I leaned closer to him and kept my voice low. “Trevor,” I hissed. “What is going on? Where’s the affordable housing initiative?”
He rolled his eyes, reached over me to the map, and pointed to a small square at the back of the development without a word.
“But that’s…” I lifted the paper and squinted. “A fourplex?” My voice rose higher than intended. “There were meant to be forty?—”
“Ssh!” The woman quieted me again, and I sat back in my seat.
I stared at the papers in my lap. Trevor was right; they’d made all the changes the committee requested. There was no reason it wouldn’t be approved based on that criteria. And it had been the only criterion presented to them. He’d done what he’d committed to doing.
Only, he’d done it in the smarmiest, most underhanded way possible. Worse, there was no way he’d pulled this off at the last minute. It had been planned. He’d played me for a fool.
He’d always been forthcoming about how the next phase of Timberstone would be estate homes that would appeal to a higher tax bracket. He used to tell me how the real money in development was in the big lots.
But we’d agreed…I thought we’d agreed…affordable housing was a priority. It was meant to be the cornerstone of the entire development, and now…
At the front of the room, Tilley banged her gavel. “Our next agenda item is one that I’m proud to have been personally involved in myself.” She beamed from her place on stage, but she had no idea what was about to happen, and how we’d been completely hoodwinked.
It was never about the trail access or the impact on the environment.
I stared at my ex-fiancé. The whole thing had been a bait and switch.
In every sense of the word.
Preston
I didn’t want to go to the meeting. There was no point, considering I already knew the outcome.
But Grayson had a point. I was being stubborn and idiotic. Not just about Jess—but definitely about Jess—but about everything else, too. I needed to get my head out of my ass and come to grips with the fact that progress wasn’t always a bad thing.
Affordable housingwasgood for our town. Just because I didn’t fully agree with how it was going to happen didn’t mean it wasn’t beneficial.
I’d never been an obstinate or stubborn man. That was Reid’s job. But when it came to Jess, it seemed that all bets were off.
But it wasn’t who I was, despite recent indications. And I definitely wasn’t who I wanted to be.
It was time to change that.
The town hall was already full by the time I arrived, but Grayson had been watching for my arrival and waved me over to where he and Harper, along with the rest of the family, sat.
He’d saved me a seat between himself and Avery. Summitplopped down at our feet, angling himself to get head scratches from my sister-in-law. He was a smart puppy.
“Hey.” I still owed my brothers an apology. “About the other night. I?—”
“We’re good.” Brody cut me off. “You’ve got a lot going on.”
“Still, I shouldn’t?—”
“No.” Reid stopped me. “But we’ve all been there. You’re good.” He shook his head, crossed his arms, and turned away, indicating the end of the discussion.
I rubbed my chin in an effort to hide my grin. They could be a pain in the ass sometimes, to be sure, but a guy couldn’t ask for better brothers.
“He’s going to be too big soon to take him everywhere.” Ethan gestured to the dog, who’d managed to wiggle his way down the row to get pets from Delaney as well.
“Nah. He’ll be all right.” I had to admit, the little guy was growing pretty quickly. But he was already my favorite adventure buddy.
Not that I wouldn’t like another adventure buddy, too.
As if the mere thought of her had conjured her, I turned to see Jess rush in through the door. She looked frazzled, like she was running late. She scanned the room for a seat. My stomach turned, my jaw clenching tight when I saw the one empty seat she moved toward.
