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‘Dear Bookish Heart, sometimes you don’t have to wait for your significant other to take the initiative but take matters into your own hands instead. You know he wants to go on that trip just as much as you do, but has been putting it off. So simply tell him that if he doesn’t want to go withyou, you’ll ask a friend to accompany you on this trip. And by sheer magic you’ll find that all of his commitments will suddenly melt away, and that he’ll be more than happy to follow you to the ends of the world and beyond.’

Smiling, Marge then typed a message to her husband.‘Just booked a ten-day vacation in Europe for me and Odelia. Hope you don’t mind.’

It didn’t even take five seconds for her phone to start ringing. It was Tex.

Mayor Butterwick wasn’t the kind of person who sat perusing the internet on a constant basis. She had too much work on her plate for that. So it was one of her secretaries who actually alerted her of the fact that there was something on theGazette website that might be of interest to her.

Expecting it to be news of a more political nature, her eye was soon drawn to a particular piece of writing that was addressed to‘Timid Heart.’ Stunned, she read on, and half expected it to be another harangue about her preventing Alec from rising to his rightful position as Hampton Cove’s next mayor. Instead, it was something completely different.

‘Dear Timid Heart, if in love you took initiative as easily and decisively as in life or your political career, you would have acted on those instincts about your colleague a long time ago. Yes, he likes you back. How could he not? You’re beautiful, smart, successful, and kind. So take the plunge and ask him out on a date already, will you? This is the twenty-first century, for crying out loud. Women can make the first move.’

She sat back, stunned, then a slow smile spread across her features, and she got up to look out the window. Out of habit, her eyes were immediately drawn to a certain window where a certain man spent his days doing his job.

Should she? Or shouldn’t she? Mh…

And as she narrowed her eyes, she noticed that the man’s office was empty, and so was his chair. Probably out fighting crime, and a warm feeling spread through her chest at the thought of Alec walking the streets, keeping people safe and making sure Hampton Cove was the safest community for miles around. How she admired him for it.

A knock at the door took her out of her daydream, and she immediately rearranged her features into her professional‘Madam Mayor’ face.

“Yes!” she called out.

The door swung open, and a large bouquet of flowers appeared. Then, as the bouquet lowered, a face became visible: it was none other than Alec Lip himself, not fighting crime, but delivering flowers to his boss.

“Chief!” she said, her heart skipping a beat. “What’s going on?”

“These are for you, Madam Mayor,” the Chief said as he hesitatingly stepped into the room and haltingly launched into his speech. “I just figured… I just thought… Well, you do such a great job, day in and day out, to keep this town running… that I figured…”

“Well,” she said, admiring the gorgeous selection. “Just, um, put them on that table over there, will you?” She took a whiff and smiled. They smelled delicious.

The bouquet placed down, they both stood staring at it for a moment, lost for words. Then finally the Chief said,“Actually there’s something…”

“… something I wanted to say…” she said simultaneously, then smiled, and added, “You go first.”

“No, please, by all means…”

“I just wanted to know if, um…”

“The thing is,” said the Chief, clearing his throat and inserting a finger between his collar and his reddening neck, “… that, um…”

“I’ve been thinking that, um…”

“You were thinking…” he said, a hopeful look in his eyes.

She swallowed, and felt heat rising to her cheeks. Oh, for God’s sake, she thought. She was a grown-ass woman. Why couldn’t she simply… “I was thinking that maybe…”

“Would you like to have dinner with me?” suddenly the Chief blurted out. “I mean, if it’s convenient and appropriate and… if you have the time… we could discuss… stuff.”

“Yes, of course,” she said, blinking. “Hampton Cove stuff, and…”

“… other… stuff…”

They stared at each other for a beat, then suddenly the Chief closed the distance between them with a single step, and then they were kissing, and she was melting into his arms, and a sigh escaped her throat, and it was… oh, so wonderful.

When they finally broke the kiss, Alec was looking a little rumpled, and her glasses were askew, and steamed up, too, and he said, haltingly,“I like you, Charlene. And I thought that maybe… you like me, too, so…”

“I do like you, Alec,” she said with a smile. And when five minutes later Charlene’s secretary walked in on them, they were still kissing.

Crap, she thought. Soon the word would be all over town. Oddly enough, she didn’t mind one bit. And after Alec had left, and as she was reading Gabi’s column again, her eye was drawn to another message the advice columnist had written.