Page 73 of All Mine

“Crap, I’m going to have to tell them, aren’t I?”

“It’ll probably be better coming from you,” Jonah said through a mouthful.

“I’m so glad they’ve been gone through this ordeal,” I said.

“You should have already said something. I gotta go clock in, but we will finish talking about this later,” Lacy said before disappearing into the back room.

“Great, now there’s family guilt on top of everything else,” I muttered.

“Welcome to my world,” Jonah said, polishing off the dip.

“That was supposed to be ours,” Sloane said.

“We can get more,” Jonah replied.

“Why haven’t you called your parents?” Sloane asked me.

“At first, I didn’t want to have to explain anything about Camden…” I stared out over the water. Several ducks swam alongside the building, looking for handouts.

“And now?” Eden prompted.

“They’d saved up a long time for a cross country road trip after my dad retired, and they’ve been looking forward to it. I didn’t want anything to ruin the trip. And all of this would ruin it.”

“There’s Adrian,” Sloane said, waving her arm to get his attention. I didn’t turn around.

“Hey guys,” Adrian sidled up to the table. “How are you doing?” he asked, gripping my shoulder.

“I’m fine,” I lied, using my straw to swirl the ice around in the cup, the sweat dripping onto the wooden tabletop.

“What happened with Camden,” Sloane asked.

“He’s out on bail. The lawyer is confident the judge will throw out any charges because he was defending Lauren.”

“Well, that’s a relief,” Sloane said.

“There’s something else…” Adrian hesitated.

“What else could there possibly be?” I asked, massaging my temples.

Twenty-Eight

Camden

Never in the history of modern day land ownership had four people created new paperwork that fast, I was sure. We sat around the conference room table in the escrow office and waited for the moment the results came in. What if this town voted against the sale? What would Stephen’s next move be? If the vote passed, I had to act before he found out, and there was no guarantee this would work. He could keep the sale tied up in the courts for years. But at least the businesses would remain operational. I might never get to create the building I’d designed for Lauren, but there wouldn’t be a pit in the middle of Hart Valley.

“The results are in,” Paul said, then listened intently to his phone. “It passed. Congratulations. You did it.”

“Well, let’s do this,” Lewis smiled. “Let’s make you a landowner.”

“I can’t believe you left this up to a town vote,” I said.

“I’m glad I did. I’d have kicked myself for selling to that asshole. I remember when they were married. No one liked him, and he kept trying to run for city council and mayor. The right man owns it now,” he said, signing his name to the paperwork.

I drove across town on a mission to find Lauren and make her mine. Adrian should have told her about Stephen’s plan by now, and everyone knew the results. How would my life work here in Hart Valley? No clue. But Lauren and this town had to be a part of it. I parked in front of the bakery and took the steps two at a time. After several minutes of knocking and calling out for Lauren, I gave up.

The sun had set, and every table on the patio and inside at Lou’s Lakeside was full. A loud summer evening in full swing with people enjoying food, drinks, and conversation. The bay doors open wide capitalized on the breeze off the water combined with the ceiling fans gave a respite from the heat of the day. I could now recognize the boaters from the townspeople, and they recognized me in return. There were feelings coursing through me that I hadn’t experienced in a long time— if ever.

The group I was looking for sat in the back corner booth, but Lauren wasn’t with them. I headed in their direction, but one of Lauren’s little sisters stopped me halfway across the room.

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