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

I promise. We’ll have a sheriff and fire department too.”
    “What about the strip joint?” called out a woman.
    Levi knew Burley’s bar brought in lots of men from the surrounding towns and therefore lots of revenue too. It was probably the most successful of all the businesses and without it Sweet Water would be a real ghost town. He really couldn’t close it. He’d have to find a way around it for now until he could think of a way to make everyone happy.
    “Everyone’s trying to make a living anyway they can,” he told her. “Things will get better for everyone, I promise. But we have to take this one day at a time.”
    “And how about tourism?” asked another woman. “At one time we had our streets packed in the summer, but not anymore. And you know no one comes up here in the winter with all our snow.”
    “Well, we’ll fix that too,” he said. “I promise.”
    The crowd seemed not to believe him and started to get angry. Mrs. Durnsby walked up behind him and laid a hand on his shoulder.
    “We don’t have funds for any of those things you’ve promised,” she said. “You have a lot to learn about being a mayor. You’d better stop pro mising them the moon and start producing results quickly or they’re going to run you out of town on a rail,” she warned him.
    “I’d like to tell you what I’m going to do about attracting tourism and revenue right now,” he said, gaining their attention. “We have the fair coming up next week and for those of you who don’t already know, we have a celebrity guest judge here from the dining network in Chicago to help judge the food entries this year. Let me bring her up here. Candy, come join me, please.”
     
    Candace had dragged her kids over to the meeting and was stopping a fight between them at the time and hadn’t even realized what Levi said until she heard him call her Candy over the mic. She looked up and shook her head. She didn’t want to go up there after he’d called her Candy in public. No one called her that – or at least out of the bedroom.
    “I present Chicago’s own food star and reviewer, Candy Kane,” he said into the mic so loudly that they probably heard it two towns over.
    “Candy cane?” asked the woman who’d complained about the strip joint. “What is she, some sort of stripper, with a name like that?”
    The crowd started laughing and she was ready to turn around and leave, but Levi made his way through the crowd right toward her, talking into the mic as he walked.
    “Tell us, Ms. Kane, what can you do to help out Sweet Water?”
    “What?” Her kids continued pushing each other, and she reached down, trying to pull them apart when Levi stuck the mic in her face. “Hello, I . . . I am happy to be here and will do whatever I can to help bring in revenue and tourism for the town of Sweet Water.”
    Valentine decided to grab the mic right then and shouted into it, “Vance just hit me!”
    The crowd laughed again, and Candace pulled her away, getting a scolding look from Levi.
    “Well, Ms. Kane,” he said into the mic. “Since you offered, I think it would be a great opportunity for you to bring your network out here for a live show. What do you think?” he asked the crowd.
    “No, I can’t!” She shook her head and waved her hand, but Levi just kept on talking.
    “I believe that food competition show called Sliced is filmed at your studio, is it not Ms. Kane?” He pushed the mic in her face again, just at the same time that her son stepped on her toe.
    “Ow!” she said into the mic.
    “Ow?” Levi laughed. “I’ll take that as a yes, then?”
    “Yes, it is filmed there,” she said, her attention on her kids who were now in an all out fistfight. She tried to pull them apart.
    “Then I think it would bring in lots of tourists as well as revenue if they filmed an episode of the show here. Maybe we can even have some of the townspeople be contestants.”
    Mrs. Durnsby grabbed the mic and spoke into