Page 128 of Friends Don't Kiss

“That’s the place down Dewey’s Hollow, right?” she asks, her gaze roaming back to the rows of numbers in front of her.

I nod. “A little before. Walking distance from town, except there’s no sidewalk.”

Her turn to nod, but with doubt in her expression. I’m not too crazy about the no-sidewalk situation either. “There’s space for parking. Easy for picking up orders.”

“What’s the variance you’re applying for again?”

“Maddie said something about accessory to agriculture.”

Emma frowns. “Really? Even though you’re not the farmer?”

I pick at my fingernails. “Maddie said it was just a formality.”

Emma’s gaze bores into mine. “I’m sure she did. D’you sign the lease yet?”

I raise my index finger, proud of myself. “Nope. I did not. I added obtaining the variance as a condition. No variance, no lease.”

Emma seems to breathe out a bit. But only a bit.

Shit.“You’re scaring me, Ems.”

Her eyebrows do a funny thing. One up, one down. “I mean, the board pushed back on everything this year.”

“What do you mean, everything?”

“They’re pretty protective of their zoning. They’re saying that there’s enough commercial and mixed-use space for businesses to do what businesses must do where they’re supposed to do it. The rest should stay the way it is. Agricultural stays farmland. Residential stays houses. No businesses.” She nods, like she needs to let it sink in.

Fuck.Fuckfuckfuck!And barely a few weeks into his role, Colton’s girlfriend comes and asks for a variance.Shit.

“Look, they probably won’t make a decision tonight. You’ll present your case. Make sure you tell them you do not plan on serving on-site. Listen to their objections—there will be many. Just play nice. Owen will probably argue in your favor—he’s always pro variances, he would turn this whole town into a strip mall if he could. Colton will stay quiet—he doesn’t like to make waves. Lynn will ask a couple of questions. And Cassandra will move to deciding on this at the next meeting.”

I take a deep breath. “I hate this. Maddie said it was a formality, but I should have known better.” I hate myself right now. “I’m sure Colton just didn’t want to freak me out.”

“I’ll come with you,” Emma says, shoving her spreadsheets in her briefcase. "Worst case, I’ll just hold your hand. Or we can eat, seeing as we’ll be early.”

We throw our cups in the recycling bin, turn off the lights, and are about to lock ourselves out of Easy Monday’s when a female voice sounds, coming from outside.

“Were you about to leave?” Willow is on snowshoes, taking long strides on top of the thick snow.

“Hey!” I greet her. “What are you doing?”

“I needed to think shit through, but now I just need to chill and be with friends.” As she gets closer to us, her face falls. “You were leaving.”

“Actually, we were going back in, making ourselves another tea,” Emma says, opening the door wider for her.

“What’s going on?” Willow asks as she steps out of her snowshoes and leaves her boots at the entrance.

Less than ten minutes later, we’re back at our table in the corner, huddled around our teas, filling Willow in on my latest source of anxiety. “Who knows, Colt might fix it,” she says. “He worships the ground you walk on, for real. You should have seen him sweating bullets when I told him you were on a dating app!”

Emma’s laughter is interrupted by a grimace.

“Everything okay?”

Emma sits up, stretching, and her hand goes to her lower back. “Yeah, just back pain.”

“You need a painkiller?” I ask, going for my small backpack.

“It doesn’t do anything.”

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