Page 112 of Home Tears

She was, and Aiden knew it.

“Maybe we should call a breather?” With his hand behind her, Bubba ushered his wife away.

“Don’t worry about Aiden. She’ll get over it. She’s just worked up ’cause her dad’s in town. A person can’t see straight when they’re all riled up inside.”

“Yeah, I’m seeing that.” Dani gazed around the center. “You think this is some government conspiracy, too?”

Robbie’s eyes rounded, but he didn’t pretend he didn’t know what she was talking about. He lifted up a shoulder, picking at some lint on his pants. “I wasn’t here when all that happened back then. Aiden said the town got pretty ugly when Jonah said no to some company’s building proposal.”

“Mae was hinting some people might be thinking that again.”

“Sometimes they think that. You know, the small guy gets worked over by the big guy. Do I think it’s some conspiracy? No, but do I think people aren’t thinking right? Yes. Some of ’em anyway. Small towns don’t like being told what to do, especially when it comes to their homes.”

“There’s gotta be some reason why we’re all staying here.”

“They aren’t sharing, whatever it is.”

“And there’s gotta be a reason for that, too.”

“I think there is, and you think there is.” Robbie gestured between them. “But I don’t think most of these folks agree with us.”

Dani sighed. “Everyone knows each other’s business and everyone’s got an opinion about it, no matter how wrong they are.”

“A lot of these folks didn’t get schooling past high school, and if it is, it’s from the local community college. They got their knowledge the real-world way. You and I, we left. We saw what else was out there, but people can get set in their ways. The world’s a lot smaller than people think. You get humbled when you realize how small you actually are. Folks who don’t realize that, they just have a different way of thinking. That’s all.”

“That can be dangerous sometimes.”

“You’re not getting an argument from me.”

“I don’t have a good feeling about this,” Dani murmured as she watched the crowd. More and more small groups were forming. The whispers were buzzing. It wasn’t going to end well—whatever was happening.

“There’s Jonah.” Robbie gestured toward a side door.

He moved through the crowd, stopping to talk to his sister. The crowd moved away from him.

Robbie shook his head. “It’s never surprising how they’ll turn on someone they used to worship the day before.”

“Was this how it was before?”

“I don’t know. I wasn’t here at that time, but it got ugly. Jonah only had a few friends, but when the report came out that the company actually would’ve poisoned the water supply, Jonah was hailed as the town’s savior.” Robbie stood up as Jonah headed in their direction. “The town’s not remembering that today.” He nodded in greeting. “Jonah.”

“Robbie.” Jonah did the same and settled on Dani. “You wanna get something to eat?”

“Sure.”

Jonah led the way into a private back room where food was waiting on a table. A buffet of meat, cheese, casseroles, bread, and even some lasagna was set out. Another table had drinks such as soda, water, and even some beer.

“What’s this?”

Jonah pulled Dani close, murmuring close to her ear, “Even the wealthy get benefits in times of disasters.”

“How are we privileged?”

“I got some benefits being the Water Whisperer. The mayor trusts me.”

“Even though everyone else forgets to?” She felt a twinge of anger.

“Jonah,” a voice behind them boomed with authority. Jonah stiffened beside her. A middle-aged man was crossing the room to them. Dani had one guess—Jonah’s father. He extended his hand to her. “Elliott Bannon.”

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