You'd been working at a nursery for several months now, and the babies all seemed to have an affinity with you. In your small town, you'd gained a reputation for soothing even the worst of children. You'd recently gotten a new child named Laurie, a sweet, adorable infant who was hardly three months old. He was shy and often lost in his own world. He was also incredibly attached to you, always crying when you left to tend to another child.

"Did you see his father?" One of your co-workers gushed with you. Frowning, you looked at the doors of the nursery, where Mayor Parker Remington walked through. His tall build was framed in the evening light, his tattoos exposed, his suit stretched taut over his skin. He looked around for Laurie, who was clinging to your leg, babbling.