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“What is going on?” Oscar rages next to me.
“Oh, yes.” I open my bag and pull out a thick book, letting it fall with a thump on the mayor’s desk. “According to Pine Falls’s bylaws, not only do classified historic buildings have to be voted on unanimously by the council before they can be sold, but the purchaser is required to maintain the integrity of the building even after taking ownership of it, since the historic classification remains.” I open the book to the right page and point to the section in question. “It took me a while to find it, but it seems to me that with this, Oscar can kiss his expansion plan goodbye. Right, Rob?”
Rob studies the paragraph as if he doesn’t know his own regulations by heart. “Hmm . . .”
“Robert, who cares about a bylaw when I can boost Pine Falls’s economy tenfold?”
An exasperated sound leaves my mouth. “As if the town needs that.” I turn my attention to Rob. “I know your back’s against the wall. But do you really want to sell to someone who disrespects your town’s history like that?” I tsk in Oscar’s direction before I turn back to Rob and plant my hands on his desk. “I have a better idea. Just hear me out.”
Chapter Thirty-One
BLOOM
Charlee
“She dropped quite the bomb,” Oliver says as we climb into his truck after I come back from “driving Emma back.”
I nod. “I sure as hell didn’t see any of that coming. I’m glad that Trevor got booted, though.”
“Me too.” Oliver starts the engine and places one hand on the back of my seat as he backs the truck up. “I called Rob while you were with Emma.”
I whirl my head to him. “You did?”
“Yeah.” He puts the car in neutral, then turns to me. “It was weird. I wanted to let him know as fast as I could that I would be able to get him the money next fall, just in case there was a slim chance he hadn’t sold to Oscar in the past month. Guess what?”
My heart hammers. “What?”
“He told me the deal with Oscar is under review. Didn’t tell me much more, but when I asked for a delay until next fall, he said he’d think about it. He might have another potential buyer, so he couldn’t really give me his word.”
“Already?”
He sighs. “Yeah. I hope it’s not anything serious.”
I place my hand on his thigh, squeezing lightly. “I’m sure it won’t be. You’ll get it back, Oli. I’m sure of it.”
“Thank you, sweetheart.” He lays his hand on top of mine. “The faith you have in me is what keeps me fighting for it.”
I smile, rubbing my thumb on the coarse fabric of his pants, and nod to the road. “Now. Are you gonna tell me where we’re going?”
This man woke me up at five a.m. today, and although he did so in a way that had me curling my toes and crumpling the sheets in my fists, it was still five in the morning. On a Friday. Not that it means anything now that I’m officially on the unemployed train.
He brings my wrist to his lips. “Do you remember when we wrote to each other, the time you told me about that awful date?”
His breath skitters along my skin, making me shudder. I want him. All the time. It’s a problem.
“I do,” I say, a bit strangled.
Oliver hums, his nose brushing the thin skin just below my palm, and inhales softly. “Remember what we talked about after that?”
I paw through the thick fog that has settled over my memories through the years. I haven’t forgotten anything, but it’s all been under lock and key for so long that my first instinct has always been to refuse to delve into it. “If I do recall, I said that I thought about you the whole date.”
Pride, and something else, heat his gaze. “And? Come on, I’m sure that beautiful brain of yours has the answer somewhere.”
I frown, narrowing my eyes. “We talked about what our ideal da—” I snap my eyes to his.
“I made you a promise five years ago, and I’m a man of my word. Welcome to our first date, sweetheart.”
“It’s not technically Caliper Lake Park, but it’s beautiful too,” Oliver says as we trek through the woods a couple of miles outside Pine Falls. “And teeming with weird things crawling everywhere.” He throws me a conniving look.
