“I hate that title,” I say, admitting that out loud for the first time in my life. “It’s so old-school. Why can’t I be Mayor Beau instead of Mr. Mayor?”

“You can be whatever you want.” She raises her eyebrows. “You’re Mr. Mayor.”

“When my father told me he was retiring, something woke up inside me. I wanted to be the one who was in charge now. I wanted to be the one who made a difference. I wanted to be the one to bring new changes.”

“Out with the old and in with the new.” She moves her hands from my neck to my chest, laying her palms flat.

“Not everyone is going to like the new changes I want to bring.” My voice goes low. “But I don’t want to be just a little town anymore. I want to bring people here. I want them to come visit every single summer with their kids and have all these memories.”

“What changes do you want?”

“I want to build a rec center. After-school programs, sports programs, community dances. Senior centers.”

“That sounds amazing.” She looks at me, and she has a tear in her eyes. “It sounds amazing, and I’m going to be the one beaming at you from the front row every single time you have a ribbon cutting.”

I shake my head. “It’s all talk for right now.” My arms hold her closer than before, squishing her hands between us. “We have a meeting tomorrow, so let’s hope that they are ready for a change.”

“If anyone can convince them, you can.” She smiles, and I start moving us in a circle. “Everyone loves you.” I want to ask her if that means her, too. I want to know if she feels the same way. I want to tell her that everyone loves her, too, but I love her the most. I want to tell her all this, but I don’t. I just look into her blue eyes as though I’m in a trance. My head moves down just a touch, and I swear I hear her breath hitch. The song stops, and it’s now so quiet all you can hear is the two of us breathing. “You are going to do great things, Beau.”