10. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Gene

I woke up Lilah several times during the night, not being able to get enough of her. Her sweet taste is intoxicating for me and I couldn't help myself. I find her fast asleep next to me and I'm unsure if I should wake her up. I have a lot of things to do today and I want her with me when I do them.

A quick shower and I get dressed for the day ahead. I start making breakfast for all of us when Connor comes out of his bedroom.

"Good morning, Connor. Scrambled eggs good for you?"

"Sure. You didn't stay in the guest room last night."

I like that he is direct with me and doesn't beat around the bush.

"Yeah, that's right. I care about your sister a lot."

"She deserves a good life."

"And I plan on giving her one. You as well."

"You don't have the best reputation in town."

"I'm working on it, Connor. It takes time though, and not everyone is willing to look past my transgressions."

"Do you think you can help my friends?"

The change in topic jars me a little bit.

"That's one of the stops I'm going to make today with your sister. I want to see if the family they are with have had any issues in the past."

"That might get them in trouble and they'll take it out on my friends."

"Don't worry. I'm a lawyer. They don't come as sneaky and underhanded as we are for nothing."

After a few minutes more of talking Connor and I come to an understanding, so he packs his breakfast and goes to school. His beautiful sister comes out a half hour later, yawning.

"Hey, sleepyhead."

"Oh god, is Connor gone? You should have woken me up earlier."

"Don't worry sweetheart, I made us all breakfast and he packed his to go."

She looks worried so I go up to her and lift her chin so that she's looking directly at me.

"What's going on?"

"He gives the Mcallister's his food. I usually give him extra."

"Well, I didn't know about that. I'll be sure to do that the next time. Come and eat. I've been waiting for you."

She sits down across the table from me.

"Will there be a next time?"

I realize that I haven't actually made any promises to Lilah, so she's got to be unsure about our future together. The thing is I don't know what I can promise her just yet. If the town doesn't forgive me for my transgressions I might have to leave and she might not want to go with me.

"Lilah. There's one thing I can promise you, and that is that no one will able to separate us from this moment forward."

"Okay."

She looks unsure, but gives me a small smile. I push a plate of food her way and she takes it. We eat in silence for a bit, then I decide to fill her in on our activities today.

"We got a lot to do today, sweetheart."

"We?"

"Yes. I want you to go with me to the social services place and then to talk to the major about the Youth Center."

"You think the mayor will go for it?"

"Only one way to find out."

I finish my food and get up to rinse the dishes. Lilah sneaks up on me and stands behind me, putting her tiny hands on my waist. I feel her put her cheek against my back and take a deep breath. I stand still and wait for her.

"After my parents died I thought I would never be able to count on someone for help. You've changed all that. I'm scared, though. This thing between us is so intense I sometimes feel like I could get burned by the flames."

"When I needed you the most, you were there for me, Lilah. Now we'll take care of one another. You'll see. It will all work out."

She lets go of my waist and gets up on her tiptoes to give me a kiss on the lips. She's the perfect woman for me, and I'll spend the rest of my life making sure she's happy.

The social services lady wouldn't or rather couldn't discuss the Mcallister's foster parents, but she took one look at us and started encouraging us to go through the process to become foster parents ourselves. I told her all my issues, but she brushed them off and sent us packing with a ton of forms to fill.

The hardest meeting will be with the mayor, though. I don't even know if he'll see us. I walk into town hall where I spent so much of my time a few years back. Nothing good came of that. I try to push it out of my mind and try to focus when Lilah squeezes my hand gently.

I see a change take over Lilah as she steps up and approaches the mayor's assistant.

"Hello. We'd like to see the mayor about a project that would help Woodland Falls youngest members."

"I'm not sure…He's very busy."

"Surely he's got some time for his constituents."

"I know, but mayor Mitchell here is not really welcome here."

"Oh for crying out loud!"

Before I know it, Lilah is knocking on Michael Hoffer's office door. The assistant starts screaming and things get a little bit looney. I just stare at the whole thing happening in front of me. Someone whistles hard enough to stop the women from bickering.

"What is going on here? People are working."

Ana Maria Hoffer, nee Gonzalez is standing in the middle of the hall waiting for answers. The assistant sighs in apparent relief.

"Hi Ana. These folk wanted to talk to the mayor, but I'm not sure he'll receive them."

Ana eyes me warily and approaches us. She's surprised to see Lilah here with me.

"Lilah! What a wonderful surprise. What do you need help with? I'm sure Michael can take care of it in no time."

"Actually, I'm with him."

Lilah points at me and blows the hair out of her face as she calms down from her battle with the assistant.

"Oh." Ana says.

"Yes, oh. We have a project the city might be interested in. We're hoping Mayor Hoffer can help."

"Right."

Ana's reluctance is hurting my new found feelings – in the past I wouldn't have cared – but I try not to show it outwardly.

"It's all above board, Mrs. Hoffer."

My words don't really convince her and Lilah sees this, so she walks forward, takes Ana's hand and takes her over a seating area that's on one side of the hall. She tells her of our ideas and the reason I came up with the plan. By the end, Ana is nodding along with whatever Lilah is telling her. A good sign.

When they look like they're done talking Ana gets up and motions Lilah to wait. She goes into the mayor's office and shuts the door firmly behind her. I'm dying of curiosity, but I'm afraid of making the wrong move and hurting our chances of a meeting with the mayor.

It seems like an hour passes, but when I look down at my watch only fifteen minutes have gone by. Lilah pulls me down for a kiss and I realize I never saw her get up from the chair she was sitting on. She grabs my hand. Hers is warm and soft. Mine is clammy and sweaty.

I know I'll go ahead with this project with or without the city's help, but I believe it would be better received if they have a hand in it. I tense up when the door to the mayor's office opens up, but I see it's only his wife.

"Michael will see you two now."

Lilah gives me a smile and we go inside hand in hand with a dream in our hearts.

We're sitting in the mayor's office. He's changed it since I was here. It's more modern and exudes efficiency. Michael Hoffer does not like me, and he's got a ton of reasons. I used and abused members of his family and the town itself.

"Ana told me the gist of what you want to do. I told her you were up to one of your scams. You know how I know that?"

I frown. I'm not sure what he's talking about, so I just let him elaborate.

"Yesterday I received some detailed paperwork and a large deposit to the city's funds. The papers showed every cent you stole from Woodland Falls. The total amount was deposited. Tell me you're dirty without telling me you're dirty."

"It was the right thing to do."

"I don't believe you." The mayor says.

It seemed like I was going to have to reveal my heart to this man that is my enemy.

"I didn't spend a dime of it. It wasn't about the money."

"What was it about, then?"

"I was hurting so much, I wanted to pay the world back. The more people I hurt in the process the better."

"What's changed?"

"As I told you my mother is dying. I spent the past two years away from her because I was hiding from the wrongs I did here in Woodland Falls. I've come back now, and even though my mother's condition won't change, I want to be a better man for her and for the people that care about me."

I feel Lilah's hand squeeze mine gently and my heart fills with joy that I have someone like her on my side. The mayor grabs his phone and makes a call.

"Jenny, get me the file on the Williamson farm, please."

The assistant knocks a few minutes later and comes in bringing a thick file of some sort. Lilah and I look at each other wondering what this is about.

"I think I have just the place for you to start this Youth Center. The Williamson widow had no heirs so she willed the property to the city of Woodland Falls. It's large and has a barn that can be converted into something useful for the kids. It's nicely located north of Woodland Falls Park. The electric is a problem they need to fix. We'll turn the power on but don't use the sockets in the first floor. You'd have to pay for any repairs and improvements, as well."

"I'm more than willing to do that."

"Then you better start working on creating the non profit and then contact us. Jenny will be your point of contact, but you might want to talk to my mother if you are going to do fundraising activities."

"I'll talk to her." Lilah says, a smile on her face.

"Okay. Mitchell, I hope I'm not making a big mistake in giving you a second chance."

I get up and offer to shake his hand. He takes it and squeezes hard. We play a game of chicken and don't break eye contact until we have to. A tie. Lilah and I leave and once we're on the steps outside of the building I take her into my arms and twirl her until she's asking me to put her down.

"That went better than expected." I tell her. "Let's go see the place."

"Let's have something to eat first so we can wait for Connor and the Mcallisters to join us. I want them to be involved as much as they possibly can. I want to give them something positive to put their energies on."

"I think that's perfect. Let's seal this with a kiss."

So I take her into my arms in the middle of downtown Woodland Falls and kiss the life out of her.