“It’s a lot better than nothing. It will help people so much and kids will have a great time. Some of the women are beginning to plan games and things they can do for the kids. It’ll be an evening to look back on when we all pulled together and had a great time.”
“That’s good,” she said, and then thought of his loss, sorry that Christmas was probably a bad time for Aaron.
She felt responsible for him staying in Royal for the holidays. She didn’t think he would be if she hadn’t talked about how it would help others if he would stay and do things for people who needed something at holiday time.
She didn’t want to deliberately hurt him. But it had ended between them as far as she was concerned. She had to get over him even though she had fallen in love with him.
How long would it take her to get over Aaron?
“Did you buy a dress for the Christmas festival?” he asked.
“Aaron, I already had a dress,” she said, beginning to wonder if he was wound up in her new persona and really didn’t have that much interest in the former plain Jane that she was. It was a little annoying. Was he not going to like her if she reverted to her former self? She suspected it didn’t matter, because after the Christmas festival she didn’t expect to continue the intimate relationship they had. She would see him because of their baby, but it would be a parental relationship and not what they had now. She might be with him a lot where their child was concerned, but they wouldn’t be having an affair and she wasn’t going to marry a man who was still in love with his deceased wife. Aaron couldn’t even talk to her about his wife and baby, so he hadn’t let go at all.
“I think you should have something new and special,” he said, breaking into her thoughts.
“Don’t go shopping for a dress for me,” she said. “I have a new dress for the festival I got at Cecilia’s shop.”
Three people stopped by their table to talk to her and tell her what a great job she had done on television Saturday. As the third one walked away, Aaron smiled at her. “I can see the butterflies are completely gone to another home.”
“Yes, they are. Thanks to you.”
“No, Stella. You did that yourself. You’re the one who’s developed poise to deal with people. You’re the one who’s talking to people, telling them what happened, telling people here how to get help. Oh, no. This isn’t me. It’s you. You have more confidence now and you’re handling things with more certainty. You’ve brought about the changes in yourself. Maybe not hair and makeup, but confidence and self-assurance, making some of the tough decisions that have to be made about who gets help first. No, this is something you’ve done yourself.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence.”
“I’ve had several people ask me if I would talk to you about stepping in as acting mayor. They’re going to have to find someone soon.”
“Now that position I’m not qualified for,” she said firmly.
“Of course, you are. You’re already doing the job. Take a long look at yourself,” he said, and his expression was serious, not the cocky friendliness that he usually exhibited.
“I see an administrative assistant.”
“Look again, Stella. The administrative assistant disappeared the afternoon of the storm. You’re all but doing Mayor Vance’s job now. And I checked. The role will end before you have your baby next summer, so that won’t be a problem.”