Chapter 5 Eve #2
I don’t realize he’s taken up the seat right behind me until he speaks, and I nearly jump out of my skin.
“Diverting the stream is the best solution we can think of right now, but not the only solution. If Ms. Harper is willing to work with me to find another one, I’d be more than happy to entertain her ideas.
However, measuring the stream now and at regular intervals is the best way we can ensure and guard against anything—whether we divert the stream or not—affecting water levels. ”
I turn, fixing him with narrowed eyes.
“Ms. Harper, does this sound reasonable?” Mayor Reed prompts, and I whip around to face him.
“All I want is protection. I want to know that the town council will put a stop to any construction or development that will negatively affect the namesake farm of this town. This isn’t just important to me—this is important to our town’s history.
Our tourism business. I just want to know that someone will step in if something goes wrong. ”
Mayor Reed sighs. “Eve, we’re not going to approve any development plans that don’t make sense for our town. I can’t promise you nothing will ever change, but no one is going to intentionally harm the sunflower farm.”
“Unintentional harm is not really an acceptable answer for me. The water wheel has been functioning for decades. It’s a historic part of our community, highlighted in almost all town tours. It’s not good enough to me, to say, ‘oh well, new apartments went up, so screw the water wheel.’”
Mayor Reed rolls his eyes. “No one is saying ‘screw the water wheel.’ But Eve, you’ve had multiple opportunities to protect your water wheel in the past that you haven’t taken advantage of. If you want to protect your farm, you have to learn how to give a little.”
I rear back. “What does that mean?”
“I’m just saying that our historic committee is in here every month defending and protecting buildings in our historic registry.”
I blink. “Not this again. Seriously?”
He shrugs. “You’d have a lot of people fighting on your behalf. The power of the people behind you when it comes to big-shot developers breathing down your neck.”
Ryder shifts, as if he’s trying to avoid doing exactly that.
I bite my lip to avoid screaming at him, and Izzy squeezes my knee. “So you’re telling me that because I didn’t want to register the water wheel as a historic landmark, you’re going to take it away from me?”
He holds his hands up, shaking his head.
“Not at all. Every moment of history in this town is important, whether it’s registered or not, and I, along with the rest of this town, want to protect that history,” he says.
“But registering historic buildings as such brings us state funding, which allows us more wiggle room to protect them. It lets us fund projects that help our town”—he motions to Ryder behind me—“while protecting our long and beautiful history.” He motions to me.
“But if you don’t want to contribute to that, there’s not much the historical society can do for you. ”
I purse my lips, letting out a long breath. “So if I register the water wheel as historic, you’ll help me?”
Mayor Reed holds up his hands to slow me down.
“I can’t make any promises like that, and I certainly can’t speak on behalf of the rest of the historical society.
But I do think you’ll find some fierce supporters if you decide to register the water wheel, and especially if the situation between you and Mr. Blackwell becomes contentious. ”
As if it isn’t already.
I nod, glancing at Izzy out of the corner of my eye. Her brow is pinched, her hand still on my knee.
“Fine.”
“Great,” Mayor Reed quips, his attention turning to the rest of the room. “Any last orders of business?”
A few heads shake, a few murmurs of “no.”
“The town council will go into a closed session now, then,” he says, gathering his agenda and leading the rest of the council through the door behind him to the small back room where I can only assume they practice dark magic and stab voodoo dolls they’ve fashioned after dissenting townspeople.
If the unshakeable crick in my neck is any indication, I’m one of them.
I stand, shaking my head as I let out a long breath.
“He’s really a dick, isn’t he?” Ryder asks as I turn toward him.
That charming grin is plastered to his face, and I have to stop my eyes from magnetically following his body as he stretches.
I glare at him, keeping my eyes fixed to his. “Says the dick.”
“Eve,” he says, his shoulders slumping. “I promise I won’t hurt you.”
His words go straight to my chest. A little thump that takes my mind away from the water wheel and puts all of my attention on him. Only him.
“I know how much that water wheel means to you and I’m not in the business of screwing people over.
That was my dad’s thing, and ever since I took over his company I’ve looked for ways to help people instead.
And while I want this thing to work, I’m not going to go through with it unless I can be certain it won’t be detrimental.
To you, to the water wheel, to the community. ”
I raise an eyebrow. “You would pull the plug if it would fuck up the water wheel?”
He lets out a long breath, pursing his lips like he doesn’t want to answer me. “I can’t make big, sweeping promises like that.”
I roll my eyes, grabbing Izzy’s elbow and tugging her past him with me.
He follows, quickly catching up to me. “But I can promise you that if you work with me to figure something out, I’m not going to randomly go in some other direction because I feel like it.
I promise I’ll listen to you and take into account all of your concerns.
I’m not Reed, out to be a big shot,” he says, and I detect a smidge of resentment in those words after the mayor said the same about him.
“Work with me. I know we can come up with something good.”
I turn, crossing my arms over my chest as I size him up. “Fine. I don’t know what it is you want from me that requires this level of ass-kissing, but fine. I’ll work with you. But you should just know, I’m going to be a bitch.”
He nods as if he’s digesting this information and then looks me in the eye. “So what were you before, then?”
My fists clench at my sides as he gives me one last grin and turns on his heel, melding easily into the crowd slowly meandering out of the room.
“Dang, that was hot,” Izzy mutters, shaking her head.
“That was hot? He just called me a bitch.”
She rolls her eyes. “He implied you were a bitch.”
“Same difference.”
She shakes her head. “No, it’s really not.
” She pulls us out of the crowd, waving her hand between us as if to paint me a picture.
“Imagine this,” she starts. “You’re going over development plans together.
He wants to destroy everything you love about your farm, and you storm out, running naked through the sunflowers—”
“Why am I going over development plans naked?”
She rolls her eyes. “Okay, so you’re not naked, but he’s chasing after you and you’re throwing insults at each other and eventually he yells at you to just stop.
He says he would never hurt you, and then he takes you in a muddy field.
Maybe it’s raining, like remember that one time we got the rainbow over the sunflowers and we were already a box of wine deep and went out jumping in the puddles?
Like that, except you’re getting fucked. ”
“But I’m not naked.”
“Eve! You’re ruining the fantasy!”
“It’s your fantasy! You go get him to chase you naked through the sunflower field. I’m sure the farmhands will have a field day, no pun intended.”
She grumbles as we head toward the door again. “But you hate each other. There’s no ill will between me and the developer, you know? Half the fun is in being called a bitch one second and a good girl the next.”
I snort. “You really are a gem of a human.”
She grins. “Hey, I’m just saying what we’re both thinking.”
I eye her. “That that man can wear the hell out of a flannel?”
Eyes wide, she nods.
“Stupidly hot, right?”
She nods again.
“Fucking gigantic dick though.”
She sighs. “A girl can only hope.”