He had no doubt Leanne would pay for sessions, but he didn’t want her to. It might be vanity, but since he couldn’t do a lot for her financially, he wanted to cover his own repair work, so to speak. Making up his mind, he went out to the parking lot and took some pictures. The title was in his name, and he earned enough annually to pay for the plates and insurance, doing whatever work came his way. His father would probably blow his top since he’d bought this car, but it was Trev’s now, right? His solitary asset. People shouldn’t bitch about what you did with presents after receiving them.

Before he could second-guess himself, he posted the listing on several free local sites. Maybe this was another mistake, but he didn’t think so. It felt more like selling his past to pay for his future, one he was finally fucking on board with. Belatedly, it occurred to him that he hadn’t thought about Sarah in quite a while or wondered about her wedding.

Hell, I’m married too.

At some point in the future, he might even be brave enough to tell her she’d been right to leave, though she could’ve been kinder about it. He still had dreams in which she told him he’d never amount to shit and that he’d die in that basement. Taking a breath, he hopped into the car and drove over to the campaign office.

Leanne was conferring with her team, going over the latest poll numbers. They were better than expected already, considering how long Dan Rutherford had held that city council seat. His camp was already hitting back; he’d apparently done an interview at a local radio station that painted Leanne as a ditzy party girl who would bankrupt St. Claire with her addiction to designer shoes.

“That son of a bitch,” said Mrs. Carmenian.

“Took the words right out of my mouth,” an older woman added.

Trev couldn’t come up with a name, though she looked vaguely familiar. She trundled toward him and shook his hand vigorously, an absolute vision in puce velour covered oddly in ginger cat fur. “Hazel Jeffords. I’m in Leanne’s book club! We need some new blood on the city council, and that’s a fact. At this rate, she could go to the White House one day. Are you ready to change the world, young man?”

“You know what?” he said, not even needing to think about it. “I’m with her all the way.”

Chapter 16

It amused Leanne knowing how much Dan Rutherford would scream if he knew she was literally using magic against him.