Page 102 of The Life We Left Behind

“What? Sometimes it’s weird being here, okay? I feel like I know most of these people, but I don’t really. Like the last time I saw Ethan, I’m pretty sure he was doing a keg stand, and now he’s the town sheriff. My brain just can’t catch up to the fact that everything is still completely the same and entirely different all at the same time. And Trace telling me that the town is dying is messing with my head and?—”

“What do you mean the town is dying?” Emma asked in a panic, looking around like there was something she could do about it.

“Oh. Erm, it’s like a business thing.”

“I have a business! I need more information. Explain.”

“See, that’s an example of how a normal person reacts in a situation like this. You should remember it for next time,” Blake added unhelpfully.

“Can you just be normal for a moment?” I snapped and then quickly hugged her so she knew I didn’t mean it. Well, maybe I did a little.

“Trace and his dad are involved in a lot of the businesses in the town…”

“They run the place. Yeah, I already know that bit.” Emma made a hurry-up movement with her hand.

“Well, apparently, they have a lot of data about the town economy because of that.” I rolled my eyes in exasperation. “Anyway, with the amount of people who live in the town, and the amount of the younger generations who move away for college and don’t come back, the town can’t sustain its declining population numbers.”

“Oh my god, Willowbrook is dying.” Emma gasped.

“But they’re fixing it,” Blake added, reaching across and squeezing Emma’s hand in reassurance. “Trace is on it.”

“Well, he was. They had a whole regenerative project planned, but it’s all up in the air now because I’m staying, and they can’t buy…my…land.”

I shrunk down in my seat as the last few words slipped through my lips. I hadn’t felt guilty about pulling out of the deal until now. Until I had to explain it to someone who would be directly affected. And right now, I was starting to feel like I might have been a bit selfish in deciding to stay.

Blake suddenly snapped her fingers in front of my face, and I jumped in surprise.

“No! No, no, no,” she said. “Don’t do that. Don’t feel guilty.”

“What was the regeneration project?” Emma asked.

“A rich person golf course hotel thing,” Blake blurted out before I had a chance.

Emma made a face and then turned to me. “Yeah, don’t feel bad about that. No one in town is going to want that. Besides, if they want it that bad, they can use their own land. No one is going to sell them a parcel big enough for something like that.”

She did have a point.

Trace’s grandfather might have left the ranch and the surrounding land to Booker, but his father had been gifted a massive plot on the other side of town that was far bigger than my farm to build his house on.

“Huh, that’s a good point. I hadn’t thought of that.”

“But that’s good news,” Emma pointed out. “That you’ve decided to stay in town.”

“Yeah, I’ve…so it turns out that Trace didn’t know about Cade. His mom lied to me to get me out of town and away from him. We’re trying to figure things out. But I think we would have stayed, anyway. Cade likes it here, and I think I needed to come back, too.”

Blake looked a bit misty eyed as she nodded and then put her head on my shoulder. She’d always pushed me to do what I needed to make myself happy. I knew she was relieved that I was finally taking her advice.

“What the…I always knew she had a maniacal side to her, but that is truly…Is there a word worse than evil?” Emma asked.

It was nice to have someone else in my life who would be upset about this on my behalf. It was giving me the warm fuzzies, even if we were talking about Regina.

“We’re still considering suitable ways to torture her, but I’ll fill you in as soon as we have a solid plan,” Blake told her scarily seriously.

Emma nodded, an evil grin slipping across her lips. “Flynn can be our alibi.”

Okay, warm fuzzies were only getting warmer. These girls!

“In the meantime, we need to get you settled. Nothing like making her see you loving life to really twist the knife. You’ve got the house, now we just need to find you a job.” Emma tapped her finger against her lips as she thought.

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