“Well you have me.” She reached over and squeezed my hand. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“I want you to know…” I lifted my head until our eyes were locked together. “If there ever comes a time when you do feel that same connection with Preston again, I will not be upset.”
“Really?” She blinked in surprise.
“I believe his feelings were true back then, and I believe that he’s carried the same pain I have over the years, even if his was a little different since he was the one that tore us apart. He hit rock bottom, and I don’t think he ever really pulled himself back from there. He just learned to put one foot in front of the other—which is exactly what I had to do after you left.” I squeezed her hand and smiled. “I love you—and I know deep down that I’ll never be the only one who does.”
“I love you too, but I don’t know that I’ll ever be able to forgive Preston enough to want him to share our bed, regardless of what we had in the past.” She shook her head back and forth.
“That’s okay too. I just wanted you to know where I was with that in case those feelings ever returned. I don’t want there to be any regrets, no matter what the future holds for us.” I looked down at the papers in front of us. “I guess I need to get dressed and start going door-to-door.”
“I wish I could go with you.” She leaned back in her chair. “Melanie is going to need me today though.”
“Her parents are coming back today?” I lifted my eyebrows.
“Yeah.” Eliza grimaced. “That will be so much fun!”
“Good luck.” I chuckled as I started to stand.
My emotions had spun like a roulette wheel over the years when it came to Preston. There were times when I couldn’t even look at him, and other times when I just wanted to forgive him because he was my brother. Having Eliza back made true forgiveness a lot easier, especially as the days passed and I finally started to believe we were going to be together forever. Preston would always be connected to the two of us and those memories would always be there. I had felt enough pain not to wish that same level of agony on him, regardless of his sins. If there was a time when all of the old wounds healed, then I would never ask Eliza to ignore those feelings. I loved her too much for that. I had no idea if the moment would come, but a part of me believed that once love was allowed to flourish, nothing could extinguish the flame forever. Five years didn’t put out the one that burned for Eliza—not inside me at least.
* * *
I spent the early morning visiting the cafe downtown where a lot of people gathered for their morning breakfast and daily dose of gossip. I wanted people to start talking about my candidacy and I knew how the Andalusia grapevine worked. All I had to do was tell a few of the old ladies downtown and everyone would hear about it by the end of the day. It didn’t matter if I won them over with one conversation or not—they would hash things out on their own once the news spread. The initial results were promising, and a few of the people I talked to were immediately willing to support anyone willing to run against Mayor Stevenson. It was a good sign, but it wasn’t exactly the majority vote. Mayor Stevenson had a lot of allies—allies with a lot of money that would make sure he stayed in office, so they could continue chasing their ill-gotten gains at the expense of everyone else.
“Hudson!” I heard a voice when I stepped out of the cafe and turned to see Dave waving me down.
“Hey man.” I walked up and shook his hand.
“Wow, that’s a politician’s handshake right there.” Dave grinned. “I hear you’ll be shaking a lot of hands pretty soon.”
“I guess Melanie told you.” I chuckled under my breath.
“Yeah.” He nodded. “She was going to wait, but she’s never been really good at keeping secrets.”
“No wonder you feel in love with her.” My chuckled turned into a laugh.
“I hear I’m not the only one falling love these days. Eliza Abner? You had a crush on her just like I had on Melanie.” Dave raised his eyebrows and his grin got a little wider. “It’s not too late to make it a double wedding.”
“Oh god man.” I shook my head back and forth. “It’s way too soon to be picking out rings.”
“Not when you know what want.” Dave shrugged. “I would have proposed to Melanie on the first date if I didn’t think it would make her run away screaming.”
“I’m glad you managed to restrain yourself.” I chuckled slightly.
“Yeah, it all worked out the way it was supposed to.” Dave nodded quickly. “Are you coming to the bachelor party?”
“I need to network, right?” I tilted my head and shrugged. “We’ll see a few voters…”
“You definitely have my vote.” Dave grinned again. “I’ll be working with my Dad after the wedding, but if you need any help, just give me a call.”
“Thanks man.” I reached over and patted him on the shoulder. “That means a lot.”
Dave was a good guy, and I needed an army of people just like him if I was going to take down Mayor Stevenson. I pulled out the list of names that I thought would be willing to offer support and started making house calls. A few people invited me in to talk, a few doors got slammed in my face, and I got a lot of maybes. I started to realize that the town was fully aware of what was going on, but they were scared to believe it could be any different than what they were used to. I needed some way to show them that hope could still live in Andalusia. I wasn’t going to get that without flipping some of Mayor Stevenson’s supporters to my side. Promises were easy but promises couldn’t fix everything. It was hard to believe in change when things had been bad for so long. I knew how they felt. I spent too long believing there really was no other option, and even longer being afraid to be the catalyst for that change.
I guess I should stop and get gas, so I don’t have to drive all the way out here tomorrow morning.
I pulled into the gas station on the edge of town and filled up my truck. My throat was parched from after spending so much time going door-to-door, so I headed inside to grab a bottle of water. Old Man Wrigley lifted his head slightly as I walked in, but then went back to reading the newspaper that was spread out on the counter in front of him. Preston and I used to come to his gas station every weekend when we were younger. Old Man Wrigley would sell beer to anyone, and that we took advantage of it. We weren’t even old enough to drive the first time we walked in and bought a six pack. It wasn’t like people in town didn’t know what he did, but like everything else, they just looked the other way. I got my bottle of water and walked up to the counter. Old Man Wrigley didn’t look up from his newspaper as he rang up my purchase and took my money.