Chapter 12
CHAPTER TWELVE
JOANIE
I’ve been in Alpine Ridge for about three weeks now, and the more I learn about this town with its character and unique beauty, the more I realize how much potential it has and how much the people here, especially my beautiful best friend, are missing out on because the town has not been incorporated.
With only a few thousand residents, there isn’t enough traffic to sustain her business long-term, even alongside the folks ambling through from Ellensburg looking to head to Wenatchee or Leavenworth. Or any of the businesses. And then there’s the other thing my research turned up: Alpine Ridge’s population is aging and dwindling. In short, the town needs fresh blood if it’s even going to survive, much less thrive.
So, given my new mission to breathe official township life into this place, armed with more knowledge thanks to Mia and Greg, I do what any good lawyer would do and spend the day researching. And what I find is pretty damn shocking.
It turns out, by definition, that there shouldn’t even be a town council in an unincorporated town. Which means this supposed “council” that denied Greg and Mia’s requests to incorporate? They had no right.
Since Mia isn’t around to hold my earrings while I make to throw down, I do the only logical thing I can: I go find her. Greg took off way too fucking early this morning, so that leaves me to drive in my car, which Mia thoughtfully drove down the hill yesterday while Greg and I were hiking. Thankfully, my Subaru has all-wheel drive, and it’s not that far.
Still, with ice and an uneven road, it takes way longer than I expected to get here, with a good heap more sliding around and nearly losing control of the car than I was prepared for. By the time I arrive, it feels like it’s been ages since I made myself a light lunch, so I’m less ready to fight some old farts and more ready for a hot cup of coffee and some pastries.
“Jo,” Mia greets me with surprise. “I wasn’t expecting to see you emerge from the sex cocoon anytime soon.”
I shoot her a mock dirty look, and she smirks.
“Coffee,” I grunt jokingly, collapsing into a chair across from the pastry display case. “Sugar,” I add. Mia crosses her arms over her chest and gives me an expectant look. “Please?”
She grins. “You got it. And you’re lucky because Rae just pulled a fresh huckleberry pie out of the oven a few minutes ago.”
“Ooh, I haven’t tried the famous huckleberry pie yet,” I say excitedly. To hear Nate and Mia talk it’s life-changing, but Mia and Rae have been so focused on holiday treats lately.
A couple of minutes later, Mia sets a large, steaming cup of Joe down on the table in front of me, then a delicate round plate decorated with pink flowers and topped with a huge slice of gooey purple-blue filled pie crust covered in an artfully swirled pile of whipped cream. And my whole mouth fills with saliva.
As Mia sits across from me, I don’t even pretend to have manners; I grab the fork and shovel a scoop of the warm, fragrant sugary goodness into my mouth. The sweet, tart taste of the filling spreads over my tongue, and I’m a goner.
“Ohmygawd,” I mumble around the pie. “Dish is uhmashing.”
Mia shakes her head and laughs. “Oh, I know. But geez, Jo, for the love of God, swallow before you speak.”
I shrug, then down another huge bite, causing Mia to chuckle as she sips her coffee. After that bite, I take a drink from my cup and sigh contentedly.
“Rae, you’re fucking awesome,” I call to the back of the bakery.
“Glad you like the pie,” she calls back.
I smile at Mia. “You’re never going to believe what I just figured out.” I take another bite of pie as I watch her eyes light up with curiosity.
“Well?” she demands after I don’t cough up the info immediately.
I take another sip of coffee and slowly set my cup down before leaning forward on my elbows. “The town council?” She nods encouragingly. “Total bullshit. Unincorporated towns don’t have town councils, Mia. Those old fuckers are frauds.”
Mia gasps. “No way!”
“Way,” I respond before eating more pie.
Mia slams a fist on the table. “Assholes! Holy fucking shit!”
I can’t help but laugh a little. She must be really pissed. She rarely curses this much.
Rae steps out of the back, drying her hands on a dishtowel. “Is everything okay out here?” she asks, her brows bunched together in concern.
“No,” Mia says vehemently. “Did you know the supposed town council isn’t legitimate?”
Rae’s brow furrows farther in confusion. “I don’t understand,” she replies.
“Alpine Ridge isn’t technically a town, right?” I offer, babystepping her through the information. Rae nods, though she still looks confused. “If it’s not a town, it can’t have a council.”
Rae’s mouth pops open. “Well fuck me sideways,” she murmurs. “I never thought about that.” She shakes her head slowly as her features pinch together in anger. “Those old bastards sure have some explaining to do.”
I nod smugly. “They sure do. Any idea where we can find them?” I look between Mia and Rae.
Rae lifts her chin. “Now that I’m working for Mia, Jerry has to handle my old afternoon shift at the tavern. He’s been lording his town council member status over everyone for as long as I can remember. How about we close up a bit early and go have a little chat with him?”
Mia and I exchange a look. “Let’s do it,” Mia agrees.
After a quick clean-up, Mia shepherds us out, flips the sign on the door to “closed,” and locks up. Mia peeks into the wellness center but comes back shaking her head.
“Nate’s working with someone. We’ll tell him later,” she says.
“I’ll drive,” Rae offers, gesturing to a well-kept older Bronco.
We pile in, and Rae guns the engine a little more than is necessary.
“Easy there,” I tease. “Maybe we should pick one of us to take point so we don’t all rip his throat out at once.”
“I vote for you, Jo,” Mia says immediately. “Not only did you make this discovery, but I’ve seen you go after someone on the witness stand.”
I smirk but wait for Rae’s response. She nods in confirmation. “If I open my mouth, nothing good will come out of it,” she mutters.
She navigates down the road and into the tavern’s parking lot, pulling smoothly into a spot and cutting the engine.
“All right, let’s do this,” Mia says darkly.
The three of us march into the tavern, and Rae jerks her chin toward an old guy behind the bar. Jerry.
I zero in on him, prowling forward with Mia and Rae flanking me.
He looks to be in his mid-sixties, with dark grey hair neatly clipped short. He’s wearing a faded blue and grey plaid shirt tucked into old Wranglers. His light brown eyes scan me from head to toe as I approach, but not in a skeevy way—more like assessing. Given my company and manner of approach, I can tell he senses something is up, not to mention the fact that I wore a starched blue button-up blouse and black slacks to at least look like I meant business.
“Hello, Rae,” he says, addressing her first. Then he looks at Mia and dips his chin. “Mia.” His eyes flick back over me. “Who’s your friend?”
I slide a business card out of my pocket and deposit it on the bar. “I’m Joanie Morris, a corporate law attorney. I have some questions for you about the town council,” I begin, not bothering with small talk.
He shifts uncomfortably. “What about it?”
“Is it true that you and your fellow ‘council members’ —” I throw heavy sarcasm into the words and add air quotes to give a nice, bitchy edge to it “— have been purporting to legally represent Alpine Ridge?”
Jerry’s neck turns red, and he stops toweling off the beer mug he’d been drying. “Well, I … that is to say …” he splutters.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” I press on with a dangerous smile. Aware that the tavern has quieted around us, I raise my voice and continue, “I presume you’re aware that since Alpine Ridge is, in fact, an unincorporated area of Kittitas County, it is not legally recognized as a town and, as such, there is also no legally recognized town council or governing body of any kind?”
“Listen here —” Jerry starts, seeming to find his voice.
I don’t let him finish. “And given that, you had no right to deny Gregory Tyler and Mia Anderson’s requests to pursue incorporation for the town, likewise denying necessary services, including emergency responders, utilities, infrastructure, and more to the residents of this area?”
“You’ve got this all wrong, we just —”
“And surely you know that misrepresenting yourself as legally capable of denying such requests is a violation of county and state ordinances —”
“Now, wait just a minute!” Jerry bellows.
The silence that follows his outburst is deep. I fight back my smirk, knowing everyone in the place is waiting for Jerry to dig himself out of or deeper into this hole.
Jerry, for his part, is breathing hard, his eyes angry and wild. “The people here needed someone to look to for help, for answers. They like it quiet and simple, but sometimes someone has to make decisions to keep everything from going off the rails.”
“So you and your friends —” I pull a sheet of paper from my pocket and read the short list of names while Jerry becomes increasingly pale at the depth of my knowledge “— decided it was your job to take that on? Even knowing you had no legal right to do so? And denying residents and business owners of the area the resources they need?”
“Nobody here wants to pay more taxes so some stupid bakery can keep making cookies,” Jerry says bitterly. Mia scoffs, and Jerry’s eyes narrow on her, delivering his next words as if only for her. “It died years ago for a reason, and it should’ve stayed dead.”
Mia pushes forward angrily, but I lift an arm to stop her.
“What about this tavern, then? And the grocery store? The gas station? There are necessary services here that are dying too, and you’re putting the nails in their coffin all in the name of your property taxes not increasing a few dollars a year,” I point out calmly. “Awfully short-sighted considering that statistically incorporation causes a boost in property values and business revenue that vastly outweighs property tax increases.” I pause, tilting my head and returning the assessing look he gave me when I entered.
“Did you consider that, or simply your own wishes for things not to change, despite the steady decline in population in this area over the last thirty years? By my calculations, based on those rates, your businesses here will all die within ten years, with your population dropping to nearly zero within another ten years. Were you banking on not living long enough for that to be your problem?”
Rae chuckles beside me, and Mia’s hand squeezes mine, communicating her approval.
But the real success comes with Jerry’s silence, which stretches long enough for one of the guys in the tavern to stand up and ask in a demanding voice, “Jerry, is this all true?”
Jerry splutters, the redness having crept from his neck to his face, and he’s unable to form a coherent response.
I finally allow Mia to step forward. “She’s right. The bed and breakfast, the bakery, and the wellness center aren’t doing as well as they could be, and they won’t last more than another few years with the way things are. I pushed for incorporation to give the town the resources to draw more people in, which would be good for all of the businesses in town.” She turns to face the room. “My Gran lived here for decades, and I spent a lot of time here over the years, even before I became a permanent resident. Through her love for this town, I came to love it too. And I can’t watch it die. Not when we have the power to do something about it.”
Jerry’s face turns an alarming shade of purple. “You’re all ungrateful,” he spits out. “You’re going to ruin what makes this town worth living in.”
The crowd, whose faces had shone with empathy after Mia’s speech, turns angry. But it’s Rae who scoffs and says, “Jerry, your own wife died because an ambulance couldn’t get to her in time. Is that what you want for everyone else?”
The tavern erupts in murmurs.
Rae continues, undeterred. “Joanie’s research is right. The town is shrinking. I knew that without research and numbers. We need new families if we want Alpine Ridge to survive. And how will we attract them when we have no schools? When residents have to drive nearly an hour to get to the dump, and at best, have to live with satellite internet and TV service that only work half the time? Not to mention all the other services Miss Joanie listed.”
Her speech is met with vocal agreement from most of the patrons. Outnumbered and outmatched, Jerry angrily throws his towel down and stomps through the swinging door behind the bar.
The patrons continue talking, though, sharing stories about how great the town used to be and the audacity of Jerry and his cronies to pretend like they ran the place.
As the ideas we planted catch fire, Mia pulls me aside. “This was your plan all along. To publicly humiliate Jerry and get the town talking?”
“Damn straight. But this was just the beginning. Let them stew on it for the week. We can’t do anything until after the New Year anyway.”
“And then?” Rae prompts.
I wink at them both. “Then we start working with the county on incorporation documents. Because we don’t need anyone’s fucking permission.”
Mia and Rae exchange an excited glance.
“I should go back and tell Nate what’s going on,” Mia responds. “Plus, he’ll expect to head home for dinner soon.”
I nod, and we follow Rae back out to the Bronco.
Once she drops us off, Mia keeps me from heading into the wellness center.
“Have you told Greg yet?” she asks.
I shake my head. “He’s at the community center today, so I came straight to you. Besides, I figured once we tracked down one of the council members, I’d have more to share anyway, so I wanted to wait until I had more to tell.”
Mia nods distractedly, and I can tell her mind is racing through what this means for her and Nate.
“Hey,” I say softly. “Is this okay? I’m mostly doing it for you. But if this causes too many waves, I don’t have to go all Hurricane Joanie on Alpine Ridge.”
Mia huffs a laugh. “It’s more than okay. If I had the time and energy, I’d be going after this too. Which has been tearing me up because I knew if it didn’t happen, all the time and energy I’m using on the bakery instead would be a waste.”
“Honestly, you’re right, it would be. While I haven’t seen your financials, even my generous calculations for the businesses here weren’t pretty,” I admit. “I don’t want to see you put your heart into this only to have it die, babe. The world deserves your pastries, after all.” I wink at her playfully, trying to lighten the heaviness of the conversation.
“Is that all this is?” she asks.
My brows dip together. “What do you mean?”
“I mean … are you maybe doing this because you can see yourself spending more time here with a certain mountain man?” she clarifies with a mischievous smile.
I press my lips together. “Okay, maybe a little?” I admit cautiously. Mia gets a look on her face, and I hold up a hand. “Let’s not make it a thing, okay?”
“I mean, I’m not, I just …” she trails off, chewing her lip nervously.
I sigh heavily and cross my arms. “Okay, fine. Get whatever it is you need to say off your chest,” I say, gesturing for her to continue.
She rolls her eyes. “You know you’d give me the talk, too,” she points out. I nod resignedly and gesture again for her to continue. “Just ... don’t move too fast with Greg, okay? Keep your options open. Maybe even start looking for jobs back in Seattle?”
I narrow my eyes at her. “Are you trying to get rid of me?”
“No, of course not,” she rushes to assure me. “I just can’t see you being happy staying in a small town long-term. And it won’t hurt to keep your options open,” she reiterates.
I take a deep breath and try to focus on where I know this is coming from. “I hear you. I know you’re trying to look out for me. And that’s good advice.”
“But?”
I let out a breath and laugh. “God, you know me a little too well, Mia.” I shake my head. “But I don’t know any other way than all in,” I say with a shrug.
Mia steps forward and wraps her arms around me. “I know. It’s one of the things I love most about you.”
I hear her unspoken concern that it’s also the thing that might get me burned.
I want to dismiss it from my thoughts as easily as I did in our conversation, but her words niggle at the back of my mind as we say our goodbyes and I head back to Greg’s.
Will I be happy here? I’d been so caught up in my budding relationship with Greg and the thrill of taking on the town council that I hadn’t thought too hard about the future.
Maybe she’s right. Maybe I’m not cut out for small-town life. Maybe I’m not cut out for a relationship and the thrill of being with Greg will wear off. Hell, maybe Greg will get sick of me.
That thought makes me laugh. Because based on my history, I’m far more likely to get sick of him first. And he seems like a relationship kind of guy.
When he returns from the community center, I’m still stewing on it an hour later, curled up on his couch that faces the expanse of forest behind the house.
“There’s my girl,” he says with a smirk, settling beside me.
“Hey,” I reply. And then I look closer at his face. “What’s with the smirk?”
“A little birdie told me you and the girls visited the tavern this afternoon.”
I huff a laugh. “Jesus H. Fucking Christ, news travels fast in this town,” I grumble. And then, to cover my ass, “I was going to tell you.”
He grins and nods. “I know. I’m not mad. In fact …” he leans forward and hauls my legs up so I’m lying flat on the couch under him. “I think you deserve something for what was evidently a fantastic performance.”
I bite into my lip. “Yeah? Like what?”
He smiles and dips down to run his nose down my neck and between my breasts, stopping to place a kiss on my now-exposed navel. “I don’t know, what do you want?”
I take a deep breath. And I let the dirty thoughts pass through my head because those are fleeting desires.
“I want to know what we’re doing here,” I say honestly.
He sits up, brows raised. “Seriously?”
I scoot back up to a sitting position, wrapping my arms around my legs. While I’m not usually self-conscious, I’ve never had a conversation like this. With anyone. Ever.
“Seriously,” I confirm with a trace of irritation. “Obviously, we’re enjoying ourselves, but what is this? I know we said it’s more than sex. But how much more?”
“How much more do you want it to be?” he parries.
I flinch at his response. “I don’t know,” I reply honestly. “I mean, I have a condo in Seattle. I could go back there and start looking for a job.”
“Or?” he asks, sensing the implied choice.
“Or I could stay here for a while and use my time to pursue making Alpine Ridge official and handling all the legalities that come with that. From my preliminary research, that’s no small task, and it would require someone with my knowledge and contacts to pull it off.”
“Are we going to pretend like that’s not exactly what you’re planning to do?” he asks with a smirk.
I scrunch my nose and press my lips together to keep from smiling. Shit, he already knows me too well. “No. But even if I do, that doesn’t mean I have to keep staying with you. I mean, this is your sacred space. It occurred to me that I might already be intruding on that.”
“Occurred to you, or Mia told you we’re going too fast?” he asks bluntly.
Fuck, he clearly also knows Mia too well.
When I don’t answer, he slides close to me and takes my face in his hands. “You don’t have to stay with me if you don’t want to, Joanie, but I fucking love having you in my bed. In my life. And I loved coming home to you today. I don’t see that changing anytime soon. I’m not saying I want you to live here permanently yet … but I also don’t want you to go. Beyond that?” He strokes his thumb over my cheek and looks deeply into my eyes. “While I’ve never cared much about getting married, I’ll admit that I want someone to share this life with.”
His eyes continue to search mine, and I feel the words he’s not saying. I want to share this life with you .
A knot forms in my throat. I can’t tell if it’s fear or love. This is new territory for me, but I realize I’m falling for Greg. And he’s clearly falling for me.
I should find it comforting that we both seem to have a healthy fear of it because love isn’t something to be taken lightly. Nor is commitment. I’ve never been good at either. But with Greg, I want to try.
I nod softly and let him make love to me on the couch. Everything feels so much … more . By the time we curl up in bed that night, Greg’s warm body wrapped around mine, I’m no less concerned about whether this is the life for me or a pitstop.
But as Greg pulls me closer in his sleep, I can’t ignore how my heart clenches at the thought of leaving him.
Shit. When did this get so complicated?
I close my eyes, pushing the doubts away. I’ll figure it out. I always do.
But for now, I’m exactly where I want to be.