“Alaska,” I said, my heart sinking a little as I said it.
“Wow; that’s a long way from North Carolina,” she said. “Will he be back soon?”
I didn’t want to get into that with her, but I really didn’t have much choice. It was just the two of us, and we’d already banned talking about Emily’s wedding. “In a few months,” I said.
“That long?”
“That’s just to visit. He’ll be working there for a year, but before you say a word, I don’t want to talk about that, either.”
Emma nodded. “We sure are limiting our topics of conversation lately, aren’t we?” she asked me with a grin.
“Well, there’s always Larry,” I said, smiling.
“Yes, we’ll always have Larry.”
Chapter 16
I was surprised to see our mayor waiting out front when I unlocked the front door promptly at six AM. “Come on in, George,” I said as I stepped aside to let him pass. “What brings you out so early today?”
“I’m usually up before this,” the mayor said as he took his jacket off and hung it on the rack.
“Maybe so, but you don’t often get donuts first thing,” I said. “What’s going on? Is Polly out of town?” Polly North was George’s secretary, and also his girlfriend, though he would never come out and admit it. George thought it was a ridiculous name for a woman he was seeing, but he hadn’t liked any of my other choices, either, so we were stuck with it.
“As a matter of fact, she’s in Wilmington. One of her kids is having a baby, so she went to help out.”
“Wow, that’s some kind of mom,” I said.
“I’m sure that your mother would do the same thing for you,” George said.
“I’m not pregnant, though.” I pretended to study my belly. “Do I look pregnant? George, are you saying that if I’m not pregnant, I’m getting fat?”
“What? No. Of course not. I’d never say any such thing.”
He stopped when he saw my grin. “You’re too easy to tease, my friend. It’s not even any fun anymore.”
As he fought his blush, the mayor said, “You could always stop doing it, then.”
“Not on your life,” I said and kissed his cheek lightly, an act that made his face burn even brighter. “Let me get you coffee and a donut on the house,” I said as I walked to the counter.
“You used to just do that when I was working on a case with you,” George said as he took a stool. “Between the two of us, I miss those days.”
“I do, too, but you’re serving the greater good right where you are now.”
He laughed without joy. “Funny, it feels as though I mostly preside over meetings where everyone involved acts as though they were still in junior high school. Sometimes I’d like to take the lot of them over my knee and teach them about discipline.”
“I’m afraid you’d get arrested if you did that,” I said as I poured him a cup of coffee and grabbed a plain cake donut for him.
“Maybe so, but I bet I’d be reelected in a landslide if I showed that bunch some discipline.” He took a sip of coffee, smiled, and then he added, “Not that I want this crazy job again.”
“Aren’t you going to run for reelection?” I asked. My mother had basically tricked George into becoming mayor, but he was the best one that we’d ever had, and I for one would hate to lose him.
“I don’t know. It’s too soon to say.”
“George, your term is about up. Surely you’ve got to make up your mind soon one way or the other.”
“You’re starting to sound like Polly now,” he said then took a bite of donut.
“Does she want you to run again?”
“So she says. Personally, I think that she should run herself. She does most of the work now anyway; she might as well have the title and the fancy office that goes along with it.”
“Did you suggest that to her?” I asked him.
“I did, and she laughed for three solid minutes before she could get her breath again. She claimed that she enjoyed being the power behind the throne, but I know better. She’s too smart to ever run for mayor.”
“Then I guess you’re stuck with it,” I said with a grin. Things were quiet so far, and though I would have liked having more business, it was nice being able to spend time with my old friend.
“Maybe so, but don’t forget, you’ve got a sharp detective’s mind right here at your disposal,” he said as he tapped his temple with a thick and meaty finger. “Say, for instance, you’d like to talk about Jude Williams’ murder case with someone with experience in investigating homicides, you wouldn’t have to go far.”