“No,” she replies, shaking her head. “With her, I don’t think it’s a case of social anxiety, I think it’s more along the lines of the bullying she was dealing with had her closing in on herself. Her trust in adults far exceeds that of kids. Unless it’s family.” Jersey looks down at little G after forming that comparison, making crook-eyed faces at him which has him giggling.
“Daycare duty?” I ask, nodding my head from her to him.
“Yeah, his mom had to do some work and Icer is on some sort of errand, so I got to keep him with me.” She never looks away from him while speaking with me, longing in her eyes.
I feel a story there, but it’s not my business to pry so I dismiss my curiosity and instead, turn back around and watch Elodie. “Are you only looking for bugs, Ellie?”
“Not nessassailily,” she answers, massacring the word.
This time, I’m the one to correct her, “Necessarily.”
“That’s a hard one,” she grumbles, tossing her stick in a fit of anger.
“That’s another thing we’re dealing with. She gets aggravated and tosses the closest thing to her. We’re working on healthierways to handle upsetting things.” After she informs me of that, she swings back to our despondent girl and asks, “Do you need to walk it off, Elodie?”
“No,” Elodie responds, a dramatic sigh following it. “I just don’t understand why words have to be so hard to say.”
“Life isn’t easy, Ellie,” I tell her, figuring it’s not too early and she’s not too young for me to impart some words of wisdom. “But when you struggle, and we help you, listen to us and know that we aren’t trying to upset you, we want what’s best for you.”
“Thank you, Uncle Star,” she says, still sounding defeated.
Wanting to lighten her mood and bring the sparkle back to her eye, I lean down and whisper, “Wanna know what I saw earlier today?”
“What?” she leans in and asks, her voice just as low as mine was.
“A tickle monster and he sprinkled some dust on me! Now, all I want to do is tickle little girls,” I excitedly express, reaching down and tickling her ribcage.
She wiggles in my arms and eventually frees herself, running to Jersey and hiding behind her. “Go wash that dust off, Uncle Star!”
I chased Elodie around a bit, until I got tired and decided to part ways with the trio and let Jersey continue with her lesson. As I stroll back into the clubhouse, Riptide is standing there, eyes on the floor. “What’d I miss now?” I groan.
“Nothing,” he replies, waving me away.
“It’s something or you wouldn’t be staring at the ground like that,” I point out.
He stomps his foot and lifts his head, the glare on his face has me ready to retreat. Rip doesn’t lose his temper often, but when he does, it’s all hands on deck. Otherwise, the town will burn down around him if we’re not there with water to put the fire out. “The bank turned down our loan request for the new businesses.”
“What? Why?” I ask, not understanding. “We have the capital, our credit is there, so what’s their reasoning for the denial?”
“Nothing that makes a lick of sense,” he grumbles. “We’re going to have to go out of Canton if we want to find some financing.”
“Need to go to a bigger bank if you don’t want them influenced by the town council,” I state. “You know that bitch has a hand in the town’s financial endeavors.”
Rip scoffs before asking, “Yeah, but what’s next? We won’t be able to rent or buy any property in town for our companies without her blacklisting us. I thought about going a town or two over, but I don’t know how far her reach is.”
“So, do you think she’s trying to force our hand and run us out of town?” I inquire.
“That’s exactly what I think she’s doing,” he replies. “We’ve got to get her and her cronies out of office before they sink this damn town.”
“What about that fed Van hooked us up with, Rip? Isn’t that what she’s here to do?”
“Yeah, but her hands are tied with legal tape,” he rebuffs. “Every move she makes has to be approved by those higher up than she is.”
“Then let’s reverse the play and turn it back around on her,” I suggest. “Instead of us being the ones run out of town, she’ll be the one packing up and relocating.”
“What do you have in mind?” he inquires, his face no longer pinched.
“Did you read my report from my last stakeout?” I ask him, knowing that what I found her doing will get her removed from office with the snap of our fingers. Either that, or it’ll be some pretty fantastic blackmail material.
