A warm smile creased his face, and those green eyes stared down at her. “You’ll tape it? That sounds like something your daddy would have done. I remember him explaining to me that there was nothing in this world a man couldn’t fix with duct tape and—”

“Patience.” She knew the motto well. “My dad was big on patience.” He would also tell his only daughter not to make a fool of herself over a man. “Sorry again. I’ll let you get back to what you were doing.”

His smile faded as though that hadn’t been the reaction he’d hoped for. “I was looking for you. I was hoping we could talk.”

“Of course. Gertie went to grab our lunch, so I’ve got a little time. Let’s head to my office. What’s it about?” It would be smarter to talk to him out here in the open, but also far less polite. She needed to get used to the man again. Once they’d been friends. It was time to find a way to be something like coworkers. The Darois family had had a good working relationship with city hall for as long as anyone could remember. The Daroises had been in the area since long before there was a city hall to speak of.

“A wedding.”

Sylvie should have known this was coming. Rene was close friends with the Guidrys. “Did Sera and Remy talk to you about having Zep’s bachelor party out at your place? Sera would love for you to be involved. She trusts you more than a lot of Zep’s other friends.”

“I’m glad to hear that since it might make the rest of this conversation easier. But I wasn’t talking about Zep’s wedding. I was talking about ours.”

“I’m sorry . . .” And then she couldn’t help the laugh that came from her. “That’s a good one.”

He’d gotten the slightest frown. “It’s not that crazy an idea, and I would like the chance to convince you why. Can we go to your office? I would rather not propose in front of half the town.”

She stared at him for a moment. There was not a hint of humor on the man’s face. “You’re serious.”

“I am,” he said, his voice going quiet. “I even put on my best suit in the hopes that you would be blinded by my masculine beauty and tell me yes without thinking about it.”

She was well aware that there were eyes on them. “We should definitely go to my office.”

She turned and started down the hall. It looked to be an interesting afternoon.

*   *   *

It hadn’t been the most romantic of proposals, but then romance wasn’t the point. This proposal was all about logic.

Rene stepped inside the big office the mayor used. It was a place he knew well, but he hadn’t actually been inside it recently. Not since Sylvie had come home.