“I think that was it.” Mayor Cole shrugged. “Well, anyway, they were talking about investing heavily in the town and quite frankly we needed the help…”
“Still do,” Belinda muttered under her breath in a stage whisper.
“So we spent a bunch of money trying to make the town look more attractive.”
“And what happened?” Estelle asked.
“I’m not sure, really. They sent some folks out here with some fancy equipment to do some kind of testing. They drilled holes and took a bunch of soil samples from all over town and then they just disappeared.” He shrugged. “Never heard from them again… ah! Soup’s on!”
Erica emerged from the kitchen, followed by two servers carrying trays laden with bowls of steaming soup that smelled delicious.
“This is our most popular farm-to-table chicken soup. All of theingredients come from right here in town, including the meat, veggies, and herbs.” She smiled proudly.
“… and the water?” a man in a suit sitting next to Teddy, whom I recognized as a prominent Atlanta businessman, asked sardonically.
“Of course.” Erica shrugged before she returned to the kitchen, planting a kiss on the top of Derek’s head on the way.
“I still don’t know why you went ahead and changed that water!” Leonard said in a rapid outburst from the counter. Every head at our table turned in his direction. He paused for a long moment, blinking in rapid succession. “I’ve been drinking that water for sixty years, and I’m just fine.” He blinked again and his shoulders jerked, causing a few gasps at our tables.
“Leonard, sweetie, stop bothering these nice people while they’re eating their lunch.”
Leonard turned his head in Mavis’s direction and jumped when he caught sight of her.
“Mavis, when did you get here?!”
It was a Herculean effort and a kick under the table from my mother that kept me from bursting out laughing, but I was too late. Teddy had caught sight of my amused micro expression and was seething. While the occupants of our table ate our soup course—well, half of us ate while the other half politely stirred the contents of their bowls—Teddy glared at me. While our settings were cleared away, he excused himself from the table and politely demanded through clenched teeth that I join him.
“Right now?” I asked, feigning disappointment. “The salad course is next. You know how much I love goat cheese and beets.”
“Now, Emma.” He narrowed his eyes and I let out a dramatic sigh and excused myself from the table.
I followed Teddy out into the street and a few buildings away from the diner before he turned on me, pointing his finger an inch from my nose.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing, Emma?” he shouted.
“One, get your finger out of my face.” I pushed his hand away. “Two, lower your voice, and three, I have no idea what you’re talking about. I’m doing exactly what you asked me to do.”
“Maybe that new man you’re fucking is an idiot, but I’m not.” He narrowed his eyes, and I fought the urge to slap the mention of Dan out of his mouth. Instead, I crossed my arms, tilted my head, and raised my eyebrows. Our plan was working, and I couldn’t let Teddy get in my head. “I don’t know what the fuck you think you’re doing with the fucking show you’re putting on, but remember, Em: you fuck this up for me, and I have no problem putting everyone in this shithole town in federal prison, including the sheriff and his wife.” My eyes went wide with terror, and Teddy reveled in my reaction, finally having affected me. “How do you think that cute little girl would like being an orphan when her parents are serving life sentences for drug trafficking? You know members of law enforcement don’t do well behind bars.”
“You’re a fucking monster!” I screamed.
“Lower your voice, Emma,” he retorted with a smirk.
“Teddy, be sensible. Think about what you’re doing. You really want to ruin the lives of hundreds of people, for what? A job that you might not even get?”
“Might not get?” He scoffed and looked insane. “Baby, this wasordained. A Baker is going to the White House, and that Baker will be me. It could be you, too, if you fucking come to your senses.”
He was out of his mind. There was no reasoning with him. I had no doubt that if things didn’t go his way, he wouldn’t hesitate to expose everything in the town. I hoped to God the plan worked well enough to prevent that from happening.
“Teddy, I’m doing everything you asked me to. What else do you want from me?”
“I want you to sell this fucking town like your life depends on it because it does.” He pasted on a giant shit-eating grin and straightened his tie. “Now, fix your face and let’s go back inside.”
I heaved a deep breath and followed him back to the diner, praying the entire time.
After one of the most delicious meals that I’d ever eaten—though I couldn’t speak for the rest of our company—we were in a small convoy making our way to the farm. It was abundantly clear that Preston’s firm was no longer interested in having anything to do with our town, but Preston and Teddy insisted on giving them a tour of the farm. They probably hoped that the vast landscape would inspire his firm to reconsider their obvious disinterest.
So it was a shame that a sewer pipe had burst that morning and flooded the entire back hundred acres of the farm. Teddy’s mother refused to leave the limo, but Teddy wouldn’t be deterred. Ernesto offered to circumvent the wet and muddy terrain by chauffeuring the remaining intrepid members of our convoy around the farm in alarge trailer attached to the back of a tractor. Unfortunately, Ernesto couldn’t do anything about the smell or the unusually bumpy terrain.
