Peeking into the other county and city offices as he passed, he spotted Sweet Salvation Brewery growlers on countertops, along with placards explaining that the change collected would go toward building a new veterans’ center. He’d dropped them off yesterday morning and they were already more than halfway full.
All anyone had been talking about for the past few days was the veterans’ center fundraiser. Olivia had called in God knew how many favors and people were flying in from all over to help raise money. Every woman he knew had bought a handful of raffle tickets to win a makeover by some famous stylist who had his own TV show. Salvation had been talking about the Sweets for generations and Olivia had figured out how to use it as an advantage. No doubt about it, there was a helluva lot more to the woman than just her looks.
Not that he’d seen her since she came back from wherever she’d been holed up. He had to get his troops positioned correctly first. No Marine went into battle without a plan. And now it was time to pull out the big guns.
He pushed open the mayor’s office door.
Hawson sat behind his desk with a scowl on his face. “What do you want?”
So they were bypassing the pleasantries. This was Mateo’s kind of conversation. “You’re going to the veterans’ center fundraiser at the Sweet Salvation Brewery today.”
“I most certainly am not.”
Oh he was; he just didn’t know it yet. Having the mayor show up would prove to Salvation’s last anti-Sweet holdouts that the family couldn’t be vilified anymore. It’s what Olivia wanted and what he was determined to deliver.
Mateo stepped around the desk and Hawson flinched. The fear in the other man’s eyes was well founded, but that wasn’t the kind of damage he planned on inflicting if the mayor didn’t follow orders like a good Marine.
“I’m telling you right now, you’re going to go.” Mateo kept his tone light, but there was no way the other man could miss the underlying threat. “Not only that, but you are going to act like there is nowhere you’d rather be than at that fundraiser.”
“Why would I do that?” he sputtered.
Now to hit the power-hungry mayor exactly where it hurt. “Because there’s an election coming up—and if you don’t act like the Sweets are one of the most important families in Salvation, I’ll run for mayor.”
Hawson blanched.
“You’ve pissed off a lot of people over the years, but have always managed to keep anyone from running against you.” Mateo sat down on Hawson’s desk, scattering papers and knocking over a cup full of pens. “How do you like your odds against a Marine injured in the line of duty who rescues dogs from kill shelters and beats up blackmailers?”
“You’re not a people-person.” The other man’s voice went up an octave. “There’s absolutely no glad-handing politician in you. You’d hate everything about running for office and keeping it.”
“True.” It would be a living fucking hell. “But I’d still do it—and I’d win. We both know it.”
Hawson fidgeted with a pen and a red flush crept up his neck. “I don’t believe you.”
Mateo got up, sending a stack of papers sailing down to the floor. “That’s your prerogative, but you’ll find out the truth if you don’t show up for that fundraiser. It’s about to start and you don’t want to be late.”
Neither did he. The first bus to the brewery left from The Kitchen Sink’s parking lot in ten minutes. Without a second look at the mayor, he crossed the room to where the dog waited by the door.
“I see hanging out with Olivia Sweet has had quite the effect on you,” the mayor called out.
Mateo looked back. “You’re right. It has.”
Now to go convince Olivia of that.
Every table in front of the Sweet Salvation Brewery was packed with people. The five lines for the beer tasting were ten-people deep. Olivia had already emptied out the collection growlers at the tables twice. The live band had kept the dance floor grooving since its first set. Half in awe, she stood with her sisters and surveyed the crowd.
“Can you believe it?” she asked Miranda.
“Of course I can.” Her sister grinned. “No one can stop the wild Sweet once she sets her mind to something.”
The band stopped in the middle of a song and feedback sounded from the speakers, making everyone wince.
“Sorry about that, folks,” the mayor said.
Olivia’s stomach sank. There was no way this was going to go well, but short of tackling Tyrell Hawson and tearing the mic from his grasp, there wasn’t much she could do but weather this latest storm.
“I’d like to thank the Sweet Salvation Brewery and the Sweet family for hosting such an amazing event for such an important cause to our community,” he said. Then he raised a mug of beer. “I hope you’ll join me in raising a toast to Miranda, Natalie and Olivia Sweet for all they’re doing to make Salvation a better community.” Everyone clapped and the mayor took a healthy swig of beer. “Now don’t forget why we’re all here today. Be sure to enter the raffles and participate in the beer tasting. All of the proceeds will go to building a new veterans’ center.”
Everyone cheered.