Triumph

Calvin Berry was having the best night of his life.

The prom that he never thought he would go to had just ended, and Calvin had been out on the floor dancing to every song.

And he’d been dancing with the hottest guy in school.

Jack Roberts.

Tall, perfect Jack Roberts with his wavy brown hair and sculpted muscles that made him look like one of those Greek statues. He was the star of the football team, the gorgeous, dreamy guy who had turned down who-knows-how-many girls to take Calvin to prom instead.

So what if Calvin’s dream date also happened to be his best friend.

That part didn’t matter. Not tonight, anyway. Tonight, it was Jack and Calvin, on a date to prom, just like Calvin had dreamed about ever since he’d been old enough to realize prom was a thing.

“I can’t believe this is really my life,” Calvin said, doing his best not to skip through the parking lot as he walked with Jack back to the limo that they had rented for the night. “I’m not ever going to forget a single minute of this night for as long as I live, I can promise you that.”

Jack grinned and slung an arm around Calvin’s shoulder, pulling him in for a half-hug that made Calvin forget where he was and what he was doing. “I had a pretty awesome time, too. I never would have thought it, but you make a pretty damn good date, Calvin.”

Calvin looked up and fixed him with a mock-glare. “You wouldn’t have thought I’d be a good date?”

“You know what I mean,” Jack said, laughing. “Only because we’re friends. You’re my buddy. I’ve never thought of you as a date before, until we started talking about going to prom together…”

Well, it at least made more sense when he said it like that. But Calvin still didn’t love the fact that Jack was throwing water on the fantasy Calvin had been busy living out all night.

“And now?” Calvin asked, because apparently, he couldn’t help himself from asking questions he already knew the answer to. “You think of me as a date?”

Jack shrugged. “Of course. You’re my date tonight, right? Tomorrow we go back to being buddies, but tonight…”

The way his voice trailed off made Calvin’s heart skip a beat. The night already had a dream-like quality to it—the way he had arrived at prom in a limo with his literal dream date. But now, with Jack’s arm around his shoulders and Jack saying all of those things about how they were dating for tonight, it really did make Calvin think for a moment that anything might be possible.

Jack stopped next to the door of the limo and opened it for Calvin but stopped him just before he could climb inside.

“Hey,” Jack said, putting a finger under Calvin’s chin and tilting his head up slightly. “You know I was just joking about not thinking you’d be a good date, right? I really do hope you’ve had a great time, and there’s honestly nobody else I would have rather come here with.”

Calvin nodded. He couldn’t speak. Couldn’t think. Couldn’t even breathe with Jack so close, with those big, intense brown eyes staring down at him and making Calvin feel like he was the only thing Jack could see.

He was close enough that Jack’s scent—that intoxicating mixture of soap, cologne, and Jack—filled Calvin’s nostrils.

“Thank you,” Calvin said, once his voice finally came back. “There’s nobody else I’d rather be here with, either.”

As if that wasn’t perfectly obvious by the way Calvin had been staring at him like a heart-eyed emoji all night.

But there was something about the way Jack was looking back at him, something about the way Jack was still holding onto Calvin’s shoulder that made him pause, made him cock his head to the side and inch a little closer.

There was something about that magical, wonderful night that made Calvin hold his breath and close his eyes and stand on his toes to reach the softest, warmest lips he’d ever felt.

Of course, they also happened to be the only lips Calvin had ever felt, but that didn’t matter because he was kissing Jack.

Kissing.

Jack.

Until suddenly he wasn’t.

“What the hell, Calvin?”

He stumbled backward and opened his eyes to see Jack looking at him with a mixture of horror and shock.

“I… I…” Calvin fumbled over the words as he tried to figure out what had just happened. What had he done? Had he really just tried to make out with his best friend? With Jack? What had he been thinking?

“Look, man,” Jack shook his head as his eyes darted around the parking lot before settling on Calvin again. “I don’t… I’m not… It’s not like that between us, okay?”

“Right. Okay,” Calvin nodded frantically, taking a step forward but stopping again when Jack put up a hand. “I’m sorry, Jack. I didn’t mean to do that. I don’t even know—”

“It’s fine,” Jack said, cutting him off with a look that said it clearly wasn’t fine. “Don’t worry about it, okay? Just… just please get in the car.”

“Okay,” Calvin said, scrambling through the open door an instant before Jack closed it behind him. Calvin reached for the door handle and opened it again, his voice shaking as he peered out to where Jack was still standing. “Are you, um… are you coming?”

Jack shook his head. “You can go on without me. I’ll catch a ride later.” He gave Calvin a hard look, then took a deep breath, his tone softening just a little. “Look, it’s fine. We’re good. I just need some time to think. Okay?”

“Sure,” Calvin said, doing his best to sound like he wasn’t about to cry. “Of course. I’ll, um… talk to you later.”

“Later,” Jack echoed, then turned and walked away.

For several long seconds, Calvin sat there, watching Jack walk back across the mostly-empty parking lot, hoping he’d turn around or at least look over his shoulder and give some sign, some indication that things really were okay between them.

But that never happened.

“You ready, kid?” the limo driver called from the front seat.

“Yeah,” Calvin said, but his voice was so low he couldn’t be sure the man had heard him.

Whatever. It didn’t matter.

Calvin had just tried—no, not tried—had just kissed his best friend. His straight best friend.

He’d never seen that look on Jack’s face before. That shocked, scared, disappointed look. Calvin hoped he’d never see that look again.

But the way Jack had walked away without looking back made Calvin think that probably wouldn’t be an issue.

Deep down, in the pit of his stomach, Calvin was pretty sure his friendship was over.

He had ruined it.

On the best night of his life.

With just one kiss.

Calvin Berry looked around the crowded town hall meeting room. He had been to a couple of city council meetings before, but he’d never seen this many people packed into the room before.

It seemed like the whole town was there, with the other owners of the businesses that lined Main Street on the front row along with Calvin. He’d spoken with most of them over the past few days and he knew that they would at least back him up when it came time for him to speak to the council members.

Well, most of them would back him up, at least.

It was hard not to notice that Trenton Lewis, the owner of Topped Up, one of the two coffee shops on Main Street, was standing off to the side, talking to one of the more conservative members of the council.

Just like it was hard not to notice that they both kept glancing over at Calvin and frowning.

But whatever. Calvin wasn’t there to make friends, necessarily. He was there to make a point.

And a plea.

Gage, the muscle-bound owner of the gym next door to Calvin’s bookstore leaned over and whispered, “Don’t look now, but Trenton is giving you the stink eye.”

“I’ve noticed.” Calvin grimaced and did his best not to look in Trenton’s direction again. And okay, that was a fail, because he did look again just in time to see Trenton laugh and roll his eyes. “Do you think they’ll actually listen to him and get rid of the ordinance?”

“No, not a chance.” Gage shook his head. “Not once they hear all of your good reasons for why they should keep it. Besides, that guy is the worst.” Gage’s big arm muscles flexed at the words. “I’d like to just walk over there and scare the hell out of him.”

Calvin snorted. Because while Gage could objectively look intimidating, everyone in town knew he was a gentle giant who was more likely to catch someone in a bear hug than do anything else.

Still, if Calvin was being honest, the idea of seeing Gage snarl at Trenton did hold a certain appeal.

But it was the other part of what Gage had said that was currently setting off alarm bells in Calvin’s head.

Calvin swallowed hard and tried to smile, tried to pretend like Gage’s words hadn’t set off all the alarms in his head that he’d so far been doing his best to ignore.

Even though the decision to repeal the ordinance that kept big businesses out of Silver Lake in favor of smaller, locally-owned shops was ultimately up to the town council, Calvin knew that the other business owners in town were really counting on him to make their case tonight.

He wasn’t exactly sure how he’d become their de facto spokesperson, but it had somehow turned out that way.

Now he just had to try his best not to let everyone down.

Everyone around them was starting to settle in, and Calvin checked his watch. The meeting would start in three minutes.

Oh, God oh, God.

His hands were starting to sweat. Did he look as nervous as he felt? Could anyone else in the room see that there were a million doubts racing through his mind? That his stomach was clenched so tightly he was in serious danger of throwing up right then and there?

“I think it’s starting,” Gage stage-whispered, giving Calvin an expectant look. “Try not to be nervous!”

Calvin did his best to respond with a smile rather than a glare. “Nothing to be nervous about, right? I’m just going to state the facts. They can’t really argue with the facts… right?”

“That’s right. You’ve got this.”

Gage at least sounded confident in Calvin’s powers of persuasion. So that was… something.

Then again, Calvin had never known his friend to not be optimistic. Hopefully his faith in Calvin tonight wasn’t misplaced.

“Okay, folks,” Jim Leslie, the long-time mayor of Silver Lake, cleared his throat and struck his gavel on the table in front of him. “We’ve got a lot of ground to cover tonight, so let’s try to stay on task.” He gave the assembled crowd a stern look. “That means no outbursts, no matter what your opinions on the topic may be. Everyone who wishes to speak should have signed up beforehand, and those people will all have a chance to be heard.”

A ripple of tension went through the crowd. Everyone knew this was going to be a contentious meeting. At stake was the opportunity for some big businesses to get a foothold in Silver Lake, something they’d been eager to do for years.

Calvin represented the last best hope for the local business owners to keep them out, to preserve the tight-knit and inclusive character of the town that Calvin and a growing number of residents had spent the last decade developing.

Still, as divisive as the council’s agenda might be, nobody was going to challenge Jim’s authority over the room. There might be some grumbling and whispers, but Calvin had no doubt the burly old mayor would keep both sides in line.

“Let’s get started,” Jim intoned. “We’ll recognize Trenton Lewis to speak first for five minutes.”

Calvin faced straight ahead as Trenton swept by. He could feel the man’s eyes on him for a moment and was really glad that old saying about looks being able to kill wasn’t actually true.

Next to him, Gage sucked in a sharp breath. “Man, that guy just burns me up. Did you see the way he was trying to stare you down?”

Calvin gave a half shrug. “Let him stare. It’s gonna take more than that to throw me off my game.”

“Hell yeah,” Gage nudged him hard enough to make Calvin nearly fall out of his chair. “That’s the kind of talk I like to hear.”

Even though Calvin really wasn’t that confident in what he was doing, he wasn’t about to give Trenton the satisfaction of thinking he had the upper hand. Calvin’s opinions were just as valid as anyone else’s in the room, and hopefully what he lacked in self-confidence he could make up with logic and common sense.

“Thank you, Jim,” Trenton said, flashing a big smile to the mayor and council members. “And good evening to everyone. I appreciate getting the opportunity to speak tonight, and I can tell just by looking around the room that everyone here must realize how important this city council meeting will be for our little town. We have an opportunity tonight to really change things here. We can take Silver Lake to new heights—great heights…” His voice trailed off as he looked around the room. “But some changes will have to be made. Easy, simple changes, in my opinion. But there will be people tonight who will try to convince you otherwise. If they get their way, Silver Lake will remain stuck in the past, outdated and forgotten, just like it has been for decades.”

Calvin frowned, then barely resisted rolling his eyes when Trenton turned and looked directly at him.

Okay, so maybe he rolled his eyes just a little.

But come on. Really?

Trenton was doing his best to turn everything Calvin was about to say on its head, to make him seem old-fashioned and out of touch when all he wanted to do was to keep fostering the spirit of community and inclusiveness that had been growing in Silver Lake.

That couldn’t be a bad thing, right?

“So I ask everyone here tonight,” Trenton continued, “to think of the jobs that will be created when we lift this oppressive ordinance, when we start welcoming businesses into our town rather than doing our best to keep them out. If we want to keep jobs here and keep people happy, the choice is clear. Repeal the ordinance.”

There was more applause than Calvin would have liked as Trenton walked back to his seat with his head held high and that smug smile firmly in place. It was difficult to tell if Trenton’s speech swayed any opinions on the council, but Calvin already knew that public opinion was pretty evenly divided.

He could only hope that there would be enough votes in favor of keeping the ordinance in place once he was finished speaking.

“Thank you, Trenton,” Jim said, then turned his attention toward Calvin. “Next up is Calvin Berry. Calvin, you’ll have five minutes to speak.”

If Jim was leaning one way or another, it was impossible to tell from his face or from the way he had addressed either man.

Which was… good? Maybe?

Maybe it meant that he hadn’t made his mind up one way or another, that he would really listen to each side before making his opinion known.

Maybe the other members of the city council would follow his lead and truly consider everything Calvin was about to say.

“Don’t worry, buddy,” Gage whispered, clapping Calvin on the back as he stood up. “You’ve got this. We’re all behind you.”

Way behind, unfortunately.

It was Calvin’s name and reputation that were on the line as he walked up to the microphone, after all. It was Calvin who was going to be the person everyone else in town—and Trenton, especially—associated with the other side.

“Thank you,” Calvin said, flinching a little as the microphone squealed. “I’m sure it’s no secret that I look at things a little differently than Trenton. That doesn’t mean I think his ideas are without merit, though.” Calvin stole a quick glance in Trenton’s direction. Trenton was still trying to stare a hole through him. No change there. “I understand that we need more jobs and more growth in Silver Lake. I think we all deserve to have a town that is thriving and vibrant, inclusive and diverse. I’m proud of the fact that we’ve made a lot of progress in that direction over the past few years, but I’ll be the first to admit that we have a long way to go.”

He cleared his throat and took another look around the room. If his words had had any effect at all, Calvin couldn’t tell. He might as well have been talking to a room full of statues.

At least they weren’t jeering and throwing things at him.

Yet.

“Historically,” Calvin continued, “we’ve kept this ordinance in place not because anyone in town has a problem with businesses or is anti-jobs, but because we want to preserve the feel of the community, the soul of the town. Big box stores and fast food joints are convenient, sure, but let’s think of what will happen if we lift the ordinance. There will be more jobs in the short-term, absolutely. They’ll pay minimum wage and require long hours with no benefits. But the jobs will be available to people who want them. Except what happens when a big box bookstore with fifteen thousand square feet of floor space and a shiny new cafe opens up on the other side of town? Not only does it take business away from my store, but the two coffee shops in town will undoubtedly take a hit, too.” Calvin turned toward Trenton. “That includes yours, I’m afraid.”

Trenton sighed heavily and shook his head. Calvin’s words were clearly going to be lost on him.

But that was okay. It was the general public and the voting members of the council that Calvin was hoping to reach.

He looked at the big clock above Jim’s head. Two more minutes. He had to wrap this up and drive home his point in a clear, concise way.

“So I’d like everyone to think of a future where the shops along Main Street don’t exist anymore,” Calvin said. “Instead, the jobs and the traffic will have moved out to the big box stores. These beautiful, historic Main Street buildings will fall into disrepair. Property values will drop. The soul of the town will fade and die.” He did his best to make eye contact with every council member sitting in front of him. Still, it was hard to tell if his words were having any effect at all. “I know it might sound bleak or even melodramatic,” Calvin tried to ignore the suspiciously loud cough that came from Trenton’s direction. “But you only have to look to countless other small towns across the state to see what happens when these big corporations start to take over. It’s heartbreaking, in my opinion. So I propose that we leave the ordinance in place for now.” He paused and noticed with satisfaction that several eyebrows shot up at his last words. “Give me a year to prove that we can add more jobs and bring in more visitors, that we can save our town… just three hundred and sixty-five days. And then, if things haven’t noticeably improved, I’ll stand by without arguing when it comes time to revisit this ordinance.”

“Your time is up, Calvin.” Jim nodded toward his seat. “Thank you for sharing your thoughts.”

“Thank you, Jim,” Calvin said, hoping the smile he flashed the mayor was a winning one. “I hope you’ll all consider my proposal.”

“I think it deserves a vote,” Jim said. “You’ve both made some good points, but I think proceeding with caution while we weigh the pros and cons of repealing the ordinance can only be in the town’s best interest. I’d be willing to table consideration of repealing the ordinance in question for nine months, which should give you plenty of time to show real examples of the progress you’ve mentioned, Calvin.”

Nine months was definitely not a year, and if Calvin was being honest, he wasn’t even sure a year would be enough time. Still, it was a lot better than nothing, and Calvin wasn’t going to push his luck now.

“Absolutely,” Calvin nodded enthusiastically as he walked back to his seat. “We can make that happen, Jim.”

“Just a minute,” Trenton said, rising to his feet. “That’s not the way this is supposed to work.” He pointed a finger at Calvin. “You’re not seriously going to let him waltz in here and sell you on some kind of fairy tale, are you? Silver Lake needs help now. Not a year from now. Not nine months from now.”

There were several people who nodded and voiced their support for what Trenton was saying, but Jim cut them all off with several loud bangs of his gavel.

“Order. Order. There will be order in this room.” Jim frowned and shot Trenton a stern look. “Even if we repealed the ordinance tonight, it would take time to get outside businesses to set up shop in Silver Lake. Permits, planning, construction—that all takes time. Nothing will happen overnight no matter what we decide here. But this ordinance was put on the books for a reason, and I think it’s important that we allow a little time to see what Calvin has up his sleeve before upending the way we’ve done things for decades.” Without waiting for another outburst from Trenton, Jim looked around to the other council members. “Let’s vote. All in favor of giving Calvin nine months to show us what he can do?”

Four council members raised their hands and called out in favor.

“All opposed?”

Three council members raised their hands.

“The ayes have it.” Jim struck his gavel and looked directly at Calvin. “You have nine months until we bring this topic up again. I hope you can prove to this council that we were justified in waiting.”

Trenton huffed out an angry breath and stalked out of the room, followed by half a dozen other men and women.

“I can,” Calvin said, suddenly aware that every pair of eyes in the room was on him. “I will, Jim. Thank you for the opportunity.”

“Very well.” Jim struck his gavel again. “We’ll adjourn for five minutes before discussing the next item on the agenda.”

Everyone around Calvin got up and started moving, several walking by to offer their congratulations or just a friendly smile.

“You did it,” Gage said, grinning widely as he pulled Calvin in for a half-hug. “I knew you would. You know I’m down to help in whatever way you need me to. I can stop by the shop tomorrow to talk about your plan. I’m dying to know the details.”

Calvin swallowed hard and did his best to smile as he nodded in agreement.

Details?

He’d won some time. It was exactly the outcome Calvin had hoped for.

Except now he had to deal with another, possibly bigger problem.

He had absolutely no idea what he was going to do.

Calvin was in way over his head, and it was just a matter of time before that fact became apparent to everyone else in town.