Falling for Trouble by Sarah Title (29)

 

Liam hung the last panel of soundproofing on the wall and stepped back to admire his handiwork. Well, it wasn’t great, but it would muffle the sound enough to fend off some of the complaints from the neighbors. Joanna had a bad habit of waking up in the middle of the night when a song idea came to her, and just playing. Liam was glad she had her creative mojo back, but he wasn’t crazy about the close personal relationship they were developing with the cops.

He climbed up the basement stairs, thinking of how Joanna would react. Honey, I built you a soundproof room! In the basement!

Oh, hell, he knew she would love it. She would love it because she needed it, and she would love it even more because he’d done it for her. She was definitely a softy, especially when it came to him. He knew that, and he also knew that she hated it when he made her cry from happiness, so he tried not to be too goofy about it.

Of course, he was counting on her softness to counterbalance some of the disappointment she might feel if the room turned out to not technically be soundproof. But, hey, every little bit of noise reduction would help.

He looked up at the kitchen clock and realized he was late. Whoa, way late. He grabbed his phone on the way upstairs to the bathroom, and saw he had a whole mess of texts from Joanna.

He smiled as he wrote back.

When he got out of the world’s fastest shower, he had a message from Rick. He listened while he threw on some clothes. “Hey, man, I’m at the courthouse. It’s still early, but I’m hearing that they might call it soon. I tried phoning Trina to tell her but she yelled at me. I guess because I don’t have any actual news? I don’t know. Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that and to say good luck when you get over there. It’s some kind of mess of nervous energy and you’ll probably get yelled at for nothing.”

Liam smiled and grabbed Rosetta and his keys. He drove over to Chet’s, their unofficial and highly inappropriate headquarters, and nodded at Chet on his way in.

He still wasn’t quite used to seeing the place in daylight, but there it was. Someone had been decorating—he suspected Peggy—and there were balloons hanging from the seams of the ceiling tiles, streamers covering the bar, and several of the more memorable posters tacked up over years of band stickers.

Liam saw Joanna right away. She was standing next to the stage, fiddling with her engagement ring, which she always did. He told her she didn’t have to wear it, that it was enough for him to know that they were going to get married. But she insisted. Part of him was glad, if he was honest. He liked that she wanted to show the world that they were for real.

“Hey.”

“Hey! You’re here! And, oh my God, you smell good.” Joanna put her arms around him quickly, then let go just as quickly. She was trying to be all professional, which she said did not include her hanging all over her hot librarian fiancé. But when he took hold of her hand, she didn’t let go. So he stood there while she finished her conversation with a reporter from the Halikarnassus Herald, and, when asked for comment, said that he knew the citizens of Halikarnassus would see that Joanna was the only one for the job.

“Oh, God, I’m so nervous,” she said once they were alone. Well, alone in a bar swarming with her supporters. “What if I don’t win? Oh my God, what if I do win? Is this a terrible idea?”

“Too late now, babe. You’re going to have to live with the fact that you made the right decision.”

“But what if I screw it up? What if—”

“Joanna.” He took her head between his hands, even though it didn’t look very professional. But he had to make sure he could look her in the eyes. “You can do it. If I didn’t think you could do it, I wouldn’t have voted for you.”

She kissed him then, just quickly, but enough to let him know that she heard him and she wasn’t running (well, she wasn’t running away), and she loved him.

“That’s Rick!” Trina called out as her phone rang. “Hello? You better have news or I swear to—” She stuck a finger in her ear so she could hear better. “Uh-huh. Are you sure? The commissioner? So it’s official?” She started squealing and bouncing on her heels, still on the phone. “It is? And you’re definitely sure.”

“Oh my God, Trina, what is he saying?” Joanna shouted in a very professional way.

“You did it!” Trina shouted back, and the bar erupted. That was the only word for the cheer that went through the crappy ceiling tiles, and Liam was caught up in a sea of people coming to shake Joanna’s hand and congratulate her.

“She looks surprised,” Peggy said, coming up to his side and giving his arm a squeeze. “She shouldn’t be surprised. I knew she could do it. And so did you.”

“I think she’s more stunned. Now she’ll have to stop talking about it and actually do it.”

“You’ll be there for her.”

“You know I will.”

“Well,” Peggy said, stepping away from him. “She promised I could make the announcement.”

He handed her up the short step to the stage, where she stood at the mic. She gestured for Joanna to join her onstage. Joanna blushed, but she did it. She had to.

“Ladies and gentlemen!” Peggy shouted into the mic. “After a long, hard campaign and an even longer adolescence—” Folks in the crowd laughed while Joanna rolled her eyes. But she rolled her eyes with a smile. “I present to you my granddaughter, Joanna Green, the new Mayor of Halikarnassus!”