“He probably knows, as well,” Shelby murmured.

Despite the pain inside, Maya joined in the laughter. She hurt everywhere. It was as if she’d been hit by a truck and then thrown off the side of a mountain. Her bones ached, her muscles were sore and her heart, well, it was nothing more than a wound. Odd how her mother had never fallen in love with anyone and yet Maya had turned out to be a one-man woman. Biology was funny that way.

She wanted to tell herself she would get over him, but she knew better. She would always love him.

As if sensing her discomfort, Sophie returned to her side and leaned against her. Maya scratched her ears.

She hoped that with time, she would hurt less. Maybe she would find someone else who made her laugh and love, but even then, there would be Del. She didn’t know why she responded so uniquely to him, but she did.

She didn’t even have the satisfaction of a breakup, she thought. Because they’d never truly been together. Not in a committed way. They’d worked together, become lovers, but had never talked about their personal relationship. Everything had happened under the umbrella of work. Even his offer for her to go with him had been work related. There hadn’t been any intimate words. No confessions. No promises.

She was as guilty as he in that, she thought. She’d never told him how she felt. Not that knowing would change anything for him. He’d made his decision based on what he knew to be true.

Larissa, a pretty blonde in yoga pants and a T-shirt, leaned toward Maya. “Want me to have Jack beat him up?” she offered. “He would. Jack isn’t the beat-up kind of guy, but he has a strong sense of fair play.”

Patience nodded. “Justice would do it, too,” she said. “He knows things.”

“We’re not going to get into a competition of whose husband or boyfriend could beat up Del the best,” Maya said. “Not that I don’t appreciate the offer.”

“We want to help however we can,” Phoebe told her. “Any suggestions?”

Make him love me back. Only that wasn’t going to happen, and she had to figure out a way to move on. She wasn’t going to be like her mom and blame everything on someone else. So her love life sucked. She could be happy in other ways. And she would find them.

“Be my friend,” she told Phoebe.

“Easy enough. I love you and I’ll be your friend forever.”

“Then I’m going to be fine.”

* * *

MAYA SAT IN Mayor Marsha’s office. She’d already handed over her letter of resignation.

“I’m sorry to be making you find someone else so quickly,” she said. “I didn’t mean to be irresponsible. I’ll stay until you find a suitable replacement, unless you’d like me to leave right away.”

Mayor Marsha sat behind her desk, her pleasant expression completely unreadable.

“You’re feeling guilty—I can see that. Well, let me be clear. There’s no need for any of that nonsense. Maya, you’ve been a joy to work with. You got Eddie and Gladys to listen, which isn’t anything I thought could happen. Now you’re ready to go do something else. If you’re happy, then the town is happy.”

Maya didn’t think happy was a word she would use to describe herself. She was more than a little hungover, and she had no idea where, exactly, she was going. But when she’d gotten up that morning, she’d known that she wasn’t going to be staying in Fool’s Gold.

“I appreciate the opportunity you’ve given me,” she said instead. “I’ve really liked working here.”

“I’m glad.” The mayor smiled. “May I ask what you’re going to do next?”

“I’m going to look for a film partner. I want to make documentaries—more educational than entertainment. Stories that are geared toward children.”

“Sounds a little like what Del will be doing,” the mayor said.

Maya wasn’t surprised she knew about that. From what she could tell, the mayor knew everything happening in her town.

“I would go in a different direction,” Maya told the other woman. “The day in the life kind of project is his, of course. But there are a lot of stories to be told. I have some contacts who work with the documentary arm of a major studio. I’ll start by talking to them.”

“You’re very talented, Maya. Anyone would be lucky to have you on their team. What about Ernesto and Robert? Will you be doing the commercials for them?”

“I don’t know. I’ve set up a meeting with them. They were unexpectedly called out of town and won’t be back until the weekend.”

By then, Maya hoped to have spoken to Del. They might not be friends anymore, but there was still a business deal on the table. Her preference was for them to do it together. If he wasn’t interested in that, she would talk to the casino owners about her doing it on her own. As she’d just quit her job, she could sure use the money.

“Do you want me to help with the candidate search?” she asked. “I could ask around, get some names.”

Mayor Marsha shook her head. “There’s no need for that. The Director of Communications position won’t be filled after you leave.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I created the job for you, Maya. You needed us and we certainly needed you. You have the cable access schedule running smoothly. You’ve created a series of wonderful videos highlighting our town. That’s what we needed.”