Page 244 of As You Wish

Jade didn’t look at me, but I knew she was thinking of my offer. I was the best person to purchase that land.

“We don’t even know if anyone will buy it!” Tammy scoffed. “And besides, where there’s one, there’s more.”

“None of us are going to sell again!” Kerry exclaimed. “It was such a betrayal the first time!”

“Until things get tight,” Hugh said. “I didn’t trust the grant. I pulled away to do my own thing, and then in my desperation, sold. And you see where that’s gotten the town. You’re all starting to doubt the grant now too.”

This time, Jade glanced at me. I had to grit my teeth to keep my mouth shut. One of these days, I was going to have to work on the town’s trust with the STM grant.

For now, we had bigger problems.

“The main issue is Toby,” Jade said. “He’s run this town for far too long and has never cared about us. Now he’s cashing in.”

Everyone mumbled their agreement.

“What are we supposed to do?” Kerry asked. “He’s the only one on the ballot once again.”

Jade blew out a breath.

I already had an idea. When I first confronted Toby, I mentioned a write-in candidate as a threat. Something like that would take far more planning than Strawberry Springs was capable of. Or so I thought.

“Write someone in,” I said. “If everyone who’s eligible to vote can back one person, then you might have a chance.”

“Writing someone in?” Kerry repeated. “Can we even do that?”

“Yeah,” Jade said. “How would that work?”

“In Tennessee, you have to register as a write-in candidate. And we’re right before the deadline, before the election. If we all agree on someone now, register them and everyone votes for that person.”

The entire town fell into silence as I thought about it.

“What if they get to the land before the next mayor is in office?” Jade asked.

“Then you can stop it from ever happening again.”

She frowned but nodded. We could all agree that this would come up.

Toby couldn’t win this next election.