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It’s a gorgeous spot. The leaves are changing and the air is getting cooler, but the sun is still shining down, filling everything with this bright, hopeful feeling.

I immediately start thinking of Ivy and wondering where she is, what she’s doing. My heart aches when I remember the look on her face changing from interest to disgust.

Maybe I am just a shark. Maybe Ivy is right and I don’t belong here.

Did my father think he was doing good in the beginning only to lose his way over the years? Am I walking down the same path as him, doomed to make the same mistakes?

I sigh as I zip up my jacket and walk into town.

This has always been my favorite spot on the planet. I love the Greene Mountains with the stunning scenery, kind people, and adorable shops and restaurants.

I’ve always seen myself settling down here, starting a family, walking with a kid on my shoulders, a wife’s hand in mine. The vision used to be vague, but it’s sharpening up. Now, the girl by my side is Ivy. My heart aches as I imagine her walking beside me, hand in mine, looking up at me with those gorgeous blue eyes and stunning smile.

I want her. I need her. My whole body feels restless and hollow and I know this feeling won’t go away until I make her mine.

I nod at a nice couple approaching as I pass the post office. The firemen are outside of the old red brick fire station, washing the truck, a fat pug snoozing on a chair in the sun beside them. Families are out getting ice cream and the restaurant patios are all full, the locals enjoying the last few warm sunny weekends before winter rears its ugly head.

Ivy is wrong about me. I’m going to prove to her how much I love this town. How serious I am in my desire to protect it. To preserve it. To keep it from being sold to the highest bidder.

And maybe then… Maybe then she’ll look at me with something other than disgust.

I’m waiting on the corner of Main Street while the light is red when a flyer on the pole catches my eye.

My stomach sinks as I walk over and rip it off.

SAVE OUR GREENE MOUNTAINS

Outsiders are taking over our town!

First they buy our land and businesses, and then they price us out of our homes.

Protect local ownership!

Town Hall — 7 PM Tonight.

The paper crumples as my hand curls into a fist.

I know just who they’re talking about.

And I’m damned sure I know who’s behind this.

Seven tonight? I’ll be there.

CHAPTER FOUR

Ivy

This is a good turnout. The town hall is packed.

I spent the whole afternoon calling everyone I know, and going into every business, trying to build an army of locals to help keep these outsiders from taking over our town.

Dane and his stupid handsome face may have a lot of financial resources, but I have resources too. I have a town full of caring people and a lifetime of relationships a shark like him could only dream of having. You can’t buy loyalty like this.

“Thanks for bringing this together,” I say to the mayor. “I know it was last minute.”

Luke Bedrock has been the mayor for the past five years and I know he’ll do anything for the Greene Mountains. He’s also one of the business owners in town. His family has been running the Bedrock Inn for generations. I know he wouldn’t sell out no matter what the price was.

“Let’s just keep it constructive,” he says with a warm smile. “I don’t want this to turn into a witch hunt. The Keatons are members of this community now whether you like it or not.”