“Okay.” His quick agreement surprised her. “As long as we’re waiting and not over. I love you, Zoey Hartford. And since she’s your carbon copy, I’ll love Hazel, too. When you’re ready to let me.”

He stood, pulling her up with him. But he didn’t pull her into an embrace. He was waiting, which was what she said she wanted. So why did she feel disappointed?

“I am so confused, Mike.” She shook her head. “I can see a future for us, but I can’t make myself move toward it. I never thought of myself as a coward, but... I’m terrified of making another mistake.” She didn’t have any confidence in her decision-making.

“I’ll be brave enough for both of us,” he whispered, leaning forward to brush a kiss against her hair. “But you have to take that next step on your own.”

She dropped her forehead onto his shoulder and sighed. She was overthinking this. But Mike was willing to wait for her to think straight, instead of in circles. She raised her head and smiled.

“Just a little more time. Let me talk to Hazel. And let’s deal with this zoning nightmare. That sounds like I’m putting you off, but...”

“One battle at a time. I get it. I’m not going anywhere.” He shrugged. “Well, I’m going somewhere right now. I’m going to the town clerk’s office to do some more research.” He tapped her nose lightly with his finger. “We’ve got this.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

“I TOLD HER we got this.” Mike tossed a sheaf of papers across his grandmother’s dining room table. “But I’m not sure we do.”

His grandmother and her book club pals sat around the table in silence, watching him rant.

“The way the zoning laws were rewritten back in the seventies is making this like putting together a jigsaw puzzle upside down, so you can’t see the picture. I need an angle to argue, but I can’t find one.”

“That’s a shame,” Iris Taggart said, “but I still don’t know what you think we can do. You’re the attorney.”

“I think you meant to say attorney boytoy,” Rick added helpfully.

Mike ignored him. He’d gotten used to hearing his new nickname, thanks to Hazel. “You’ve all been around longer than me. You have knowledge, and maybe some influence, that I don’t.” He hesitated. “And... I’m desperate.”

His grandmother smiled softly. “You think you have to win this thing to get Zoey back?”

“No.” He frowned. “Maybe. I promised her, but I haven’t found anything yet that’s a slam dunk for the town board meeting tomorrow.”