Page 34 of Recklessly in Love

“I’ll take that as a yes,” I press on with a dangerous smile. Aware that the tavern has quieted around us, I raise my voice and continue, “I presume you’re aware that since Alpine Ridge is, in fact, an unincorporated area of Kittitas County, it is not legally recognized as a town and, as such, there is also no legally recognized town council or governing body of any kind?”

“Listen here —” Jerry starts, seeming to find his voice.

I don’t let him finish. “And given that, you had no right to deny Gregory Tyler and Mia Anderson’s requests to pursue incorporation for the town, likewise denying necessary services, including emergency responders, utilities, infrastructure, and more to the residents of this area?”

“You’ve got this all wrong, we just —”

“And surely you know that misrepresenting yourself as legally capable of denying such requests is a violation of county and state ordinances —”

“Now, wait just a minute!” Jerry bellows.

The silence that follows his outburst is deep. I fight back my smirk, knowing everyone in the place is waiting for Jerry to dig himself out of or deeper into this hole.

Jerry, for his part, is breathing hard, his eyes angry and wild. “The people here needed someone to look to for help, for answers. They like it quiet and simple, but sometimes someone has to make decisions to keep everything from going off the rails.”

“So you and your friends —” I pull a sheet of paper from my pocket and read the short list of names while Jerry becomes increasingly pale at the depth of my knowledge “— decided it was your job to take that on? Even knowing you had no legal right to do so? And denying residents and business owners of the area the resources they need?”

“Nobody here wants to pay more taxes so some stupid bakery can keep making cookies,” Jerry says bitterly. Mia scoffs, and Jerry’s eyes narrow on her, delivering his next words as if only for her. “It died years ago for a reason, and it should’ve stayed dead.”

Mia pushes forward angrily, but I lift an arm to stop her.

“What about this tavern, then? And the grocery store? The gas station? There are necessary services here that are dying too, and you’re putting the nails in their coffin all in the name of your property taxes not increasing a few dollars a year,” I point out calmly. “Awfully short-sighted considering that statistically incorporation causes a boost in property values and business revenue that vastly outweighs property tax increases.” I pause, tilting my head and returning the assessing look he gave me when I entered.

“Did you consider that, or simply your own wishes for things not to change, despite the steady decline in population in this area over the last thirty years? By my calculations, based on those rates, your businesses here will all die within ten years, with your population dropping to nearly zero within another ten years. Were you banking on not living long enough for that to be your problem?”

Rae chuckles beside me, and Mia’s hand squeezes mine, communicating her approval.

But the real success comes with Jerry’s silence, which stretches long enough for one of the guys in the tavern to stand up and ask in a demanding voice, “Jerry, is this all true?”

Jerry splutters, the redness having crept from his neck to his face, and he’s unable to form a coherent response.

I finally allow Mia to step forward. “She’s right. The bed and breakfast, the bakery, and the wellness center aren’t doing as well as they could be, and they won’t last more than another few years with the way things are. I pushed for incorporation to give the town the resources to draw more people in, which would be good for all of the businesses in town.” She turns to face the room. “My Gran lived here for decades, and I spent a lot of time here over the years, even before I became a permanent resident. Through her love for this town, I came to love it too. And I can’t watch it die. Not when we have the power to do something about it.”

Jerry’s face turns an alarming shade of purple. “You’re all ungrateful,” he spits out. “You’re going to ruin what makes this town worth living in.”

The crowd, whose faces had shone with empathy after Mia’s speech, turns angry. But it’s Rae who scoffs and says, “Jerry, your own wife died because an ambulance couldn’t get to her in time. Is that what you want for everyone else?”

The tavern erupts in murmurs.

Rae continues, undeterred. “Joanie’s research is right. The town is shrinking. I knew that without research and numbers. We need new families if we want Alpine Ridge to survive. And how will we attract them when we have no schools? When residents have to drive nearly an hour to get to the dump, and at best, have to live with satellite internet and TV service that only work half the time? Not to mention all the other services Miss Joanie listed.”

Her speech is met with vocal agreement from most of the patrons. Outnumbered and outmatched, Jerry angrily throws his towel down and stomps through the swinging door behind the bar.

The patrons continue talking, though, sharing stories about how great the town used to be and the audacity of Jerry and his cronies to pretend like they ran the place.

As the ideas we planted catch fire, Mia pulls me aside. “This was your plan all along. To publicly humiliate Jerry and get the town talking?”

“Damn straight. But this was just the beginning. Let them stew on it for the week. We can’t do anything until after the New Year anyway.”

“And then?” Rae prompts.

I wink at them both. “Then we start working with the county on incorporation documents. Because we don’t need anyone’s fucking permission.”

Mia and Rae exchange an excited glance.

“I should go back and tell Nate what’s going on,” Mia responds. “Plus, he’ll expect to head home for dinner soon.”

I nod, and we follow Rae back out to the Bronco.

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