Page 30 of I Love a Good Challenge

“He is looking at me, yes?” I mumble. I’m afraid to break eye contact with Clark’s stare. His head is bent forward, his eyes peeking over tiny metal-rimmed glasses.

“This is a bit delicate,” he says slowly, releasing a long sigh. “Our next order of business—submitted anonymously—is to vote on whether or not we’ll be enforcing Operation Run Mr. Winnings Out of Town.”

“What?” I ask in a tone louder than usual and stand to my feet.

Out of my peripheral vision, I see the chocolate bar drop to the floor, an indication of Lily’s highest level of shock.

I turn to her, my face angling downward. “Did you do this?”

Her eyes lift slowly to mine with a vacant look.

“Lily, did you do this?” I repeat in a rush when she doesn’t answer.

“I didn’t,” she protests, shaking her head vehemently.

“Bingo!” the little group I almost forgot about yells without looking up.

Rafe is standing beside me now, energy crackling off him. He raises his voice. “Listen, I love this town, but what are you even talking about right now? Graham is one of us.”

“He is not one of us!” an older woman I barely remember seeing once at the small grocery store—or was it wandering through the bookstore?—shouts behind me. I’m so flustered I can’t even place her.

“Sorry, dearie,” she continues. “But you don’t hurt our girl and then expect us to rally around you. It’s just not possible, no matter how handsome you are.”

“Hurt your . . .?” I say, the words barely making a sound. Suddenly, I’m back in the courtroom, witnessing people taking the stand and becoming so overcome or shocked at what they were asked that the words wouldn’t come out.

“We’ve all seen the tension between you both. It’s shocking,” interjects a woman I know to be Mrs. Kipper, a former schoolteacher I met at the library while I was picking up a fresh stack of books for the month.

“I propose that he stays!” To my shock, Gladys yells her support for me, her voice ricocheting off the walls of the hall.

I’m certain that people who have made important decisions regarding this town and the nation’s history have met in this space. This is not one of those moments. I slump back into my seat, the shock settling in my limbs. It won’t matter if I complete all her challenges and win the bet with Lily if the town doesn’t support me being here. It hits me between the eyes—the reason it’s been harder to fit in despite how much I’ve wanted to . . . they think I broke her heart. They have no idea it was the other way around.

“It’s true that we’ve seen the tension between you two . . .” Clark says with a hint of disbelief.

Without a word, as if it’s supposed to magically solve my problems, Lily hands me a chocolate-caramel cupcake from the tiny box, pulling it from within in a way that is becoming very Mary Poppins-like. I take a bite, the sweet cake getting stuck at the back of my throat. It’s not the famous chocolate cake, but it’s close enough. If I’m getting run out of town, at least I can enjoy Lily’s baking skills one last time to soften the blow.

“He’s not leaving, Gladys,” Lily states.

I would’ve loved a more convincing argument made for me, but there you have it.

“He’s one of us,” Sparrow declares. When I meet her concerned gaze, which bounces between Lily and me, it’s clear that Lily finally told her about us. I would respect her for trying to defend me as her fiancé’s best friend, but I respect her even more for standing with me now.

“Graham is the best!” Rafe yells.

His tone tells me he is still in shock that this is happening, and I’m right there with him. I mean, could this be illegal? Yes. But is Birch Borough a small enough town to make me pay for it even if they really can’t (legally) get me out? For sure.

I understand their motivation. They probably think I moved here to come after her when, in actuality, I was trying to find something I had lost. To them, I’ve hurt someone they remember walking through town with chocolate on her face and picking flowers from their yards as a young girl. I’m the newcomer here.

But I can’t tell them the truth without hurting Lily. As the seconds tick by, my idea to move here just seems worse and worse.

Still, I feel a righteous indignation creeping up from inside. I get that they want to protect her. Heck, if a man did double-cross her, I’d run him out of town myself, law and order be darned. But I didn’t, and I don’t deserve this.

“Lily, I think it’s up to you,” Gladys speaks again.

“Wait—what?” Lily chokes out the words, wiping frosting from her lips with the back of her hand. She must’ve started eating a second cupcake.

“Graham. Does he stay, or does he go?” Clark asks, as if this is a real thing people can do—tell good, upstanding citizens to hit the road.

“I don’t think I can make that decision right now,” Lily says.

---