“Don’t be ridiculous.” EV injected just the right amount of scorn to push her point home. “Husbands get cheated on all the time and don’t kill anyone over it. You can’t take credit for Ashton’s choices; you can only decide to be responsible for your own.
Chapter 32
“All in favor?”
A chorus of ayes sounded across the room as the First Selectman called for the vote that put any further discussion of Ponderosa Pines becoming part of Gilmore to rest.
“All opposed?”
All eyes turned toward the fidgeting, bespectacled young man standing in the back of the room before turning toward Allegra Worth. The representative from Gilmore had absolutely no influence in Ponderosa Pines town business; wagers for how long Allegra planned to stick around were the current game of choice, but not a single nay was heard.
“Motion carries.” The gavel fell with a ringing sound.
In what Chloe declared an epically stupid decision, EV had chosen not to attend this particular town meeting. Whether her absence communicated her faith that the town would choose the right path, or that she no longer cared what happened made no difference. A number of people in this room owed EV and apology, and if they didn’t know that, Chloe intended to tell them.
“You all are unbelievable! For weeks you’ve been persecuting an innocent woman because she was opposed to merging with Gilmore, and now every single one of you has voted the proposal down? EV Torrence has spent the last month trying to make up for something she didn’t even do, and she’s the one looking out for your best interests. You all should be begging her to forgive you! What would you do if she decided to leave? Who would you all turn to for guidance then?” Chloe spun on her heel and stalked out the door muttering, “Ungrateful, spiteful, disappointments, the lot of you.”
Closing the Grange Hall door behind her, Chloe leaned back against it and tried to calm her beating heart. She had never let loose like that at any kind of town gathering: in fact, Chloe was always polite and soft-spoken; never one to make waves. She imagined what the people inside were thinking and saying about her outburst; imagined the dumbfound expressions on her neighbors’ faces. That’ll teach them to mess with me and my friends.
When she looked up, EV was standing across the street, brimming with curiosity. Chloe bounded over and wrapped her arms around her friend. “I love you, you know,” she said simply. EV’s smile reciprocated the sentiment, and so did the hard squeeze she gave Chloe before nosiness got the best of her.
“So…”
“Well, the rep from Gilmore—Roger something—maintains that his people were promised some kind of monetary benefit if they agreed to merge with us. He didn’t say exactly, but he hinted that some big box business is looking to build in the area. He was under the impression that Gilmore wouldn’t see any profits if it happened on Ponderosa Pines property. They don’t know their asses from a hole in the ground over there, and he seemed to think we were a bunch of idiots just sitting around waiting for them to swoop in and save us. Now the investor has disappeared, and it turns out he was using an alias. Nathaniel’s going to look into it.”
It didn’t pass unnoticed by EV that Chloe’s tone softened when she spoke Nate’s name, but she let it go without comment. “Sounds like someone was playing them and Evan at the same time. I’d say we’ve found—and then lost again—our blackmailer.”
“Like I said, Nate’s on it.”
“So you don’t want to look into it?” EV smirked, she already knew the answer.
“Research mode?” Chloe’s wheels were already spinning with possibilities.
“I’ll meet you in your backyard with the peanut butter cups.”
* * *
Several days after her blowup at the town meeting, Chloe was still relishing the fact that she had finally spoken out. And the best part was, nobody in town seemed the least bit mad at her. In fact, her rant actually made people like Chloe even more. The air felt considerably more friendly now that people knew she wasn’t an emotionless robot.
As the cool autumn breezes threatened to blow in, Chloe began her annual fall cleaning spree with even more gusto than usual. Perched on a stepladder inside her backyard potting shed, Chloe scanned the floor for stray cats before reaching into the crawlspace and extracting a small cardboard box.
A feeling of familiarity flitted through her consciousness as she lifted the lid, exposing a chunk of butternut wood, expertly carved into the shape of a hovering, open-winged fairy. Chloe remembered watching Gramps as he sat on the back porch each evening, whittling scraps of wood into any shape she could imagine.
Flipping the fairy over, Chloe saw where Gramps had carved her own name along one wing. She knew exactly what she had to do, and fairly skipped down the path leading to the fairy garden.
The End
* * *
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Cat Killed A Rat (Ponderosa Pines Cozy Mystery Series Book 1) Page 17