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town’s too big now, or at least it will be. We’re going to have new buildings to staff and maintain. We have construction projects going on, and we’re doing business with partners from Hays to Miami. You can’t be mayor in between fixing old cars.”
    He sighed.
    â€œAnd if you tell me you want to quit, don’t even try it. You’re the duly elected mayor and your citizens need you.”
    â€œThe guilt card. You need to quit hanging out with Tamar.”
    â€œI always run with the best.”
    â€œNo appealing this to a higher court, I assume.”
    She gave him that look again.
    He grinned and threw up his hands. “Okay, I surrender. Let me finish up a few things at the garage, and I’ll move in after that.”
    Bernadine knew he was being purposefully vague, but she didn’t call him on it. “That’s fine. Did I mention the biggest benefit of all?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œLily. Her office is right next door.”
    â€œThe dagger.”
    Bernadine enjoyed Trent’s friendship. Were it not for his engineering background, last fall’s initial construction season might have run less smoothly. For a moment she debated telling him about her earlier visit from Amari, but decided against it. Amari said he had some things to workout first. She’d let him tell Trent about his desire to become a full-fledged July when he felt ready. “If you need help unpacking or setting up, just let me know. Maybe I’ll even ask Lily to help.”
    He got to his feet and shook his head. “You’re hard on a man, Bernadine Brown.”
    â€œSee you later, Mayor July.”
    Chuckling, he exited.
    On his way back to the garage, Trent put in a call to Rocky. Her real name was Rochelle Dancer and she’d always had a special place in his heart. The failure of her less-than-a-month-long marriage had sent her to the East Coast to try and sort out her life, but he missed her friendship almost as much as he missed her cooking. The call to her cell phone went through, but he got her voice mail. After leaving her a message to get in touch, he ended the call.
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    Down in Texas, Eustasia Pennymaker looked at the beautiful bride and handsome groom, and felt as giddy as if this were her own wedding. Holding the video cam to her eye, she said, “Turn for Mama, Chocolate, I want to get the full effect of the veil. Let’s show the folks why I sent all the way to Vienna for that lace.”
    Chocolate was a three-hundred-pound sow. She was dressed in a custom-made white silk gown complete with a lace-edged, two-foot train that matched the veil. Eustasia spent a few more minutes filming her baby, then turned the cam’s lens on the groom, a six-hundred-pound hog named Cletus. Wearing Ray-Bans, he was outfitted in a black tux with a white insert and bow tie. When he stopped, seemingly to pose for her, Eustasia cooed, “You’re a star, aren’t you, big boy? Yes you are.”
    Eustasia had sent out a slew of wedding invitations for the event, mostly to local politicians and the state’s biggest hog farmers, but this prewedding video was destined for the Internet. She was sure it would be a sensation. “Riley?” she called out. “Any guests arrive yet?”
    He was standing up on the huge deck anchored to the back of her Texas-sized mansion.
    â€œNot yet, honey bun.”
    She ran her eyes lovingly over the man she knew as Riley Baker. He was Cletus’s owner, and had coordinated his outfit to match the hog’s, even down to the Ray-Bans, which Eustasia found quite sexy. She’d met Riley and Cletus eight months ago in the parking lot of a McDonald’s. After they moved in, Cletus took an instant liking to Chocolate and Chocolate to Cletus, so Eustasia knew it was going to be a match made in heaven. She and Riley were getting along like two hogs in a mud hole too. Life was good. She offered him up a wave and went back