“Hey, Danica,” Ivy Ledger said, sidling up beside me as we all filed in to go hear the verdict about Bonn Remmen’s land.
I gave her a small smile.“Hey, Ivy.How are you?”
She let out a deep sigh.“Nervous.Glad this will finally be over, one way or another.”
Nodding, I shyly thanked Clint McEvoy for holding open the door.“Yeah, us too.”
“Myla is at home with all the kids.So hopefully this doesn’t take too long.She’s the only one of us without kids, and while she loves all her nieces and nephews, she’s significantly outnumbered, six to one.”
I blanched.“Oh jeez.Hopefully, she can use some of that police officer authority to keep them in line.”
Ivy barked out a laugh.“Her police authority carries no weight with those kids, I’m afraid.”
I snickered and smiled again as I followed Gabrielle and my other cousins off to one side.
The McEvoys stood beside us, Jagger and Raina holding hands as they literally bridged the gap between our two families.Then the four distillery dads, beside them the cider sisters, and … where was the mysterious fifth party?
It seemed we were all wondering the same thing.Heads swiveled and eyes darted around the conference room as we stood there in front of the two empty tables with chairs behind them.
Bennett McEvoy glanced at his watch.“For old hippies who dance naked under the full moon, they’re certainly drumming up the suspense.”
I checked my phone.It was now eight fifty-five.
The door behind the tables opened, and one by one, eight Island Elders filtered out—slowly—and took a seat on one side of the table.Hattie Granger, with her flowy multicolored skirts and long, gray hair in twin braids, sat in the center with the gavel in front of her.Abe Jefferies sat on her right with Keturah Katz on her left.
Sunflower Patrick pulled a manila envelope out of her patchwork shoulder bag and handed it to Hattie.None of them said anything.
However, as my gaze flitted across each of their faces, my pulse picked up tempo and my palms grew sweaty.Each of them—except for one—wore a blank, unreadable mask.I zeroed in on Jolene Dandy, also known as The Island Mouth, as her coppery-brown eyes glittered with excitement.Under the table, her leg bounced, and when she caught me looking at her, her smile widened.
Did that mean something?
Cameron Arendelle at the end of the distillery dad group caught my attention and offered me a friendly wave.I gave one back, which earned me a gentle elbow to the ribs from Naomi.
“What’s that about?”she whispered out of the side of her mouth.
“Nothing,” I replied the same way.“We’re just friends.”
“Sure.”
I elbowed her back and made a point ofnotlooking in Cameron’s direction again.
“We’ll give the last party another minute to arrive,” Hattie said, her voice scratchy as her bony hands trembled a little when they reached into the manila envelope and pulled out a stack of papers.
The sound of the front door of the community center banging closed echoed down the hallway toward all of us, and every single head turned halfway around, facing the open conference room door.
Footsteps down the corridor preceded the latest arrival.
The mysterious fifth interested party in Bonn Remmen’s land, and quite possibly, the winner of it.
My heart crawled up my throat until my entire pulse felt like it was trapped in my neck.
“Ah, Mr.Barone,” Hattie said just as the most handsome silver fox came cruising around the corner.Now my pulse thrummed, hot and heavy for a different reason.
“That’s the guy who performed CPR on that kid last summer at the school funfair,” Naomi murmured.“Who is he?”
Tommaso Barone.
I forgot to Google him when I got home from Sam’s appointment with the nurse practitioner, and now I wished I hadn’t.Thatwas the man who owned the animal rescue center?Mr.Moneybags Superstar Soccer Player Ultimate Recluse?
