“Are there any other citizens who’d like to speak in favor of this vote?” Sheldon Monroe asked into the microphone.
The county council chambers fell silent. Everyone looked at each other to see who would be the next to step forward. Miranda forced her jiggling knee to stop bouncing. There wasn’t a damn thing she could do to change some folks’ minds. She only had to concern herself with the six voting members.
“Anyone?” Sheldon scanned the murmuring, but seated, crowd. “Well, in that case, is there anyone else who’d like to speak?”
Inhaling a deep breath, she knocked her shoulders back and raised her chin to face the firing squad. Giving Natalie a wink that was more bravado than confidence, she stood up.
“If you don’t mind, I’d like to address the council.” Logan’s deep voice carried across the room from the back and hushed the chattering mass. They all turned to watch him walk to the podium.
Surprise knocked Miranda off her feet, and she thunked down into her chair. Her belly fluttered like the moment at the top of a roller coaster’s first big loop-de-loop. A stillness fell in the room. She could practically hear people’s minds wondering what Logan was going to say. Miranda was right there with them.
For his part, he looked as cocky and sure of himself as he had the first time she’d walked into his office. All brass balls and confident swagger. He didn’t look at her or acknowledge her presence in any way as he strutted by the front row. Laying a thick book and a piece of paper on the podium, he cleared his throat and gave the council a hard look.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I’d like to share with you the Salvation city charter.” He held up the printed page. “As you can see, there are two signatures here, one from Benjamin Martin and one from Matthew Sweet. With this document, they agreed to combine some of their land to found Salvation. If it wasn’t for the Sweets, there wouldn’t be a Salvation.”
Hope bubbled up inside her, making her limbs lighter. She snuck a glance at Natalie, who couldn’t hide her slack-jawed shock.
As Logan walked around the podium, the room was as silent as a man five minutes past dead. The six council members straightened in their chairs as he approached the dais. Miranda had been clasping her hands together so tight her fingers had gone numb. She loosened her grip and extended her fingers, allowing the blood to return to the tips.
Reaching into his pocket, he stopped in front of Sheldon’s place at the far end of the dais and pulled a handful of small oval rocks from his pocket. He laid one stone in front of each council member’s name placard, then returned to the podium, where he flipped open the book.
“I know just about everyone here has read The History of Salvation, even those of you who won’t ever admit to it. There’s just too much good stuff in here for a gossipy little town like ours not to have pored over. Let’s see, your family is in here, Sheldon, for the time your great grandfather threw a man out of a bar window for insulting his horse. And your family practically has its own page in the index, Tyrell. Hell, practically everyone who’s ever set foot in Salvation is in this book with a lurid tale attached to their name.” He slammed the book shut hard enough that Miranda jumped in her seat. “So before you vote based on nothing more than one man’s personal vendetta, you need to think about the fact that the Sweets are a part of Salvation. As an employer and a taxpayer, the Sweet Salvation Brewery is an important part of our community. Sure, they’re a little bit wild.” The crowd chuckled. “But you’re all armed with rocks, and I say, let those who are without sin cast the first stone.”
He paused, giving the council members time to eyeball the shiny ovals at their disposal. Miranda couldn’t help but tense. She didn’t really think they’d stone her, but it piqued her sense of self-preservation, honed as it was to a sharp edge by growing up in a town that had given her the side-eye since she’d been born.
When no one made a move to swing the rocks, Logan continued. “If we can all stop our knee-jerk reaction of hating the Sweets, maybe we’d all finally see everything they bring to Salvation.” He turned and, for the first time since he marched up the aisle, looked straight into Miranda’s eyes. “The fun. The hope. The never knowing what she’s going to do next. The everything. If we did, then maybe she’d stay. I know I hope she will, because I love her.”
Every thought in her head scattered to the edge of the universe, except for one. He loved her and wanted her to stay. In Salvation. With him. The whole idea was so farcical that she should be rolling her eyes. Instead, she couldn’t keep the grin off her face. But it felt right. Somehow, in all the madness, Salvation had become home again.
Before she had a chance to make sense of it all, Logan strode over and hauled her up from her seat. His lips were on hers in the next heartbeat, rocking her world in all the right ways. The kiss was bo
th a declaration of intent and a plea for agreement, and she neither had the will nor the want to say no to either. When he released her a second later, she had to grab hold of his arm in case her knees gave out.
“Go get ‘em,” he whispered in her ear before giving her a push toward the front of the room and stealing her seat.
Miranda wobbled a bit, but she made her way to the podium. Once there, she realized she had no idea what to say, and winging it was not her game. “Wow.” She raised her fingers to her kiss-swollen lips. “Watch out, it looks like the Sweet family crazy is catching.”
Laughter filled the room, and even Sheldon cracked a smile at the joke, but the noise died down before her jumbled thoughts fell back into order.
“I had a whole speech planned out, but…” The words dried up in her mouth. She sucked in a deep breath and steadied her nerves. “For most of my life, I’ve hated being a Sweet in Salvation. I’ve done almost everything in my power to distance myself from this town and nearly everyone in it. But over the past few weeks, I’ve realized that you can’t ever really run away from home.” She covered her heart. “Because it’s always here. Just like your family, it doesn’t always make sense, but there’s nothing in the world like it.”
Firming her resolve, she turned her attention back to the council. “The Sweet Salvation Brewery is an important part of the community. If you vote to keep the Brewery open, I promise you, we’ll do more to support the town and its citizens. But know this. No matter how you vote, I’m staying. You can’t get rid of the Sweets that easily.” Her gaze locked on Logan and in an instant everything fell into place. “You can bet on that.”
Floating on hope and high expectations, Miranda returned to her seat and squeezed in between Logan and Natalie.
“Thank you, Miss Sweet.” Sheldon shuffled the papers in front of him. “I think we’re ready for a vote. Can I get a motion?”
“I make a motion that we outlaw alcohol production in Hamilton County,” said a councilwoman.
“Seconded,” said another.
Miranda threaded her fingers between Logan’s. His thumb brushed her skin, calming the nerves threatening to jump right out of her body.
“All in favor?” Sheldon asked, his gaze firmly on his hands.
Her lungs ached as she held her breath in anticipation, and she leaned forward in her seat. One Mississippi. Two Mississippi. Three Mississippi. Nothing. It was so quiet in the council chambers, if it had been summer, the croaking of frogs would have carried in from the river. Every muscle in her body tightened as she strained to hear the slightest sound.
“All those opposed?”