Free Trouble in Sudden Falls: A Sudden Falls Romance by Elizabeth Bemis Page B

Cunningham.”
    Rob’s itinerary read “neighbor woes”. This should be painfully entertaining. Harold Cunningham, a long-winded curmudgeonly retiree who spent his days looking for things to complain about, showed up at the courthouse at least once a quarter to make some sort of complaint.
    Old man Cunningham stepped up to the podium with a sheaf of notes and Rob felt himself visibly age. “Mayor Watson, members of the town council.” He nodded respectfully to each of the council members in turn with far more formality than a Sudden Falls council meeting required. “I would like to speak to the abomination that is concrete lawn ornamentation.”
    To his right, Rob heard Nancy Cannifarm sigh and whisper, “Oh, dear God. Not again.”
    He fought a grin as Cunningham continued. “Our quiet community is known for its class and small-town charm. Residents who insist on decorating their lawns with gnomes, deer and—worst of all—clothed concrete geese, turn our quaint little village into an eyesore. I’d like to recommend that the council pass an ordinance that outlaws these blemishes on the town landscape.”
    What Cunningham, not to mention his neighbor, Richard “Dicky” Dixon, needed was a class-act wife like his own. Emma would have taken their tacky lawn ornamentation and turned it into a yard worthy of a full Home and Gardens layout.
    Rob looked down to the front row where his wife, Emmaline Louise Parsons-Watson sat primly with her hands in her lap. He caught her gaze and she smiled serenely at him. Emma was easily the best thing that had ever happened to him, even if they were a less than perfect match.
    Nearly everyone described his wife as sweet, proper and always in quiet control. She was, without a doubt, the ideal politician’s wife. She never went out in public less than perfectly made up, she never swore, she never said anything bad about anyone and she would never, ever understand the truth about her less-than-perfect husband.
    Rob knew himself enough to know that while he liked that she was sweet and proper, in his secret heart-of-hearts, he would have liked their relationship to be different. He wouldn’t change her for anything in the world. But he wished he could be as satisfied with her as she seemed with him. She couldn’t help that she was a bit like a pastel mint and he had a hankering for Atomic Fireballs. She was flawless in every other way. And he truly loved her.
    Rob would do anything to protect what they had. And knew that the only way to save his marriage—not to mention his career—was to make sure that Maddie O’Callaghan didn’t make it inside her Aunt’s shop until he could clear out all traces of their having been there.
    He rubbed the knots of tension at the back of his neck which threatened to drive a headache to a skull-splintering level behind his eyes. He kicked himself for not having taken care of this… mess earlier. Having the O’Callahan’s out of town had been ideal. He and his group had continued to be able to use Aunt Millie’s Antiques for their meetings, and no one had been any the wiser. He really wished Maddie O’Callahan hadn’t come back to town.
    Even while Harold Cunningham droned on, Rob’s eyes shifted back to Emma who sat next to the president of her gardening club—the two of them probably chatting about how she’d fix the old guys’ garden situation.
    For that matter, she could probably even run Millie’s store by herself.
    He felt as if a lightning bolt had struck. Perhaps this whole mess could be solved in one fell swoop. What if…?
    Emma had been talking about getting a job lately. Only the night before she’d complained—in her usual non-whiny, non-threatening sort of way—of being tired of staying at home. Their children were in elementary school now and didn’t need her during the day.
    He shook his head. No. That would be too crazy, not to mention too easy. His eyes narrowed as he stared out into the gathered group of citizens.