Evans Creek Book 1: Mister Mayor

THIRTY-TWO

Photo credit: modified, trycake.com

We all know the saying: don't believe everything you read on the internet, but I decided to take it one step further...

***

A knock on the bathroom door startled him. He dropped the soap and let out a curse as he nearly fell on is butt trying to pick it up again.

"Graham." Arayna called through the bathroom door, biting her cheek to avoid laughing. "Graham, you're going to be late. Did you forget? You have an appearance at the Veterans Breakfast this morning." Stepping away, she went to his closet and began laying out his clothes.

"Um...Yeah...Just a minute."

Arayna had just added a tie to her selections when Graham came out of the bathroom dripping water and wearing a towel low on his hips.

"Sorry. I—" He stopped halfway to the closet as he noticed her by the bed, and saw his clothes laid out. "You're a life saver!"

"We can eat at the breakfast with the Veteran's group. You're doing a meet and greet and then we're off to the high school to meet with the student council. They're helping with the election and..."

Arayna turned her back as she continued to run down their very full schedule for the day. Attempting gallantly to ignore the sounds behind her, she knew the exact moment when the towel hit the floor and a blush burned her cheeks.

"I'll go get some coffee ready to go." She swallowed and refused to put her hands on her burning cheeks. "I'll wait for you in the kitchen."

"I'll be right out." Graham chuckled.

Arayna left and tried not to curse. Jesse might hear, but drat that man. Did he have to notice the red of her ears matched the red dye in her hair? With a sigh, she lifted her chin and hurried to the kitchen.

"Mrs. Morgan?"

---

Arayna left Graham after the Veteran's Breakfast. She had to type up the changes to the speech he was giving tomorrow for the Parents of Children with Special Needs. It was a smallish group of parents that covered three counties but they were some of Graham's most solicitous supporters. All of his after school programs and his plans for the Special Olympics were in jeopardy if a new mayor chose to drop them from the budget.

"There!" She hit enter with satisfaction after the last update. Clicking Save then print, she went to the printer to retrieve the speech outline. It was arranged on half pages, so they would be easier for him to manage on a podium. It would only take a minute to cut the pages in half.

As she sat down at her desk and reached for the scissors, her phone chirped. She scooped up the phone, glancing at the message. It was a number she didn't recognize, but with so much going on in the next few days until the election, that happened a lot.

Opening the message, she frowned.

She didn't remember any lunch engagements?

Then again, Graham was notorious for losing his sticky notes. With the election days away, she didn't want to take a chance. Looking at the clock she frowned. If she left now, she would just make it. Masonville was over an hour away...

---

"Excuse me." Graham said as his phone chirped.

Stepping away, he pulled his phone from the breast pocket of his suit coat. Arayna kept him on track with texts so he wouldn't lose track of time. But the text wasn't from Arayna. It was from the swankiest restaurant in Masonville confirming his lunch appointment today. Arayna hadn't said anything about a lunch engagement, still, with the election so soon, he could hardly afford to stand anyone up.