“Thirdly, the noise has got to stop.”
And by noise, she means saws and other tools.“We only work between eight in the morning and five in the evening.The city council said—”
“I’ll be speaking with the council.Believe me.”
“I’ve no doubt.”The two of us stare into each other’s eyes, but I blink first because I’m pretty sure hers gleamed red for a split second.
I could be wrong, but perhaps the rumors are true.She reallyisa witch.
Okay.Not literally.At least not that I know of.I wouldn’t put it past her to conjure up an evil spell now and then, however.What I mean is, she’s the town b-i-t-c-h.She’s into everyone’s business, literally and figuratively.She’s got more money than she knows what to do with and she uses that to get her way.She owns half the town, for sure.She mentioned her “rental property” like she’s got the one.She’s got twenty, at least.I’ve never actually counted, but she owns most of the rental houses and several buildings downtown.Not to mention she’s got a huge house of her own and about 250 acres of farmland she leases outside of town.
She owns a lot of Zodiac Hills.I’m pretty sure her plan is, or was, to own everything.To achieve total domination of our town.
Except she can’t buy me.
And that frustrates her.
Kind of like the remote does to my dad.
I beat her to the Little house.I outbid her, which was probably not a wise financial move on my part, since I put every cent I had into it buying it.So much so, there’s no wiggle room, no contingency plan if something catastrophic happens.But I knew Mona wanted it, and since the bids were sealed, I went for it, paying over asking and probably over the value.But I had the cash, and I knew this house belonged with me.The rest is history.
Rumor has it she called the Little family lawyer to ask what my bid was, but their lawyer wouldn’t tell her.
Thank goodness.
I’ll never regret doing it, though.As I said before, buying the Little house was a dream of mine.And that dream came true.
It’s good one of them did.
“I’ll see you tonight.”She turns and leaves the house, slamming the door behind her.
I turn to my dad.“Tonight?”
“City council meeting.”
“Crap on a cracker.I hate the city council meetings.”
“I’ll go with you.”
Nodding, I attempt a smile.“Thanks.I could use your support.”
“Get Bella there too.And anyone else who’s available.”
“I’ll send up the Bat-Signal.”
Dad rolls his eyes and turns toward the kitchen.“We’d better eat a sandwich and head out.Meeting’ll start in forty-five minutes.”
I look at the clock and realize I must’ve been working on my drawing upstairs for over an hour.“Right.”Jogging back up the stairs, I quickly change into a clean pair of jeans and a simple top.Looking into the mirror, I contemplate redoing my hair, but it doesn’t look terrible.Forget makeup.I’d rather eat than bother with that.
In no time, Dad and I’ve got food in hand as we slide into my truck.“I need you to start, please,” I say to my truck, with my mouth full of bologna sandwich.When I press in the clutch and turn the key, I smile when she turns right over.
“Better get the lead out.You know damn well she’ll go first even though she’s not on the agenda.”
I side-eye my dad.“She’s permanently on the agenda, Dad.She’s got complaints about something every time they meet.”
“True.”Dad makes a tsking sound.“Poor woman.”
“Poor woman?”I squeak.“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
