Luring Levi (Tarnished Saints Series Book 2) by Elizabeth Rose Read Free Book Online

feeling like part of that family until his big brother kicked him to the curb, sending him away and on his own.
    He held the key up for everyone to see, and the crowd cheered. For him! No one had ever cheered for him before. This was a feeling he could get used to quickly.
    He looked over and saw Angel with the kids in the distance, as well as Candace and her kids as well. The townspeople gathered around and the council stood behind him.
    “Make a speech,” whispered Mrs. Durnsby.
    “A speech?” He turned to look at her. “What am I supposed to say?”
    “Tell them your plans and pro mises for Sweet Water. They always like to hear that. And talk about the fair. We need to promote it and hopefully pull in more visitors through word of mouth, so make it good.”
    “Oh, right.” He turned back to the crowd and noticed they h ad all gotten very quiet. He hadn’t even had to bang the spoon to get their attention. He felt the dryness of his mouth, and for the first time this all started seeming a little too real. He just wanted to go back to bed and escape all the eyes watching him. But he knew they were looking up to him now – him – an ex-con, and he needed to take this opportunity and start making a new life for himself.
    “Speech, speech, speech,” they all started chanting, only makin g the knot in his stomach tighter.
    He held up the key in h is hand and waited for silence, holding the microphone in his other hand. As if they thought he was some sort of Greek god or something, they all fell quiet. He didn’t know what the hell he was going to say, so he just opened his mouth and started talking into the microphone. It squealed and everyone covered their ears. He stepped back behind the portable speakers and raised the mic and started again.
    “As your mayor, I will promise to do my best to bring more revenue to this town and get the name of Sweet Water known throughout the country.”
    They cheered, seeming to like that. He nodded. This wasn’t as hard as he thought.
    “One of the first things I’m going to do is to designate the old library as our new town hall. The books will be moved to the basement and offices built upstairs. An actual place to hold the council meetings will be constructed instead of having to meet in the church basement.”
    “You can’t do that!” He heard Mrs. Durnsby from behind him.
    He lowered the mic and looked over his shoulder. “Why not? I am mayor and in charge of the town, right?”
    “Yes,” she said in a low voice. “But the council needs to vote on it first.”
    “Well, since I wasn’t a part of the vote to make me mayor in the first place, we’ll just call it even.”
    “What about getting this town a sheriff?” Bryce Thorton, the deputy called out. “I am overworked since the sheriff got arrested and thrown in jail. And this is only suppose d to be a part-time job since it doesn’t pay much, and I have another job I need to go to as well.”
    “Yeah,” said someone else. “And Sweet Water needs its own fire department. Last winter my house burned down be fore the fire trucks from Paw Paw could make it through the snow to get here.”
    “And we need more tourism to bring in funds so we can last the winter,” shouted another person.
    “Get rid of the strip joint,” called out a woman. “It only tempts our men and makes our daughters think there’s nothing wrong with taking off their clothes.”
    Levi felt his head swarming. All of a sudden, being mayor didn’t seem so good. Everyone expected him to do something about all these problems. And the trouble was – he didn’t see them as problems. He rather liked not having a sheriff since he, as well as Thomas, had had their share of trouble. And he didn’t mind the strip joint. There was nothing wrong with a beer and a little entertainment for a man on a lonely night. But now, everyone wanted him to solve all their problems.
    “Quiet down,” he said into the mic. “I will address all those issues,