“Fantastic. Can’t wait.” The guy was an asshole, and I hated dealing with him, but I might not have a choice.
“Look, Sheriff, when we had the town hall meeting, everyone was excited about the shopping center.”
I glanced around at the growing number of Starlight Cove residents, some with handmade signs that said some variance ofStop the Development. “I’m not sure everyone feels that way now.”
“Unfortunately, that’s not how things work. What’s done is done. The deal’s already been made. The land’s been sold, and we’ve approved the plans. Holton Group is only unable to move forward right now because of the paperworkyourushed through.”
“Paperwork I rushed through on behalf of a concerned citizen. I’m doing my job.”
“Do it better.”
I gritted my teeth against the words that wanted to spill out, this constant pressure in my chest making it hard to think. Iwasdoing my goddamn job, but what was I supposed to do when they all conflicted with one another? Right now, I couldn’t be the sheriff of Starlight Cove, the patriarch of the McKenzie family, and Luna’s…whatever the hell I was to her, without disappointing one or more.
Her tone softened as she said, “I appreciate what you’ve done for this town, Sheriff, but we’ve got a long way to go. Everyone will be on board when they realize how convenient the new store will be. No need to run to five different places. Just remind everyone of that, of why they wanted it in the first place. And then shut down whatever nonsense is happening over there.”
I ground my teeth together, frustration making my words too harsh as I said, “I can’t just shut it down. That’s not how things work. There’s nothing illegal going on. Right now, the only person on the Williamsons’ property is Harper, and she’s with the press. All the residents are clumped on the resort side, so it doesn’t matter if Holton Group is on their way or not. They can’t charge anyone with trespassing.”
“They can’t, butyoucan. That’s your family’s property. Yourmom’slegacy,” she said, enunciating the words like they hadn’t been a constant litany in my head already. “I thought you loved this town as much as she did.”
Her words had the effect she’d no doubt intended, slicing straight through to my heart. My mom had given Levi his love for sailing, Aiden his love for the resort, Ford his love for building, Beck his love for cooking, and Addison her love for flowers. But she’d given me my love for this town.
I glanced up, spying a car as it rolled to a slow stop near the road, and out ran Luna, tossing money through the opened driver’s side window. My heart seized at the sight. Her hair was in disarray, pillow creases still marring her cheek, as she frantically scanned the crowd. For what or whom, I didn’t know.
God, I was furious with her. Furious she’d done what she’d done and hadn’t talked to me about it. Warned me, at least. Furious she’d put the resort’s future in jeopardy. And furious with myself that I’d fallen for her in the first place.
I cleared my throat. “I do love this town. And the residents.” One spitfire of a woman in particular, but I didn’t need to share that with the mayor.
“Then fix this.” With that, she hung up, and I was left staring at the pain in my ass I’d somehow fallen head over heels in love with and wondering what the fuck was the right thing to do.
CHAPTERTWENTY
LUNA
My stomach wasin knots as I rode in the back seat of some rando’s car. Okay, so he wasn’t a total rando. His name was Arthur, and he seemed very nice. The vehicle was clean enough, with a ripped notebook page taped to the inside corner of the windshield that said simply NON-UBER in shaky blue marker. He was a tiny man who looked old enough to have been around when dinosaurs roamed the earth, and he couldn’t have been driving more than twenty miles an hour. But considering he was the one and only non-Uber driver in town, I didn’t have much of a choice. Not when my van was in the shop and Brady had stormed out of his house without a word or a backward glance.
“I hear there’s a big to-do out there on the Williamsons’ property,” Arthur said as we crawled through town, stopping for a solid ten seconds at each of the two empty intersections we’d come across. “Something about puppies being chained to the trees without food or water for days on end?”
I rolled my eyes, knowing that was just Mabel’s embellishment of the situation—what situation, I didn’t know, but I was about ninety-five percent sure it didn’t involve puppies. “Don’t believe everything you hear on Facebook, Arthur,” I muttered, dialing Brady again, though I knew it’d be in vain.
I’d tried calling him twelve times, and he’d ignored all twelve calls. I needed to tell him I didn’t know what the hell my parents were doing in Starlight Cove, why they’d shown up at the Williamsons’ property, or why Mabel was with them, just that I didn’t have anything to do with it. I’d kept my end of the deal…a deal I wasn’t so sure I should’ve made in the first place.
I wasn’t fighting for something frivolous here. I was fighting for what I believed in, and I’d set that aside for him. There was no denying that we had a fundamental difference of opinion on most things. Brady wanted me quiet and compliant…even if just for a while. But wasn’t that exactly what everyone wanted from me?
Just be a little less loud, a little less opinionated, a little less blunt, a little less bubbly or vivacious or dramatic. Just. Be. Less.
I’d thought it had been different with Brady, but hadn’t he been trying to do the same thing the entire time we’d known each other? Hadn’t he been trying to force me into a perfect little box and behave?
That wasn’t who I was, and it wasn’t who I wanted to be. Not even for him. Not even for the man who’d stolen my heart and held it hostage in his stoic hands.
I still believed in everything I’d been protesting—to prevent Holton Group from razing twenty acres of wildlife just for a shopping center the town didn’t need in the first place—but I didn’t want it to come at the expense of Brady and his family.
That didn’t change that this wasn’t the right choice for Starlight Cove and all the people in it—Brady’s family included. But all he saw was black-and-white. Good or bad. Wrong or right. He couldn’t see into the shades of gray where most things lived, this included. While, yes, the development may have been good in the short-term, people would suffer in the long-term. In ten years, this town wouldn’t hold any of its original charm. The family-owned businesses would be gone, eradicated by one large conglomerate.
And I knew him well enough to know he wouldn’t want that.
“Here we are,” Arthur said, pulling up alongside a cluster of cars.
I barely waited until he’d come to a complete stop before I jumped out. Not being actually affiliated with any of the rideshare apps meant he took only cash, so I tossed some bills his way before I dashed to the small but growing crowd of people. I needed to find Brady. Needed to tell him he’d jumped to the wrong conclusion while also convincing him this wasn’t the awful endeavor he thought it was. Convincing him to listen to his heart instead of his head.
