You could come to my place. I’ll cook something better than banquet chicken.”
    “We chose the fish, remember?”
    “I don’t even know Quinn.”
    “But I do.” Liam recognized the pout forming on Jessica’s lips, but he was not going to give in. Not on this. “He was my favorite teacher in high school.”
    “That was twenty years ago.”
    “I can introduce you. He’s a town legend.”
    “I don’t need to meet a town legend. I know who he is. Everybody knows who Quinn is. The crazy eccentric who never leaves the county. Not a single field trip, not even to take history students to visit the state capitol in Springfield. And he calls himself a history teacher.”
    “He
is
a history teacher.”
    “Why does everyone call him Quinn, anyway? Doesn’t he have a first name?”
    “Ted. His name is Ted. Maybe Theodore. He’s just one of those people who goes by one name. That doesn’t make him crazy or eccentric.”
    “My point is that you’re the best thing that’s happened to me since I came to this Podunk town.” Jessica expelled a heavy breath, took her hands off his chest, and backed away. “I just want us to have some time together.”
    “It’s only a dinner.” Liam paced to the refrigerator and removed two sparkling Perriers. “It won’t be a late evening. Probably two hours tops. We can still do something.”
    “We hardly see each other, Liam. You’re always working, and it’s getting worse.”
    “I’m only thinking of our future.” He twisted the cap off one bottle and offered it to Jessica across the breakfast bar. “I want us to have a secure financial start when we get married.”
    She waved away the water. “I mean it, Liam. I have to know you’re not going to be one of those maniacs who works all the time. If we’re going to have a future at all, we have to see each other.”
    If
? They were engaged. She wore a ring with an impressive stone. It seemed to Liam they were past the
if
stage.
    “We see each other,” he said. “You’re here now, aren’t you?”
    She gestured toward the corner of