“Oh yeah.” She leaned back in her chair, eyeing her own empty plate with what looked like a mix of satisfaction and pride. She’d loved the finger steaks, rhapsodized about her trout club sandwich, and guzzled fry sauce like it was a beverage. It made him wonder why a woman who enjoyed food so much would waste so many of her meals on convenience foods and sandwiches eaten standing up.

“You know what I’d like to do with you next?” he asked abruptly.

Those brown eyes widened in hesitation and, if he wasn’t mistaken, anticipation.

“Excuse me, Maggie Nichols?” They jumped apart, and Silas eyed the interrupter. “Deputy Mayor Kressley Cho.” The woman shoved her hand in Maggie’s face, knuckles up, as if she expected one of her very large, very shiny rings to be kissed. Maggie leaned back and performed an awkward handshake.

“It’s nice to meet you, Deputy Mayor.”

“I’m really the acting mayor, seeing as how the actual mayor is a cat. Don’t ask me. It’s a town tradition,” she said with a roll of her eyes. “I just wanted to drop by and introduce myself. We’re all just tickled that you chose Kinship, and if you need any help with anything at all, I’m just a phone call away.”

Kressley reached into her bag and slid a business card across the table. “I’ve got several ideas on how you can best feature Kinship and its leadership on your show. I can pencil you in at my office Monday at, say, eleven?”

Maggie looked at Silas with deer-in-headlights eyes. “How about I have my partner call you and set something up? He handles the scheduling,” she said.

“I’ll alert my secretary to expect the call,” Kressley said. “Oh, excuse me. I see the school board president over there. Must go!”

She flittered off like a colorful butterfly.

“You were saying?” Maggie said.

“I forget.” Deputy Mayor Cho had that effect on people. She fluttered in, said a lot of bright and cheery words without taking a breath, and then vanished, leaving her victims shell-shocked.

“You asked if I knew what you wanted to do with me next,” Maggie recapped.

“Ah. Back on track. As I was saying, Mags. Do you know what I’d—”

“Excuse me?”

They both jumped again at the new interruption. A man with a sunburned nose and a little girl in pigtails and a Kinship hoodie stood next to their table. Silas didn’t recognize them, but both father and daughter were sporting the telltale exhaustion of tourists.

“We’re so sorry to interrupt,” the guy began, looking almost as excited as his daughter. “You’re Maggie Nichols, right?”

“That’s me,” she said with a quick, bright smile.

“My daughter and I are huge fans of you—your show,” he added quickly.

Silas realized he might not be the only man in Kinship smitten with the pretty, talented Maggie.