Page 60 of The Boyfriend Boycott
“I can’t stay.” I breathe. “You know I can’t, Ally. I’ve come so far from where I started. I’ve built a life that I can trust because I’m only reliant on me.”
“Can you trust it? Your landlord just pulled the rug out from underneath you. You’re trying to convince these corporate suits at Mile High that you’re good enough for them, but ultimately, the decision is still up to them. You can’t control everything, and trying will just make you crazy. You’re gripping life so tight in your fists, white-knuckling everything all the time. Open your hands, Spencer. Maybe then they’ll be ready to receive something great.”
My world spins for a moment, reeling from what Ally just said. I don’t have time to fully process what this means about my life choices before my phone vibrates.
GRADY
Where did you go? There’s breakfast here waiting for you.
Then in another message:
We’re still good to work on the speech today? Eleanor sent me the agenda for tomorrow’s meeting … I forwarded it to your e-mail.
I click open the unread e-mail and scan the document that’s attached. Eleanor was obviously trying to give Grady a heads-up about what’s to come at the public hearing tomorrow. My gut clenches as I read through the list of speakers who have plans to come forward. Grady’s name is at the bottom of the list of several high-powered people that Carter has rallied. I’m sure they all have complicated, impressive spreadsheets outlining just how much money they’ll be bringing to Heartwood if they can sink their claws into the local economy. Nausea roils in my gut. I need this to work, I need this win. And the hurdle just got a lot bigger.
CHAPTER 25
GRADY
The stuffy,cramped hearing room at city hall is quiet except for the shuffling of papers on the council member’s desks. People talk in hushed whispers, waiting for the mayor to arrive and signal the start of the proceedings.
My eyes dart over to where Carter is seated, a few rows ahead of me and a couple of seats over. He took his seat only moments before Jodi entered the room, and I wonder whether they were exchanging words before the meeting starts. No, I know they were. They’ve been conspiring this entire time, why stop now? Jodi looks right at him as she sits down, facing the crowd, and her mouth twitches in an unmistakably flirtatious way.
That’s when I notice the businessmen sitting with Carter, equally as smarmy but a lot more powerful. They make Carter look like a boy in comparison.
I recognize the tall one in the light grey suit as he crosses one ankle over his knee and leans in to whisper something to Carter. From his LinkedIn profile, I learned that he’s a high-powered executive of a big hotel chain looking to expand into towns that could be turned into popular holiday destinations. He must have seen the ski resort just under an hour away and deemed our quaint mountain town a prime spot for development.
The man to Carter’s left is the CEO of a grocery store chain. He checks his watch impatiently and glances around, looking down his nose at the other people around him.
My knee bounces uncontrollably, and I wring my hands in my lap. Spencer places a gentle hand on my thigh and the bouncing stops, my breath evening out.
“You’re nervous,” she states. I shrug, trying to ignore the palpitations behind my ribs. Of course I’m nervous. Seeing Carter with the suits over there just took this to the next level. What was once just about taking down my high school nemesis is now about taking down the one percent. This is the big leagues now. This is about the people I care about, the town that I love, and maybe just a little bit of my pride.
“You’ve got this,” she reassures me in that steady, confident way of hers that makes me believe her. Her husky voice sends a shiver through me as she leans in close to my ear. “We’ve done all we can do to prepare. To get you ready for this moment. Now is the time to trust that the effort we’ve put in will pay off.”
I simply nod back. She’s right. We worked our asses off. As soon as I sent Spencer the document from Eleanor yesterday, she rushed home from wherever she was, and we got to work on the speech that’s written out on the folded piece of paper I’m fiddling with in my hands, doing my best not to crumple it until it’s completely illegible.
“We all believe in you, Grady.” Marla extends a hand across Spencer and places it on my arm. She helped more than I thought she would with the speech yesterday, and as much as Marla can be trying at times, I appreciate having her here today. I know Spencer appreciates having her here too. The last few days, Spencer has been in better spirits, and I know that’s due to the effort Marla has put in to repairing their relationship. There’s an ease between them now, and for Spencer’s sake, I’m grateful for it.
I offer Marla an appreciative smile in return. The hushed whispering around us stops as Jodi clears her throat into the small microphone extending from the desk in front of her.
“Welcome, everyone. If the council members could motion to approve the agenda for our meeting, we’ll get started,” she says. A few of the members raise their hands in approval. “Great. We’re here to discuss the motion to overturn the law stating that only independent businesses can operate in Heartwood.”
She calls Carter to speak first, given that this whole ordeal was initiated by him. He stands and plugs in a laptop at the podium.
He has a whole-ass PowerPoint prepared, with facts and figures, demonstrating how much money an increase in tourism would mean for the town. What his presentation fails to point out is that allowing big corporations in is not the only way to boost tourism. With Spencer’s help writing my speech, that’s what I intend to prove.
Each of the suits stands next to make their own pitch. Their financial strategies are impressive, I can’t lie. I’ve even caught Eleanor nodding a few times and I wonder if she would switch allegiances for the right price.
My stomach is churning by the time it’s my turn to rise. I walk up to the podium, knees shaking. I wasn’t lying when I said that I hate public speaking, and as much as Spencer tried to convince me otherwise, the speeches I made at the cocktail party and the career fair were not sufficient practice for this.
She locks eyes with me as I turn to face the crowd and the city councillors from the podium in the corner of the room. She raises both hands in a thumbs up, and it gives me just enough courage to start unfolding the paper I’ll be reading from.
I ignore the thought that creeps into the back of my mind, threatening my composure. My success today will be the very thing that drives Spencer to leave Heartwood.She didn’t say ‘Ilove you’ back when I whispered it to her the other night. In fact, I can’t be sure she even heard me. Her breathing was even and calm when I leaned in and kissed her forehead. It doesn’t make what I said any less true. I love Spencer Sinclair. But I love Heartwood, too. It pains me that fighting for one means having to relinquish the other.
I clear my throat, buying myself a little more time and warding off a potentially humiliating voice crack as my emotions war inside me.
“Good morning, councillors, esteemed Mayor,” I begin, and I’m suddenly cut off by the sound of shouting. No,cheeringoutside that only gets louder and louder as the crowd shuffles to get up from their seats. Spectators and councillors alike gather around the windows overlooking the parking lot below.
